Police guitarist Andy Summers in AP & London

[akochanowski]

Dennis, is there some medicl issue you're not sharing with us all on this FUN forum? 'Cause you are sounding more and more deranged with every passsing thread.

[ray .]

Dennis, I've always been critical of photos, but it's never intended

to be personal. Anyone should be able to give whatever

constructive criticism they feel, if it's in good faith, without it being

about the person that made the photo. It should be a kind of

friendly discussion. Even if Grant would say "that sucks" I knew it

was his opinion about one particular photo, not me, or even my

ability as a photographer. If I didn't agree with him, I wouldn't say

anything in response, but sometimes, I might think, yeah, he's

right, my doubts about this piece of crap are confirmed. I

understood where he was coming from, which is a passion for

photography, and we got along fine (though I've never met him). I

just think people can agree or disagree and still remain civil and

positive with each other. I know I fail that test on occaision too

but it ends up being a waste of time for me and everyone else

when I do it...

 

I haven't posted much of the street stuff I had been because I just

haven't been doing much of it. I've been busy with a project that I

don't want to show until it's more complete (could be a year, or

two even), and I've also been busy with personal stuff.

 

I still consider you a friend, Dennis, and you're one of the people

here I'd like to maybe meet someday, because I think you're an

interesting guy, and I like the best of your work. I'm just putting in

a vote to see more of your light-hearted sense of humor in a

positive way, as I remember your posts when I first encountered

you here.

[kent_tolley2]

I don't know if Dennis is having any fun here but lately I haven't had much. I wonder who IS enjoying this. Anyone?

[ray .]

I guess I'm saying too- you use to ignore the negative stuff and

make a joke out of everything, and it wasn't cutting or sarcastic,

that's what was great about you. It was reflected in your work too.

I think you've let a couple people get to you, and it's too bad that's

happened.

[michael s.]

Spoken like a real doctor if ever I've heard one, Andy -- a Juris Doctor. -:)

 

Lawyers are generally better at snap judgments than snap diagnosis. Malpractice insurance might cover the former; probably not the latter.

 

Keep in mind also that guys in New Orleans put hot sauce on nearly everything, even their ice cream. This of course *will* alter one's perspective.

 

Rather than offer on-forum quackery like this, why not get to know folks a little better? My guess is that many of us would be in for pleasant surprises.

[dennis_couvillion]

Andy, why do you come here? The Leica gear threads. The excellent photography?

 

 

Deranged? Not that I'm aware of, but maybe I should get that checked. However, if you are referring to the application of the needle to a few overly inflated and unfriendly heads then perhaps you have misdiagnosed the condition. Instead of talking about me all the time, when was the last time any of you posted anything positive here?

 

 

 

Ray, the forum was a lot more fun before everybody got so damn GOOD.

 

 

Have fun, guys... :>)

[Brad_]

It seems it's Dennis against the world now. And he's still dragging me in (10:30AM).

Anyway, it'll be nice seeing Douglas' pix again, along with a detailed critique from Dennis

- a nice offer, BTW...

[dennis_couvillion]

Douglas:

 

In your e-mail to me in which you sent me sevseral of your pictures you said:

 

"I would post these myself, but have forgotten how to do that."

 

 

You have FORGOTTEN how to post pictures and that's why you can't post them yourself? LOL...

 

 

Douglas, I don't feel comfortable posting someone else's pictures. Why don't you search Photo.net for instructions on how to post pictures or ask one of your friends how to do it... it shouldn't take you more than a few days to learn how to post pictures on this forum. I heard someone once learned how to do it in one day! But that's probabaly a record. ;>)

 

 

Post your pictures for critique and I would happy to offer my opinion.

 

 

Excuses, excuses, excuses...

[douglas k.]

Jesus, I'M giving excuses? I offered to SEND YOU PRINTS and you apparently declined. You're a real piece of work, Dennis. You're just rich.

[dennis_couvillion]

Okay, Douglas... here goes.

 

The photos you sent me are all properly exposed and the compositions fairly well-balanced. While the photo of the woman holding a large penis is amusing (and it is your best shot) it is basically a "one laugh" shot. The photo of the musician is nice but I find that most stage shots look about the same. All in all they are good shots... but nothing exceptional. Had you posted them in any w/nw threadsthat I had seen I may have even offered a "nice shot" comment.

 

However, I did not see anything in the way of vision that might translate into any expertise that would qualify you to expertly judge the photos of others. Therefore, your reaction to your critiques being rejected might not have anything to do with the photographers' making excuses or such... they might not have appreciated your critiques because you were not very good at critiquing. I don't know... but you seem to have peremptorally ruled out that possibility in your previous posts.

 

Maybe I am missing something in your shots so if you would explain the shot and point out elements or details that you think I may have missed I am sure it add to my appreciation of your work.

 

Thank you for sharing, Douglas...

[michael s.]

<<< ... While the photo ... holding a large penis is amusing ...>>> ... but it's also precisely the kind of thing that leads a photographer to forget how to post photos on the Forum.

 

Douglas, we all learned that as young fellas ...

[dennis_couvillion]

BTW, why don't you send your photos to Peter A for a public critique? I understand you have critiqued his and he might be inclined to help you with yours. ;>)

[dennis_couvillion]

... but Douglas, make sure he understands that once he critiques them he can't go back and edit his remarks. Okay? ;>)

[akochanowski]

Actually Dennis, I used to come here because there would occasionally be some fun banter between halfway witty people and some reasonably decent photography taken with who knows what camera. Thanks to various humorless drones who drove off a bunch of good photographers in favor of downright scarily lousy 60's local newspaper shots that apparently are considered the creme de la creme of this forum, the only reason to visit anymore, for me at least, is to observe your efforts to insult anyone who doesn't like your and Al's photos. Your gratuitous nastiness to Brad and simple cruelty to Peter A would be astonishing if I wasn't used to how some lawyers behave. I think you have been embarrasing yourself lately, but hey, feel free to go on and melt down some more.

 

Andy

[Brad_]

Douglas asked for a hand, so here they are. Just a note, they came over in jpeg level 6,

which is pretty high compression - usually I don't save at less than level 10. <P><P>

 

 

<center>

<img src="http://pages.sbcglobal.net/b-evans/Images11/cock.jpg">

</center><P>

 

<center>

<img src="http://pages.sbcglobal.net/b-evans/Images11/Flirt.jpg">

</center><P>

 

<center>

<img src="http://pages.sbcglobal.net/b-evans/Images11/jrwells_edited.jpg">

</center><P>

 

<center>

<img src="http://pages.sbcglobal.net/b-evans/Images11/rachelonrt66.jpg">

</center><P>

 

<center>

<img src="http://pages.sbcglobal.net/b-evans/Images11/ruinlife.jpg">

</center><P>

[Brad_]

What Andy said - it used to be kind of amusing. Now it's just sad.

[dennis_couvillion]

Douglas: Nice shots.

 

Have a nice weekend fellas... don't go away mad. :>)

[douglas k.]

Writing "All in all they are good shots... but nothing exceptional" is just opinion without substantiation or context - not critique, which includes a recognition of genre contextuality and some substaniated opinion. Similarly, your later comment "nice shots" is meaningless without explanation of why you find them to be nice.

 

I'm still waiting for my critique, Dennis. Since you were so willing to offer one, and since so many people have complained bitterly about my lack of photo postings, I was really hoping for more than "nothing exceptional" followed by "nice shots." Can anyone oblige me?

[michael s.]

<<< ... drove off a bunch of good photographers ... >>>

 

"Drove off" how? And "drove off" where?

 

Not more than a block or two, it seems, since it seems "they" are always here.

 

Andy and Brad - You're both good photographers. And I don't believe I've had a cross word with either of you. Quite the contrary. With that preamble, let me raise a question that's been on my mind:

 

Suppose this Forum were a coffee shop near your house. And suppose you reached the conclusion that you you didn't

like the coffee, and you didn't like the owner, and you didn't like the music, and

you didn't like the pictures hanging on the walls,

and you didn't like the sound the machines made, and

you didn't like or respect the people who hung out

there, and you weren't interested in the subjects they

discussed ........

 

Well then, the question would arise: why on earth would you

still come to this coffee shop?

 

Let's face facts: Big Bad Dennis and Big Bad Al really aint all that big, and they aint so bad, either. They're certainly not "enforcers."

 

If, once upon a time (and it would've largely been before my time) Dennis and Al were arguing for more of a Leica-only (or film only) rule on posted photos, or even discussions, that's yesterday's news. To the extent that they actually fought that "battle," it is long over and they've lost.

 

Images posted here on a daily basis include film and digital, taken with Leicas, non-Leicas, Leica compatibles and incompatibles, rangefinders, slr's, point-and-shoot cameras, pinholes, medium formats, and even a few camera-phones and image-making devices I wouldn't even recognize. And the "rangefinder style" is ... well, it is liberally construed (as lawyers like to say).

 

This is a pretty wide open place. Take a look at the last couple days' posts and you'll see what I mean. I'd venture to say that the only "orthodoxy" here (if one could call it that) is that we're not allowed to swear.

 

If you want to be here, great. You have a lot to offer. I mean that. If you don't want to be here, that's okay, too. It's not as if we don't know where to find you. -:)

 

But coming around the Forum *only* to say how bad, how awful, how sad, how terrible, ....

 

-- Fellas, that really gets old.

[douglas k.]

By the way, Dennis, I particularly like this statement: "The photo of the musician is nice but I find that most stage shots look about the same." If you tried, really tried, you could not come up with better evidence of your utter lack of ability to offer a worthwhile critique of the photo. Show me the photo that looks just like this one.

[Guest]

I'd have to agree with Michael. This forum was much more fun when people agreed to live and let live. It was diverse and good-humoured. It had a little bit of everything, from black vs chrome to great shots, from amusement to inspiration. And I always love to read "What lens should I take on holiday?" threads because they're one of the few occasions I can feel superior to anyone here.

 

The enforcers, such as they are, are the people who pour cold water on a shot labelled CV lens, but say nothing when the talk turns to Contax/Zeiss - as well as those people who think only 'good' photographers, in their opinion, should be allowed to post photos. This is photo.net. It is not Magnum. There is room for everyone.

 

And, by the way, Brad, Dennis, Ray, Andy, Douglas, *none* of you is one of these 'enforcers.' I've enjoyed your contributions when you've not been at one another's throats, so it's a little distressing to see such bad blood as to me you've always been basically on the same side.

 

At the coffee shop sixty miles from where I live, I'm lucky to meet professional photographers and award-winning photographers as well as rank amateurs like me. There is no rancour, no snide remarks. Just a few teasing remarks and the odd fondle (cameras only), but most of the talk is about photography.

 

Maybe I'm just too effete and middle-of-the-road for this place? ;-)

[ray .]

"Enforcer"? What am I going to enforce? Obviously, nothing. I just express my opinion. I don't see the need for Brad and Dennis arguing in a personal way, but I suppose they'll do as they wish. I also, like several others, find Al's posts often nauseatingly self-centered and self-aggrandizing, though he seems like a nice guy otherwise. When I see photographs that look mediocre to me, especially when they're being praised by others, I usually say so.

[EricM]

that Dennis guy is sure good at chucking threads into the toilet.

[Allen Herbert]

I think you all should......<div></div>

[travis1]

Douglas, I like the shot just below the penis one on Brad's post.The expression of the man in the pic is priceless, lots of tension with the woman's face cut off too. Delibrate?