bdpics

I don't know about everyone else but the HP inkjet printer "sponsorship" of the

POW is pretty tacky.

 

HP didn't take the photo, didn't provide any award/prize to the photographer--in

short they did nothing but write a check to Pnet who also didn't take the photo,

didn't provide any award/prize for the photographer's work, etc.

 

Pnet is quickly becoming little more than an ad delivery system that uses other

people's work (for which they pay nothing) to sell ad space and that is sad to see.

What about the 7/7 bots? ? ?

I think it's only fair that users/members have the option of changing their name if they don't want to come up on search engines!

 

Not everyone reads the TOU when signing up (in fact, most don't) and I think a lot of people don't think about being "googled" when they post on sites like this (indeed many sites block the google spiders in order to protect their member's privacy......)

 

One simple mistake shouldn't subject someone to years of potential abuse (i.e. by stalkers, ex-wives, disgruntled tenants, etc. etc) just because the admin doesn't want to make a very simple name change......

Hi Mary,

 

While I did not see Vuk's and other comments, I can speak for myself in saying that it was NOT my intention to "attack the photographer" or "bash the photographer," by offering a critique of the image presentation.

 

If others took a more confrontational tone, then by all means moderate, but I think that critiqueing the photo AND the presentation of the image (i.e. title, borders, etc.) fall well within Pnet guidelines. If not, then it would be nice if someone would clarify that.

 

While it's true that the high-profile nature of the POW forum is attractive for forum posters who like to cause a ruccous, likewise it is also subject to abuse by photographers who use the honor of a POW selection to blatantly promote their "pedigree" which IMHO should also be prohibited.

 

BD

Mary--

 

Please delete my comment entirely. I said what I meant to say and did so in good faith. I wouldn't want Pnet to edit my photos as they see fit, and likewise for my comments.

 

Thanks for your help,

 

BD

Will--I simply stated that including all of the awards that the photo has allegedly won in the image title was really unneccessary and seemed a bit pretentious. <br>

<br>

I've viewed 10's of thousands of images on Pnet, and I've never seen the photographer include the names of awards/honorable mentions, etc. in the image title. I did not say it in a mean-spirited or accusatory manner, I was simply offering a suggestion on how to improve the presentation of the image--which is what I thought photo critiques were all about!<br>

<br>

I think when submitting a photo for critique that ALL aspects of the photo's presentation should be open to critique--lighting, composition, any frames/borders, the title, etc.<br>

<br>

Mary--I can certainly understand your desire to head-off inappropriate debate in the POW forum. However, myself and many others here greatly value the ability to express ourselves freely without fear of censorship/creative editing of our comments provided we are following the rules. In my case I believe that I was following the rules and thus my comments should not have been edited.<br>

<br>

If my comments were edited because of rule #5 above (Can't have content that will probably turn the conversation into an off-topic discussion - or turn into a debate that is off-topic from the image) then I would argue that posting the current image to the POW with its current title violated your own rules as clearly listing all the awards in the title name was sure to draw some debate! ! Wouldn't it have been a better idea to ask the photographer to edit the title first so as to limit the potential for controversey, and if he refused simply found another image? ? ?<br>

<br>

Lastly, for future reference if my comments are going to be edited without my knowledge or consent just delete them altogether. Leaving only my positive comments while deleting my negative comments leaves a false impression in other's minds as to my real thoughts on the image as whole. This is misleading and should not be condoned.

Today, I left a comment on the POW. A few hours later my comments

were edited without my permission, knowledege, or consent.

 

Why was this done?

LOL send us money--or else we kill Fluffy.........

I highly recommend a Toshiba Tecra laptop. I travel extensively in some pretty harsh conditions, and the Toshibas hold up very well. They have a truly global/international warranty/repair service (unlike all the others who won't fix your machine if you're out of the US), a 3 year full warranty, and 3 years tech support included in the base price. For $175 more, I got their "replacement plan" which means that if ANYTHING happens to your laptop in that 3 year period, they will replace it for free--even if you run it over with your truck! LOL

 

I work in a saltwater environment a lot, and so this added protection was very nice. Of course you don't have to be sailing around the Horn to have problems--one knocked over can of Coke will likely ruin any laptop.

 

Finally, Toshiba tech support is hands-down the best I've ever used. Very knowledgeable and courteous--I've never been on hold for more than 5 minutes! ! I have friends with Dells. HP's etc. and they are on hold for over an hour most of the time!

 

I have the Tecra M-730, and I'd buy another one in a second. If Toshiba only made desktops...................

 

 

BD

Thaqnks Brian--I'll see what I can sort out.

Test messages arrived--not sure what happened to the other emails--has there been any problem with the Pnet email system in the past month?

 

Thanks again,

 

BD

I've had a few folks tell me that they've sent me emails to my Pnet

email address--I've not received them. I did a test of 3 emails today

to my Pnet email account, none of them have gone through.

 

Thanks for looking into it,

 

BD

I've pretty much stopped using the Rate Recent Que. More and more it freezes after rating 3 or 4 images, and it just got to be too much of a hassle to re-enter the cue over and over.

 

2 key changes need to be made to the Rate Recent Que:

 

 

1. Fix the badly-flawed "slideshow" system for the RR que. I understand that thumbnails are not displayed and we are forced to view images one-by-one because a page of thumbnails for the RR que would allow the mate-raters to have a field day. But the current que system is plagued with "freezing" problems brought about by photogs who delete their image while it's still in the system (because they're not happy with the ratings...) and/or hitting the "skip this image" button to move on to an image I'd like to rate. I don't know why the skip button causes freezes, but I think any image submitted to the RR que should NOT be allowed to be deleted by the artist until it's run it's course in the RR que. If they try to delete the image, and notice would appear saying: "We're sorry, but you cannot delete this image at this time as it is currently in the RR que. Please try again later."

 

2. Images in the RR que should NOT show the photographer's name while still in the que.

 

 

There's been lots of positive changes lately--it would be nice to see a few key changes to the RR que too!

 

 

BD

Just to follow up--

 

While there is the current checkbox system designating an image as either "manipulated" or "unmanipulated" you have to click on the image and then click on the image details in order to discover this.

 

Personally, I do not place a whole lot of value on manipulated images (unless they clearly fall into the digital art/creation category--and there are some AMAZINGLY gifted artists here on Pnet in this genre) and I'd just as soon not waste my time looking at/wading through the manipulated images.

 

If I go into a jewelery store I'd prefer the diamonds and the cubic zirconias to be readily segregated..........mixing them only weakens the diamonds IMHO.

There would not have to be seperate "manipulated" and "unmanipulated" categories for each subject (nudes, portraits, etc.) just a catch-all category/class.

 

Personally, I would prefer that all "manipulated" images to be put into their own grouping where people who want to look at manipulated images can do so and the current categories would be for "unmanipulated" images only.

An enthusiastic second to that idea!

 

BD

I have not calibrated my current system yet. However, a good friend has used the Pantone Pro on his Dell, and he says he's very happy with the monitor.

 

BD

Get the Dell 2005FPW. It's a beautiful 20" widescreen display--the same screen as the vaunted Apple 20" Cinema display at half the price. I got mine a few weeks ago from Dell for $410 shipped.

 

Images are stunning on this monitor, and the widescreen format is great for photoshop and other palette-driven software because the "extra" space on the side allows a full window for the image, with plenty of room for all the palettes.

 

Native resolution is 1680x1050, which is great resolution for crisp text and images--also great for watching DVDs.

 

A few other things to consider--17" and 19" square LCDs use the same resolutuion (1280x1024) so while the 19" is bigger, it's just the same resolution blown up to a larger screen. Keeping that in mind, you can buy two 17" monitors for just a little bit more than one 19", and have all that extra real estate and crisp resolution (you'll need a video card that supports dual monitors).

 

Lastly, the sad truth is that you really cannot judge a monitor based on specs. I was recently in LA at a HUGE electronics store that had just about every monitor you could imagine. A few Samsungs had great specs (i.e. 300 briteness, 1000:1 contrast, 12ms refresh, .26 dot pitch) but I was stunned at how often the monitors with lower specs just looked better than a lot of the ones with much better specs.

 

That being said I'd highly recommend the Dell--I may buy another one soon!

 

BD

A couple of thoughts--

 

Michael DiMarzio said: "Lex is a great moderator, he is helpful, positive, enthusiastic and even though he's an old guy :), stays on top of the latest technologies."

 

I couldn't agree more! I wish he weren't so uptight about punctuation, but Lex is still one of the more friendly, positive and understanding moderators here on Pnet.

 

Brian Mottershead said: "Ben, I say such a thing because despite the fact the we make it quite clear that the raison d'etre of the site is mutual critique between serious photographers, a very high percentage of the people uploading photos never participate in the site in any way and use the privelege of free Trial/Guest membership simply to have a free place to post vacation snaps, etc, which are of no interest to anybody. You chastise me for not being a hospitable host, but such people are like uninvited guests at a party who eat all the food, don't interact with anybody, make mess to clean up, and then leave, telling everybody what a lousy party it was. Do you really think that I, or any of the moderators, should be chastised for lack of hospitality in those cases.? Or that we are obliged never to mention that some of the people at the party are not welcome and ought to leave?"

 

For the life of me, I don't understand why Pnet doesn't cut off the free accounts after a sufficient trial period (30 days like most other sites). Stopping the endless headaches caused by "dummy accounts" set up by the hate/mate raters and forum trolls would make this site FAR more enjoyable for everyone IMHO by ending the problematic free accounts.

 

Yes, there are some folks here that contribute so much to the site that they should not be required to pay, but that could all be handled behind the scenes by the admin--we need not know the exact details of how someone got their paid member icon.

 

For me, it's disingenuous for the admin to complain about the "party crashers" when they alone hold the power to do something about it and choose not to--apparently in order to keep the hits/visits/membership numbers high so as to maximize potential ad revenues.

I'll second John's request for some "new blood" in the moderator pool here at Pnet. Yes it's a thankless, non-paying job, but when disdain, intolerance, and a personal agenda become obstacles to effective moderating--it's time to go.

 

If Pnet wants people to pay for the privilege of using the forums here, IMHO a more "customer-friendly" attitude would go a long way towards that goal. As it is, there are more than a few moderators here who consistantly delete threads that meet the forum guidelines but that they happen to personally find "boring" or "uninteresting." In 15+ years of active websurfing and being a list owner and forum moderator myself, I've never seen such a level of personal bias in any other forums anywhere.

 

Lastly, a special thanks to those moderators here who don't let their personal preferences (and/or pet-peeves) and a jaded mentality interfere with their ability to objectively manage the forum they've been entrusted with--you're greatly appreciated! !

Brass doesn't rust. I do a lot of photography in a saltwater environment, and for my Nikon f bodies the most susceptible area for rust/corosion has been the door hinges on the body.

 

Brass won't rust, the top and bottom plates are aluminum, the shutter button, film advance lever, hot shoe, etc. are all 316 stainless. The weak point in the whole shebang on the film door hinges. I just get a quality black "paint pen" (B&H and others sell these for hobbyists--they also come in white for lens and logo markings) once a year or so and "paint" the hinges. Looks great, less filling! !

 

BD

I've found that in most cases the "engraving" is from newspapers and other commercial interests and less often from private owners.

 

Personally, I would steer well clear of ex-photo journalist's lenses (especially autofocus lenses) as in most cases those lenses have been used, very, very hard and then dumped onto the used market.

 

Several well-known "authorities" on used lenses strongly suggest that you avoid used photo-journalist's lenses.

 

BD

Laurie--

 

That 419eater site is an absolute scream! !

 

In one case (http://www.419eater.com/html/okorie.htm) they actually get the Nigerian scammer to tattoo himself with a fake church logo (Holy Church of the Tattooed Saint......) just to become a "member" of the "church" with the promise of receiving the money the scammer requested to help the victims of the Pakistani Earthquake.

 

Read the whole letter--I just couldn't stop laughing! ! ! !

 

 

BD

For me it comes down to the extent of the repair when considering outside camera repair centers. For example, I would regularly service my Nikonos systems at Underwater Camera Repair in Miami. But that was limited to replacing seals and other minor adjustments. Even though they did a great job and had great service, I don't think I would want them to repair and then reseal any of my underwater (or even terrestrial) Nikkors, I'd definitely want the more serious jobs (i.e. element re-alignment) to go directly to Nikon.

I have this lens and I absolutely love it! I can't wait to get my D200 so I can start using it more often.

 

It is a big chunk of glass, but very sharp, great bokeh, and obviously very fast for a 105mm. I don't think I have any images shot with the 105 in my gallery--I'll root around a little and see what I can find.

 

I picked mine up used/mint from a friend for $200 14 years ago, and it's been in my bag ever since. Because of the fast aperture, this lens also works very well with a Nikkor teleconverter--essentially 210mm @f3.6 not bad! I use it for portrait, landscape, and low-light just as you describe.

 

BD