mark_j1

Brian, could you please remove me from this thread? I selected to be notified when there is a new response, but this is too much and I don't know how to stop getting the emails.

Thanks, and I still love the site!

I like the rating system. It provides me feedback. I put photos on this site for the feedback. I'm not always happy with the numbers, but at least it lets me know when I affect someone enough for them to take a minute give me a number. I also look at the number of views and the comments. All of this is what I love about this site. It is all valuable feedback. Why else would you post on this site but for the feedback? If you didn't care about the feedback, you woundn't be posting on this thread.

You could just as easily argue that a comment of �cool� or �nice� is useless feedback. Should we get rid of those as well? Maybe have a set of only10 pre-canned comments you can only apply to a photo? What fun would that be? Where does this end? No matter what is done, someone will complain about it.

I wouldn't mind if the "top photos" did not show the name of the photographer. Let the photo speak for itself, not the name under it.

If people abuse it, oh well. That's what you get with the freedom that the site provides. If you don't like the ratings, don't use them. I admit that I see photos getting 7's that I wouldn't give a 7 to, but I also see 1-3 given when I don't think it should be (especially when the rater has no comment to go along with the number).

When I see the system being "abused" (at least, in my opinion of that particular photo, I might feel the ratings are not warranted � too high or too low), I just ignore it and move on. Who cares? That�s going to happen when you have a flexible system like this with thousands of users. I�d vote to keep the system and ignore the people who I want to ignore.

The system is there for everyone to use or ignore. Use the parts you like, ignore the parts you don�t. Don't ruin it for those of us who like it, please.

Thanks, Brian. I'll give it a try. Sounds like it will give me what I'm basically looking for (it just wasn't obvious to me how to get there). A good lesson learned.

I love the site.

One of the things that keeps me coming back to this site frequently

is the vast array of new photos to look at (and learn from). But,

when I want to look at the latest photos uploaded, I only get to see

the latest 10 and/or a random 10 (usually displaying the popular

latest photos based on number of views and ratings, at least it seems

like that to me). Anyway, I'm wondering how many photos I'm

missing? I wish there were a way to look through the latest photos

the same way we look at "top photos". I'd like the opportunity to

just browse the latest photos of the last 24 hours regardless of

rating (starting with most recent through 300 in reverse order of

submission). All the photos are number so that shouldn't too hard.

There is already a period selection of 24 hours so maybe add a rank

by filter that displays latest?

I'm just feel like I'm missing out on a lot of potential photos and

am left with luck of timing. Just a thought.

The comment I recently got on this photo -

(http://www.photo.net/photo/1501519)

- is what I'm really wondering about (sorry, I don't know how to hide the link info and make it all look nice). Bad rating because the viewer needs to see the face when clearly (to me) the face doesn't add anything, and could actually take away from the intended affect of the photo.

Lots of good info in this thread. Thanks to everyone who bothered to answer. It's nice to see so many people passionateabout the subject. Since I'm kinda new and only do this as a hobby for now, I don't have a dark room, though the idea has crossed my mind many times. There's just something about doing it the traditional way. I have a lot to learn before I get there, though.

Ok, I'm convinced. Stick with b/w for b/w pictures and color for color. As several of you pointed out, you think specifically in those terms when formulating a photo - something that never crossed my mind. I think I can use the software to "tweak" things that don't turn out exactly the way I wanted, which is usually because of the lab that developed it, or my cheap scanner (scratches, spots, crap like that). I won't go to the dark side!

I really like black and white pictures. I�m also one of the few

people who don�t own a digital camera (can�t make that leap yet, I

guess). Anyway, I�m seeing more and more photos being �manipulated�

in Photoshop. Is Photoshop making black and white film obsolete?

Should I just spend the money on a good color film, do everything in

color, and then manipulate the photos later in Photoshop if I want

b/w? That way, I get a color version and black/white version of all

my stuff. I would certainly have more options and more flexibility.

I just need to come up with $350 bucks for the initial investment in

the software�oh, and a computer good enough to handle the software

(minor details!).

Anyway, the question: Does Photoshop take over?

Based on feedback from some of my photos, I wonder: Why is it so

important for people to see the model�s head in these pictures? If

the photographer did not include the head, there is probably a reason

or reasons. Then again, there might not be.

Everyone has different styles. Some photographers don�t really have

a choice because the person (model) they are working with would

prefer the pictures not include her head or face. It�s really up to

the model you are working with. The photo is nothing without them.

So, is it that important for people to see a head? How about the

face? Is it just a �rule� that says you need to include that part of

the body if you include any part of the body? Can you have a great

photo that does not have a head? As a new guy to this field, this

inquiring mind wants to know�!