I have just been re-reading "Flying Minnows " by Roger Vee - one of the South Africans who volunteered for for the RAF in WWI It's incredible how they watched their friends die in training and combat and just got on with the job in hand

 

Ah. the ol' Swan Neck & Dog'... or was it the 'Escapement & Ferret'?

 

My friend's old man started building one in the States, but decided he would never be allowed to fly it, so gave up.

 

Better than mine, it never got done, well the powered one. Did solo in gliders and basic takeoff fly around and landing in Cessna 150/152 and most recently Piper Warrior, but somehow repeating lesson 1 every 15 years or so isn't cracking it.

 

I really don't understand this. Posting a reply to a comment or starting a thread is no harder than it was before, in fact I think it is easier. You may not like the layout (personally I do) but I really can't see why it would put someone off posting.

I do admit though, usage does seem to drop off after changes, although I recall last time that was proved not to be the case.

 

Quite often usage of forums drop because people can't remember their passwords and can't be bothered with getting a reminder.

 

[QUOTE="dream_police]
I do admit though, usage does seem to drop off after changes, although I recall last time that was proved not to be the case.[/QUOTE]

In my case it doesn't work with IE so I was stuck until someone said it worked with Chrome, which is what I am using now/ That also means I can't post from work where we're stuck with IE

 

I think there is a drop off in general on all photography forums, partly due to the upsurge in social media sites, photo sharing sites etc. and partly due to falling camera sales, mirrored by smart phone technological advances. People these days are happy with their smart phone snaps. They are indeed good enough for web sharing. The discerning amateur photographer is a minority group at present.
I frequent other photography forums and their through traffic is indeed a lot greater than this forum, but I also believe the standard of images and for that matter, good honest critique is far lower than this forum. It is possibly this that scares off the casual photographer looking for a pat on the back for an ill thought out composition, or a badly exposed shot. Unfortunately, most newcomers don't like the kick in the pants that sometimes follows a hopeful image upload.
I cringe when I look back at some of my first offerings for appraisal. I may not have improved a great deal, but I am certainly more aware of what I should be aiming for. This, combined with the wealth of experience on here, and the lack of egos floating around, serve to make this my go to photography forum. It would be nice to see more through traffic, as long as it's not watered down. I much prefer quality over quantity.

 

Once I got used to the new software I greatly prefer it - especially the ability to edit posts more than a few minutes after posting. However not running with IE is a huge self inflicted wound that must put a lot of users (especially newbies) off

 

Perhaps wrongly I get the impression that forum use generally, not just photographic is going down, displaced by social media perhaps as suggested previously.

 

Well the forum software has meant that I have had to change my browser....not something I relished. Chrome was unconfigureable...as was Edge... but Firefox seems to tick my boxes. Its on probation just now but it seems OK. So to get back the point my activity declined because for a while i could not interact with the new software. Its all back to normal for me.....

Graeme

 

I agree. But any tech change is disruptive and can be what sets off inertia in those less motivated. Use friendliness is everything.

 

Photography is simple. Something along the lines of the light reflected from a subject being focus onto a light sensitive material. Grasp that basic idea and the rest is penis extension. Men , note men, not women, tend to over complicate things , sort of Viagra for the ego.Most study a subject like photography because it delays having to get out and finding a proper job.

Years ago in the common room at Brighton Art College, the usual talk was about drugs sex and rock and roll. Photography, painting, sculpture etc never got a mention.

 

I wonder why anyone who can grasp such simplicity in an instant needs to go to Art College? Must be the beer.

 

I thought that shortly after the new forum went live and the lack of a limit was announced, it was somewhere suggested (maybe even by yourself?) that we normally stuck to the old limit.
This would make 'borrowed' images less useful and would save excessive data transfer costs for those people on data limited networks.

 

I went to agricultural college. We didn't talk about sex, drugs or rock and roll. We just got on with doing them.

 

Ah, but does it do food? Cheese? Marmite?

 

I found it became less horrible if you change the style from 'Amateur Photography' to default in Account->Settings->Preferences.

(btw why is the style called Amateur Photography and not Amateur Photographer?)

 

I never realised that it was Amateur Photography, mind you last time I bought a copy the colonel was having a fit in the Club Room.

 

Correct, and quite possibly. The limit was to protect those on dial-up internet (!) and more recently with data caps. I think it's good manners not to post images that need to be scrolled,or so large that they might cause issues for those still with data caps, especially as you just don't need giant file sizes for internet display. And yes, smaller files are less desirable for pirates.