Gallery - deletion for lack of interest or response

@brusby - I've only been hanging around RFF since 2017. That makes me quite a newbie around here relatively speaking. I'm purely a hobbyist and a casual one at that. No matter what anyone else might think about my images, I tend to be my own worst critic. Should I manage to capture an image that I myself am truly happy with, that is more than enough for me. I often look to RFF for inspiration and with that in mind i'm grateful to anyone who takes the time to share their images here regardless of whether or not those images connect with me.

My best suggestion would be to consider sharing your images for the same reason that I and so many others have, simply to share them so that others can view them. Honestly I'm happy just to have people look at my images regardless of whether or not they might comment on them. Rather than focusing on what you wish to receive, why not focus on giving your comments and likes to others instead? Lead by example if you will. I know that I've found it to be enjoyable to praise the work of others here whose images truly inspire me.

I've noted numerous times in the past that @rhl-oregon (who commented above), @Erik van Straten, and @helenhill seemingly always manage to create images that I admire and that inspire me. Yet I don't often comment on each individual image they've shared here. Were I to do so it would likely seem very repetitive at this point. I can imagine that there are others who feel the same way about your images, even though they might remain silent. Maybe try giving people the benefit of the doubt. As long as you are happy with the images that you've shared and enjoyed the process of capturing those images, then you're doing okay by my standards.
 
As far as things like gallery technical difficulties and file size limitations go, I do understand how such things can be frustrating. On the other hand, I'm really glad that RFF is still around and that there are people involved who are dedicating some of their time to try to improve the overall user experience here. The sad reality is that online forums have been a dying breed for quite some time now. As someone who cut ties with most social media outlets in the past, I am grateful for the few remaining online forums that I still am able to frequent. This obviously includes RFF.
 
I’ve been on and off here since 2016. I came in totally new to film so I just sorta shut my mouth and listened to try and pick things up from the more experienced photographers here. Once I got a decent grasp of technical info I found myself wanting more in the sense that once a person knows the technical things, what is left to improve is the harder bits of how to compose, work with light, make abstractions from reality etc. I think that for some reason the arts is an area where everyone puts on kid gloves while speaking of such things and while critiquing for fear of insulting or coming off as a know it all. I’m not a professional photographer But I’ve been a professional artist for 23 years now. There ARE "rules" or things that work in the visual arts in a general sense but someone has to have the confidence to take the reins and say "this is how you do this and why. This would look better this way". The mentors corners have potential to do this. The issue is that even though there are rules and techniques that work in visual arts, it ends up subjective and someone who takes the lead will be subjected to chest thumping arguments from those wishing to compete for the leadership role. It’s sad but that’s what I’ve seen on every forum I’ve been on. I Personally believe that if one posts work on a public forum, it is to be expected and WELCOMED. The more honest the critique the better imho. When I started my job 23 years ago I spent 5 hours drawing and was so excited to show my teacher. I showed him, he looked at it and physically tore it up and proceeded to tell me what I did wrong and how to fix it. My ego was bruised but it needed to be. I learned. I don’t get on the gallery much so maybe this exists already, but is there a tab that a poster can click that indicates the post is wanting to be critiqued? I thinks there’s a lot of potential on here with a lot of very knowledgeable people. Id love to see it be more directed in a way that not only talked about gear or lenses, but HOW to use it, compose with it, create with it. Brusby, I follow you on Flickr as well and I think it would be sad o see you go. Keep posting. Maybe even make a thread about how to create nudes. Talk to models, ethics, gear, composition, the WHY of it? Just a thought. Or many.
 
I've mostly given up on posting pictures on 't interwebs. Like the chinaman who wee'd in the yellow sea, it doesn't have much impact.
Getting likes and admiration is nice, but it's never enough, and in the end futile. Photography is not a competition.

I hand out prints to the people I photograph. A very small viewership, but very engaged. A much more satisfying way to practice photography. Electrons are nice, but molecules are better.

Cheers
 
@brusby I hope you stay. You do excellent work and I enjoy your images.

I like the pose, lighting, tones, and expression on the subject. Nice image.

I don't go to the gallery much. It feels like going to a different web site - totally disjointed from RFF. That's my feeling anyway. I would rather go to a link in someone's sig like Flickr or personal web site.
 
I love these touchy feely dramatic threads! It brings people out of their comfort zone and into the human zone… cue “The Human Expression’s - Every Night”

The Human Expression - Every Night

Anyway, the bottom line is, post your shit, if people like it so be it, if people don’t care one way or another about it, also “so be it”. It really doesn't matter at all.

In my opinion there is only one thing that matters here… did you post the best image that you are capable of creating? Are you sharing your best work? If a member is just tossing their trash into the thread and turning the thread into a personal dumpster, well, that’s a shame.

It doesn't matter one lick what somebody else thinks about your images unless you respect their opinion. And, if nobody comments or likes your images that’s not necessarily a bad thing either (think about Van Gogh).

So, Brusby, I hope you stay, I like your images.

My last thought: I think it’s far better to be under appreciated than to be over appreciated.

All the best,
Mike
 
Interesting thread with some comments worthwhile to think about. Generally speaking I agree there is not much interest in the gallery, perhaps other places (Flickr...) offer a wider range of images.

Personally I have no problem to browse the gallery, mainly using my Mac and Firefox. Almost never from the iphone, how can you appreciate a photo on such a small screen? And I do not find difficult to resize the photo to meet RFF requirements (I have a LR export preset for it).

Not much sure about the likes, in case I prefer to know why someone likes a photo of mine (subject? light? compositio? gear used? originality?tech quality like tones? or...) and even more interesting why someone does not like it (so long the comment is polite and constructive).

But this is me! Anyway I like the idea everyone is free to post whatever he likes (of course no offensive material) as everyone is free to explain why he does not like it.

Of course a different question is why we post in the gallery and what are we expecting from it, but maybe this could be the topici for a different thread :)

@ Brusby: I like many of your photos, but I do not feel qualified to comment a nude. It's an area I do not know where to start... I agree with the comment by x-ray (post #18) done about the light entering from the door. But I cannot add more, sorry, my limit!
But I suggest you to stray here, it would be a loss for RFF if you leave.
 
brusby said:
Posting this primarily so the mods may know where members are going.

Over the past several months, I've posted several photos to the gallery that have gotten pretty high viewership but consistently zero response. It leads me to conclude that my style of photos are not wanted or appreciated here. Or maybe members just decided they don't like me and don't want to offer support. That's fair.

So, I've decided not to post where no one seems to be interested in seeing them.

Last week I posted an early attempt at portraiture -- a head and shoulders shot of my then girlfriend. It had over 150 views but no response. So I deleted it.

Today I have three photos recently posted. One art nude with 75+ views and a couple of head shots with 30 to 40+ views respectively. All, again, with zero response. No likes, dislikes or comments.

But I did notice that four selfies on the first page of the Gallery each got likes. Viewership on the front page seems to be roughly 10 to 20 views per photo.

No hard feelings, I've got other places to post which have more enthusiastic responses and replies.

So, I'll probably be deleting the images soon.

Just for illustration, here's my attempt at artistic nude that had the 75+ views and zero responses.

_OSR5068 1 by Brusby, on Flickr

I have encountered a few very nice people here and I wish to thank them for their friendship and support. I won't embarrass anyone by naming them, but you know who you are. I'll probably still stick around and may even try to post again in the future in case things change.

I wanted to support this place by posting here since it seems to have been struggling a bit lately.

Just for now I don't want my photos where they aren't wanted.
Click to expand...
Love the tonality. Don't stop posting.
 
@wlewisiii - What pixel size do you suggest for images posted in threads? Currently the settings are 1600 pixels on the longest side, for images anttached/uploaded; this does not apply to links like Flickr. For the best viewing, members should prep images to their preferred ‘look’ and upload at that size, or less. Otherwise images are at the mercy of being altered by the open source image software (GD Library) and those adjustments may not be pleasing to the photog.
 
I made a LR preset like this:

Schermata 2023-02-18 alle 16.50.43.png

Length 1200 px, 72 dpi, max size 450 K, export to a folder called RFF, eventually rename the files.
It works quick, I think other editing SW have similar possibility
 
Nice photograph of a pretty girl. Good job.

could the photo be improved by cropping out the opening that’s the source of light? Just a thought.

For my way of thinking, I found that, over the years, that beauty is in the eye of the checkbook holder.

Keep showing your work here.
 
Brusby, I consistently like your photos. For me the gallery just doesn't work. The photos are random and it takes too many keyboard strokes to enlarge them and then to make a comment. On Instagram, by contrast, the programme is more user friendly. I almost never look at photos on Flickr unless directed there from a forum. IMO there's more likelihood of any kind of discussion/feedback/ etc when photos are posted in a thread here. Don't be discouraged... you make fine photographs.
 
Gallery? What gallery? Every time I click on the Gallery Portal link (above) I get a "page could not be loaded" message. Same with Classifieds link. I could never view the gallery in the old site either--no more than the first page. RFF has always been a weird site for me to use.

I just post pictures in threads and it's nice if people like them but really it's not necessary for me. Some days I give likes to some photos and other days I don't remember there's a button to like. I expect others are likely to do the same.
 
Thanks everyone for your nice, supportive comments. 'Very much appreciated. I'm happy to continue to post for the few who expressed an interest.

And I enjoyed your thoughtful comments about things like style, composition, content, tones and the like.

For instance, I believe it was xray who commented about not liking the light behind the model in my photo above. Point well taken and if I were in a studio or other place where I had control over the lights, that certainly wouldn't have been my choice. But, we were shooting at a type of active museum where we had little or no control over our environment or the other people who were circulating around. So, for this particular shot, in order to get the main light from the door to rim her figure the way I liked it and also to position her so the slant of her body mirrored the stairs outside, I had no choice but to have the light somewhere directly behind her. I made the conscious choice -- but a very quick decision made in seconds while shooting -- to place it behind the lower part of her frame to draw attention to her legs. You may not like my choice and I completely understand and wouldn't disagree. But just realize that when shooting live models in a a public and unfamiliar place -- with time limitations of having to shoot very quickly to avoid unwanted onlookers -- it's often not possible to get all elements of the photo arranged as well as when we have more complete control.

More than just likes, it's comments and engagement from other members that make it worthwhile for me to post. I feel it benefits not only me but hopefully this whole community by fostering and encouraging discussions about photos, art, composition, tone, lighting and the like, and not just endless drivel about gear. I like gear talk too, but it can get very boring when it's not balanced out by interesting discussions about the images themselves.

Several have suggested I take an altruistic approach and post just for the benefit of others. Well, to be honest, maybe I'm too selfish, but I figure I've taken the photo and shared it for free. I'd like something in return. Not necessarily a comment or like on every photo but some feedback, some discussion, something of interest not only to me but hopefully to everyone here with a sense of curiosity.

Since the subject is images, here's the very first photo from this session that resulted in the nude above. Usually the first shot is just a throw away in an attempt to get correct exposure and composion. But I got lucky with this one. And BTW, this is the first time my lovely friend has modeled with the exception of one brief bikini shoot with her sister.

Printed slightly dark for effect.
L1080158 by Brusby, on Flickr
 
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Dogman said:
Gallery? What gallery? Every time I click on the Gallery Portal link (above) I get a "page could not be loaded" message. Same with Classifieds link. I could never view the gallery in the old site either--no more than the first page. RFF has always been a weird site for me to use.

I just post pictures in threads and it's nice if people like them but really it's not necessary for me. Some days I give likes to some photos and other days I don't remember there's a button to like. I expect others are likely to do the same.
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Are you using an ad blocker?

Not sure why one part of the site would be visible and not others, as @farlymac has mentioned, but happy to look into why, and get it fixed.
 
The rangefinder forum is very female friendly, but there are very few female members. That's strange, because there are a lot of female photographers. Personally, I don't mind the kind of photos that Brusby posts on the Rangefinder Forum, but I don't think they are conducive to the increase in the number of female members. But perhaps that increase is not the goal of the Rangefinder Forum.

Erik.
 
Erik van Straten said:
The rangefinder forum is very female friendly, but there are very few female members. That's strange, because there are a lot of female photographers. Personally, I don't mind the kind of photos that Brusby posts on the Rangefinder Forum, but I don't think they are conducive to the increase in the number of female members. But perhaps that increase is not the goal of the Rangefinder Forum.

Erik.
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The female population is not monolithic. They are not all prudes or sexually repressive as you seem to suggest. In fact many of my subjects are amateur females who like the style of photos I do and who actually seek me and my frequent shooting partner out, as the young lady above and her sister did.

What would you suggest? That we self censor for the segment of the population who finds it offensive in a pandering effort to win their viewership?

If you don't like the way I photograph women that's fine. And it's also ok with me and actually to be expected that many women won't like it. But then isn't there a diversity of opinion about almost any subject?

You'd be mistaken to think all or even most females share your view that these images are offensive. I have direct, personal evidence to the contrary. Do you?

Maybe there are very few female viewers because there is a male dominated, repressive tone about the place. I certainly don't see many photographs celebrating women, as I at least try to do.

Frankly, this is the kind of close minded thinking that drives me crazy and makes me reluctant to post here. So self righteous in your approach to art.
 
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splitimageview said:
@

Are you using an ad blocker?

Not sure why one part of the site would be visible and not others, as @farlymac has mentioned, but happy to look into why, and get it fixed.
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I get the same behavior (can’t see the gallery or classifieds) but that’s only when I’m using Firefox on my Mac and I do have some ad blockers running so I will experiment with that and see if that changes anything. I thought it may have been a browser incompatibility but you never know.

However, when I switch to my Safari browser, all is good. And on my iPhone, I use the DuckDuckGo app and the website behavior is fine there also.

Back to the discussion. @brusby I like this new photo also: the softness of the colors and of the light. I like the contrast of the blues against the natural greens coming off through the window. I like the way you utilize light in a lot of your photographs.
 
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