Got me wondering

[Patrick]

I was wondering after looking at the figures of hits & replies this morning.
With the exception of two rolling threads of long standing, the most replied too with the most hits were not for a photographic subject but broadband, namely Ian's new connection.
I have to ask the question are we interested in photography or computers and its functions?

I am the first to admit I can be guilty of such distractions myself now & then, but it still begs the question.

By the way Ian you may have got your fast broadband, but this morning the DP Now site is slow, other sites I have visited appear normal. Is there a lot of traffic?

Patrick

[Geoff]

Re: Got me wondering

Regarding Patrick's last sentence, in my opinion it is the ads that are slowing down the site. If I look at it in a browser with an ad blocker the site is normal speed, in a browser without any ad blockers it runs like treacle.

Regards,
Geoff.

[Ian]

Re: Got me wondering

I think ads are a contributing factor, but I can't stop running ads. They earn us less than you might think but without ads we'd have to close the site; it's as simple as that.

Our servers are in the US and I have been talking to our hosting company about speed of access because one thing having a very fast connection does demonstrate is that there is a limit to the return. As the server for DPNow is nearly 4,000 miles away (from us in the UK) in Lansing, Michigan, the effective download speed is about 4Mbs, maximum. So if you download a sample image from one of our article galleries here in the UK you won't get a download rate of more than about 500K bytes a second. So a 10MB image will take about 20 seconds., at least, to appear. Someone local to Lansing in the US may well get that image in a couple of seconds if their internet connection is fast enough.

The back connection speed is much slower, so when we upload to our servers the speed is only about 0.5Mbs, though there are tricks (like multi-threaded ftp access) which can nearly double the speed. But I have asked our ISP to investigate if there is any way of improving our access speeds. I'm only guessing, but they might be fiddling with our server today as a result and that might be causing a temporary slow down, but I can't honestly say I have noticed anything abnormal myself.

Ian

[Barr1e]

Re: Got me wondering

I was wondering after looking at the figures of hits & replies this morning.
With the exception of two rolling threads of long standing, the most replied too with the most hits were not for a photographic subject but broadband, namely Ian's new connection.
I have to ask the question are we interested in photography or computers and its functions?

I am the first to admit I can be guilty of such distractions myself now & then, but it still begs the question.

By the way Ian you may have got your fast broadband, but this morning the DP Now site is slow, other sites I have visited appear normal. Is there a lot of traffic?

Patrick

Hi Patrick -

I have found the thread most helpful. It will allow me to demonstrate to my ISP that they could possibly do better. I'm not far from the exchange and the box is about 100 metres away.

We need more people posting pix - I know we are just about to see spring blooming which will be helpful to us here in the UK to get out and about. DPnow has members worldwide so seasons shouldn't matter regarding new posts. I do find even as my age progresses further a willingness to learn something new - we all have something to offer.

Regards. Barr1e

[ash]

Re: Got me wondering

I agree Barrie, I would'nt like to say what the statistics are on this site but feel I have more than contributed images over the past year, be prepared for alot more, Ive kicked up another couple of gears in recent months and use dpnow to vent my artistic flair
Ash.

[ash]

Re: Got me wondering

Barrie just going back to your comment of posting more pics, I do feel that dpnow is lacking in places to post your pictures, if you do not want critique the only place is eye of the camera or b&w.
Maybe there should be some more categories to actually post images rather than have the majority for equipment and help and advice for beginers that rarely gets used and has posts.
Ok lets look at it from a newcomers point of view - after all I think dpnow needs new people...
Your new, you have an image but not b&w, you don't want critique and you dont have a story to tell!! ;-/ where do you post ya image?
Come on guy's I don't think its roket science, just have image categories like, landscapes, portraits, macro, etc, would this not be easier?
Rant over!
Carry on as you were!
Ash.

[Stephen]

Re: Got me wondering

Barrie just going back to your comment of posting more pics, I do feel that dpnow is lacking in places to post your pictures, if you do not want critique the only place is eye of the camera or b&w.
Maybe there should be some more categories to actually post images rather than have the majority for equipment and help and advice for beginers that rarely gets used and has posts.
Ok lets look at it from a newcomers point of view - after all I think dpnow needs new people...
Your new, you have an image but not b&w, you don't want critique and you dont have a story to tell!! ;-/ where do you post ya image?
Come on guy's I don't think its roket science, just have image categories like, landscapes, portraits, macro, etc, would this not be easier?
Rant over!
Carry on as you were!
Ash.

It's all kinda reasonable comment Ash. However personally I have to largely disagree. If you don't want critique then Eye of the Camera is the right place. It must also be said however that we already have a facility to put photos into categories. The Gallery should be the first port of call for doing this and there is the facility to create your own personal Albums as well as put them into broad subject headings as well as tagging them. Not only this but there is also the facility to grade them and comment on them, and IMHO there are not enough people do this. There are though several members who post fantastic photos in the galleries but rarely if ever post them on the forums.

We have had the POTD thing going on and off for some time now to highlight some of these great photos, many of which never make it onto the forums. Frankly I wish some of these people would post on the forums more, but they have their reasons and we must respect that. Not to mention the odd member who doesn't seem to want to post in the gallery at all

I'm not sure we need any more categories in the forums and I don't think we are heavily biased towards equipment, so there are no brand related boards and things are kept fairly non specific, perhaps this is our downfall

[ash]

Re: Got me wondering

Fair comments to my rant and taken onboard, I do agree that there are some awsome pictures that crop up on picture of the day and if it were not for that I would not no they were there, as I do not often go searching through the galleries.
Maybe some sub headings under eye of the camera, or maybe a gold, silver and bronze gallery header from the main page. I suppose Im just actively thinking how things could be improved as most of the headings from the main forum page are not actually image related, and like I said some rarely used.
Ash.

[Ian]

Re: Got me wondering

Fair comments to my rant and taken onboard, I do agree that there are some awsome pictures that crop up on picture of the day and if it were not for that I would not no they were there, as I do not often go searching through the galleries.
Maybe some sub headings under eye of the camera, or maybe a gold, silver and bronze gallery header from the main page. I suppose Im just actively thinking how things could be improved as most of the headings from the main forum page are not actually image related, and like I said some rarely used.
Ash.

I do appreciate this kind of feedback - the hard job is then to act on it!

Ian

[Ian]

Re: Got me wondering

It's all kinda reasonable comment Ash. However personally I have to largely disagree. If you don't want critique then Eye of the Camera is the right place. It must also be said however that we already have a facility to put photos into categories. The Gallery should be the first port of call for doing this and there is the facility to create your own personal Albums as well as put them into broad subject headings as well as tagging them. Not only this but there is also the facility to grade them and comment on them, and IMHO there are not enough people do this. There are though several members who post fantastic photos in the galleries but rarely if ever post them on the forums.

We have had the POTD thing going on and off for some time now to highlight some of these great photos, many of which never make it onto the forums. Frankly I wish some of these people would post on the forums more, but they have their reasons and we must respect that. Not to mention the odd member who doesn't seem to want to post in the gallery at all

I'm not sure we need any more categories in the forums and I don't think we are heavily biased towards equipment, so there are no brand related boards and things are kept fairly non specific, perhaps this is our downfall

It is perhaps naive to expect a site like this to flourish without adequate focus on hardware and it's certainly my intention to address this. I have found some budget to hire freelancers to get our camera reviews up and running again and I already have one such freelancer, who is well known in a number of mags, Gavin Stoker, lined up.

I do feel the gallery environment is past its sell by date (the problem being that there is no obvious replacment that is integrated so well with the forum) and of course there is tremendous competition from the likes of Picasa, Flickr, etc., but I like to think that things are far less impersonal here and certainly a hard core of regulars know this and exploit it.

Ian

[Patrick]

Re: Got me wondering

It is perhaps naive to expect a site like this to flourish without adequate focus on hardware and it's certainly my intention to address this. I have found some budget to hire freelancers to get our camera reviews up and running again and I already have one such freelancer, who is well known in a number of mags, Gavin Stoker, lined up.

I do feel the gallery environment is past its sell by date (the problem being that there is no obvious replacment that is integrated so well with the forum) and of course there is tremendous competition from the likes of Picasa, Flickr, etc., but I like to think that things are far less impersonal here and certainly a hard core of regulars know this and exploit it.

Ian

I have some sympathy with Ash's comments on this subject.
DP now when it first caught my attention was a digital photographic site. Over the years however it has become diluted moving off in other direction. My belief rightly or wrongly it has less appeal to photographers as a result.
Equipment reviews have there place but there are dozens of specialist sites doing this.
Now I subscribe to another photographic site, they do not deviate from photography, there are sections for every taste in photography.
Pictures are put up to screening for publishing on the site, and can be accepted or rejected for inclusion through this process. Failures can be put on a critique page if the author wishes. In some cases people put pictures just for critique with or without a view to publishing.
The site is primarily about quality photographs, there is no place for your holiday pics, unless they are very special. Its very satisfying when a picture is accepted for publishing, and indeed frustrating when you feel your image to be worthy but still fails.

The critique section really is critique, some one writing "I like this one " or "great picture" or any simplistic comment of this sort will have it removed by the regulators. This type of comment being reserved for the published pictures. They want more, does it work as a picture or not, does it convey a mood or not, does it move you the viewer with an emotional impact or not, can it be improved or not, and how.

There are forums an photographic subjects, which may include chat about equipment but there are no formal reviews of equipment.

I suppose its rather an elitist site, but its extremely well supported from all over the world.
There are no adverts, although I can't see why not personally.

Its free but a subscription can be paid of $59 a year that entitles the user to more privileges on the site.

This type of site is not what DP-now is about I know, but I'm sure there are lessons and ideas to be learned from it none the less.

Patrick

[Ian]

Re: Got me wondering

It's a matter of opinion, I'm sure, but I don't see that anything has changed in terms of the basic focus the site has had in its near ten years of existence (10th birthday in August!). Digital photography has changed greatly in that time, but I feel we're still focused on things specific to digital photography.

With digital photography where does photography stop? I think the answer will vary according to who you ask the question of.

Ian

[Brian Jackson]

Re: Got me wondering

If I'm not wrong, the site Patrick refers to is One Exposure (www.1x.com). I visit there a lot too, and have a photo published. While it has a forum, it is primarily an online photo art gallery. As the 'owners' of any gallery, they are entitled to hang whatever they wish on the 'wall'. Extremely good images don't make it, others do. It's not elitist nor snobbish, just people with certain taste accepting what they wish and saying 'no thanks' to the rest. There is no competition involved, save for that in the hearts of the submitters.

It in no way is the same as this site or any other that allows uploading of any image you choose. It has no equipment chat, except for whatever shows up in someone's forum conversation. This forum (DPNow) has provided me with useful information. It allows me to show some serious stuff and and some whimsical photos too. A fun place to be. That I think is as it should be. Ian, as if you don't have enough to do, you could always start something more 'serious'. But I find this place a nice little coffee shop to hang out in, with really nice people. It's just around the corner from my house, I can get there anytime. I would hate to see it close!

[Ian]

Re: Got me wondering

If I'm not wrong, the site Patrick refers to is One Exposure (www.1x.com). I visit there a lot too, and have a photo published. While it has a forum, it is primarily an online photo art gallery. As the 'owners' of any gallery, they are entitled to hang whatever they wish on the 'wall'. Extremely good images don't make it, others do. It's not elitist nor snobbish, just people with certain taste accepting what they wish and saying 'no thanks' to the rest. There is no competition involved, save for that in the hearts of the submitters.

It in no way is the same as this site or any other that allows uploading of any image you choose. It has no equipment chat, except for whatever shows up in someone's forum conversation. This forum (DPNow) has provided me with useful information. It allows me to show some serious stuff and and some whimsical photos too. A fun place to be. That I think is as it should be. Ian, as if you don't have enough to do, you could always start something more 'serious'. But I find this place a nice little coffee shop to hang out in, with really nice people. It's just around the corner from my house, I can get there anytime. I would hate to see it close!

Thanks Brian - I share a lot of your feelings about what makes the DPNow forum good. I always wanted to attract newbies and provide a platform for anyone, newbie or experienced pro, to help and encourage each other. And it happens, but we need more people to discover what you have come to appreciate.

Ian

[Patrick]

Re: Got me wondering

Thanks Brian - I share a lot of your feelings about what makes the DPNow forum good. I always wanted to attract newbies and provide a platform for anyone, newbie or experienced pro, to help and encourage each other. And it happens, but we need more people to discover what you have come to appreciate.

Ian

It wasn't my suggestion DP now copy 1X, I finished my post saying as much, they have found a formula that works for them, but that doesn't mean there aren't ideas that could be looked at & adapted to the DP Now ethos.
I do however have reservations about equipment reviews. I am thinking of buying later this year a Canon 7D, so I typed into Google 7D review and found a large number mostly extolling how good the camera was but others less enthusiastic, but it does show we don't really need more reviews they are already thick on the ground. Look at areas neglected my the photography community there is probably more mileage in doing so.
But that's the difficult bit and would take some doing.

Patrick