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Photo posting on this forum--your thoughts, please.

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Photo posting on this forum--your thoughts, please.
Posted by zardoz on Wednesday, August 10, 2011 8:25 PM

Since there has lately been an increase in the number of people who are posting photos in this forum (myself included), I would like your thoughts on this practice. This is sort of an informal poll. The reason for my doing this is that I do not want to clog up the forum space nor do i wish to bore you. If the majority of the regulars on this forum do not want to see too many photos here, then I will refrain.

1. Would you prefer to not have so many photos posted here?

2. Do you think a separate forum dedicated to photo posting would be a better idea?

 

Perhaps the powers-that-be at Kalmbach might also have some ideas/suggestions.

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Posted by Phoebe Vet on Wednesday, August 10, 2011 8:39 PM

I think the photos are great.  The only thing that I would like to suggest is that people not "quote" the photos in replies.  We don't need to see the same photos in 6 different posts while discussing them.

Dave

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Posted by henry6 on Wednesday, August 10, 2011 8:41 PM

There are a lot of photo web pages for railfans while these have been more for conversation and exchange of information.  So I really wouldn't want these pages to be clogged with pics which too often are the same wedge shot filling the whole frame with only the color of the locomotive different from the next.  There are places for that and should not take away from the other materials here. 

That being said, there are times an illustration is essential in one way or another, and should not be discourage.  I've been asked to post pics here myself but haven't because I haven'g figured out how and don't want to bore anyone with things so specialized as a topic.  So for both purposes I wish it were easier to download a pic from my file without having to find a server or whatever. 

In the end, it is up to Kalmbach and the moderators.  WOuld it pay for them to set up a forum thread just for posting pictures?  I doubt it.

RIDEWITHMEHENRY is the name for our almost monthly day of riding trains and transit in either the NYCity or Philadelphia areas including all commuter lines, Amtrak, subways, light rail and trolleys, bus and ferries when warranted. No fees, just let us know you want to join the ride and pay your fares. Ask to be on our email list or find us on FB as RIDEWITHMEHENRY (all caps) to get descriptions of each outing.

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Posted by henry6 on Wednesday, August 10, 2011 8:47 PM

Another thought has come to me as to why Kalmbach may not want to host such a thread: piracy and copyright.  Too often I see photos posted by one but taken by another, etc.  Kalmbach would not want to get caught in the middle of any problems resulting.  I myself have downloaded shots for my own purpose and which I have used for such things as avatar shots!  I know we all do it, and when there is no control, there is no control.

RIDEWITHMEHENRY is the name for our almost monthly day of riding trains and transit in either the NYCity or Philadelphia areas including all commuter lines, Amtrak, subways, light rail and trolleys, bus and ferries when warranted. No fees, just let us know you want to join the ride and pay your fares. Ask to be on our email list or find us on FB as RIDEWITHMEHENRY (all caps) to get descriptions of each outing.

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Posted by edblysard on Wednesday, August 10, 2011 9:00 PM

One of the reasons I come here is the photos, wedgies or not, you find some things you have not seen before.

Although I do agree it's best not to "quote" the photo in replies.

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Posted by tree68 on Wednesday, August 10, 2011 9:07 PM

That was actually one of the reasons for the "Trackside Lounge."

If I post photos, it's usually to illustrate something, as mentioned. 

It is nice to share a particularly good photo from time to time (as Chris does, for one), and I'd liken it to getting out the pictures of the grandkids whilst in a group of friends.

Many of those photos do also get posted to the rail photo sites.

Sometimes folks post photos to get a friendly critique - "how am I doin'?"  A much less formal thing than you'd expect on a photo site.

Given the issues many have with the quote function, posting links, and posting images, I'm not surprised that photos (and other extraneous matter) sometimes get quoted.  If I just spoke to "you," we're here to help!

LarryWhistling
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Posted by narig01 on Wednesday, August 10, 2011 9:09 PM

A picture is worth a thousand words. Having said that . Sometimes pics get overused, other times not. 

     I would point out K.P.Harriers thread on the Sunset Route double tracking. A lot of it could be classed as "boring " construction photos. But how often does a site give one the chance to be sidewalk supervisor?

 Thx IGN

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Posted by Modelcar on Wednesday, August 10, 2011 9:26 PM

....Continue the photos.  Agree, try not to "repeat" them in an answer.

Also, wish there was a better system to use to do it on this forum.

Quentin

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Posted by richg1998 on Wednesday, August 10, 2011 9:52 PM

How many times has Kalmbach complained about too many pictures being posted. Maybe I have missed that message. Don't forget, those pictures are links to another service.

I have seen discussions go on ad nauseam because someone did not post a photo of the issue they had.

Many here have no idea on how to use the forums so many times the pictures get reposted a lot.Many do not want to learn how to use the forums. I see that a lot in all the forums and groups I belong to.

Some cannot even figure out the correct forum.

Also, I see SO MANY blah, blah, blah useless discussions by bored people that seem to waste a  lot of space here.

Even this discussion is a repeat I have seen in different form in the past. This will never end.

Rich

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Posted by The Butler on Wednesday, August 10, 2011 10:23 PM

      I do like it when the person posting puts in the subject line "Img. Heavy," or "1 Pic."  Up until six months ago, I had dial-up internet service so it was nice to know that a post might have a longer download time.

James


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Posted by Erik C. Lindgren on Wednesday, August 10, 2011 10:30 PM

I will try and do as you guys vote on!

 

Smile

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Wednesday, August 10, 2011 10:31 PM

     Like most every subject that gets posted here, as long a s people are viewing the thread, there must be some interest.  I would appreciate a short description in the title.

Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.

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Posted by zugmann on Wednesday, August 10, 2011 10:37 PM

Erik C. Lindgren

I will do as you wish and NOT post photography anymore.

So far the blog admin has not asked me to stop. No nudity, no anything in violation with the blog rules... I still don't see how it would adversely affect you; but then I am not you. They do not take up space on any server owned or operated by Kalmbach most certainly not yours except perhaps 400-900 kilobytes RAM, furthermore they do not affect you unless you open the post (my posts are usually tagged with "digital captures"...) in the subject header...

 

I do understand, "Leave the photography to the professionals." No problem fellas.

 

Best Regards

 

Ok, I'm confused.  did I miss something?

It's been fun.  But it isn't much fun anymore.   Signing off for now. 


  

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Posted by coborn35 on Wednesday, August 10, 2011 10:44 PM

zugmann

 

 Erik C. Lindgren:

 

I will do as you wish and NOT post photography anymore.

So far the blog admin has not asked me to stop. No nudity, no anything in violation with the blog rules... I still don't see how it would adversely affect you; but then I am not you. They do not take up space on any server owned or operated by Kalmbach most certainly not yours except perhaps 400-900 kilobytes RAM, furthermore they do not affect you unless you open the post (my posts are usually tagged with "digital captures"...) in the subject header...

 

I do understand, "Leave the photography to the professionals." No problem fellas.

 

Best Regards

 

 

 

Ok, I'm confused.  did I miss something?

Did I? Where did you get that quote from?

I hate the guys from railpics who make accounts here just to spew their pictures out, and do not post anything else meaningfull to the forum.

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Posted by tdmidget on Wednesday, August 10, 2011 10:51 PM

Photos, relevant to the post yes. Just a photo , No.

Videos , no way unless they are essential to illustrate a message. We are recently covered up in videos that are nothing but someone showing off that he has a camera.

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Posted by zugmann on Wednesday, August 10, 2011 11:02 PM

coborn35

 

 

 

 

Did I? Where did you get that quote from?

I hate the guys from railpics who make accounts here just to spew their pictures out, and do not post anything else meaningfull to the forum.

I think I'm the victim of a post edit. Oh well...

It's been fun.  But it isn't much fun anymore.   Signing off for now. 


  

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Posted by jwhitten on Thursday, August 11, 2011 7:35 AM

zugmann

 

 coborn35:

 

 

 

 

 

Did I? Where did you get that quote from?

I hate the guys from railpics who make accounts here just to spew their pictures out, and do not post anything else meaningfull to the forum.

 

 

I think I'm the victim of a post edit. Oh well...

Only the person who posted and the moderators (or site admins) can edit posts.  If one of the moderators edited a post they should have followed up with a private note to you about it. I did not edit any of your posts until this morning, and then I did send you a note to explain the issue. I will check to see if any of the other moderators might have edited one of your posts.

John

 

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Posted by zugmann on Thursday, August 11, 2011 8:08 AM

jwhitten

 

 

 

Only the person who posted and the moderators (or site admins) can edit posts.  If one of the moderators edited a post they should have followed up with a private note to you about it. I did not edit any of your posts until this morning, and then I did send you a note to explain the issue. I will check to see if any of the other moderators might have edited one of your posts.

John

 

 

That's what I meant - the original poster edited his post after I quoted it.  I apologize for not making that clear originally.

It's been fun.  But it isn't much fun anymore.   Signing off for now. 


  

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Posted by Steven Otte on Thursday, August 11, 2011 8:49 AM

Kalmbach already provides a place specifically for you to upload  pictures of your layout! You can get to it from our home page, in the Community menu... coincidentally, right under Forums. Check it out:

http://cs.trains.com/trccs/media/g/mrr-layouts/default.aspx

If you're worried about photo-heavy threads causing slow downloads, you can always post your picture there, and link to it from a Forum post.

Happy railroading!

--
Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editor
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Posted by samfp1943 on Thursday, August 11, 2011 9:06 AM

Speaking only for myself:

                                         I really like the pictures that have been posted. As I have stated previously, I am NOT a good photographer. I shoot what I see when I see it. A shot for myself.  I thoroughly enjoy the guys who post around here. The work is topical (TRAINS), the results are very interesting, and certainly well formatted. My 2 Cents

                                     I like to use some linked photos to illustrate topics, mostly because, it seems lots of folks enjoy seeing those things. Ed Blysard has taken some topical pictures fro time to time that are well done and provide some  interesting perspectives.  The UP unveiling of the 2010 ( Boy Scout Honor Unit), The arrival and handling to rail cars on the docks there in Houston, to name a couple.    Those of us who enjoy looking at the work of Chris (Cop Car ss) and Ryan Degari, and now Erick Lundgren.  That does not mean to just single out these guys. Larry (tree68) posted a study recently of the area line he works on ( ASRR) in upstate NY. And who could not acknowledge the photos -On Topic that KP Harrier has illustrated his great Threads with!.  Good Stuff, all!

    I do not think that posting the photos deminishes these Forums, by any stretch. Recently I have been looking around at some other Forum presentations, out of curiosity. My feeling is that this Forum, has been well presented, well moderated, and well neigh full of some pretty interesting topics. My 2 Cents

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Posted by WSORatSussex on Thursday, August 11, 2011 9:47 AM

Keep posting the photos. For those of us who are still developing the craft, other's photos serve as inspiration and instruction. I would personally like to see more photos posted, alot of you out there have access to things and places many of us would never get to see otherwise.

Regards, Ed
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Posted by oltmannd on Thursday, August 11, 2011 10:34 AM

Like!  Particularly when they are related to recent events, interesting history,  illustration of a point,or just a really cool shot.  I'd rather see to many than too few.

While it would be nice if everyone avoided including photos when quoting, it's not that big deal.

 

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Posted by henry6 on Thursday, August 11, 2011 4:50 PM

Yes, news or other event or description or explanation of the thread discussion only.  Not a photo contest or dump.  Not that it takes up room, but that it is not needed as there are quite a few other photo oriented sites..

 

RIDEWITHMEHENRY is the name for our almost monthly day of riding trains and transit in either the NYCity or Philadelphia areas including all commuter lines, Amtrak, subways, light rail and trolleys, bus and ferries when warranted. No fees, just let us know you want to join the ride and pay your fares. Ask to be on our email list or find us on FB as RIDEWITHMEHENRY (all caps) to get descriptions of each outing.

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Posted by Modelcar on Thursday, August 11, 2011 7:59 PM

....Guess I'm a little surprised at some of the "sharp" comments to posters posting their efforts of some rail photography here.....

Didn't think this was for just a certain "level" of ability....

Believe it's to be an informal, and civil, decent site, for all who conform to the set brackets.  My 2 Cents  Cool

Quentin

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Posted by zardoz on Friday, August 12, 2011 7:49 AM

henry6

Yes, news or other event or description or explanation of the thread discussion only.  Not a photo contest or dump.  Not that it takes up room, but that it is not needed as there are quite a few other photo oriented sites..

 

Perhaps some of us do not want to use the other sites and just like the (usual) friendliness of these forums. It's nice to get compliments or critical comments from strangers, but it is even nicer to get them from people with whom you have had a casual relationship with over the years.

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Posted by henry6 on Friday, August 12, 2011 9:07 AM

Then it is up to our hosts to decide....they have a commercial stake in it as well as  financial and personell  investment here.

RIDEWITHMEHENRY is the name for our almost monthly day of riding trains and transit in either the NYCity or Philadelphia areas including all commuter lines, Amtrak, subways, light rail and trolleys, bus and ferries when warranted. No fees, just let us know you want to join the ride and pay your fares. Ask to be on our email list or find us on FB as RIDEWITHMEHENRY (all caps) to get descriptions of each outing.

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Posted by Modelcar on Friday, August 12, 2011 11:40 AM

.....Have the "Hosts" complained of posters downloading too many photos, etc......?

Quentin

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Posted by Erik C. Lindgren on Friday, August 12, 2011 12:19 PM

Hey guys!

A lot of seriously good points on both opinions. And hey.. everyone is entitled to their opinions, we need to understand that. I should apologize to those I have bothered and do the right thing and look at the list of forums Trains has here; a "photo" forum that will not clog up the discussion forum here. I agree that sometimes a place like this becomes to quote the replies in this thread a "Photo Dump", or a place for guys who enjoy photographing trains to "=BLEEP= Out their Photos".. Yes their are many places to exhibit photography and from what is written here perhaps this is NOT one of them. I do apologize for "=BLEEP=" out my photographs, that was not my intention... Embarrassed

Speaking frankly I am not "=BLEEP=" out my photography rather sharing the enthusiasm I mistakenly thought I shared with the majority of the forum members here. Hey I made a mistake, but for those of you that have complimented or expressed an interest in the photos I posted..  I send my gracious thanks. Huh?Smile 

I for one will NOT post photos anymore on this blog..Confused I want to get along and life is way too short.. agree- there are other places for photos and I enjoy being a part of Trains Forum. If Trains would make a forum just for photos then perhaps I may reconsider. Until then I will focus on the places online that are specific for photos only.

My best regards.. We are all friends here I hope.

Smile

Erik Lindgren

 

EDIT: PLEASE folks, do not use this type of language on the forums. Kalmbach / MR is very serious about wanting to keep this a "Family-Friendly" environment. If you wouldn't say it to your kid, your mom or your pastor, don't say it here!

I'm putting this here directly in the thread because this is about the fourth or fifth time I've edited it out of the thread. If it shows up again, I'm simply going to delete the thread!

John

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Posted by zardoz on Friday, August 12, 2011 4:08 PM

Modelcar

.....Have the "Hosts" complained of posters downloading too many photos, etc......?

Not that i am aware of.  I was just asking because I just recently learned how to post photos here, and was kinda thrilled to be able to share my stuff so others might enjoy.

I did not start this thread for any purpose other than to get an idea of how the other forum members felt about such activity. Nor did I wish to draw attention to the others that post photos.  I like to see how others photograph trains, as each of us has a slightly different perspective. Sometimes I'll see a photo and I'll think, "Hey, there's an interesting way--maybe I'll try that". 

At the time of writing this post, it seems as though most that replied seem to be either in favor of more photos, or are ambivalent towards them.

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Posted by zardoz on Friday, August 12, 2011 4:14 PM

Erik C. Lindgren

I for one will NOT post photos anymore on this blog.

Dude, I don't know why you are reactig with such negativity. I do not believe anyone is complaining about your posts. And even if they are, so what?  If the majority are against it, then as a (semi) democracy, then that policy should rule.  But to stop doing something just because someone said something is to let that person bully you. To heck with them; keep on posting your photos if you want to. As long as you title the thread such that everyone is aware that the thread is a photo-intensive on, then I see no reason to quit.

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