Do you feel we are better off for excluding some 38% of applicants?

Since we started OPF in the summer of 2006 after a scourge of controversies in a number of popular websites, we have grown steadily.

You might be interested to know that 28% of the registrants are banned outrightt permanently for being dishonest, having a spamming record or similar.

A further 10% don't follow up registration procedures, and all of these apart from maybe 6 or so, would have been banned had they fulfilled our requests anyway.

So we are left with 62% of people like you who joined OPF and were welcomed into our community.

So how do you feel about our nature. Are we really any different after all this work! Do we provide a different experience. Where are we succesful and what do we still need to do?

Or would it be sufficient to show what we are by example?

Asher

Asher Kelman said:

-snip-
Or would it be sufficient to show what we are by example?

Asher

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I seriously doubt that would work for the spammers and schemers.

I like the crowd here; polite, serious, and respectful. Did I mention knowledgeable? Seldom a day goes by that I don't learn something from the posts here.

Keep up the good work, keep out the riff raff.

My $0.02 worth

and to think I made the cut............


Cheers,

Paul

OPF is a horse of a slightly different color.

I have significantly curtailed the time I spend looking at any photo forums these days. In fact there are only 3 such sites I visit regularly, OPF being one. OPF holds my interest mainly because it's topically richer and has a more mature tone than its peers. The gear/consumerist-fixation of most other sites may be informative and interesting if you're shopping. But it's an awful damn monotonous theme that has nothing meaningful to offer with regard to photography.

OPF offers a wider variety of discussions and a slightly more seasoned tone. So perhaps your registration diligence greatly contributed to this result.

Devoted to a higher caliber...

Asher,

I can say that having met you and experienced your zest for photography and all things related, that this board has definitely taken a tone that you personify.

You treat each member with great care (as opposed to some moderators on othre boards who just ZAP posts without rhyme or reason). The encouragement here is not just to reach to do better but to do and be the best. There is a general kindness here without puffery about who is better - no over inflated egos to deal with - no flaming, no name calling. And most certainly there is a great focus on education and respect for conversation, which could be controversial, but never resorts to leaving readers or posters feeling like they just crawled out of the mud. There is also an international flare and a good cross culture of types of photographer participating.

Thank you for all of your devotion to making this happen. I consider OPF my photographic home on the web.

Asher,
even if it were 98% - so what? I always thought of the OPF as of a some hard-ass British club, rather than of a roadside diner (which most of the online communities unfortunately are similar to). With heavy dark oak cabinetry, oil portraits of the founders - and exclusive access. This place must keep its chin high. Think of the French Academy, for instance. 40 "immortals". Period. New guys can enter only after some old guy dies... This is a bit extreme of course, but what a concept....
You got some high caliber people here (I'm *not* speaking about myself, I'm proud to be a doorman here), it is vitally important to keep the concentration high. I've seen the results of dilution of scientific/artistic societies in my life. They don't survive. I mean, they don't survive as they were, they degrade and transform into the mediocrity.
As an evil yet extremely sharp man once said, "better less but better"
My 0.00002 of the f/stop.

Hi Asher,


I think its a great thing to do to keep this place real as oppose to many other website, I do find this site very Geniune with real people.


As for myself, I only intend to ask a few question and then leave but after what I have read and seen, I am here to stay. (If permittted)


I am not a Photographer nor I own a camera, But I love photography and arts with a passion.


This place should be kept real.


Regards,

TB

Nice to know a dilletante like myself can join in....

Asher,

This place has a good group of forummembers. Most and foreall they share quite a bit of knowledge.

Being a moderator myself on the photocamel forum I know what a hard job you are up to. But don't despair, working on the imago of this site will reward you and the forummembers.

Do we provide a different experience.

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I am only here a since a short while, but spend a lot of time reading through posts and I can say the fora do make a difference to me already.

So how do you feel about our nature.

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The tone in generell appears to be more friendly than in the somewhat boring pixel peeper fora I looked at so far.

Are we really any different after all this work!

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I think so, yes. I would see it like Ken, I can compare this with music related forums, and there are less than a handfull that made it to that standard you/the people provide here.

Where are we succesful and what do we still need to do?

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To early for me to be able to make suggestions. But I guess it is a continuous thing and evolves over time.

Or would it be sufficient to show what we are by example?

Click to expand...

I am not sure whether I understand that right.

What strikes me most to be honest and which was very quickly evident to me is the notion of helping each other, the free exchange of knowledge and information.

I have no doubts that I will learn a lot here and hopefully be able to return this in one way or another over time. For me personally the first time experience was nothing short but amazing, as the very first thread I stumbled over was David's "High in the Arctic" thread, and I was glued to the screen for the next few hours.

Very happy to be here!

Asher Kelman said:

Since we started OPF in the summer of 2006 after a scourge of controversies in a number of popular websites, we have grown steadily.

You might be interested to know that 28% of the registrants are banned outrightt permanently for being dishonest, having a spamming record or similar.

A further 10% don't follow up registration procedures, and all of these apart from maybe 6 or so, would have been banned had they fulfilled our requests anyway.

So we are left with 62% of people like you who joined OPF and were welcomed into our community.

So how do you feel about our nature. Are we really any different after all this work! Do we provide a different experience. Where are we succesful and what do we still need to do?

Or would it be sufficient to show what we are by example?

Asher

Click to expand...

Asher!

To be honest: i´m glad you invited me to join in here!
What in my eyes is even more relevant than discussing techniques is the philosophical side and also the pychological side of photography.
I had problems in the past to discuss such things in forums - they seem to be of no interest. It´s all fixed on lenses, chips and so on.
What photography is by nature - view people are interested in that. That maybe no wonder in a chaotic surrounding like the web, where everybody feels "competent" just by knowing where to look at Wikipedia . . .

It´s a good place here to discuss the more delicate points of photography AND it´s also a profound technical knowledge here without the label-fixed hystery you can find in many other places.

best, Klaus

Dear Asher...

Asher Kelman said:

Since we started OPF in the summer of 2006 after a scourge of controversies in a number of popular websites, we have grown steadily.

You might be interested to know that 28% of the registrants are banned outrightt permanently for being dishonest, having a spamming record or similar.

A further 10% don't follow up registration procedures, and all of these apart from maybe 6 or so, would have been banned had they fulfilled our requests anyway.

So we are left with 62% of people like you who joined OPF and were welcomed into our community.

So how do you feel about our nature. Are we really any different after all this work! Do we provide a different experience. Where are we succesful and what do we still need to do?

Or would it be sufficient to show what we are by example?

Asher

Click to expand...

Pleaseeeeeeee...Please BAN Me! I want to be a Martyr. Think of all of the exposure you and I would get as a result. Some might say it was a "Marketing" Ploy just to pull in more potential members. Others would just want to check out your site out of morbid curiosity. What do you think? ;-)

Alright...Maybe it wasn't funny...Just wanted to inject a bit of brevity. A kind of Monty Python sketch...I'm still trying to pry my foot out of my mouth.

ROFLMAO

Asher,

Yes, OPF is doing a good job. Like another post said, I too used to visit more online photography forums, but over the years the noise to signal ratio made many of those forums pretty much a waste of time until there are very few forums that actually are of any quality. OPF is one, so the efforts to keep the house in order is well-spent.

Thank you.

Mike

Thanks for all the positive comments. So we'll keep the current strong filter at the very entrance to OPF. It obviously has worked.

I welcome you to recommend to me any photographers you feel I should personally invite. This way, we can get enriched by those people you admire.

If you know the photographers yourself, please go ahead and invite them and drop me a note so I make sure to give them a proper greeting!

Asher