As entry-level dSLRs have become more affordable, everyone seems to be getting on into the field of photography, sort of jumping into the bandwagon. For newbies (including me), other than attending photography workshops and joining outings, another invaluable learning resource is the Internet itself.
There are various online photography forums, that specifically cater for the respective camera brands (Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Sony, etc), photography techniques (strobist, film, etc), locality (local or overseas), and even photo-editing.
When I first started photography with my Nikon D40, I joined a local forum: LensaMalaysia.com (currently defunct). Everything was rosy in the beginning. Had a wonderful time getting to know new friends with similar passion/hobby and had lots of fun during the frequent outing trips. The forum also organised many free talks by established/professional photographers, and there were many invaluable pointers/tips to be gained.
However, somewhere along the line, things began to fell apart. As a forum that had prided itself to encompass the online community, the moderators began to ignore the contribution of its members. Hero-worshipping towards certain individuals was tolerated, they could do no wrong in the eyes of the moderators. Active members soon realised such double standard treatment, and began to leave. In a few months after our last fiery posts, forum progressed to a slow death.
Things are quite similar to the second forum that I had joined, ShutterAsia.com. The forum moderators have recently decided to regulate the postings of model photography workshops as to safeguard members from scams and pointless workshops, and at the same time to uphold the standards of portraiture (rather than shooting anything sexy, bikini, nudity aka flesh/meat session). :D
With such regulation, there has to be clear guidelines on the rules of the forum. Failure to do so will only invite questioning by fellow members. What astounded me was when one moderator replied that fairness is subjective and as such they reserve the right to solely allow a particular group member to continue their workshop postings while at the same time deleting postings by others. Yes, you can do that, but not arbitrarily.
Till today (after a month and after we have given countless suggestions), there is still no clear guidelines announced. Not wanting to be associated with such mentality, I requested to be removed from being as a member of the Shutter Council.
I have better experience surfing and participating in overseas forum such as dpreview and NikonCafe. The participants there are much more civilised and tacit, even though tempers do flare on and off. As for local photography forums, I currently only lurk at PhotoMalaysia.
I truly believe that an only community can only work out successfully when there is synergy and mutual respect+appreciation between the forum moderators and their fellow members.
