Must all questions be about photography in this section?

Question

...or can they be about things of general interest to photographers? Photographers obviously have their own point of view (pun intended) on many subjects and we encourage them to express that through photography. Why not other things? There are things that can be said about other areas of life that will definitely be shaded by the filter that you select. We can say things (like that last sentence) in a way that only another photographer would appreciate.

We expect to get questions about technique for our equipment, including cameras, lenses, printers and software. We expect to get questions asking for critique; selling photography; paying photographers; finding photographers; buying equipment or software. We accept questions asking if someone is cute, even though that has nothing to do with photography. Maybe it's okay if we say the person is interested in becoming a model, even though we know that's not usually the case.

Where do we draw the line?

Yahoo! expects us to police ourselves and report "abuse" to Yahoo! staff. The first line in the Community Guidelines says, "Yahoo! Answers is an online community in which participants ask and answer questions on a wide range of topics, from the serious to the delightfully trivial." If someone has a delightfully trivial question that only makes sense to another photographer, would they post it in "Jokes and Riddles" or "Hobbies and Crafts" or here?

Yahoo! says that discussions belong in Yahoo! Groups, but we have learned a way around that over here. Should we STOP creating discussions and leave this a cold and impersonal alcove of advice only?

In my other section, I have my own way of dealing with questions that are not interesting to me. I DON'T ANSWER THEM! I don't even read them. It works for me and it might work for you.

In case you have never actually read the Community Guidelines, it takes 2 minutes: http://answers.yahoo.com/info/community_guidelines.php

Obviously, this is a rhetorical question, but any answers are wonderful. Yahoo! calls this a "community" and then says not to have discussions or chat in this community. I think we are finding a way to devlop a sense of community on our own. How can the members of a community not know about each other or not want to know even more? That's not much of a community, is it?

David, as you know, I've develped my own little library of resources for those repetitive and boring questions. I decided that many people come here with a specific question in mind and it's all that they can do to figure out how to post that question, let alone search for identical questions that were already answered. In fact, I think I have enough in "Dentistry" to publish a book or author a complete website. The thing is, I got so border with that, I pretty much never go there any more. "Cameras" is getting that way and you can tell how much time I have on my hands by which questions I answer. [continued]

[cont.]

I often skip the easy "best camera" questions and spend time on the ones that I can LEARN something by answering or genuinely help someone else advance. I just don't want this section to become boring to me also. And yet, there's something about this environment that I find more attractive than photog forums where we often find arguments and egos clashing.

Christy, I would not encourage commercial activity at all, but I wish more of the active members knew more about each other or had a way to see their work.

Mojo, I find that this is a nice comfortable section most of the time. I also find that I "watch" questions that I want to come back to so I can reconsider and add to my original answer - or question. Others must be doing this, as I find that we are actually discussing things back and forth instead of just taking a hit and run approach.

[continued]

[cont.]

I guess we'll find out if there is any limit to how many details Yahoo! will let us add to our questions...

Terisu, I am so glad that I discovered this section! I hope that "Cameras" remains the place where people who apparently want the "absolute best camera in the world," but have a $150 budget will go. This section is buried under one more layer of sections, so it's harder to find. Good. I think you'll see me "spend" some of my points asking stupid or stimulating questions more often. I'll try to rival Antoni for ridiculousness. Or interestingness, as Flickr calls it.

Antoni, you've only been around for a month now, but I am so glad that YOU discovered this section! You sure perked things up in a hurry. And you bring a very high level of experience with you that we will all benefit from. I hope you have enough mastery of my language to know when I am being sarcastic with you by now, too. I may give you a thumb up where you don't appreciate it if you don't.

Answer 1

Thanks Dr except for Christy you got some big guns to answer this Trisu, mojo, Ma Ace all stars with alot of great stuff to give to this forum

ok my favourite is whats the best camera

or how do i get my photos to look like this - a shot of Anne Geddes babies -

the constant questions about photoshop where people try to use a computer to do what a Pro does with light and makes in the camera

i have asked some humourous questions and been really disapointed how humourless people are here!!

ok for me its the people who say i dont know what im talking about but ill rubish others and say what i want anyway,


oh and the racist rubish about my English - if i make an effort to learn English why dont some native speakers?

my biggest peeve is the photoshopers who tell people to do things on the computer instead of learning photographic skiils

oh and that fool we both think is full of it, below is a clue::

Answer 2

Well, I think that the guidelines are too specific for us to have just found a way around it. I agree that subject material specific to photography, regardless of whether it deals with how to use a certain camera or how to compose a certain photograph, should also include questions that indirectly suggest that people who are either photographers or have even a fleeting interest in photography could relate to. That sort of thing should be encouraged, but you asked the 64 thousand dollar question though, where do we draw the line? A question asking about some east Indian television star, and the like have no business in a photography questions and answers forum. There are other forums for questions of that nature, otherwise everything would be put in the same category and we would have to search thousands of questions just to get to what we're looking for. I mean, it's more efficient that way, wouldn't you think? Personally, if there is something I would like to know about a certain subject, I check to see whether that question has been asked before, rather than ask it myself, but if I had to sift through discussions about off topic subjects, I would have a hell of a hard time trying to find what I need. Hence, the reason why there exists categories. And I think as people who sometimes need to have discussions, we should reserve that for another place, like a discussion forum. And I think in this particular case, Y!A staff does want it to remain a dull questions and answers forum where people ask and get answers. Perhaps they should develop a way for everyone to have discussions, other than the somewhat weak forums they have now. And to tell you the truth, discussion can sometimes be a bad thing. Specificity keeps people in check, I think. Have you ever seen other areas of Y!A? Like the cultures and societies forum? Discussions get started up all the time in there, and people are being violated left and right. Now I just stick to what I'm interested in, and if I need to have a discussion about it, I'll just go find a photography discussion forum, like on deviantart or something of the like. I'm satisfied with how things roll in the photography section of Y!A.

Answer 3

Both have advantages, and the good thing is that both can co-exist. If you go from start to finish with film - take it personally through development and printing - it is a joy. Maybe one a person doing only digital will never know. Instead of it becoming less of a joy with the introduction of digital, it is becoming a more exclusive club these days. Film is more expensive, but that is good and bad. It forces you to be as close to perfect as you can with each shot. You shoot film and find out a day later if you got the fleeting shot. If you knew you only had an hour to capture a shot, how carefully would you consider the scene? Colleges and universities that ripped out their wet labs are now kicking themselves, because they now understand better the value that film brings and now they can't afford to re-purchase the equipment. It is kind of funny that film is being called the dying breed, because some predict that still photography in general is a dying breed. Digital is great, it is the big majority of my shooting, but I hope it never fully replaces B&W film.

Answer 4

I'd personally welcome any different questions here, at this point. I'm getting tired of the same old questions in photography and cameras. I formatted my memory card. How do I get my pictures back? How many pictures does my memory card hold? What's the best camera that does everything for under $200? I dropped my camera in a swimming pool and now it doesn't work, what should I do? Blah blah blah!

How about some new questions? Come on, people, let's get imaginative here! Some days I just get too bored of reading the questions to answer them. I'm starting to feel downright snarky, and questioners don't usually like my snarky answers.

Okay, I'll step off my soapbox now and let the fun begin. Or not....

Answer 5

The photography section is my favorite. It seems like some of the frequent visitors here are friends of mine, even though little direct communication occurs. And I have gotten used to my top contributor badge coming and going!
Of course, there are the repetitive questions here, too. The one part in color question comes up a lot :-) How to make a blurry background. How can I make a professional picture.
There are lots of critique requests which I mostly ignore. Many people don't want a real critique, they want someone to tell them how cutting edge and unique their over-photoshopped image is.
Of course, different strokes for different folks.

There are several contributors here who are knowledgeable, and a couple who border on rude at times, but all in all, a great section. Glad to see you hanging out here, Dr Sam!

I am toying with the idea of posting a link in my YA bio to my weatherunderground portfolio, or my photo.net gallery, just not sure I want to share that much of myself with YA.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

Remember that this is not e-bay! The selling of oneself does not belong in this forum!!