Article writers needed

[Overread]

or A solution to the endless swarms of new members

Right recently many longer term members are getting down about having to type out responces to the same questions over and over again - and for some its putting them off - this is an attempt to solve that problem.
We currently already have an FAQ for choosing a camera made by duncanp I think it is time to add to this example and make some more - easy to follow and complete tutorials so that when people surf the forums and see a question like:
"Which camera do I choose"
or
"What is wrong with these shots" (with the result being a lack of understanding of exposure)
I hope that this will get the support of those "in the know" and that we can get a series of good FAQs built up. We already have one thread collecting together good threads so its time to get some articles made (amazingly for the articles section )
So sign up and say what you are making an FAQ for or say where you think there is a need for an FAQ to be made. I will stick the suggestions for FAQs into this first post so that people can find out what is needed - make them and then submit them to the aticles section.
The last stage in all this will then be to start linking to the articles section in threads for new members,

 

[Helen B]

I have a couple of articles in draft: one on polarizing filters and one on flash output vs continuous light output. I'll be sending them in for checking and approval soon. The most time-consuming part has been making sufficiently good diagrams for the polarizer article.

Best,
Helen

 

[Rachelsne]

I dont know enough-but great idea

 

[paranoidandroid13]

Not to sound like a complete newb, although I suppose I am one, this would be very helpful... One I would like to see is something about lenses (how to choose, what makes a "good" lens, etc.). Thanks overread!

 

[astrostu]

I wrote one and finished it at the end of December on astrophotography. I submitted it to the mod in charge about 6 months ago and it has yet to be posted. Terri, are you reading this ...

Edited to add: That's part of the reason why I didn't actually submit my guide on lunar eclipse photography, but just host it on my own website and link to it if people post a question that's directly answered.

 

[tirediron]

Good idea; then people will only have to link them to the FAQ.

Helen, after your excellent article on colour space, I am very much looking forward to both of your upcoming works!

 

[terri]

I wrote one and finished it at the end of December on astrophotography. I submitted it to the mod in charge about 6 months ago and it has yet to be posted. Terri, are you reading this ...

Edited to add: That's part of the reason why I didn't actually submit my guide on lunar eclipse photography, but just host it on my own website and link to it if people post a question that's directly answered.

I love you, darlin'....of course I'm reading this. As I recall, we had special issues with the length of the article in question - PM on its way.

To others: when submitting articles for TPF, if you realize you are going over 5-6 pages, it may be time to think about submitting the article in parts - which in turn will be presented monthly in serial format. For example, we have a fantastic tutorial on B&W film & developing for beginners, but I think Torus34 broke it out in 7 or 8 sections due to lengthiness of the subject matter. We ended up presenting it as an ongoing series over several months, and it was very effective.

We look forward to seeing anything and everything!

 

[xbox360gurl70s]

FAQ's are useful, it will be nice if somebody have the time and patience to put one up

 

[Jedo_03]

Any idea is a good idea to try and prevent repetitive - I say again, repetitive, responses to newbie questions...
I even considered compiling answers and stockpiling them on a word document saved onto my desktop so's I could just cut and paste a response... (answers within the range of my knowledge...)
Anyways... since the target group is newbies, do we minimise the use of jargon/over-technical explanations/&c... and by how much??
This here is the question to consider ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
My biggest groanby far, are questions of the ilk:
"I've never owned a camera before, I'm gunner buy a 5d. I'll be shooting 3 weddings over the weekend. What do I need to know..???"
(I'll pass on writing a stock reply to THAT one...)

I'd be happy to write some pieces about basic-exposure/histograms/18%grey/AvPriority/basic PP in PS - except that I see just as many follow-up posts from newbies who haven't understood the piece, or not bothered to read it properly. Well, the follow-up posts would be... "hey Jedo, what did the piece mean by...?" and addressed to ME rather than to the forum, and it'd be damn rude to ignore it...
I dunno...
Jedo

 

[Senor Hound]

Some people post the same questions as before cause they think their circumstances are special and want personalized opinions. For these, an FAQ won't work, as they are also wanting some interaction.

But a sticky full of links would be great. I don't understand why people would get upset, though. I mean, this place is about talking to others and having fun first and foremost. If it were a professional website or something I could understand.

Also, for the people who don't want to make their own decisions, I would suggest an online magic 8-ball, where the different responses that pop up are different models of cameras. You click it, it shakes the 8-ball, and tells you to "go with the E-420".

 

[JerryPH]

Besides my martial arts, music, automotive and computer hobbies, I'm working on a couple of projects that I've decided to just slap in my blog. I've already started the "wedding for newbies" one, as well as created the skeleton for the Nikon off camera flash one, so I have enough to keep me busy for a while. Especially difficult week now that I am on my 2nd day with absolutely ZERO sleep, but I am persevering!

Once available, I do plan to post here, of course.

As far as FAQs, we have a few here, but more importantly, we have most of the answers here ALREADY. I feel the issue is not making more articles, more posts, FAQs or whatever... its getting people to get off their lazy hineys and use the search feature... simple as that.

 

[Rhys]

Hmm.... Interesting idea. I might put some articles on my business website. I'm not sure what format to use though. XML is supposed to be coming in. I could use PDF or just ordinary HTML.

 

[King Mango]

A thread for people to discuss elements of a famous/well-known/obscure but superb photo?
Maybe not a thread as it would get cluttered with different shots and overlapping discussion. But...
It could be possible for some brave soul to take the helm and post one new photo a week. Everyone gets to say what they like/don't like about it, what rules make it good, what rules were broken if any that don't matter or even contribute to the quality of the capture. Newbie like me get to ask questions like, how the **** does this Weston guy get away with so much black? (never heard of him before here btw... ducks)

 

[seamus14]

Another forum I visit, not photo related, has put all their info in WIKI format and it works out really well. In case anyone is interested in seeing the format here it is:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page