On 4 Nov 2004, at 11:23, John Cole wrote:
At the risk of being black-balled (in the nicest possible way!) I would like to second the subscriber's opinion about the late lamented Inno'; what's wrong with a little obstreperousness?
He was in no way lamented :-) He was arrogant, insulting, mostly anti-digital and although we like to think we can hit the delete button, he used to make such blindingly combustible remarks that a lot of time was wasted on and off-list by many of us trying to find out if he was even a photographer! I guess your remarks are tongue in cheek but as with all e-mail dialogue, I can only hope so!
People like Steve Climpson have been a Godsend to this list over the years, and many of the original big names hardly contribute anymore because they quite rightly are making more productive use of their time, earning from their knowledge. Although I also feel that this Professional Digital list should be primarily open to members earning 100% of their income from photography or photo related industries, I know several very knowledgeable and welcome amateurs have left this list because of simply too much traffic. As a full time professional, I find it increasingly difficult to wade through the masses of ProDig mails, almost 70 today, which primarily deal with things we have seen so many times before. It is even harder dedicating time to providing serious answers to questions. This I think has caused this whole problem. In the good old days :-) we'd have about 10 e-mails a day from primarily FT professionals helping each other with digital info and it was superb, full advice. With the numbers of questions now being asked I think there is a genuine "Oh God, I just can't be bothered checking what's worthy and what's not. Therefore, many full-timers, myself included, concentrate on earning our livings in this digital world with the occasional referral to ProDig when absolutely necessary. I tend to recognise the questions from those heavily involved in the subject and those who are amateurs about to spend money on a new plaything. I will volunteer info (if I have it) to those who I feel are genuine counterparts but I haven't got time to discuss basic camera purchasing decisions with amateurs. This is not disrespectful or demeaning. Time is massively short and a symbiotic relationship with those who can share real world 'professional' issues will always have my attention. If this was my hobby, I'd spend a lot more time reading and responding to questions, but then I may not have the real world experience that actually counts.
As you can see this is late from the studio, having sold 4 framed images from my gallery, changed my web-site PSP, had a meeting with the bank about a further expense of 2500 on two lightweight 20D bodies and a new lens, been an extra on a film set, photographed two enormous explosions involving stunt men and 400PSI body launchers, montaged two digital images for use on a dummy cover being printed tomorrow in a Regional Newspaper, adjusted 30 wedding images ready for print, attended the local Town Partnership regeneration meeting where I've been asked to shoot and design a traders leaflet for printing next week and then finally got round to ProDig at 9.00 - where can I find time to wade through AOP and ProDig mails !!! :-)
Off for a beer once again to ease the stress of a fully Pro-Dig day in the life of!
Best wishes,
Glyn
Art Photo Wales www.artphotowales.com 0845 2262034
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