I am one who has been losing interest in the forum. The short version is that I am very busy with my photography work and lose interest very quickly after reading several “grumpy” posts. This applies to any forum; I have tried mulltiple sites and dropped all but three.
The long version
I have worked in over 25 countries on 4 continents. In my travels, in person and online, I have freely shared my experiences without expecting anything in return. In the midst of many shoots I have been approached by people asking about what I was doing. In the past couple of week,s while shooting in the snow, hikers have stopped to ask questions and advice. It must be my friendly face.
When shooting 4x5 film, I carried a sheet of developed film with me, because I knew that people would ask me about the process. An example of a typical encounter; a group of Japanese visitors hovered about me as I was working in Germany, watching intently my every move and taking pictures of me. When I was done, I beckoned to one of them to come look at the groundglass under the dark cloth. He was so excited at the upside down and reversed image that he in turn invited his group to have a look, one by one.
On one of my Iceland trips, a team from Adobe was shooting some promotionl video. The leader of the team approached me to ask me about what I was doing, the equipment I was using and why I was using it. He was expecially intrigued that I was using a Leica S camera on a wooden tripod with a RRS tripod head. He also took photos of my setup.
All this to explain that when someone asks for help and I am able to provide it, I do. This forum is not a necessity for me. With the limited time that I have, I will spend it with people who appreciate the collaboration. I have enough experience to recognize that some people like to “hear” their own voice disguised in a request for information or as a starting point for a debate. I neither have the time nor the energy for that.
My goal is to further the interest in photography as a means of expression.