Glad you went with the monochrome look. Else, it may have looked tacky.

As for the forum, great idea. You don't really have to answer every question because your faithful visitors will faciliate most of that. The only need for you to be active is when you disagree with a comment or want to directly answer someone's question. My feeling is that you have the most photoblog, but that does not mean you MUST respond to every single question or comment. I love Sam's over at daily dose, and he doesn't need to respond to everything; so don't feel obligated. =)

My two cents...feel free to ask for change.

very funny :)

The forum sounds like a good idea.

This photo was also a good idea. Your theory about Blackpool is also a good idea.

Geeezzz... you're on a role with the ideas today!

I think forum is excessive, as this is a photoblog and the discussion is usually around photographs. This way you also have a context to each discussion, and those who are interested would easily go back through photographs to check out old comments (*coughcough* *raises hand*).

perhaps the ability to link one's comment to another day/another comment would be far more applicable, although more difficult to implementate. but speaking from my own knowledge/opinion, forum isn't a practical idea at this point.

regarding the photograph: while photographs of "others art" to reflect an opinion or a situation or a though can be quite excellent, this one is a bit weak. the sepia seems to want to age it, where as its supposed to be a comment on the modern life. further, the objects in the frame dont interact in anyway... the texture of the chrome is nice and shiny, but that's all it is - for me, there is no visual interest or though in it. the caption hints at what you wanted to show, but for me even with the title this photograph is not "composed" enough.

/those in glass houses are throwing stones

A forum could be a nice addition. Yes, it's a photoblog, but it's Dave's photoblog, and I think it's a very kind offer on his part. This is a destination site for so many photographers; as such, it would be an effective location for a photographer's forum. I can't help but wonder why photoblogs.org hasn't added a forum. I think it would be hugely popular. There is so much knowledge out there, and I personally would love to learn a little something from all the other talented folks out there. I think it would be enormously popular.

Thanks, Dave!

"news about chromasia" spelling mistake in the word "sidebare" .. I suppose you mean "sidebar" ..

Anyway. I agree with olya, 100%.. about the forum, and about the photo.

All the world needs is another friggin' forum..
I think this comment window is as good of a forum as any.
If you could pull that search box to the bottom of the main page, above or under where you have David J. Nightingale (C) 2003-2005 etc... that would probably be the most ideal location.. Or at least have a "search" link in the main navigation bar.. If you didn't point me to the archives page, I wouldn't have found it.. I think it needs to be more visible, more accessible..

Having said that, the search is good, but if you search for "comments only" I think you should primarily display the comment body in the search result, tagged with the entry ID and title. Often times good chunk of the information a person might be searching for will not necessarily be in your description, rather the attached comments.

OK, I'll have a think about the forum idea.

Olya: you're quite right, the sepia is at odds with the intended message. If anyone's interested there's a colour version (which I don't like) of this shot here:

.../archives/cool_my_ass.php

miklos (drastically cynical beyond his tender years): I've fixed the spelling mistake, thanks.

As for your comments about the forum idea: no, "need" would probably be overdoing it a bit, but we'll see what everybody else thinks. I have mixed feelings about it, but if there's enough interest I may well go for it.

And finally; there is no way I'm going to put a search box on my main page - are you insane? It would look terrible ;-) I agree about the "comments only" search though, but I'm not sure that I can implement it in MT. I'll look into it.

*sigh* .. OK.

djn (drastically egotistical beyond his mature years): (you couldn't possibly think that I'd sit that one out) ... My sanity is irrelevant. And also, as a self proclaimed CSS/designer/code manipulation guru, I'm sure you could come up with a way of blending a search bar into the page if you wanted to ;)

There. Feels much better now.. Let's call it even.. no need for the name calling Dave, less need for getting personal.. :P

I like the sepia tone version better than the color one too. The colored version makes me look all over the place and distracts me viewing what you intended.

The forum idea, I like it but you might get over loaded with questions, if people can make there own topics. You could always have your kids moderate it... ;)

also a forum might cut down on your comments if they could comment in the forum.

miklos: *sigh" .. it was an attempt at humour: hence the ";-)".

As for the search facility: I may put a link to a search page in the main nav' bar when I'm sure that a) it's working properly, and b) it's of use to people. That's why I mentioned it in my "news about chromasia" bit first.

greg: yep, that's what I thought of the colour version too. And you may be right about the forum splitting some of the comments away from the specific entry. And what's worse, in my opinion, is that the comments may become less meaningful as a result. I'll think about it. Besides which I wouldn't want to burden the world with another forum ;-) (that's a wink at the end there) :-)

Pros of a forum. People write messages, come back to view responses, write responses and come back to view them and the cycle goes on. I'd think you'd get more people coming to your photoblog more frequently.

Cons. They'd be coming back to look at their posts as opposed to your pictures. There is only one new image to see a day, so this is just kind of redundant and it takes away from the fact that this is your daily photoblog as opposed to a place to chat and comment etc.

If you ask me, the comments are as far as you can go before crossing a line that takes the importance off of your pictures and to something else.

Hope that helped.

I like the combination of the slight kitsch of the objects with the beauty of the image itself. nice one.

I think a forum would be great - but I'd love to see photoblogs.org have it for more exposure. There's a lot of photo forums on the net, but typically I have found the people @ photoblogs to be a bit more 'upscale' as it were.

don't know exactly what's up with blackpool, being a foreigner and all, though comments of late do give a clue, and this shot made me laugh out loud. thanks for the bright spot! ;)

p.s. agree with juice. why mess with a good "thang"?? when you're (meaning david's) not busy, which we all know you have been of late, this site is by far one of the very best in the world for us amateurs and not so. seems there's already plenty here, and any more might get a bit extreme.

that said, you have exceptional instincts, so follow them. how's that for wishy washy?

now please excuse me while i go beat the hell out of a baking pan with a large spoon. (glasshammer.org?) ??!!??. ;))))

yeah... I could not agree more, whay mess up a good thing
this is quite all right, a forum might take you in another direction entirely (unless you want it)
keep it your photography display site, with a number of people trying to break their heads trying to be funny on this comment page

I'd keep as is, a little photo oasis in the middel of the internet

(by the way, not writing a critique of your image did prove my point, or not?)

I think I just used your comments section as a forum

This one had me smiling. Good one.

The monochrome works really well for this shot, I love it!

I would also appreciate a forum, you can never have too many of those scattered around on the net. If you need any help or advice...

I think forum is a good idea but i prefear to point my attention in this section, cos' the PHOTOS are the source of your success and not the word!
Nice work with this funny photo!
Just my opinion!
Matteo, djlight
See My photoblog at djlight.net

The forum would detract from your site. I feel the whole exercise should revolve around your photos, not random issues posted on a forum.

There are probably/definitely forums dedicated to photography, I wouldn't know because I would rather discuss any issues as they come along (as in, generated by yourself for I do see you as a teaching tool also) and as you said, how much time would you have to appreciate the strings that would develop. Children, work, wife and photography(and exhibitions to boot), I am surprised you have enough time to interact as it is.

My tuppence worth...

seeing as though you only participate in the friday five.. you could always have a erm.. chromeme :| ok, that was bad - but seriously - take a day of the week, mark it on your calendar, and then on that day each week - without fail - post a photograph you're sure will stir up quite a fuss. it might be something contriversial, or it might be down to perception - but all the same: have a day for the visitors; a day we can all recognize as 'dave wants us to rip this photo apart' (in a non-emo.. more analytical sense). photos like 'loves small energy' where the question is not 'what do you think of the photo' but more so 'what do you think the photo is saying?' or something :|

I say No to a forum as you already have so much to do with work and your family already. A forum would just add more to your work load. There are many sites out there that have forums that devote themselves to helping out others with techniques and tutorials.

Today's photo almost feels like a print ad for a travel agency. "Don't be an Ass and come to Blackpool where you too can enjoy a taste of post-modernism"....

Cheers : )

Han. J'écris en français, because je suis absolutely nulle in english donc... Enfin, voilà, j'voulais just dire que je trouve ce blog magnifico et que les photos sont superbes, vrai.

i´m not shure if i understand the picture or what you want to say with it. if you want to show everybody that those objects are ridiculous, i do prefer the colour version...the colour in those objects adds to their bad taste, so, when you subtract their colours, you´re also subtracting meaning of what you want to say when photographing them. it´s a kind of a contradiction...seems that you want to create a beautiful image with the objects that you are criticizing in the first place...

does this make sense or am i totally mistaked ?

concerning the forum i also think that you should think very well about the pros an cons about such thing. but i agree mostly with juice...

thanks

Not a fan of another forum...I like the focussed nature of the comments sticking with your specific pictures. While there are more than enough comments to sift through each day, there would be -imho- much too much info to sort through on a forum. In a nutshell, I wouldn't use it.

As for the picture: neat but not amazing. As an American I probably miss the true nature of the shot, so I give it a thumbs up with the assumption that it properly portrays the thought you had in mind.

Thank you for taking the time to put your pictures out for us to mull over, they truly set a high standard for all other amateur photographers.

you're right, the color doesn't work that well. but i suppose one of the reasons is that i don't think your composition is accomplishing what you intended in the first place, so toning/color wouldn't fix/break that much in the first place. :p

Thanks everyone.

As for this shot: I don't think it quite worked, for much the reasons that olya outlined.

As for the forum: I'll think about it. In some ways I think it's a good idea, but I strongly suspect that a) I wouldn't have time to participate all that thoroughly (which rather defeats the point of having one in the first place), and b) it might weaken the comments section of the site – which I thoroughly enjoy. So, at this stage, it's not looking likely.