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-> Please delete all unnecessary quoted text from the original message!
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Editorial and SPORRS Changes Notice from the SPORRS List Owner/Webmaster
SPORRS is being gutted and overhauled. This mailing list and the
supporting web site are changing and being redesigned, and the Info and
Spec files are being rewritten. SPORRS is in a temporary 'holding
pattern'. The digital services offered have changed.
The mailing list terms and rules should be reviewed at any point where you
have a question about what this list is for or how to use it. The SPORRS
Info File is on the web site. If you don't have Internet (web) access, you
will have some difficulty following this group in the future.
SPORRS has wandered. It's time to rerail it, or scrap it. I recommend
that you read the new intro 'What Is SPORRS?', on the top of web site. It
reflects
the original charter, and reflects the progress we have made with the
Internet. The original purpose of SPORRS has not changed, but it has
become diluted by the abundance of train pictures of every quality
imaginable on this same Internet, and somewhere the general emphasis on
serious quality photography was lost and replaced with just the content of
the
picture.
SPORRS is not a 'railfan' site. It's not a source of model railroad detail
shots either. SPORRS is not even a group that is open to the general
public. You have to be a SPORRS mailing list subscriber to display your
photography on the SPORRS web site. The web site supports the
list. It is not there to see how many railfan pictures we can 'collect'.
There are many other train sites for that. SPORRS is a photography site.
A
photography site with a theme that is railroad related. The quality of the
photography is very important on SPORRS. Indeed, it is the highest
priority. Over what the actual content of the image is or the subject.
Serious Photographers Of Railroad Related Subjects is a literal name and
description, not a hollow acronym.
We have gradually wavered from our original theme as we have
acquired many new railfans and model railroaders on the SPORRS list, while
the original SPORRS members, who have always been more photographically
oriented in their approach to shooting trains 'clam up' or move on. Gauged
from your personal notes and confirmed with your choices, we were getting
'SOTM' vote results that reflected only favorite locomotives or railroads,
or friends shots, and not on the best quality photography (or even the
photography at all), or the best shot locations based on skill, effort and
ingenuity. While I have a great deal of respect for everyone's individual
opinions and hobby preferences, SPORRS cannot be everything to everyone,
and as such, 'thin skinned' and egotistical attitudes to not fit in well
with our theme and purpose. If your opinions differ greatly from the
SPORRS purpose, then you simply don't belong here, but that doesn't make
you 'wrong'. SPORRS is a learning experience for all involved. "If you
can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen".
As the original group of about 30 SPORRS subscribers fades
into the orangy sunset of silence, this has also had the effect of altering
the very content of SPORRS by removing the experience and direction that it
was built on. I consider this unfortunate, but I also think this is a
disservice to the newer members. Some of these newer subscribers
('Railfans' - cameras of which are secondary to the sight of a train - any
train - before them), do want to learn more, and are quite good with a
camera, but some are only here "to see the train pictures". Unfortunately
for some, SPORRS is not for all, because it is not a general railfan site
or list. 'Followers' and 'lurkers' are part of every group, but is there
such a thing as a Serious non-active lurker? You have to ask yourself at
that point; "what am I
doing to justify using this guy's bandwidth - with nothing to show for my
time?". This is a shooter's group. Not an archive.
The lack of SPORRS participation and support in general lately has resulted
in the pruning off of most of the pages of the web site - features which
were designed for railroad photographers - and long stretches of silence on
the mailing list. Obviously I cannot justify running the list and web site
and using up so much server space and bandwidth for nothing. And nothing
is what we have most of the time now, except for the dozens of error
messages that bounce back to my screen, through my server and my bandwidth,
from SPORRS members who do not read the directions and do not understand or
want to know how the list and web site work, or what it is actually here
for. This is also unfortunate. The Info File link is provided to you on
each list posting header to give each of you a live link right to the
answers
to your questions. But you must read what is before you in order to use
it, and you must understand that when I approve your subscription to
SPORRS, that I expect you to try to follow the directions and help avoid
bouncing mail and E-mail address problems.
I have met some nice people and some new friends through SPORRS, and stayed
in contact with some old friends, and this is one of SPORRS strong points.
But SPORRS is not a newsgroup or a general hobby organization, so everyone
that likes trains and everyone that you know that may like trains may not
fit into the SPORRS concept. If you do not like and understand some degree
of photography, then you will be lost here with SPORRS. And the images on
the site and in our slide shows will suffer, as they glide through
repetitive patterns and unremarkable near duplicate compositions that
challenge the consciousness to stay awake while viewing them. A 'wedgie'
of
a train is the equivalent of a 'mugshot' of a person. Do you want to show
as much of the train and its detail as possible in your shot? Then you are
on the wrong list. There are railfan and model railroad lists and sites
for that. SPORRS is about photography of railroading for the purpose of
making great photography of railroading, not just about documenting
locomotives going by (or sitting still) on film. "My light angle, was that
really that important as long as I got the whole engine on film?" If you
have to ask you don't belong here. I am a photographer. If you don't like
or agree with the purpose of my SPORRS concept, then you are welcome to go
start your own vision, on your own server with your own time and money.
SPORRS is a volunteer group - an Internet organization of people helping
other people and sharing input, and it is only as good as
its members. You volunteer information, tips and suggestions, or you just
take up my bandwidth. It is also up to someone to decide what the
standards
are for thread topics and image content and quality displayed. You may not
always agree with my decisions and editing, but I do it for reasons. I do
it to keep us on track and focused on our purpose, and I will not let
SPORRS degrade to the point of a general newsgroup or web site that has no
direction and no quality standards of any kind. I'll kill it before I let
it go to Hell.
We have wandered. It is time to scrape our pile back together. Time for
an overhaul. It may work, and it may kill the original concept, and
SPORRS. But what we have now isn't working, and I have no further interest
in maintaining such an underutilized concept and server utilities for
nothing. I have to get some type of return for my efforts too. It can be
satisfaction, or dollars. And my time is worth more than the free
instruction and cleanup that I have been providing for those who cannot
read or follow directions. I created SPORRS for fun. Not for maintenance.
You must all do your part, or look elsewhere for entertainment.
Now that the website has been widdled down to little more than a canceled
Shot Of The Month 'contest', it is time overhaul it, or kill it. The site
will not go on as a 'buff thumbnail archive'. But it cannot go on without
pictures. SPORRS is a concept that involves visual images and supporting
information, so without the web site providing this, the list will not
survive in any worth-while form either. Those of you that have been here
since SPORRS' beginning know this now. This photography list died once
before from the constraints of only text.
The new SPORRS Image Spec File is coming soon, but here are a few
highlights:
Due to the quality standards of the photography that I wish to display on
SPORRS, I can no longer accept unsolicited digital files from you if they
are not 'photographic quality' scans and prep jobs. If you need help, then
mail me and I will help you where I can, but do not simply keep sending me
different images of the same quality if they do not look like sharp
photographs. If I have previously approved your work as displayable
before, then you may continue to send it to me once I start accepting
images for the site again, provided that you have included FULL and EDITED
caption information (check your spelling people - I cut and paste your
captions). I can no longer put images up on the site without full captions
including the focal length, film, and data that you shot them at. This
means scan and digital info now too. Don't just assume that people will
know what you mean and everything about your photograph that you took when
they were not there.
For those of you that require digital services, here is my new offer:
To be efficient, I can only accept a maximum of FOUR color slides from you
at once for scanning. Effective 06/01/98, you must include $2 US for each
image that is to be scanned. This is an administrative fee, and it is not
refundable if I do not use your images on the site. You may download the
low-res digital file of your scans from the web site if I put your images
on the
site. If not, you WILL get a web-ready (low-res) digital file returned to
you as an E-mail attachment. You will NOT get my initial hi-res larger
scan file of your slide back unless you pay an additional fee of $10 US per
scan. I can provide multiple scans on Photo-CD, with quantity discounts.
These charges will be used to offset the cost of running the SPORRS mailing
list and web site for you. You must check your slides that you intend to
send in carefully with a loupe for sharpness before you send them, and they
must be exposed correctly and contain full caption information ON A FLOPPY
DISK, in .txt, .doc, or .html format. If you mail in the slides, then you
must mail in the captions with them. I will no longer contact you for
missing information. I can no longer type and edit your captions from your
slide mounts. I cannot use images without full captions and shooting
information on the SPORRS web site. And I cannot return anything when you
include only two thirds of the required postage amount. I will not incur
expenses to scan and send you back your slides. I am not offering a series
of free services that people can take advantage of. I am doing you a favor
by doing the best digital work for that I am capable of. It is your
responsibility to read and follow the directions. I make no offer to do
for you what you won't do for yourselves.
Images that I already have here as of 06/01/98 are exempt from digital
service charges, and all slides currently in my possession will be mailed
back to you during the week of 05/31/98. Some of the images have already
been scanned for use on the SPORRS web site.
No further image submissions are being accepted at this time, until I
re-write the Image Submission Spec File, and you read it. A fee schedule
for various digital services will be included for those who do not have
digital capabilities yet. If you don't like this, then you can scan and
prep your own material to my specs, or put it on your own server at your
own expense. If you don't want anyone else to see your photography,
chances are there is probably a reason why we don't need to see it (pick
one).
If I continue to maintain the SPORRS web site, other pages and features may
be added in the future. Individual pages or the entire web site may also
be removed from the server at any time if member usage does not warrant the
file space used.
Future web site updates will be at least monthly, and I may not update the
site more than monthly.
Lastly, this list: I suggest that you read the directions in the Info File
and use this list correctly if you would like to keep it. I enjoy running
it for you, but I do not enjoy dozens of bouncing mail and error messages
because people don't follow simple directions. Thank you.
As always, your input is always welcome. Appropriate question for the
list? Post it. Question for me? E-mail me. In the past, some SPORRS
members have been quick to complain, while at the same time avoiding to
offer any opinions or suggestions of their own. No room or time to hide
behind an E-mail address anymore. If you have something to say, then 'spit
it out'. Do your part, or lurk and use my bandwidth. But don't expect
something for nothing. I wouldn't.
Regards,
Dave Cohen
SPORRS List Owner/Webmaster
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-> SPORRS: 'Serious Photographers Of Railroad Related Subjects'
-> Web Site: http://www.anet-stl.com/acphotog/sporrs/
-> Message © 1998 SPORRS® - All Rights Reserved
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