Travel video and photography forum?
 

Apologies if this isn't the right place for this -- the sticky in the Suggestions forum indicated that it was.

Would there be any interest in a forum devoted to Travel Video and Photography? The subjects come up a lot in Travel Technology and, of course, it's an appropriate venue for technical questions. However, it would also be nice to have a place to put links to FT photos and videos, discuss travel video and photography challenges and solutions that are not "tech" problems, per se, etc.

Just a thought.

As one of FTs avid photographers, I would welcome a specific forum for travel video and photography.

I wonder, however about the amount of traffic such a forum would receive. The Trip Reports forum (alone) allows embedded photos and is arguably a better repository for travel related imagery.

I enjoy discussing photo related topics with my friends here on FT, but the photo/video-specific boards provide more technical expertise than I think we can muster.

I really like your idea, but I'm having difficulty justifying a separate forum in my mind. . .

WHERE on this site would such a forum likely 'live" if the TB chose to vote on it?

Travel&Dining. It would be an odd duck, but I think Travel&Dining rather than Community.

I think this could be interesting.

In general, I think that if posting pictures and youtube videos were enabled on Flyertalk, it would enhance Flyertalk's value a great deal. It would mean more work for the moderators, but any trip report would be so much better with photos and possibly videos embedded. I see that as something with huge growth potential for Flyertalk.

Embedded images are enabled in the Trip Reports Forum, but not many people seem to use that feature.

Create a new thread in that forum and you will see the "insert image" link is live in the compose window.

Here is an example.

Though Trip Reports allows embedded photos (something I didn't know until I read it here), it would be inappropriate to post in that forum something like, "How do I fix this backlighting problem?", or, "Which of these do you like better -- cropped with short depth of field or uncropped with long depth of field?"

Also, when I suggested this, I wasn't necessarily thinking in terms of embedding pictures and Youtube videos (though that might be nice). There's a lot to discuss about using cameras and camcorders when we travel -- there are technical questions, practical questions, e.g. can the carryon x-ray scanner harm miniDV tapes? (the answer may surprise you), completely non-technical questions, e.g. what museums permit tripods?, when is the next opportunity to photograph an eclipse?, and even legal questions, e.g. Can I publish this picture I took of someone walking down the street? In addition to asking and answering photo- and video-related questions, we could (and should) share photos and videos (either by embedding or linking, as the Powers-that-Be at FT deem appropriate), critique each other's work, offer suggestions that help us grow as photographers and videographers, etc.

Travel photography and videography are different subjects than their non-travel counterparts, because we usually don't travel solely to take pictures or video. We do it because either we have to for business or want to for leisure, and the photography and video become mere adjunct concerns, along with bringing enough socks. This means serious compromises in both equipment and accessories, as well as employing techniques that are specific to travel.

Okay, I've made my pitch. ;)

Ok - so why doesn't travel tech provide an appropriate home? And can you provide any examples (I'm not asking for exhaustive lists, but I'm not into photography, so this TB member is having a hard time envisaging the kinds of threads you are talking about - so a couple of examples would be helpful) :)

And just a random thought - surely a subforum of travel tech would be more appropriate?

Niiiiice....I like.

I think it could be nice in any forum, though.

Threads like "Worst hotel room I ever stayed in" could be so much more entertaining that way ;).

Oh, and one could post little funny flame-jpgs here and in the ORP forum :cool:. Ok, maybe not :D.

I agree with birdstrike, initially here - I think that Travel Tech does a good job of covering basic needs (I know I recently bought a Nikon D50 & got advice from travel tech folks) - but I agree with Birdstrike that a the various dedicated photography forums on the internet would cover more technical type discussion. Just as there are often questions on phones in Travel Tech, more technical information can be received at other places, like the Howard Forums.

Yep, it's not really an FT thing. I could see some kind of photo competition, where the weekly winner gets on the home page, something like that. I'd also support copying what some other sites do: they allow members to upload a photo, which appears on every post. It's a community builder.

The question of avatars has been raised several times before. While I think they would be cool, and participate in several large fora where they are allowed and not abused, I don't support their use on FT.

I like the idea of a travel photo competition. Perhaps as a TravelBuzz feature. We could enable polling for it. I have an idea how to run it. Hmmm...

Very intriguing proposal and I look forward to following the discussion.

And as Jenbel said, I‘m also not into photography.

So speak slowly so I can follow the conversation. :)

That would be a perfect place, IMHO. Thanks, Perhaps also with a monthly photo contest in Community or TravelBuzz.

Will we have enough volume of media related posts to support a separate forum?

I'm for it, I'm not sure I can justify it.

PTravel is doing a great job of identifying subject matter.

As someone who still has to use dial-up on my work pc when travelling :mad: :( I'd be against broadening the ability to use photos site-wide. Since this BB is dedicated to travellers, I do think we are beholden to try and keep bandwidth down, since many of us do access it when travelling, often from less than perfect set ups.