Tor1976 wrote:Plane spotting is all about sucking down the JP-8 in the pouring rain waiting for that one arrival at oh-dark hundred and hoping you'll have enough light for that one chance at a shot.
Ab-so-lu-te-ly
With this statement you agree with us saying there is little point in shooting for anybody else than yourself, be it a website or something/someone else.
I agree with you on the setback of A.net since DM appeared, but IMHO the way the voluntary crew works - including the screeners - is about the only thing that did not turn bad. There have always been problems with applying one screening standard for all, and there always will be - even with the most dedicated and most experienced screeners around. The reasons are the enormous diversity in uploaded photos and the sheer volume of them. Discussions on rejects are as old as A.net and their content hasn't changed since DM. As a matter of fact, we had a big one here, years ago.
On the amateur vs. pro discussion: like stated in my previous post, this was simply a metaphor to illustrate the meaning of 'who is a photographer and who just shoots pics' for some of us. The former has knowledge and skills relating to photography, the latter just pushes a button and awaits the outcome. Both can and should be happy, neither one has to look down on the other. But one of them should not expect the kind of overall results the other has, without investing some time.
Tor1976 wrote:it's a great shot. Period. Any one of us would have loved to take that shot, just the way it is.
True. And still, the way A.net screeners look at it leads to an ever better result in this case, if you ask me. Several subtle improvements have been discussed and shown.
The simple point is, not to confuse room for improvement with lack of quality. Obviously, that is exactly wat A.net screeners do tell you, and they have to, by the rules of that private site. Moreover, by the A.net rules they actually look for reasons to reject if your plane is already online there more than ten times. But one should not take this as a general, personal comment. It is all too easy to still do so, and it happens a lot, and that's why most people who get upset with A.net do.
To me, the bottom line remains that A.net, apart from a nice showcase, can be helpful to improve your own skills of photo processing (and in rare cases even photograpy skills) if you are willing to meet its standards. Do not expect any 'photographic sympathy' and be prepared to cut through a lot of red tape. Do not bother if you are not interested in going to extremes in assessing and post-processing your work. Yes, A.net is a strange place...
Erik
Damn, I was not going to get into this again!
).
zou me haast aanmelden en kijken of ik 1 van mijn foto's erop kan krijgen 
