Tutorials

Admin

Reply #1 - March 15, 2008, 07:44:23 AM

The problem I see is where to draw the line between a tutorial and a tip. When PAF started we had two different sections that overlapped quite a bit - Tips, Tricks, & Techniques and sharing - and each of those two sections had boards for weddings, portraits, landscapes, etc. What wound up happening is posts between the two sections were a mix of tips and sharing. Somebody would post an image from a wedding and explain what they did to get that image. So they shared and image and gave a tip. A few months ago I merged the two categories and I think it works better that way.

Although I could see a setup similar to how we've got the Pro Critique board right now. We could have a set of members that volunteer to post tutorials that have permissions set to start threads in the tutorials board and then anyone could reply.

I still think that it's better to have wedding tutorials in the wedding board, portrait tutorials in the portrait board, etc. What I think would be better is for me to come up with some way to tag certain posts as featured (or tutorials, or "really great shot") and have that list available. There's all kinds of voting modifications for this forum software. Maybe I need to setup a way for y'all to rank posts and then have a list sorted on rankings.

Logged

BobEdens

Moderator

Reply #2 - April 10, 2008, 11:32:42 AM

another idea:
have a tutorials section anyone can comment but only mods can create new threads. When someone posts a tip trick or technique, or a thread becomes a tutorial by accident (see my sorceress thread) a mod should move it to that section and leave a link to it in its original position.

my couple of cents.

Logged

-----------------------------------
"I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one heck of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult. "- EB White

Chattanooga Photographer www.BobEdens.com

Quote from: BobEdens on April 10, 2008, 11:32:42 AM

Reply #3 - April 10, 2008, 12:04:25 PM

I like your couple of cents.

Logged

Comments and Harsh Critiques gladly accepted. My photos are ok to edit.

My photos and art: http://wildmaven.org

Mike Hodgson

Pro Critique

Reply #4 - April 10, 2008, 03:00:49 PM

Eiye, here's my 2.1 cents Canadian eh? Big Grin

Logged

Quote from: Mike Hodgson on April 10, 2008, 03:00:49 PM

Reply #5 - April 10, 2008, 03:29:01 PM

Eiye, here's my 2.1 cents Canadian eh? Big Grin

Rub it in, wise guy. Cheesy

Logged

Comments and Harsh Critiques gladly accepted. My photos are ok to edit.

My photos and art: http://wildmaven.org

Admin

Reply #6 - April 11, 2008, 07:43:46 AM

I've seen other boards that have an articles section. Sounds like a similar idea is what y'all are asking about. I'm not against the idea, but I've got a couple of apprehensions. 1 - We would need to get several articles together before opening up the board so that it wasn't just sitting empty. I suppose we could move a few over that are already on one of the current forums. 2 - I'm concerned that if we did get a few people writing articles that their interest would wane after posting a few.

Quote

That's easy enough to do. The Pro Critique Board is already using permissions similar to that.

So, if anyone has any suggestions for article ideas, can think of a post that's already sitting around here that would make a good article, or wants to volunteer to write articles let me know and we'll see what we can get setup.

Logged

Mike Hodgson

Pro Critique

Reply #7 - April 11, 2008, 07:54:24 AM

Another Idea, Ryan

Any WORKSHOPS done on images, can be viewed as a Tutorial, I think it might be busier then you think.
Tutorials are helpful and are pasted all over the internet, I wouldn't worry much. Big Grin

Logged

Quote from: Mike Hodgson on April 11, 2008, 07:54:24 AM

Reply #8 - April 11, 2008, 10:39:43 AM

Tutorials and Articles are two of the biggest reasons why people go to photography websites nowadays. They want to see how to do something and then have the option of asking questions about the tutorial right there. It would be a big draw to this site, especially if the articles have relevant subject lines such as "How to Remove Redeye" instead of "Hey, try this trick."

Bots will pick up the articles and people will be drawn to them when they do a search.

Subjects I've heard asked time and again include:

Removing redeye
Whitening teeth
Setting white balance
Selecting the lens that's right for you
The differences between 'point and shoot' cameras and DSLRs.
Common focus problems
Film vs. Digital
Exposure - getting it right the first time
How to smooth skin
Beginning portrait lighting
Continuous vs strobe
What should be included in a model release
Setting up a small portrait studio - how small can you go?
Insurance for freelance photographers - do I need it?
Gaining the trust of a client
Marketing your photography business
How to handle complaints

Those are just off the top of my head.

Logged

Comments and Harsh Critiques gladly accepted. My photos are ok to edit.

My photos and art: http://wildmaven.org

Paula

Reply #9 - April 11, 2008, 10:59:02 AM

The only problem is ... are you reinventing the wheel? There are a thousand tutorials on the web already. How about links to what we think are the better ones? Just thinking aloud...

Marion: you've got a good list going there...

And re workshops done on images; it's helpful to do screenshots as well...although time consuming.
Paula (with her 1.5 american cents)

Logged

Quote from: Paula on April 11, 2008, 10:59:02 AM

Reply #10 - April 11, 2008, 11:03:34 AM

The only problem is ... are you reinventing the wheel? There are a thousand tutorials on the web already. How about links to what we think are the better ones? Just thinking aloud...

That's the thing, though. People can go to thousands of sites, but finding a site where you can actually ask questions about the tutorial is what makes it gold.

Logged

Comments and Harsh Critiques gladly accepted. My photos are ok to edit.

My photos and art: http://wildmaven.org

Admin

Reply #11 - April 11, 2008, 11:12:04 AM

Quote

The only problem is ... are you reinventing the wheel? There are a thousand tutorials on the web already. How about links to what we think are the better ones? Just thinking aloud...

There's a lot out there but a lot of it is junk. I think between the people we have here there is a lot of knowledge available and quite a few that are good teachers.

Quote

but finding a site where you can actually ask questions about the tutorial is what makes it gold.

That's a good point.

But would it make more sense to have an article / tutorial section outside of the forum structure? That way it would stand out a little more. Maybe a link on the top?

Logged

BobEdens

Moderator

Reply #12 - April 11, 2008, 11:57:59 AM

I think create a discussion topic like the others that way it'll show up in the list on the right.

There are plenty tutorials/lessons/tips already here just need a place to move them to. Its important to put a "thread was moved to the tutorials section" link in its place.

Logged

Admin

Reply #13 - April 11, 2008, 12:44:44 PM

Question to throw out there. Why shouldn't a thread on whether you need insurance be in the business section? Why shouldn't a tutorial on how to remove red eye be in the digital tools? It seems that if all the article ideas that Maven threw out (great list, BTW) then we'd wind up with a odd mashup of different topics.

Maybe what we need is a way to tag threads as good, popular, worth reading, or something like that. That way they could still be in the board where they make the most sense but still be fairly easy to find.

Logged