We are a growing community of individuals from all around the world coming together around a love of photography (and cinematography, and digital art). This means that we are also bringing our individual and cultural uniqueness to the community.
This is a wonderful way to learn from and about others, but it may also occasionally cause some misunderstandings. Please consider that most people in the community are coming from genuine places of curiosity and kindness. We want to learn!
The administrators and moderators are people and they want to help as well as they can. You can reach out to any of us directly if you’d like any time (even for a casual hello and chat). If you have a problem, please follow the instructions below (flag a problem post and it will notify all of us to deal with it - we address all flags and follow up on them as soon as possible).
A few things to keep in mind:
Be familiar with the Frequently Asked Questions and Terms of Service pages
Take the time to read over our Frequenty Asked Questions (FAQ) and Terms of Service (ToS).
Unless otherwise stated in the post body, all content is licensed under a Creative Commons license (CC-BY-NC-SA).
If you don’t understand the implications of the license you are releasing the content you post under, please start a new thread (if you want the discussion to be public) or message a moderator (if you want the discussion to be private). In broad strokes, site moderators always try to act in the best interest of the community.
Use the forum’s flag feature!
What is considered offensive is far from universal and varies heavily from culture to culture. Its a fine line to walk when trying to police the speech of others, especially for a community that values freedom so heavily, as those involved with Free Software tend to.
If you find the content of a post to be offensive, by all means use the forum’s flagging feature. This feature will allow you to alert a moderator to some inappropriate content.
We have taken action every single time someone has flagged a post. Usually, we’re pretty quick about it too.
Be civil
There is no substitute for being civil, especially in the face of incivility. Step away from the keyboard for a few moments, stare out the window, or take a deep breath. It isn’t difficult to be nice! Please note that you can offer criticisms while still being civil. In fact, the receiver of your message will likely get much more if your tone is civil than if it isn’t.
Stay on topic
On the internet it is easy to descend into off-topic madness. Someone started the thread you are replying to for a specific reason, so in kind you should be respectful enough not to derail that conversation.
People are always welcome to start a topic to discuss (more or less) whatever they’d like in the Lounge (so long as the discussion remains civil!).
Ask questions and stay inquisitive
The best thing about this community is the vast collective knowledge that everyone has and their willingness to share it! Your continued participate and sharing is what makes this virtual place great.
If anything about the community is unclear, please get in contact with a site admin. You can start a new thread publicly or message privately. We strive to be clear and open about our policies.
This is an amazing place filled with generous and awesome people. Let’s keep sharing and making incredible things!