I was a paying member of DPC for 5 years or so. I let my membership expire for several reasons. The main reason was because DPC didn't change much and I felt like I got pretty much everything I could get out of it. I also didn't have the time to put in the effort I once did when I was submitting to every challenge.
Don't get me wrong. I credit DPC and the DPC community with inspiring me to shoot, think, and edit with more passion. I direct people to DPC when they ask me about photography and express a desire to go to another level. But, as many photogs do, I had fun, learned a bunch, and let it fade into the background a bit.
So now I see getsatisfaction.com/dpchallenge … which seems to be exactly what was needed here. I poked around there a bit and am optimistic.
So what has improved in the last year or so?
Can you sell me on plunking down 25$ even though I already have a Smugmug Pro site where I can display and sell photos?
I really think I want "in" if the site is moving along but I need to be convinced. So convince me.
Or tell me otherwise.
The DPC community is still strong I know so I'm pretty sure I will get some responses ;) thanks.
PS: If you want to tell me to go to h3)), just keep it to yourself ;)
One thing that hasn't changed is members' need for encouragement, coaching, and mentorship. If folks come here, take everything the community has to give, and move on ... Who will give back to those that follow? Taking a new photog under your wing and helping them grow is great fun. Sharing what you've learned through tutorials and 'how'd they do that' pieces helps others learn.
To paraphrase JFK, 'Ask not what this site can do for you, ask what you can do for this site,'
One thing that hasn't changed is members' need for encouragement, coaching, and mentorship. If folks come here, take everything the community has to give, and move on ... Who will give back to those that follow? Taking a new photog under your wing and helping them grow is great fun. Sharing what you've learned through tutorials and 'how'd they do that' pieces helps others learn.
To paraphrase JFK, 'Ask not what this site can do for you, ask what you can do for this site,'
I was typing a long post to say essentially the same thing you just stated. You said it better than I could, so I deleted my post and say +100 to yours. Thank!
Tate - we've been on the same team for years (Literally. GO Imagenation!).
You were team captain and you motivated the team and led the way.
I was sad when you left and will be glad when you return.
$25?
On the one hand, breakfast for 4 at MacDonalds.
On the other hand, fun & games at DPC for a year.
Now, go enter some challenges. It's time you returned to the front page.
One thing that hasn't changed is members' need for encouragement, coaching, and mentorship. If folks come here, take everything the community has to give, and move on ... Who will give back to those that follow? Taking a new photog under your wing and helping them grow is great fun. Sharing what you've learned through tutorials and 'how'd they do that' pieces helps others learn.
To paraphrase JFK, 'Ask not what this site can do for you, ask what you can do for this site,'
One thing that hasn't changed is members' need for encouragement, coaching, and mentorship. If folks come here, take everything the community has to give, and move on ... Who will give back to those that follow? Taking a new photog under your wing and helping them grow is great fun. Sharing what you've learned through tutorials and 'how'd they do that' pieces helps others learn.
A good sentiment but perhaps I'm missing something:- why would tate have to become a paid member to do that?
One thing that hasn't changed is members' need for encouragement, coaching, and mentorship. If folks come here, take everything the community has to give, and move on ... Who will give back to those that follow? Taking a new photog under your wing and helping them grow is great fun. Sharing what you've learned through tutorials and 'how'd they do that' pieces helps others learn.
A good sentiment but perhaps I'm missing something:- why would tate have to become a paid member to do that?
Simple...we only share the good stuff with paid members. :O)
I think having to be "sold" into doing anything is the wrong approach. DPC is what it is: a cantankerous community composed of talented, quirky, eccentric people who share a passion for all things photographic. For many of us, it is also a social network, and a priceless trove to turn to for advice, inspiration, competition, camaraderie. That's either your cup of tea or it ain't.
I think having to be "sold" into doing anything is the wrong approach. DPC is what it is: a cantankerous community composed of talented, quirky, eccentric people who share a passion for all things photographic. For many of us, it is also a social network, and a priceless trove to turn to for advice, inspiration, competition, camaraderie. That's either your cup of tea or it ain't.
...Very well said and absolutely true.
There are of course the odd instances where we can witness the blossoming of true love...Just ask Slippy.
I am closing to nine years on DPC. Not so many challenges, not so many ribbons, I am not famous or popular. I learnt here a lot and I felt that, if I can afford, I will be a paid member even if only to sustain the site. They do have expenses and there is a financial effort to keep it alive.
I think having to be "sold" into doing anything is the wrong approach. DPC is what it is: a cantankerous community composed of talented, quirky, eccentric people who share a passion for all things photographic. For many of us, it is also a social network, and a priceless trove to turn to for advice, inspiration, competition, camaraderie. That's either your cup of tea or it ain't.
Well, it WAS my cup of tea.
And I can be involved in forums as an unpaid member. I think if you look at how many challenges I've entered, you will see that I have hit the "update" button more than the average human because I was very competitive.
It was an obsession at one time - bettering myself and competing - and as Alice said, captaining a team of Photogs to try to win something even more valuable than a virtual ribbon - bragging rights ;).
But since my contribution will likely be much smaller in comparison to a few years ago, I was just wondering if things were progressing:
Has DPC prints have improved to have a larger audience?
Does anyone actaully sell prints or downloads of images via DPC?
Is an iPhone / iPad app in the works?
Is the image storage limit increasing like it is everywhere else? I ran out of room in my portfolio.
Have they integrated social networking in a valuable way? Should they?
Things like that. The community is great because the core elements of the site are attractive and simple. Like I said, I love DPC -- kinda like i love NPR (which I give 6x the $ as I would to DPC).
So I was just wondering if anything new and worthy of mentioning would pull me back.
I'm still debating because I am more busy than I was, that's for sure =)
Got a newborn in da' house.
Originally posted by tanguera:
I think having to be "sold" into doing anything is the wrong approach. DPC is what it is: a cantankerous community composed of talented, quirky, eccentric people who share a passion for all things photographic. For many of us, it is also a social network, and a priceless trove to turn to for advice, inspiration, competition, camaraderie. That's either your cup of tea or it ain't.
Been here since 2002. No ribbons, (no talent), a fair number of very good friends.
I believe in giving back. I have learned a lot here. Nothing is free. No paid members, no DPC. I prefer to have DPC around, so they get my money each year, and now and then I even gift a membership or two.
So I was about to go to bed last night and I decided to have fun. My idea of fun is setting up the camera on a tripod and just messing around, basically.
I started to remember what I loved about DPC: the feedback and the mere "challenge" of being given guidelines in which to create something worth while.
We all want our stuff to be noticed - and with things like Posthumous ribbons and side challenges (all being taken seriously by the admin as well, it seems) - DPC is fun and still valuable to me. In fact, the part of photography I DON'T always enjoy is when it becomes too serious or strictly business. I actaully often cringe when looking at trite stock photos because I just don't like the entire concept of contrived images. So even though you can find my images on GETTY, they are not typical stock IMO. Anyway, DPC isn't about contrived images to me - it is about exploring creativity and sharing with others.
So I might give it another year … kinda disappointed though - still only 100MB of upload space for member photos.
Originally posted by tate:
Got a newborn in da' house.
Originally posted by tanguera:
I think having to be "sold" into doing anything is the wrong approach. DPC is what it is: a cantankerous community composed of talented, quirky, eccentric people who share a passion for all things photographic. For many of us, it is also a social network, and a priceless trove to turn to for advice, inspiration, competition, camaraderie. That's either your cup of tea or it ain't.
So I might give it another year … kinda disappointed though - still only 100MB of upload space for member photos.
That's the standard amount included in the yearly membership fee -- you can "purchase" additional Portfolio storage space. Contact Langdon directly using an Administrative Ticket (Help > Contact Us > DPC Administrative Inquiry) for help with that.
I was going to mention that one of the biggest benefits of being a paid member is that it is so much easier to post links to your images (for feedback or any other reason) from your Portfolio than from an outside site like Flickr or SmugMug, or even pBase ...
Here's a way to get DPC free...switch your Smugmug site to Zenfolio Pro (like I did)...and that will pay for DPC and you'll pocket $25 on top of that. (Not to mention I like Zen better).
(There's a tool available on Zen that will transfer all your images too..automagically)
Welcome back, Tate!!! And mazel tov on the new addition :-)
ETA - killer image. Love the weirdness of it, the angle. The fact that it looks have human, half animal. Or a balloon clown being eaten by one of his own creations :-)
