Pictures. To post or not to post. Musing about the option.

Hi Arch

I did read your post and the reply to it.

The thing has been brewing for a long time, and My feeling have been right from the start (right or wrong) that someone was putting himself on a pedestal, but then his pedestal got kicked from under him, some hard feelings arose, and then your post got taken (right or wrong) as another "put me down", it triggered (wrongly) the vicious reply. Back in Holland they would say, " if you have long toes someone will step on them".

As for you not posting any pictures, that's your prerogative, and certainly do not diminish your (musings) posts, mind you I always like to see what people turn, and yours are no exception. I see them as an expression/extension of someone, and so I'm interested in that.

I do thank you for all the thoughtful posts you do bring to this forum, looking forward to more.

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

Arch wrote:

In a moment of haphazard brilliance, I accidentally deleted Archs' posting, so please forgive me for posting here. I DID want to confine my response to the original thread.

Arch ... why be dogmatic about it? Post pics when they convey the message better than words alone and post just words when you are able to communicate most effectively that way. Technical pics, especially, help to convey material that words alone cannot.

For example, it would be much easier to convey the difference between wavy, curly and fiddle-back grain with a series of three photographs than to attempt to quantify how much curl at what wavelength must be present for each of the three grain designations.

I note that you enjoy teaching ... many of your posts are intended to provoke thought. People learn via many channels -- why not use the visual channel to augment / concretize the abstractions that words alone so often convey?

Just my two cent respond to your request for feedback.

Bill

Hi Arch-

I don't know about the particular forum you're talking about here, but I can tell you that I don't have any pictures of my stuff- whether someone else likes it or not, I just don't own a camera, and the couple of short times in my life I've had one were painful episodes where I learned anew that I am *not* a photographer.

Now, there may be any number of other things going on that provoked your spat on the other group, but it might be worthwhile (if it's still being discussed or comes up again) to point out that an ability to make something out of a hunk of wood has little or nothing to do with being able to take a picture of that object. When I've tried it, I end up with snapshots that show the general shape, but precious little else- including the proper color. Perhaps a more expensive camera would do the trick- but I look at it in the same manner I consider all my purchases. Which is to say, before I go and blow any reasonable amount of cash, I sit down and get my priorities straight first. Once that happens, the new camera goes somewhere down near the bottom of the list along with any other number of toys that might be nice, but don't really matter much in the grand scheme of things.

I guess that's just the long way of saying that while I think my work is up to snuff when it comes to sharing, my photos of it are not. Seems like a shame to exclude (or attempt to exclude) someone from a social group because they are lacking a skill that has very little to do with the subject in question. Unless you're in direct violation of the stated rules of the forum, I'd just let it go and not lose any sleep over it- could be the fella that got on your case was just having a bad day, that happens to the best of us.

Just a thought, no accusations being made here.

Just because someone posts a picture on the web and says they made whatever is in the picture, is it a true statement?

If I were a dishonest individual and wanted to blow smoke up someones tail pipe, I could go to Leo or Arch's website, left click and copy the images they might have there and then show them to someone in a chat room and say they are mine, does that mean they are?

I could go to a craft or trade show and take pictures of one of the local artisans at work and claim on the posting that it was me, was it?

Look, I'm just a backwoods kid from south central Kentucky, and I've never been accused of being smart. If someone is so shallow minded that they think a picture is going to truley show them how good someone else is at turning, they should get their head checked. I'm not a master at wood turning and I know that. I know just enough about this to be dangerous at it, but I can tell when I read some of the advice on this site as to whether someone else knows what they are talking about. I can view their websites (if they aren't lying) and see what they can teach me there. If a picture is all it takes to make me a master turner, let me get my camera out and start snapping a few shots of me making piles of saw dust in the shop, cause that I know I can do.

Thanks Arch, your insight into things make me think. I enjoy your thoughts and muses.

JD