Wow - a year already! Nice one Hamish - you can be very proud of your patch

Most of us are here having fun, posting pics and chatting with others. Those doing the real work behind the scenes deserve most of the credit. Me, I'm one of those who came from DPR looking for a better and more friendly forum. Found one I did!

It's a great site. Well done Hamish!

Thank you, Hamish. It's a great place you have here and you can take a lot of the credit.

Hamish,Well done mate!It really helps that people here are constructive and considerate in their comments, which when added to the knowledge they share, makes the forum what it is.

Well done Hamish. RPF's photography centric discussion has been a very refreshing change and I've learnt a lot from many helpful members here since I first joined .

Nice one hammy! You know my opinion, fantastic, clean, and a fulfilling site!! Which is one good reason I'm not on any other forum. Wouldn't be the the same without all the members we currently have on here, but most of all, wouldn't be anything without the creator! So well done Hamish!

Well I love this place and pleased to be part of it!! FYI our instagram account is close to 500 followers now and growing at an average of about 10 a day.

Originally Posted by Chris Dodkin

Wow - a year already! Nice one Hamish - you can be very proud of your patch

It's been more than that ... Look at your join date!
June 3rd 2010 we started!
I always thought it was August 23rd .... But that was just when I installed analytics!
I know, it's gone quick!

I was just tinkering with the new analytics layout yesterday and spotted some of these figures for the year just gone and got a bit excited!

Cheers everyone, I wasnt looking for a pat on the back really, although it is nice of you all...

The way I see it... It's like a pub, you pick your local based on a few things... Good beer, your sort of music, etc ... But really the one thing that makes a good pub is the rest of the people that go there and the atmosphere that they create! Obviously the landlord sets the tone; controls the level of lighting, chooses the right music at the right volume level and hopefully cleans the pipes and runs a mop around the place etc... But fill it with a bunch of ****** up louts and it's still going to be a dive!
You get the analogy anyway...
My point is, although I feel I can take credit for some of it, it's really a small proportion of the whole ... I'm not just trying to be modest either! If I have any motive in saying this sort of thing its to help with the feeling of community, help people realise that I want this place to be about the members, their photos and related experience!
I never refer to it as my site, and always say things like "since I have been a member here" ...
It's good for people to know who to come to if something breaks, but I don't want to be any more than that!

There is another reason for me having this attitude ... There is a certain level of insecurity in it... Some forum owners become some sort of fountain of knowledge, the self appointed go to guy for advice! I don't know enough and am not confident enough in my knowledge to take on that role...

So yeah... There you go!


I also quite like to make the odd reference to socialist politics, but I'm a bit nervous about how that sort of thing goes down really!
I quite like the idea that this place represents a bit of far left idealism ... Everyone being equal and doing there equal part to make a perfect functioning whole! Obviously there is no such thing as perfect communism because of the requirement for some sort of leader... I'm happy to take on that roll in as much as i have to, but i don't want it to be anything more than is required! As i said in the ethos, me and the super mods are just more equal pigs ... Perhaps not the best thing to say considering the tone of the book but I hope the meaning of the comment isn't lost to much?

Perhaps its best to stick to the pub analogy eh?

connected to all this, something i am very proud of and something that ties into what I have just been saying is that we are effectively part of the "Crowd Source" ("cloud source", "open source" what ever you want to call it) journalism revolution ... We do quite truly represent the voice of the people when it comes to photography and equipment, we have managed to achieve a very open view toward photography (as discussed here http://www.realphotographersforum.co...tographer.html ) which should give us very broad appeal and put no cap on the sort of views that can be expressed here! This I think is quite an incredible thing really, and something I never really conceived of when i set out to build this web site... the evolution of this place, the way we are riding the wave at the forefront of how news is becoming to be generated by the masses is a very exciting thing for me ... I guess it isnt perhaps something that many of the members really think about, but I love it, its a very exciting thing to be involved in ... even if it is just within the realms of the relatively noncontentious topic of photography! (we are certainly no wiki leaks )

Originally Posted by Thomas brookes

Well I love this place and pleased to be part of it!! FYI our instagram account is close to 500 followers now and growing at an average of about 10 a day.

MINT!

This place is one of the best forums I have ever been on. People come, some go, others lurk but you'll always find people here who a pleasant to talk to and have a genuine love of photography.

Thanks for a great site Hamish.

I find now that I simply can't keep up with all the posts!

What can I add to the above?! Thanks for creating the site Hamish, I love it and think you've done a great job.