RIP Whipping Post

DavidTO · July 19, 2009

We've closed the Whipping Post.

Air your comments, concerns and ideas here. :thumb

michswiss · July 19, 2009

Repost from the Suggestion Box as per David's request
No more whippings?
Ok, now that "The Whipping Post" is closed, I have a couple of requests. I'd appreciate a forum that clearly denotes "Street" or "Urban" or "City" in it's mandate. The current "Landscapes - Town & Country" attracts primarily landscape photogs. Nothing wrong with that at all, but combining beautiful panoramic landscape shots with urban grunge will naturally attract a different audience.

My second request or question is where to turn for mentoring. I put a impassioned plea (embarrassingly) for a mentor in "The Big Picture" a while back. "Whipping Post" was an alternative when I simply wanted directed comments. While I love positive feedback, I would hope that closing whipping post will represent a strengthening of the community that images are posted with the expectation of strong and clear feedback if requested, and not just a "Oh, what a greta picture"...

What's the plan going forward?

ps. Maybe I missed it, but it would have been nice to have had a month's notice.

DavidTO · July 19, 2009

I'm really sorry that I had to delete two posts that we've received so far about this.

ALL of your comments are important to us, and I've asked those two people to repost their comments.

I don't want to shut down any discussion of this, but what had happened was that because of the time stamps this thread was being authored by someone else, and since it's an important announcement, I felt it was important that it (the thread) came from me.

I sent them both PM's explaining this and providing them with the original text of their comments.

Thank you all for your patience in this.

RogersDA · July 19, 2009

DavidTO wrote:

We've closed the Whipping Post.

Air your comments, concerns and ideas here.

Now, Marc has Landscapes covered a la Muench University. Howzabout doing the same for the other forums using other artists-in-residence? Nothing like being whipped by a pro whipper.

schmoo · July 19, 2009

RogersDA wrote:

Now, Marc has Landscapes covered a la Muench University. Howzabout doing the same for the other forums using other artists-in-residence? Nothing like being whipped by a pro whipper.

We certainly do. B. D. has done a great job dishing out the dough in his Framing Exercise as well as leaving critiques for threads all around People, Weddings, and beyond.

We have more stuff up the pipeline too.

DavidTO · July 19, 2009

michswiss wrote:

No more whippings?
Ok, now that "The Whipping Post" is closed, I have a couple of requests. I'd appreciate a forum that clearly denotes "Street" or "Urban" or "City" in it's mandate. The current "Landscapes - Town & Country" attracts primarily landscape photogs. Nothing wrong with that at all, but combining beautiful panoramic landscape shots with urban grunge will naturally attract a different audience.

There's been a lot of talk about this amongst the moderators. No promises, but it is something we've considered.

My second request or question is where to turn for mentoring. I put a impassioned plea (embarrassingly) for a mentor in "The Big Picture" a while back. "Whipping Post" was an alternative when I simply wanted directed comments. While I love positive feedback, I would hope that closing whipping post will represent a strengthening of the community that images are posted with the expectation of strong and clear feedback if requested, and not just a "Oh, what a greta picture"...

What's the plan going forward?

ps. Maybe I missed it, but it would have been nice to have had a month's notice.

You didn't miss it, there was no notice. Sorry if that causes a problem for you.

What we're hoping is that the shot-specific forums will become stronger because of this. And remember, the forums are what you guys make of them. If you want tougher comments, ask for them.

michswiss · July 19, 2009

DavidTO wrote:

There's been a lot of talk about this amongst the moderators. No promises, but it is something we've considered.

You didn't miss it, there was no notice. Sorry if that causes a problem for you.

What we're hoping is that the shot-specific forums will become stronger because of this. And remember, the forums are what you guys make of them. If you want tougher comments, ask for them.

Did you like how I left the misspelling from the original post?

I'm not sure if Art will repost, but I think his observation was important. Where to turn to present your best work? I haven't used the other forums all that much mainly because I haven't found they align with my style or preferences as of yet.

I enjoy the challenges, but I think I'm going to be cutting back on those as I'm finding they can become something of an obsession in their own right. I'm trying to develop my own eye and going after a new theme every couple of weeks has been fun, but disruptive. I should probably spend more time in the educational sections though.

My disappointment of the unannounced closing is that I had a thread open that I was sincerely hoping for some additional feedback.

DavidTO · July 19, 2009

michswiss wrote:

My disappointment of the unannounced closing is that I had a thread open that I was sincerely hoping for some additional feedback.

I would happily move it for you.

schmoo · July 19, 2009

michswiss wrote:

Ok, now that "The Whipping Post" is closed, I have a couple of requests. I'd appreciate a forum that clearly denotes "Street" or "Urban" or "City" in it's mandate. The current "Landscapes - Town & Country" attracts primarily landscape photogs. Nothing wrong with that at all, but combining beautiful panoramic landscape shots with urban grunge will naturally attract a different audience.

Urban shots aren't everyone's cup of tea but there are quite a few people who post these in Landscapes. You're always welcome to post your own gritty urban shots if you wish - no slap on the wrist for posting something un-traditional.

I love shooting rust, abandoned buildings, and cityscapes and always encourage others to do the same. Dgrin is what you make of it!

michswiss · July 19, 2009

schmoo wrote:

Urban shots aren't everyone's cup of tea but there are quite a few people who post these in Landscapes. You're always welcome to post your own gritty urban shots if you wish - no slap on the wrist for posting something un-traditional. I love shooting rust, abandoned buildings, and cityscapes and always encourage others to do the same. Dgrin is what you make of it!

[sarcasm]Of course, you might consider combining People with Weddings. Both are basically the same thing.[/sarcasm]

Nope, doesn't work for me. I really don't think the two topics work together. I tried a couple of times, but there's a community of nature and true landscape participants that works. Again, no issues with that, but landscape really isn't my cup of tea. I also think the techniques shared and discussions had would be different.

I actually just posted my first attempt at a series in "Other Cool Shots" before I noticed the closing. I thought a lot about where to put it and whether even to post it on Dgrin. It didn't seem to fit "Landscapes", but maybe it should have?

David, Go ahead and move my recent WP thread. Let me know where you feel it best fits.

I enjoyed the idea of having people critique my potential portfolio shots. Are you developing a new concept for that?

DavidTO · July 19, 2009

michswiss wrote:

David, Go ahead and move my recent WP thread. Let me know where you feel it best fits.

Moved to people.

ivar · July 19, 2009

michswiss wrote:

I enjoyed the idea of having people critique my potential portfolio shots. Are you developing a new concept for that?

That's what this entire forum is for

You can post your shots in any of the appropriate 'shots' forums, and ask for feedback there

Angelo · July 19, 2009

ummmm, PJ and STREET are sub-topics of the PEOPLE forum and BD is doing a fantastic job of interacting with everyone

Miguel Delinquento · July 19, 2009

Just another site
Well, since you are soliciting comments, I must say that I’m a little saddened by this move and don’t quite understand the stated reasoning.

By setting up a space and civil threaded conversation for thoughtful critique, the WP provided value for both submitters and critics. I haven’t found anything else on the web quite like it. Photosig is OK, but most of the critiques are just 1-2 liners of dubious value. Photo.net is even more superficial.

Granted very few WP submissions were at “portfolio” shot level, but the ideal was a worthy one to aim for. In my two years here I have found the other forums to be pleasant, but 90% of the feedback is of the typical “nice shot” flavor found on all the other forums. Most of the meatier comments quickly jump down the “how to” chute which is not critique.

By eliminating the Whipping Post Dgrin is undistinguishing itself somewhat.

M

Art Scott · July 19, 2009

Closing Wp Is A Mistake Just My Personal Opinon
SO I GET A PM TELLING ME I HAVE TO REPOST MY THOUGHTS ON THE CLOSING OF THE WP ......WTF wasn't the threads just merged???? Oh yeah it should greivences earlier than DAvid Wanted them to show.....he wasn't in control of them or when they were poseted......

I beleive that is freedom of speech david....our freedom to lashout when we think some is wrong.....

here is my repost............

Personally Believe That Closing The Wp Is A Mistake
I may have not posted very many photos in the Whipping Post, but this forum needs one section that people can post THEIR VERY BEST PHOTO OF ANY subject type of photo to be critiqued...........
Since the rest of the "SHOTS" DIVISIONS, SECTIONS, FORUMS, are for specific types of photography and not necessarily YOUR BEST shots of any type......IT IS ONLY LOGICAL TO HAVE A FORUM JUST FOR THE BEST SHOTS PRODUCED BY A PHOTOGRAPHER TO BE POSTED AND GIVEN TRUE CRITIQUES RATHER THAN THE......Oh whatta nice shot......very cool shot.....yeah I agree........

There is a need for a forum where one can post and get blunt honest critiques from their peers......I do believe those critiquesshould come from a qualified Photog and not just any joe who joined today and just got their first cam tomorrow...................

I saw a demise coming when the WP became moderated and you may have had to wait as much as 2 or 3 days for a post to be posted or a critique to be posted.........

So for those that used the WP as it was intended ...... where do they get the guidance they want and need?????

TO SAY JUST POST YOUR BEST LANDSCAPE IN THE LANDSCAPE OR YOUR BEST PORTRAIT IN THE PEOPLE SECTION IS ABSOLUTE UNLOGICAL DUE TO THE AMOUNT OF STUFF DUMPED IN THE VARIOUS SECTIONS THAT COULD NOT HOLD A SPITBALL TO A WINDOW TO MOST THAT WAS POSTED IN THE WP AND FOR GOOD REASON.................

HoofClix · July 19, 2009

For me at least, when I came to Dgrin on my daily basis, I came to the Challenges section, and then straight to the WP. Occasionally I went to other forums, Sports in particular, others occasionally, but now that you've closed the WP, you've closed half my reason to click on Dgrin in the first place.

I don't disagree that a lot of the images put to the whip weren't really what you intended, that is "portfolio quality," but a good many of them were, and we could expect a group of regular contributors to say the appropriate thing for the level being presented. Like Art, I too didn't submit that much, but I put to good use the criticism I did get, and certainly there was a lot to listen to when everyone else got critiqued. Absolutely none of the other sections is designed specifically for that. The WP's function will simply not be replaced by asking these contributors to go to the other sections to critique images while they're also in there looking at people telling their stories and showing their most recent series of shots.

Closing the WP is the second mistake really. The first was to respond to a petty argument between two Dgrinners a while back by starting to censor all of the comments, thinking that would make us all more civil, treating us like children. You should have just dealt with the individuals involved and left the section alone. What happened after censorship was that the good critics just went away, and I think, so did a lot of really good submissions.
I wonder if your real reason for closing it was that you just finally got tired of all the effort you had to put into all of that censorship. Couldn't you have just stopped the moderation and let the WP go on?

Art Scott · July 19, 2009

i have also seen so many times that a photo has been posted in the standard forums and all kinds of fits were thrown because the phot was critiqued in the first place and then came the shmooooozing ofthe MODS telling the critiuqers to only critque if it asked for or to only do it in the WP.....now you want us to post in the standard forums again to be critiqued and I guess we need to also beg for the critiues to only be done by THOSE QUALIFIED TO DO SO.........

Are we now going to POLICE the standard forums as the WP has been done in the recent past and all critiques have to be approved???????

I stopped nearly all of my posting due to MODS making judgmental calls on my work.....as the artist creator of my work IKNOW EXACTLY where it needs to be posted and no one .....MOD OR ANY GOD should have the rite to move a post......as you have no clue as to what the artist of the work had in their mind....clearly a few people do not know where to post and 99.9% of them admitted it in their posting....."not sure if this is where this goes please move".........okay then move it it it needs to be........OR ASK THE CREATING ARTIST....DON'T YOU THINK THIS WOULD BE BETTER OVER AT SUCH AND SUCH FORUM..........don't just move it without consent!!!

As for the posts that were suposedly substandard.......by whose expertise.....all the WP asked for is that YOU post your best at the time of posting of that subject.......it was clearly a forum for learning or why else would one want to be critiqued.......just because some mod says it is a substandard post it may very well be the best the artist creator has done to date...so give it the proper CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM CRITIQUE so the up and coming can properly learn.............

DavidTO · July 20, 2009

Miguel Delinquento wrote:

Well, since you are soliciting comments, I must say that I’m a little saddened by this move and don’t quite understand the stated reasoning.

By setting up a space and civil threaded conversation for thoughtful critique, the WP provided value for both submitters and critics. I haven’t found anything else on the web quite like it. Photosig is OK, but most of the critiques are just 1-2 liners of dubious value. Photo.net is even more superficial.

Granted very few WP submissions were at “portfolio” shot level, but the ideal was a worthy one to aim for. In my two years here I have found the other forums to be pleasant, but 90% of the feedback is of the typical “nice shot” flavor found on all the other forums. Most of the meatier comments quickly jump down the “how to” chute which is not critique.

By eliminating the Whipping Post Dgrin is undistinguishing itself somewhat.

M

Miguel,

I hope that you'll bring the same level of critique to all of dgrin that you brought to the WP.

DavidTO · July 20, 2009

HoofClix wrote:

For me at least, when I came to Dgrin on my daily basis, I came to the Challenges section, and then straight to the WP. Occasionally I went to other forums, Sports in particular, others occasionally, but now that you've closed the WP, you've closed half my reason to click on Dgrin in the first place.

I don't disagree that a lot of the images put to the whip weren't really what you intended, that is "portfolio quality," but a good many of them were, and we could expect a group of regular contributors to say the appropriate thing for the level being presented. Like Art, I too didn't submit that much, but I put to good use the criticism I did get, and certainly there was a lot to listen to when everyone else got critiqued. Absolutely none of the other sections is designed specifically for that. The WP's function will simply not be replaced by asking these contributors to go to the other sections to critique images while they're also in there looking at people telling their stories and showing their most recent series of shots.

Closing the WP is the second mistake really. The first was to respond to a petty argument between two Dgrinners a while back by starting to censor all of the comments, thinking that would make us all more civil, treating us like children. You should have just dealt with the individuals involved and left the section alone. What happened after censorship was that the good critics just went away, and I think, so did a lot of really good submissions.
I wonder if your real reason for closing it was that you just finally got tired of all the effort you had to put into all of that censorship. Couldn't you have just stopped the moderation and let the WP go on?

Moderating the WP had nothing to do with anyone arguing. I'm not even sure what it is that you're referring to. I'm very sorry that it seemed like we were treating you like children. That was the last thing on our minds when we began moderating. It was hardly censorship, it merely made the process of moderating more transparent and up-front. What we moderated and why stayed consistent during that time.

Thanks for your comments.

ian408 · July 20, 2009

Hi Art,

I think the reasons are pretty clear why the WP was closed. And I believe David was clear that posts in other forums would be welcomed. As has always been the case, if you don't want CC, then write that in your post. As for moderating every post, probably not going to happen.

As for moderating, moderators make the call as to where things go and whether or not they are in the correct place. Not to be rude, but that's the way it is and shall remain.

Critiques are what you make of them and I believe that every opinion is a valid one. If you choose not to accept that, it is your choice. I do know there are many people who will give you quality critique if you ask.

Last, instead of the negative attitude you display in this post, why not try things out for a while? Help make things work.

Thanks.

Art Scott wrote:

i have also seen so many times that a photo has been posted in the standard forums and all kinds of fits were thrown because the phot was critiqued in the first place and then came the shmooooozing ofthe MODS telling the critiuqers to only critque if it asked for or to only do it in the WP.....now you want us to post in the standard forums again to be critiqued and I guess we need to also beg for the critiues to only be done by THOSE QUALIFIED TO DO SO.........

Are we now going to POLICE the standard forums as the WP has been done in the recent past and all critiques have to be approved???????

I stopped nearly all of my posting due to MODS making judgmental calls on my work.....as the artist creator of my work IKNOW EXACTLY where it needs to be posted and no one .....MOD OR ANY GOD should have the rite to move a post......as you have no clue as to what the artist of the work had in their mind....clearly a few people do not know where to post and 99.9% of them admitted it in their posting....."not sure if this is where this goes please move".........okay then move it it it needs to be........OR ASK THE CREATING ARTIST....DON'T YOU THINK THIS WOULD BE BETTER OVER AT SUCH AND SUCH FORUM..........don't just move it without consent!!!

As for the posts that were suposedly substandard.......by whose expertise.....all the WP asked for is that YOU post your best at the time of posting of that subject.......it was clearly a forum for learning or why else would one want to be critiqued.......just because some mod says it is a substandard post it may very well be the best the artist creator has done to date...so give it the proper CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM CRITIQUE so the up and coming can properly learn.............

michswiss · July 20, 2009

I don't get the comments about trying to help make things work? Most of the forums are full of people posting tons of casual shots or fifteen images at a whack and then asking for C&C. I have no desire to discourage people from sharing anything and everything they want, it can be fun! But the signal to noise ratio is extremely high.

As a tangent, why was "Grad School" created? It has defined a very high threshold for thread creation. Wouldn't it have been simpler to simply work to lift the discussions in "Finishing School"?

I probably wouldn't have been so vocal on this topic if the timing were different (ie, not having an active post) or if there had been some notice. But that said, aside from being affiliated with Smugmug there were two forums that seemed to take pride in the quality of the feedback provided that attracted me; Challenges and Whipping Post. Basically, I agree with HoofClix

To stay on a positive vein, how about extending the "Grad School" model by adding specialised sub-forums that are about structured critique in each section where there is a limit of a single image in the initial post.

ian408 · July 20, 2009

Re: making things work.

Change is inevitable. You can embrace it and work with it. All I am saying is work with it.

Art Scott · July 20, 2009

ivar wrote:

That's what this entire forum is for

You can post your shots in any of the appropriate 'shots' forums, and ask for feedback there

Feedback and proper CRITIQUING (WHIPPING) are not the same thing....the WP was for YOUR best work.....the SHOTS forums are for casual work by the casual shooter.....it is not the same thing.........

ian408 · July 20, 2009

Art Scott wrote:

Feedback and proper CRITIQUING (WHIPPING) are not the same thing....the WP was for YOUR best work.....the SHOTS forums are for casual work by the casual shooter.....it is not the same thing.........

As I said in my post and as David had previously pointed out, you can post your best work in the appropriate forum and ask (or not) for critique.

And there are plenty of folks who do post some of their best work (read: they are professionals making money from photography) in the many "Shots" forums. So to say they are for "casual work by the casual shooter" is not only misleading but untrue.

Art Scott · July 20, 2009

ian408 wrote:

As I said in my post and as David had previously pointed out, you can post your best work in the appropriate forum and ask (or not) for critique.

And there are plenty of folks who do post some of their best work (read: they are professionals making money from photography) in the many "Shots" forums. So to say they are for "casual work by the casual shooter" is not only misleading but untrue.

Excuse the{ }outta me......i forgot to add a MOST OR a % to QUALIFY AND QUANITIFY MY STATEMENT.....
Most of the work shown is not by FULL TIME PROS...it is by MOSTLY casual shooters and beginners...........

If I have a shot I want proper critique on.....I do not want to post it in the casual side of the forums and have it buried by 40 other post in the next 15 minutes and have to keep coming back to the friggin' post and bumping it to JUST get it looked it at!!!!!!!!

Nikolai · July 20, 2009

DavidTO wrote:

We've closed the Whipping Post.

Air your comments, concerns and ideas here.

divamum · July 20, 2009

I dipped into the WP occasionally rather than as a regular, but I'm somewhat perplexed as to why it was deemed a dead end and closed entirely without notice; I can only assume there's been a behind-the-scenes ruckus that none of us know about, but even so - seems somewhat abrupt and without obvious cause, and I suspect people might appreciate an explanation if it's possible to share it publicly.

I agree that in other forums people are not always putting themselves out there for hard-core critique; they want to share their photos, maybe get a few gentle pointers for how to improve, and enjoy some "Attaboys". This is not a bad thing per se, but the general (or general PERCEIVED) intention of those posts is often different than the WP. Perhaps that was *because* the WP was available for more detailed, professional-style critiquing, but for whatever reason, the subject forums are generally less specific and tread very carefully when offering feedback (not that one shouldn't always try to phrase one's negative comments carefully, but I've noticed that criticism in the subject forums can be very tentative unless somebody excplicitly says "LEMME HAVE IT!" and even then...)

I offer the following suggestion as a potential compromise (and yes, it would take a while for people to take notice and follow suit, but if enough folks started the trend, it might catch on): perhaps for shots which would formerly have been in the whipping post, the initial subject line could include "WP" or "Portfolio critique" as part of the title, indicating to all that the poster is genuinely looking for the most detailed critique instead of simply sharing or looking for general C&C responses. It might not work, but just braintstorming a possibility....

As for pj/street photography: I definitely think there's a case for that to emerge as a child board, probably a spinoff of People. By definition, this genre sometimes has a political subtext and can depict harsher situations; I've noticed over the months that these have sometimes caused offense due to content, and I think if it is collected in one spot it's both easier for people to get the appropriate feedback they want on that specific genre, and also for those who DON'T care to view the sometimes more aggressive themes and images to avoid them as they choose.

As for Grad School - I have to say that's a GREAT idea. I believe the aim was to generate explicit "tutorial" threads in one place, and I've already found it extremely useful. Finishing School addresses more general and often more basic PP subjects, moves faster, and doesn't go into the same kind of detail, so I don't think they necessarily cover the same ground.

Just my overinflated 2c.

ETA (I only just saw this statement as I re-read the thread):

Mischswiss wrote:

To stay on a positive vein, how about extending the "Grad School" model by adding specialised sub-forums that are about structured critique in each section where there is a limit of a single image in the initial post.

Better idea than mine - nice, elegant solution.

ian408 · July 20, 2009

divamum wrote:

I offer the following suggestion as a potential compromise (and yes, it would take a while for people to take notice and follow suit, but if enough folks started the trend, it might catch on): perhaps for shots which would formerly have been in the whipping post, the initial subject line could include "WP" or "Portfolio critique" as part of the title, indicating to all that the poster is genuinely looking for the most detailed critique instead of simply sharing or looking for general C&C responses. It might not work, but just braintstorming a possibility....

We've been discussing this as a way for someone to identify what they'd like critiqued. We do use similar hints in other forums, most notably the Flea Market. It seems to work well.

Dave Clee · July 20, 2009

Seems like when I fist joined, the WP was a much better place to hang out and post your best work for critique. The critiques also appeared to be a bit more honest and to the point. I guess some would take it as harsh but for me I knew that if I was putting a photo in the WP then I was prepared for a potential whipping. Over the year or 2 it seemed to move towards a softer, gentler area and then when the rules changed and you had to wait for the approvals, that sort of sealed the deal for me. Just became a bit to much of a hassle to wait. So I ended up posting alot less.

Sad to hear it is gone away, would of liked to have seen it go back to the
way it was when I first joined. There have been many good points raised as to why it should stay and I also believe posting your work in their respective forums will not be same as entering into the WP.

Cheers

Dave

Art Scott · July 20, 2009

ian408 wrote:

We've been discussing this as a way for someone to identify what they'd like critiqued. We do use similar hints in other forums, most notably the Flea Market. It seems to work well.

flea market is just that a FLEA MARKET......Garage sale............HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH CRITIQUING......A friggin apple to oranges comparison here...........................................

anwmn1 · July 20, 2009

I use to actively read and occasionally post in the Whipping Post. Once you had to wait for comments to show up I quickly lost interest in it. I think the site works best when it is not overly moderated. There will always be arguements, disagreements, people that take offense to someone else's post, and a hundred other petty things that happen on a forum. Making drastic changes to try and prevent it from happening only ruins what made the site great to begin with.

The following are MY PERSONAL OPIONIONS on this change and some of the posts in this thread.

Making the Whipping Post comments have to be approved before posted- was a mistake. This drove myself as well as others away from the area.

Eliminating the Whipping Post - is a mistake.

While I think some people have taken things a little harder than neccessary they do show that this change presents a problem. The inability to hear their concerns and view will create a bigger problem.

There is a valid point that regular comments and critiques are not the same as an area dedicated to true critiques. However I do not like some of Art's comments about someone having to be of some level in order to critique. It does not matter if someone is a pro or an amatuer. If they know art and/or photography they have the ability to provide a critique. This site does need a clear break of the two because of the shear number of users and the different things users are after. Art I am only calling you out because we have both been on here for a while and I know you will later be dissappointed in your choice of comments. Your complaint and view is very valid - it is the deliver that is off a bit.

While I would like to see some of the categories re-named or at least clarified I do not want to see a ton of specialized sub categories. It only adds to the moderation problem and creates cliquish groups. Keep it simple.

Gallery type area:
Landscape-
Wildlife-
People- Category for Weddings makes sense but no need to create additional sub categories for kids/candids/seniors etc.. It helps everyone if they see all types of people photography.
Macro-
Sports-
Automotive- (currently not existent-often dumped into sports or other depending on if it is racing, photo shoot, art, or old and rusty)
Street- (PJ/Architecture)
Journeys-

Another change that I have suggested before is to clean up is the Wide Angle. Big Picture and Mind your own business often cover the very same things. Find better names for these to clearly identify what those two categories are to really include.

Whipping post or something similar can easily be added to Technique or Photo Finsh. A true critique not only covers the basics of photography and the 'rules' but also the post process, technique, sizing, etc.

For me: Post Process- Critiques- and Aspects of Business all fall in line together.

Location location location- should include the dgrin shoot, any of the pro's shoots, as well as individuals seeking location help or posting an upcoming shoot-

My suggestion:

Location, Location, Location:
Dgrin Shootouts-(sub cat) Annual shoots- Announcement- Preparing threads- and photos/threads of the shootout.
House Pro Workshops- (sub cats) Marc-BD- etc.
What to shoot? - (sub cat) I am traveling to .... what should I shoot?
Shoot with me- (sub cat) I am shooting ...... Who wants to shoot with me?

Hopefully the powers that be will take all of the comments and suggestions, evaluate the core points and work towards making improvements that move dgrin in a forward motion but still in a direction that separates itself from the other 100 photo forums out there.

A final thought:

Keep and enhance what makes you different and special, rather than copying the sites people are leaving to come here.

RIP Whipping Post

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