Street dancing....caught the spirit
black mamba
Registered Users Posts: 8,323 Major grins
I always wanted to lie naked on a bearskin rug in front of a fireplace. Cracker Barrel didn't take kindly to it.
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They're dancing by the courtyard at the Columbia restaurant in St Augustine. Every time I'm in St Augustine, and I see someone with a camera, I wonder if it's Black Mamba.
This busker was also photographed on Hypolita Street, but on the other side of St George Street.
http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/
That's a great shot, Tony. Where in the heck have you been hiding? You've been out of touch on this forum way too long. How have been doing?
Thanks for asking. Our daughter lives in Jax Beach, and my wife and I drive up from the Orlando area to have lunch with her in St Augustine sometimes. Shorter trip for both of us, but St Augustine has less appeal now. Parking is horrendous and St George street has been taken over by the homeless. COVID put a crimp on street photography, and I haven't got back to it lately. I do participate in some of the DGRIN challenges sometimes, but the traffic in DGRIN is way down.
http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/
Sadly, you're right on all accounts Tony. St. Augustine has become a nightmare. The homeless mess is terrible and getting worse. These issues have ruined what was onetime a pleasurable experience. And the traffic on D-Grin has evaporated. I won't be active much longer. Take care of yourself. Stay safe.
What can we do about increasing traffic? Personally I still enjoy the forum very much, even though I've been in a bit of a dry spell lately.
www.mind-driftphoto.com
That's a good question, my friend. I wish I had an answer. I mean we were down to 5 or 6 semi-regulars. I'd like to hear what the moderators have to say about it. But I haven't heard a peep out of them. I tune in sporadically but it's always ghost city. I've been preoccupied with other stuff so I also have had a bit of a dry spell in shooting. I'll post some new stuff when I can.
Well, I only can speak for myself, but FWIW, it's clearly true that activity on the street forum (and on Dgrin in general) has been declining for years. I think the limitations imposed by the pandemic prevented most of us from doing any shooting at all for a long time. But the forum was already in decline before that, partly a victim of the explosion of social media alternatives, like Instagram, but also I think a result of a negative feedback loop--less activity meant less feedback, less feedback meant less incentive to post, etc. It's also no secret that lots of the former participants are getting old and less capable of lugging those great, fast lenses around for hours. In my case, my wife has developed health issues that make it impossible to leave her alone in the house. I've tried doing pseudo-macro and abstract stuff at home, but the results were pretty dreary, so I stopped shooting altogether. Instead, I'm learning to play Chicago style blues guitar, and I've developed an interest in music recording and production software--DAWs, synths, MIDI, and the like. It's a whole different rabbit hole. Keeps me entertained and I don't have to leave the house.
I don't know what we can do to revitalize the forum. The mods have discussed it frequently over the years, but frankly, I think we've pretty much given up. It may be a generational thing--our children (and grandchildren) want to be Tik-Tok influencers, not Magnum photographers. But hey, if anyone has any bright ideas that don't cost money, we'd love to hear them. I'd especially be interested in suggestions from anyone under, say, 40.
Hi Richard, good to hear from you! I'm sorry about your wife's health issues, but happy to hear about your musical interests. I think you're right that younger people prefer other avenues to post things. Personally, I still value this forum a lot and have learned quite a bit over the years. Like Tom, I've been occupied and preoccupied with other things and haven't been able to shoot much. Hopefully my dry spell and the low level of activity in the forum are both a transient phase. I don't have great ideas on how to revitalize it and I am definitely not under 40 either...
www.mind-driftphoto.com