A New Smug Mug Community.....national Parks

The Wild Eye · June 24, 2008

NATIONAL PARKS

I JUST WANTED EVERY ONE TO KNOW THAT A NEW SMUG MUG COMMUNITY HAD BEEN STARTED. I love our National Parks and I have been blessed to see quite a few of them....So I wanted to start a community where every one could share their shots from the National Parks. Check out all the different landscapes and wildlife from the Worlds National Parks

For those of you who are smug mug members please use this link to check out the community.

http://www.smugmug.com/community/National-Parks

Tango · June 24, 2008

i joined, now i gotta go get my galleries organized

...
i dont have near that much, but id be glad to get my stuff in order...iz get busy.

schmoo · June 24, 2008

Awesome idea! Thanks for announcing this and I hope lots of people join, shoot, share.

I've moved this to the Big Picture for general viewing, and removed the duplicate.

BeachBill · June 24, 2008

I joined and added two galleries, but due to the way Smugmug considers something a "recent gallery", my galleries will be found on the last page.

I wish recent galleries in a community meant recently added galleries to that community, not recent galleries to Smugmug as a whole.

Dixie · June 25, 2008

I started a National Parks USA community several years back. It currently has 50 members and 10 pages of galleries.

National-Parks-USA

Digital Illusions · June 26, 2008

i am in with my Crater Lake gallery.

Angelo · June 26, 2008

The Wild Eye wrote:

NATIONAL PARKS

I JUST WANTED EVERY ONE TO KNOW THAT A NEW SMUG MUG COMMUNITY HAD BEEN STARTED. I love our National Parks and I have been blessed to see quite a few of them....So I wanted to start a community where every one could share their shots from the National Parks. Check out all the different landscapes and wildlife from the Worlds National Parks

For those of you who are smug mug members please use this link to check out the community.

http://www.smugmug.com/community/National-Parks

Dixie wrote:

I started a National Parks USA community several years back. It currently has 50 members and 10 pages of galleries.

National-Parks-USA

Wild Eye:

Perhaps you can combine your efforts with Dixie's for the benefit of having one community for the dgrin family?

The Wild Eye · June 26, 2008

The Worlds National Parks
Yeah I saw the "National Parks USA" but it was set up so approval had to be given to join and this one is open to any one who wants to join. The other thing I didn't like about the group is "Dixie" (the person running it) only had their stuff "featured"....And I think the group should promote every one's work as much as possible, instead of just their own.....that's was it's a "Community".

Another thing was the "National Parks USA" was obviously just for US parks and I wanted to see the worlds Parks......Mainly Canada and Africa. There is some great stuff to see out side of the US. I've only been able to see some of North America's parks and thought this would be a way to see them all!!

Not looking to cause any problems here just thought it was a new/different idea that would be open to any one!!

Any thoughts Dixie?

The Wild Eye · June 26, 2008

Crater Lake is on my List

Digital Illusions wrote:

i am in with my Crater Lake gallery.

Do you live near Carter Lake? It looks like you've been there a couple of differnet times. Great stuff.....do you knwo when the best time of year is to shoot there?

Angelo · June 26, 2008

The Wild Eye wrote:

Yeah I saw the "National Parks USA" but it was set up so approval had to be given to join and this one is open to any one who wants to join. The other thing I didn't like about the group is "Dixie" (the person running it) only had their stuff "featured"....And I think the group should promote every one's work as much as possible, instead of just their own.....that's was it's a "Community".

Another thing was the "National Parks USA" was obviously just for US parks and I wanted to see the worlds Parks......Mainly Canada and Africa. There is some great stuff to see out side of the US. I've only been able to see some of North America's parks and thought this would be a way to see them all!!

Not looking to cause any problems here just thought it was a new/different idea that would be open to any one!!

Any thoughts Dixie?

OK, I gotcha!

You're good man

Digital Illusions · June 27, 2008

The Wild Eye wrote:

Do you live near Carter Lake? It looks like you've been there a couple of differnet times. Great stuff.....do you knwo when the best time of year is to shoot there?

I live in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Klamath Falls</st1:City> <st1:State w:st="on">Oregon</st1:State></st1:place>. My house is about a 45 min. drive to the park. Each year I purchase a season pass; with that pass I visit 10-12 times per year. I am currently working on a "Best of Crater Lake" photography/coffee table book. What you saw is just a small portion of the images I have. I have also photographed the Crater Lake Century Bike Ride (you can visit my gallery by clicking HERE) or going to www.CraterLakeCentury.com <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
You ask for advice on great time to go. Unfortunately that is difficult to narrow down. In my opinion I find that there is never a bad time to shoot at <st1:place w:st="on">Crater Lake</st1:place>. I just choose a different subject when the weather is poor, such as lodge interiors or animals. In the winter time you can capture the beauty of the snow. In the summer the skies can be so clear and blue and the wind so calm that the water reflects the edge of the caldera like a mirror. <o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
However in the winter storms can come in without warning. The rim drive is closed from mid October till late June. The main road to the rim village from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Mazama</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Village</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> can close from an overnight storm. <o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
The summer has its drawbacks too. Smoke from nearby forest fires can cause daytime haze that even a polarizer can not cut through. Traffic on the rim drive can frustrate any photographer looking for a particular shot, as the road around the rim is very narrow and has a steep grade in many places.<o:p></o:p>
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No matter what time of the year someone planned to attend the park I would always recommend checking the local/area weather forecasts and plan accordingly. As with all landscapes early morning and evening shots will appear crisper and full of more color than in the middle of the day. However, if someone were just passing though they don’t always have the luxury of being on the mountain during those hours. Therefore planning ahead is the best advice I can give when visiting <st1:place w:st="on">Crater Lake</st1:place>. <o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
If I had to pick time where the weather was most cooperative it would be late June / early July (cause haze from forest fire smoke usually kicks up in late July through mid September) and late January / early February (as there is usually a lull in the winter storm path then).

Sorry for the long post but there just is not an easy answer here. I hope this helps you <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/thumb.gif" border="0" alt="" >
<o:p></o:p>

jasonstone · June 27, 2008

So if I join how do I get photos into the community galleries?

The Wild Eye · June 27, 2008

How to add galleries

jasonstone wrote:

So if I join how do I get photos into the community galleries?

First join the community and then go to the gallery you want to add and click on "customize gallery" Then all the way at the bottom of the screen you'll have a drop down bar to select which community you'd like the gallery to be associated with.

Any more questions let me know!!<o:p></o:p>

jasonstone · June 28, 2008

The Wild Eye wrote:

First join the community and then go to the gallery you want to add and click on "customize gallery" Then all the way at the bottom of the screen you'll have a drop down bar to select which community you'd like the gallery to be associated with.

Any more questions let me know!!<o:p></o:p>

Cool - thanks - might put some photos up

BigAl · June 28, 2008

Unfortunately, galleries can only belong to one community and my national parks galleries already belong to the Africa community :cry

Dixie · June 30, 2008

The Wild Eye wrote:

Yeah I saw the "National Parks USA" but it was set up so approval had to be given to join and this one is open to any one who wants to join. The other thing I didn't like about the group is "Dixie" (the person running it) only had their stuff "featured"....And I think the group should promote every one's work as much as possible, instead of just their own.....that's was it's a "Community".

Another thing was the "National Parks USA" was obviously just for US parks and I wanted to see the worlds Parks......Mainly Canada and Africa. There is some great stuff to see out side of the US. I've only been able to see some of North America's parks and thought this would be a way to see them all!!

Not looking to cause any problems here just thought it was a new/different idea that would be open to any one!!

Any thoughts Dixie?

I have no problem with it. I was merely pointing out the fact that there was already a community for US national parks. Yours feature NP from everywhere (which I didn't catch at first). Basically the decision for the person who joins is to decide where they want to place their emphasis when choosing a community. As one other poster stated, you can only place a gallery in ONE community so a person has to choose which community gives them the attention and exposure they are looking for. ...and as to the ability to only have a gallery in one community - I hope that SmugMug takes a look at that and will eventually add the capability of allowing membership in multiple communities by a single gallery.

As to featuring my galleries on the National-Parks-USA community - I run it and that is what I've chosen to do. Community members can get exposure and moved to the top of the gallery list when they add photos to their galleries because each time new photos are added to a gallery that gallery moves to the head of the galleries in the listing for the community. That does take planning on the participants part. As an example, I don't create a new gallery each time I revisit a park. I just add the new content to an existing gallery and have the sort for that gallery set to list the latest uploads first. That keeps the galleries fresh and allows the gallery to get spotlighted when new material is added. Anyone can take advantage of that listing feature. It also keeps the community fresh with ever changing galleries.

As to requiring approval - I will continue to do that. I review each and every site when they request membership. I have found a few which have had no US national parks images in their galleries. Additionally, requiring approval, compels my continuing participation in the community I started, and IMHO makes a person thinking about joining a community reflect on whether or not they really want to join and be willing to participate on a continuing basis.

A New Smug Mug Community.....national Parks

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