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September 27, 2017

Upload, share and enjoy - Now bigger than ever

Trains-Indiana-color-bgs-bump57-crop.jpgStarting today, you can upload large files in the forums and share with others. And we mean LARGE. The old limits on width, height and file size are no more.

From today onwards, all of our forums allow for upload of files larger than the recommended max 1200 pixel width for landscapes and max 1800 pixels height for portraits. The reason for this, is to make it easier for you to upload files without having to bother about exact size of the original file, just because you wanted to share something.

In addition to testing for width and height of the image and eventually resize it if larger, files larger than 3MB (former max limit 1MB) can be uploaded. Files larger than that will though be slimmed down in file size, even if they might be within the 1200 pixel width, 1800 pixel height range.


Trains-Indiana-color-bgs-bump57-324930-2.jpg
Cargo trains in Indiana

In case the file is reduced in width or height, we apply a gentle sharpening. We do not apply any sharpening, if the width or height is not reduced, even if potentially the filesize was slimmed down.

If you do not want the system to reduce the width or height of the image, you can simply stay within the values mentioned and no alterations are done.

In case we are resizing the file in width or height, or slimming it down in file size, we show, a small warning "!" indication before the filename in the upload dialog window after you have uploaded it. If you click on the warning indication, you will see a short info that we have resized the file.

Some forums allow for large JPGs and sometimes NEFs to be uploaded. These individual forums are not affected by the resizing above.

To discuss this feature and to give us feedback, please use this thread.

Posted by bgs at 12:33 PM

September 25, 2017

We are advertising free

20170922_134558_4.lakenorman_treadwl_110px.jpgWe are going advertising free today. This means: No more advertising on the top or bottom of pages, in the articles or on our homepage.

The reason? The value of the advertising, for you as a member and for the Nikonians Community over all, is diminishing. Many of us are using ad blockers and if we do not, we hardly interact with the ads or view them.

We hope this change will further lead to a cleaner design and less clutter, making the Nikonians Community an even more enjoyable place to visit.

20170922_134558_4.lakenorman_treadwl_650px.jpg

Lake Norman Sunrise. Nikon D800, 24-70mm f/2.8 @ f/22, 20s, ISO 100, ND filter.
Lawrence Treadwell (treadwl). You can see more of his work here.

If you want to give us feedback on this, feel free to do that right in this thread.

Enjoy!
Bo & Ramón

Posted by bgs at 11:26 AM

September 19, 2017

Advice & critique on your photographs?

bgs-asking-for-critique-110.png It is now easy for Nikonians members to ask for critique on their work. When you have uploaded an image in your galleries, just use the link in the bottom right corner, "Please give me critique on this image" to kick it off. Other members and the team will now have the chance to give you the constructive critique and advice you might need to further advance your skills.

bgs-asking-for-critique.png
Clicking the bottom right link "Please give me critique on this image" opens a new page for additional information.

Click the "Please give me critique on this image" link
Clicking the link, a new page shows where you can enter some additional information or questions relating to your photograph.

When any additional information has been filled out, hit submit
Hitting the submit button and your image will be posted in the Nikonians "Premium Advice & Critique" forum, including any additional information you might have added, while linking to the larger version of your image stored in the galleries.

bgs-critique-asked.png
Link changes after critique has been requested

Your image is posted and the link changes
After the "Asking for critique" process has been initiated, the link below the image in the galleries changes and now shows a direct link to the post with the request for critique in the "Premium Advice & Critique" forum instead.

You will receive notifications of new critique via email
Whenever you receive advice or critique on your image, you will receive an email notification with a link to the forum discussion on your image.

Please note
This functionality is currently in "open beta" and we will likely improve it further in the next few months.
It is available to all members on a Gold or Platinum membership.
Please do try it out and let us know what you think about it.
You can reach us by sending us an email to bo-jrp-feedback@nikonians.org

Posted by bgs at 4:03 PM

Small changes are also important

Post-message-screen-2017-09-19-110.pngThanks to all our supporters, members on Silver, Gold and Platinum memberships and members participating in our fundraising, we are able to continuously improve the usability of the community's site.


Two of the latest, albeit small, adjustments we have done to Nikonians.org are:
  • Now the "post message" window has a cancel button, discarding the message and taking you back to the former window when used.
  • When you are using auto-renewal of your membership, look under "Membership" tab in "My Profile" to see when the next payment is due, independent of the duration of the membership.

Post-message-screen-2017-09-19.png

The new "Cancel" button in the left corner easily takes you out of the post screen

Other improvements we have recently added:

  • Personal time zone settings (set yours in "Your Profile")
  • Password change no longer requires you to remember your old password
  • Comments on your gallery images now show under your "Heart" menu
  • Improved navigation of articles on mobile devices
  • Image preview slider in forums now quicker and loads more images

Photographers_Dunes_BGS7935-800.jpg
And, when we are not improving the site, we just love to be outdoors taking photographs!

Posted by bgs at 1:18 PM

September 15, 2017

Photo trip: Enjoy the Smokies in Spring

Smokies_ANPAT_1_110px.jpg
Join Nikonians to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Spring. Great photography and learning guaranteed.

Learn how to make impressive landscape photographs in this beautiful part of the US.

We are visiting a rich set of locations providing all of us in the group with excellent opportunities to achieve stunning photographs.

As always, our "Annual Nikonians Photo Adventure Trips" are popular and the seats are limited, so ensure you get your seat and use the early-bird discounts.

Learn more about the trip ANPAT 8 in Spring.

Smokies_ANPAT_1_800px.jpg

Posted by bgs at 1:04 PM

September 13, 2017

Preferential treatment for Nikonians ordering Nikon D850

Nikon-D850-front-pic_170824_01_01-logo.jpgIf you are looking into ordering your very own Nikon D850, our preferred camera supplier Berger Bros Camera got you covered.

Nikonians members have priority in shipping out first, plus free shipping. Brad Berger, the owner of Berger Bros Camera, will personally handle your order and you can call or text him 7 days a week on his cell: 516-816-4921 or email at BradBerger@mac.com

Nikon-D850-front-pic_170824_01_01.jpg

Posted by bgs at 6:02 PM

September 12, 2017

Save 50% on a Gold Membership in September

_BGS1634-2_tmap-110.jpg

If you are a member on a Basic or Silver membership in the Nikonians community, you can right now upgrade to a Gold Membership at a 50% discount, giving you a full year of Gold benefits for $37.50 instead of the regular $75 USD.

As a Gold Member, you have access to our NEF skills forum, where you can post your RAW files for help on processing, receive tips and tricks.

_BGS1634-2_tmap-800.jpg

It's a Golden Autumn

Yes, I want to upgrade now. This offer is valid until 30th of Sep 2017. The voucher to use is "GoldenSep2017". Please note, this is only valid for upgrades and reactivations, not renewals on Gold level.

As a Gold member, you also have access to the Premium Critique forum, where other photographers help you with giving you the critique you may need to bring your photography to new heights.

The Nikonians Photographers ID Card and your own, unique @nikonians.org email address are included in the Gold membership as well, to name a few more benefits.

Posted by bgs at 4:29 PM

September 4, 2017

Fundraising started

We have started our fundraising campaign September 4th, 2017 and its objective is to raise enough funds to further improve the way photographs are being managed and shared in the community.

We need your support and hope that you can contribute, any amount counts.

Here at Nikonians we are all working together to achieve mastery in our photography. We know that only through our continuous dedication, staying strongly focused on learning, we will achieve our goal of mastering the art of photography.

We know that learning is easier and more fun together, letting us inspire each other and share our joy, and sometimes pain.

_PJJ8764_leveled-800s.jpg
A dancer high up in the air. By Pascal Baetens (pbaetens)

With your support, we can improve the learning experience further. Any amount is helpful.

Posted by bgs at 4:32 PM

September 2, 2017

Issue with accessing us fixed 01-SEP-2017

Nikonians-Racks-FaM-364177-110.jpgWe have had "a bug in the system" resulting in some members and visitors seeing blank pages or "error 500" pages when trying to access certain areas of Nikonians.

This bug was fixed 01-SEP-2017 ca 16:40h UTC+0 (12:40 PM EDT)
It was (obviously inadvertently) introduced 16-AUG-2017 by us.

The buggy result occurred when the visitor/member:
  1. Was not logged in and
  2. Was accessing us from an IP address that we could not look up and
  3. Was accessing the login page, the password retrieval page, the deeper forum pages or galleries. It did not happen on e.g. the homepage, wiki, blog, newsletter subscription or search (NikoScope).

For details, please see the About us forum (login required).

Nikonians-Racks-FaM-364177.jpg
Our former rack system, meanwhile replaced - there is always something to do.

Posted by bgs at 12:52 PM