This is probably going to sound harsh, but if you do have so much to bring ... er, well then where have you been all these years? My opinion fwiw is that Lula was/is stagnating. The forum is useful but the content is largely reheated same old same old, just without the spark that Michael would bring to it. Lula is largely a site run by old men for old men (and I'm certainly in that category), and as such it was e been possibleheading for a cliff. Maybe you can change course, but I have to say, it all seems strangely abrupt, and in particular unnecessarily so towards Kevin.
The problem with all of this type of comment is that it's based on knowing not a lot about the details of the given situation.
How do you, or anyone else, for that matter, know what might or might not have been possible or even permissible a few weeks or months ago? David Mantripp mentions feeling that LuLa was stagnating recently, that it is a site by old men for old men. Well, that's an interesting observation.
Any site with traffic becomes, should it survive, peopled by a set of faithfulls. Over the years, unless something radically bad hits them or the site, there's little reason to leave, so the years automatically tick past and youth turns into maturity, and in the case of LuLa, daily habit straight after breakfast. Don't forget that we are on about photography here. It's a very simple artform, and as better people than I have claimed, all you need in order to become a photographer is to be able to RTFM that came with the camera. The rest, the
kind of photographer you might become, unfortunately, is up to the space between your ears, and I'm using "your" in the sense of one's, not aiming at any individual. Beyond being a photographer, you now also have to become good at using electronic devices, which for myself, at least, is totally against my nature. Hence, the debt that I feel I owe some individuals here who guided me through uncharted electronic routes whose layout I could find on no map. So don't forget that since photography ain't rocket science, there never will be much worth reading to write about it, but there sure will be a lot to learn about the great guys who work(ed) at it all their life and became big names.
So, the old gang gets to know who and what it is, who is worth the involvement and whom to avoid at all costs. Newcomers, as I once was, have to navigate on their own and make that same call too.
Now we face the situation where we know what we need to know to retain a peaceful coexistence here, and conversation meanders back and forth, on or off any particular topic, which can drive some people nuts, but keep others interested because in that way, conversation more resembles reality where most folks I know chat without a script. Especially in the rare event of some pretty woman walking past. And here, as in the local bar, it's the conversation and the people you get to know that differentiates the bar you use from the one you ignore on your way to your favourite.
But what new content can any site offer if new is the only attraction or lure? That's why the rest of the photo world tends to get bogged down in pandering to those with GAS by running endless reviews. After a while, some come to realise that cameras have increasingly less to do with their photography than ever, that the spark, the impetus required to keep on truckin' with this thing is not external at all, that it's all about self-understanding and coming to some firm conclusions about what it was about photography that pushed you to get into it. Inevitably, you conclude that any old camera, as long as it works as it should, will be all you need, and a couple of focal lengths the most you find yourself wanting to use once you know your interests properly. Few of us really are or want to be jacks of all trades.
That happy minimalism, taken to the public extreme, would soon lead to a vanishing act from the advertisers, and if they are the main financial support, then as with any pro enterprise, you gotta give 'em what they want, which will be reviews, the more glowing the better. That will render much of a website irrelevant to some of the older guys who have reached equipment sufficiency quite some time ago.
So what can you offer the older membership to retain its interest? It's not going to be reviews, and enthusiastic self-promotion pieces from people selling this, that or the other course are also going to soar with the mice. What the hell do people want? I've already outlined in an earlier post what I'd like to see here, but then I come from being a pro, so my interests are obviously going to be in learning more about the people that I admire, not so much how they light something or which cameras they might use.
Of course, the biggie here, is probably the facility for posting images.
You can do that seeking comment as you can specifically where you are pretty much guaranteed not to become victim of second-guessing games and experts.
To wind up, maybe the best thing LuLa can do is hope that its own membership take some active responsibility and post more. Complaining, but keeping a very low profile in other directions seems a bit daft and unreasonable, too. Don't forget that it takes input to create conversation. Conversation is as interesting as the material you put into it - it's really all of your own making.
Rob
