@wide-lite 1000 @rjluna2 - I think putting them in off-topic is fairly reasonable considering that currently other media depicting lighting that aren't photographs that you personally took (such as lighting in video games, CAD, drawings etc) are placed in off-topic. I suppose a screen capture for a modern TV show or movie in 4K has the same fidelity as a photograph, but IMO older pre HD content has too low resolution to easily make out the details.

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I suppose for stuff like cobraheads, it depends on the area. My neighborhood is 95% LED and the only HPS are a few stragglers that remained in service. Most were changed out to LED in 2014/2015, but other areas even in my metro area are still mostly HPS. 

I do think picture quality has dropped compared to a year/few months ago but too be honest I just skim past the bad quality pictures and I still think mass uploading 10 similar pictures that are bad quality is doing other pictures a diservice, especially if you just upload and don't comment on other's pictures.

Yeah I’d been guilty of that too, I used to post photos of AEL 115 and GE m250R2 and there were still a lot of those around here. Now I mostly just add pics if it’s of an install that I find interesting, ie the arm. But some of my pics may still be boring, hence why I don’t post as much these days as there just isn’t a lot to share anymore around here.

Within less than a 5 mile circle of my house there's over 100 GE M250R2's , I've photographed NONE of them as there's absolutely NOTHING special about them . All are same ole ,same ole 100w-250w HPS .

Near where I live, it’s a mixture of LED and HID. With Phillips/Gardco GL18s in HPS and MH. There are HPS LM Spherolites/Nemas and OV-25s and LPS OV-15s and SRXs in my area as well. Most of the LED fixtures are Cree XSPR and Phillips/Lumec RoadStar GPLMs and RFMs.

Cole, it's not you...I sent you a PM.
I'm staying, so you have to as well!

That’s what I wanted to hear!

If the problem lies with me, I will happily see myself out. I know I have some lower quality pics. I know a cell-phone camera is often inadequate in capturing the detail needed for a high quality upload, but I am currently saving up for a decent camera and lens so that I can improve the quality of photographs on this site rather than add to the mess.

I personally have no interest in UK lanterns, and those are the ones I see 10 photos of every time I log on. I swear there have been days where I've had to click through multiple pages of b.s. to get to uploads from the likes of you, Eric ( @BT25 ), Ian ( @LightsoftheWest ), Gerard ( @fluorescent lover 40 ), @icefoglights , @arcblue , @joseph_125 , Tim (@wide-lite 1000) , @nicksfans , @CEB1993 , etc. We even have newer members like @Itigo23 who post interesting photos with a quality standard.

Also, I have no interest in hearing about Japanese lighting standards which have no relevancy or pertinance to the question or post at hand. THAT, in all honesty, is what drove me off the site the first time around. Not mentioning any names, but I think you all know who I am talking about.

And Eric, please do stick around. Your posts (and the fact that they are members-only) is what brought me back to the site in the first place. It would be a huge loss to this site to lose your presence.

@Maxim, I think we all missed you when you had your break, the problem certainly isn't you!

Honestly I see something else manifesting which is worrying in my opinion. The complete lack of effort to take part in here.
The statements that goes somewhere in the line “if I’m am the problem I can go…” is what I mean exactly. No one in this thread ever asked people to leave. Actually nobody even implied that someone should leave. However just say I’m happy to leave is unfair to the author. Instead it should be discussed what can be done better. And what can be done better: Work with the site rules as guideline| standard. The only thing that is asked is that maybe people could use the thing on their neck before posting here something. Hack the most annoying culprits haven’t even commented in this thread.
 
In my opinion these statements are emotional blackmail. No one wants a reasonable person to move away from here. And I don’t think it is asked to much to think before posting.

If the problem lies with me, I will happily see myself out. I know I have some lower quality pics. I know a cell-phone camera is often inadequate in capturing the detail needed for a high quality upload, but I am currently saving up for a decent camera and lens so that I can improve the quality of photographs on this site rather than add to the mess.

I personally have no interest in UK lanterns, and those are the ones I see 10 photos of every time I log on. I swear there have been days where I've had to click through multiple pages of b.s. to get to uploads from the likes of you, Eric ( @BT25 ), Ian ( @LightsoftheWest ), Gerard ( @fluorescent lover 40 ), @icefoglights , @arcblue , @joseph_125 , Tim (@wide-lite 1000) , @nicksfans , @CEB1993 , etc. We even have newer members like @Itigo23 who post interesting photos with a quality standard.

Also, I have no interest in hearing about Japanese lighting standards which have no relevancy or pertinance to the question or post at hand. THAT, in all honesty, is what drove me off the site the first time around. Not mentioning any names, but I think you all know who I am talking about.

And Eric, please do stick around. Your posts (and the fact that they are members-only) is what brought me back to the site in the first place. It would be a huge loss to this site to lose your presence.

I get where you’re coming from, but Baked Bagel 11 is correct, you didn’t do anything wrong. Heck, many of my uploads are lower quality and I certainly do not complain.

I have read through this article.

The comments from Alex, Baked bagel 11 and wide-lite 1000 very accurately reflect my opinion on this subject.

It is not interesting to see a lot of almost identical photos of a fixture or a lamp in a series. 2 or 3 good photos are completely sufficient.

The photo quality: I take all my photos with a smartphone. The quality is sufficient. You don't need an expensive camera for it. Nevertheless, my appeal: make more effort with your photos.

Extremely short replies clutter up the forum. This has the character of a chat, and is worthless after a short time and often nonsensical rubbish.

The off-topic area is growing with topics that actually have nothing to do with lighting.
I quote a statement from a former member: ‘ ... because its lighting-gallery, not pet-gallery or car-gallery ... ’
These proliferating topics in the off-topic area are degrading LG further and further into a poor social media platform. Better seek professional help for this or share it in your private groups. That's my opinion.

@Cole D. Nobody is asking you to leave. It would be good if you thought about whether your post makes sense or not in terms of lighting technology.

@BT25 We have already written about this privately. Nevertheless, I'll write it here again publicly: I can understand your train of thought very well. It takes the motivation and joy out of getting involved here.

 @Olav : I have to disagree with you on this one . The "Off Topic" section is for just that , Any subject that has nothing to do with lighting that a member wants/needs to discuss  .  https://www.lighting-gallery.net/index.php?topic=3307.0   I'm a mamber of 3 other forums and all 3 have Off Topic sections

 @Maxim  : I take all of my pics with a Nikon Coolpix A300 that I got used off eBay . Nothing special . This is a forum , NOT Time Magazine or National Geographic ! NO, your photo doesn't need to be Museum /Magazine quality . YES , your photo should be as good of quality as possible . However , you don't need a zillion dollar camera do achieve that . Some of my photos took 6 or more attempts before I got one I liked ! Basically , all you need to do is experiment a bit . Find out what your particular camera likes and doesn't like . Mine for example , HATES focusing in lower light sometimes . Some of my photos are taken outside for that exact reason . Photos of an etch on a coated or frosted lamp seem to come out really nice for me if I place a bright , compact lightsource against the side of the lamp . Most of my etch piocs involved placing the lamp on my desk and lowering my halogen desk light down so the lighthead is phytscally resting on the surface of the lamp . Almost every outdoor pole mounted light photo I've taken on a cloudy day looked absolutely awful . The same photo taken on a clear sunny day with the sun to my back comes out great . Most of my indoor shots are taken either directly on my crappy brown carpet upstairs or an old bed sheet that's been spread out on my bed . If I need more light , I simply swap one of the bulbs in my ceiling fan with one or more 200w , take my photos and swap them back .

 Take some time to play around with your camera and it's settings and find out what works best for you .

Yeah, I agree, I thought the off-topic was for exactly that, non lighting related posts. Now, maybe people feel that section has too many posts in it, and that could be the case, but it’s not part of the lighting discussion sections, so I don’t really see an issue with it, unless people were discussing forbidden topics, which as far as I know I haven’t. And yeah, pretty much every forum I’ve been on has a general or off topic section.

Now, I’d find it odd if someone only ever posted in that section, with no interest in lighting at all, but I don’t know why anyone would join here to do that.

I’m also not sure where I have posted false information on lighting technology, I try to leave the technical discussion up to those that know more than me, and there is certainly much that I still don’t know about it, so maybe I have at some point!  If I have let me know and I’ll remove any bad info.

 Again , I don't think the "false info" was directed at you specifically .

Yeah I think the current setup for off topic pictures is good. If you prefer to have lighting only discussions, you can easily ignore it as you have to specifically open it to view pictures from there but having that section also allows some discussion on lighting adjacent topics that some members might also be interested in such as vintage electronics, old electrical equipment, etc.

I suppose the off topic forum could also be segregated in a similar manner as well. I think right now posts there are mixed in with lighting related forum posts.

Honestly, in my opinion the off topic scetion grew to a cancer... It is to bulged up and sucking away to much enegy that should be directed at lighting, 0n a lighting forum...