Exciting Changes at BirdPhotographers.Net

Dear BPN Members and Forum Participants,

I’m happy to announce some new and exciting changes at BirdPhotgraphers.Net. Some of them have already been implemented, others will be finished within the next few days.

1. The BirdPhotographers.Net’s Front Page is now a completely redesigned E-zine with Kerry Perkins as Editor. The E-zine will feature frequently updated articles covering a broad spectrum of nature photography topics as well as a slide show of our recent Image of the Week winners. Additionally, the new E-zine will serve as BPN’s portal page. Check in frequently to stay current with BPN news, announcements, latest threads, articles and IOTW winners. http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/content.php

2. All forums will be re-organized into a more logical, fluid layout.

3. The "Science of Photography Forum," moderated by Roger Clark, was launched recently: For discussions of the how and why of photography from a scientific perspective; topics range from light and its characteristics to how lenses collect and focus the light and to how cameras record the light. And beyond.

4. A new forum, "The Art of Nature Photography," will be launched 01/2013. It will be Moderated by Arthur Morris, Denise Ippolito and Marina Scarr.

5. A new forum, "Ask B&H," will be launched any day now. Ask Chuck Capriola and Henry Posner questions about products, service, and programs.

6. A new forum, "Vendor Deals", will launch soon. Our vendors will post their best deals for BPN users.

7. Our "Framing Your Images With Words" Forum has a new enthusiastic moderator, Cheryl Slechta.

Our staff and membership have requested that forum styles be more uniform and that modifications be made more quickly after software updates. And everyone has suggested that that the front page be improved and kept current. We listened. To facilitate these requests we will need to hire additional IT help. To that end we have accepted 3 new sponsors: B&H Photo, Borrow Lenses, and Amazon.Com. Clicking on our sponsors' banners and shopping with them will enable us to implement change, keep our membership dues ridiculously low, keep current, and keep on improving.

We could have gone with Google Ads or similar programs but decided against it. While those programs are easier to work with we would not have had any control over sellers or advertised products. With the BIRDS AS ART On-line Store, Outdoor Photo Supply, Hunt’s Photo, B&H Photo, Borrow Lenses, and Amazon.com we can control what’s advertised and we have absolute confidence that our members will be treated and served well.

Lastly, our goal at BPN has always been and always will be to provide honest critiques done gently. And as always we need your help. When you post an image, we ask that you take a few moments to critique five others. Please be sure to let folks know what you like about an image and why, and what you feel could have been improved and why. Suggestions dealing with both image capture and image processing are always welcome. Thanks to our incredible staff of dedicated moderators for leading the way.

And thank you for helping make BPN the best place on the internet to teach and learn nature photography!

Please feel free to e-mail us with your questions or concerns; be sure to write us at both james@wildflorida.net and samandmayasgrandpa@att.net.

Capt. James and artie

James Shadle, Nature and Wildlife Photography Specialist: www.wildflorida.net

Arthur Morris, Bird and Nature photographer, educator, writer, and workshop leader: www.BIRDSASART.com & www.BIRDSASART-Blog.com