[Leica] are we all crap?

[kcassidy at asc.upenn.edu (Kyle Cassidy)]

I've missed out on much of what's going on, but I feel compelled to comment.

When I first joined the lug in 2001 or so there were not a lot of 
photographs posted. And when there were photographs posted, I visited every 
one. And I commented on as many as I could, because I thought it was good 
that people post, even if some of those images were never destined to the 
pages of National Geographic or Life. Some were even banal, or mediocre (or 
just awful). Some of them were mine -- some of the banal and mediocre that 
is.

More people post today than posted then.

Has the general quality of LUG images gone up? Who knows. Maybe not. In 
fact, probably not.

But the real question I think is this: Has the quality of images taken by 
individuals over years gone up?

YES. ABSOLUTELY YES.

I know for a fact that I've gotten better in the seven or so years I've been 
here. And I owe much of that to the LUG -- the sounding board -- sometimes 
wrong headed, sometimes just plain wrong, but always there, that I bounced 
images and ideas off of.

Don't look at the LUG as a whole, daily, look at the photos of it's 
individuals over time. The pool may stay the same, but watch the currents, 
while many rehash the same tale of camera straps, tilly hats, mephisto 
walking shoes, bags and lens caps, others rise up, some rise on. Keep your 
eyes on those. They are our stars.

I shall now go back to writing sonnets about my lunch.

kc