General

1. Question: What is the South Carolina Photographer's Guild?
   • Answer: The SCPG is a community of photographers that exists to encourage camraderie, the sharing of knowlegde and experiences, as well as a forum for planning and scheduling group outings.
2. Question: How can I become a member?
   • Answer:Simply register in the forums, show up at a shoot, or otherwise participate in club activities and you are an "official" member! (as you can tell, the doors are wide open to anyone who wishes to join the club, regardless of age, experience, or background. You can be a newcomer, a 20 year pro, with Canon, Nikon, Pentax, or any kind of gear. The only requirement is that you like photography!
3. Question: Why is there a fee?
   • Answer: The fee exists to cover solely the administrative cost of increasing bandwidth, storage, and email capacities, in addition to production and distribution of membership materials.
4. Question:How much is the fee?
   • Answer: Membership is $15/year, payable either via Paypal (linked on the home page) or via regular check/cash to the site administrator. If paying via Paypal, please remember to add the $1 (for a total of $16) for online processing.
5. Question: What benefits come with SCPG membership?
   • Answer: When you become an SCPG member, you get an email address, image upload permissions (there are currently no quotas), an SCPG card, invitations to member events, and much much more.
6. Question: How can I pay for membership?
   • Answer: Payments can be made via a PayPal link on our homepage. For those cautious with online transactions, please contact the Site Administration team to make arrangements for payment by mail.

Forums

1. Question: Should I register?
   • Answer Yes! Registration to the SCPG forums is required to view, reply to, and create posts. Your email address will be protected from spam and optionally hidden in your profile. As a registered member, you would have access to many features, which include:
     • Search / Advance search
     • Private Message (PM)
     • Posting and replying to messages
     • Email notification subscription
     • Post subscription
     • Image Upload subscription
     • Business Card graphic (printing is the member responsibility)
2. Question: Who is allowed to post topics?
   • Answer: Any registered user in the forum is allowed to post and reply to topics of discussion, participate in polls, and post images or other content for sharing
3. Question: Are there restrictions on the type of content that can be posted?
   • Answer: Yes. Imagery and content must be confined to your original work. If posted content is from another author, credit must be acknowledged at the top of the post. Acknowledgment must include the title of the work, the authors name, the date of publication, and the original source. A common acronym used to make sure content requirements are met is TADS - Title, Author, Date, Source. If the resource was located online, the URL (web address) for that work must also be referenced as the source. Additionally, posting of copyright protected material is strictly prohibited. If you want to post something that belongs to someone else, be prepared to provide proof of permission to re-print from the original author. Failure to adhere to the site policies regarding posting of protected content will result in immediate removal of the content. Disciplinary actions can result in temporary loss of posting permissions, loss of image upload permissions, or site access refusal depending on the nature and severity of the content in question. If there is any doubt, either don't post or provide TADS info.
4. Question: What about advertising?
   • Answer: Forum posts that are blatant attempts to advertise products, services, or solicitations for memberships are not allowed, and may subject the posting member to immediate suspension, dismissal, and/or permanent banishment unless prior written permission is given by the site administration. Any member wishing to advertise a product, service or solicitation should contact the management team here
     
     It also bears mentioning that community resources, whether public posts or private messages, are not intended to be an avenue for advertising products or services, as well as solicitations for memberships in other venues. Evidence suggesting that such practices are taking place either publicly or privately, the administration at its discretion may review account activity, and if warranted, restrict messaging permissions for accounts in question.
5. Question: What about nudity?
   • Answer: Nudes are acceptable only in the Portrait Forum, and must meet the following criteria:
     • No posting of any nude directly (embedding) in the forum is permitted. Any image that is will be immediately removed by a moderator. Violation shall be cause for permanent revocation of all membership.
     • Nudes must be linked off another web reference.
     • Your post on the SCPG thread, must indicate that the image contains nudity.
     • All models must be over the age of 18. Any violation in this particular instance shall be cause for permanent revocation of all membership, and submission of user information to the appropriate authorities for criminal prosecution.
     • References to any material that is explicitly and blatantly sexual or pornographic and have no artistic merit is not permitted.
     • In the event that an image referenced on the SCPG forums is determinated by the site administrator to meet this criteria, the user must immediately remove the reference without question or face permanent revocation.
     • Use of the SCPG website and forums constitutes acceptance of these guidelines.
6. Question: How do I upload images in the forums?
   • Answer: If you are posting a new subject and have entered the Subject title, and the text of your post, the very next section is titled "Add an Attachment". Use the browse button to locate the image on your computer. After you have located the image and it shows up in the filename path, you can submit your post and the image will show up, embedded with your text. To see a screenshot of this area, click here
7. Question: What is a moderator?
   • Answer: A moderator is a person designated by the site administration to monitor threads of the forum for content and appropriateness. Moderators can edit posts, move posts, and delete them if they are not kept clean, appropriate, or in keeping with the context of the particular thread. If you have had postings edited, deleted or moved that you feel are unwarranted, please contat the site administrator with your concern. Do NOT PM, harrass or post derogatory content on moderator/administrative decisions or actions as this will earn you a quick exit from the forum!
8. Question: What if I am having a problem with some feature of the forums
   • Answer: If you experience any problems with forum features such as PM's or posting to various threads, please make a post in the Member Services area to make the moderating and administration staff aware of your particular issue. Often times members may also post responses offering their assistance as well if they feel comfortable enough with the forum layout to assist. Problems or issues that are tangential to the forums can be posed for generic feedback, but the Site Administration team offers no guarantee nor should any expectation be made upon the team to provide personal technical support for matters that are determined to be the result of factors external to the forums. Individuals wanting support in these areas should direct their questions to whichever appropriate vendor or agent is providing that product or service. For example, if you are having problems with connecting to the internet in general, please contact your service provider. Likewise browser support, computer support, and software support questions should be directed to the appropriate vendor whether it be Dell, Microsoft, Mozilla, Adobe, Apple, etc.
9. Question: Are there any restrictions on registration procedures?
   • Answer: Yes. Registrations have a few qualifying criteria before approval notifications are sent:
     • 1. All user registrations must identify the person by first name in their username (or some derivation thereof if the name is already taken).
     • 2. All user registrations must be made from a recognized email address such as Comcast, Road Runner, Gmail, or other available resource. Suspicious or questionable registrations are subject to deletion or further verification requirements at the discretion of the Site Administrator.
     • 3. Usernames using foul/rude language, references to foul/rude terminology, excessive punctuation, and/or names like "test", "admin2", etc. are not permitted. If anyone has a specific reason for not using their first name in their username, please communicate with the Site Administrator directly to address any concerns.
     • 4. Registration questions, comments, concerns, or other matters should be directed to the administrative email address for resolution. That email address is: admin@scphotogs.com
10. Question: Are there rules on how we conduct ourselves in the forums or is it pretty much open to any types of discussions?
    • Answer: There are rules for forum behavior. These guidelines and expectations that spell out what content is appropriate for each area and what to do in the event of postings that are not in keeping with those expectations can be found in our Terms of Use. Please see the Terms of Use for more information on this. Briefly, it is helpful as a reminder to note that, as photographers, we tend to look at images from a critical as well as an aesthetic perspective. With that in mind, please be mindful of the fact that the Presentation areas are generally a "show and tell" environment, and not intended as a critiqueing venue, unless the original poster (OP) specifically requests it. Critiques should be confined to the Photo Critique section of the forums, or specific instances outside when the submitting photographer requests feedback. For more information on the guidelines for critiquing photographs, please refer to the Image Review Guidelines for any questions you may have.
      
      It also bears mentioning that in online communities it is generally frowned upon to take material from one community and export it elsewhere without consent. Members of the SCPG community are expected to adhere to this standard. We at SCPG take pride in the quality both of our photography work, as well as in the content and ideas associated with the organization. Efforts to undermine or otherwise usurp member or site content in any way shall eb grounds for disbarrment and IP blocking. Thanks.
11. Question:What does my rank mean?
    • Answer:In technical terms, the number of posts you have entered onto the forums. In practical terms, your rank is simply a designation to indicate how often you post to the forums. This is not an indication of skill level, ability, or awareness in the field of photography. It's simply a fun diversion to encourage posting and sharing of views, thoughts, and of course, imagery with the rest of the community!

Activities

1. Question:What kinds of activities does the club sponser?
   • Answer:The club gets together regularly at both scheduled and unscheduled or spontaneous shoots, or "walk-a-bouts". We also from time to time will put together workshops designed to give a more structured approach to learning about some specific aspect of photography - typically something to do with image editing or shooting techniques. Finally, the club has also occasionally put together opportunities for everyone to socialize and share our imagery with one another and the community from time to time. In 2006, a large portion of the club collectively met in the north-western part of SC for a "Waterfalls trip". So far, in 2007, we have organized dedicated trips to Bull Island and other areas for unique photographic experiences. Most recently, we have organized a public gallery for members to experience the thrill of seeing their work on display. More scheduled trips are also likely, and the gallery show garnered enough interest and participation for the club to consider making that an annual event.
2. Question:Are there restrictions on participating in shoots?
   • Answer:Nope. Anyone who knows where and when to meet the group (registered members) can join us to share thoughts, shots, techniques and enjoy the camraderie that photography offers.
3. Question:What about workshops?
   • Answer:In the past, no restrictions have been made. Future workshops may require event-specific registration if guest speakers are brought in to discuss some of the finer points of photography. Event costs may be spread amongst all participants to minimize club overhead expenses in such cases as there are expenditures that need to be made.
4. Question:And Gallery Shows?
   • Answer:For our first annual gallery, the only restriction was to be a contributing member of the club (those that have paid or contributed to web maintenance fees). In coming years shows and competitions registration costs may be implemented at the discretion of the site administration team in order to offset club expenditures (gallery space, possible awards and prizes, and judging officials).