Anyone else get a kick out of the fact that our frontpage says: Are you ready to command a battleship? and then underneath it is a picture of a sunken ship. Everytime I see that I mumble to myself, "apparently not!" :blink:
It would be nice if there was a little caption under the picture. Maybe something to identify the ships and to whom they belong.....
Not only that, but a brief story behind the image would be good, too. Remember, if we're "playing" to an audience other than those who are already involved & committed, they don't necessarily automatically know what's going on. The uninitiated don't always see things the way that we do. They need to be told what it is that they're looking at. What's obvious to us can be completely invisible to somebody who doesn't yet know how to look at our hobby the way we do. We have an obligation to lead them where we want them to go, not just take for granted that they'll find the way on their own. I still remember a lesson from a university class, long ago (I majored in Journalism): Somebody had done a study with some remote 3rd-worlders, way back in the bush somewhere. These people had never seen most of the modern technology that we take for granted. They were shown a movie, & asked afterwards to describe what they saw. Nobody spoke up until finally one man said, "I saw a chicken." The point was that these people had never learned how to watch a movie. We, who grew up watching images on screens, have learned how to distinguish those portions of the image that are central from the periphery. It's a learned skill that we take for granted. The bush people didn't know how to separate the "important" stuff from the collage of fleeting images, & couldn't make sense out of it all. One guy managed to spot a chicken (which was not the subject of the film, just something that happened to be in the shot), otherwise it all went over their heads - not because they weren't smart enough, but because they hadn't learned the skill of watching images on a screen. The lesson of that journalism class was that the people we want to reach don't necessarily know what we know. We have to frame our message in terms that they understand, which is not always how we communicate among ourselves. Where the sunken Bismarck is concerned, a lot of visitors may not have a clue what's even in that photo. Some may not even recognize that it's a ship below & the water's surface above. But, as interesting (to us, who are "in the know") as the facts of the event may be, the story of the image came to be is infinitely more appealing. We need to recognize that others don't inherently know how fun this sport is, & that they'll never know unless we tell them about it in terms that even those on the outside can grasp. JM
I think we should go back to a rotating picture. However, John makes a good point. There is a story to be told with every photo. The most interesting shots on the old photo gallery had descriptions associated with them. SO until I get a 'rotator' (not content rotator.. or is it?? ) ... Greg, can you write up a brief caption to accompany the photo? (...please explain to me how you sunk my ship) jks
Certainly. I will attach it, as follows... "Tirpitz resting level on the bottom after succoming to allied attacks due to a clogged bilge pump."
I think that :"The German Battleship Tirpitz rests on the bottom after succumbing to Allied assaults and a clogged pump" Not to correct you greg or anything, i just think it sounds a little better, and would be better for a newbie to see.
Definately better. Correct away. I may be technically inclined, but that has some standard detrators... brevity being one of them
Seems like a good task for one of the Site Contributors... I have provided access to the main page as well.
Yes, we will need that back. As you can see I have unlocked the "best of the best" photo gallery again. I have not migrated all the photos yet. Once that is 'stocked' with photos, then I'll re-instate the photo-rotation.
