This Rantatorial is in response to a reader who posted a comment on the forum with a view – “Is it just me or has not much been happening on LULA recently?” I posted the following comment on the forum and thought it would also be a good topic for a Rantatorial.

We publish a new article, on average, of every one to three days.  We have added book reviews, articles on landscape photography and how to see differently, product reviews, new camera announcements, rantatorials and new workshop information.  That is a lot more than you will get from almost any other site as well as from any one magazine, especially at no cost.  There are three of us at Luminous-Landscape.  There is Michael who writes articles and administers the Endowment.  There is Chris who handles productions of videos and then there is me.  I lay out articles, work on improvements to the site infrastructure, write articles, do videos and work with our contributors not to mention negotiate and handle workshops to make sure they are the best available in content and instruction.

Yes, things are changing, not just at Luminous-Landscape but also in the industry as a whole.  We have an upcoming video with Michael, Brooks Jensen and myself as we discuss what we have noticed and heard.  We are seeing maturity in the industry as well as the audience of photographers.  A few weeks ago I was at a workshop in Buffalo and a close friend of mine was attending.  This person (let’s call him “P” for now) is one of the finest photographers I have met and he is what most of us at Luminous-Landscape are–an enthusiast.  Notice I don’t like the word amateur.  I was setting up my tripod and Sony A7II with the Tamron 150-600mm zoom to shoot some details of the location we were at.  Well, “P” comes walking down the sidewalk and I ask where he set up.  He shows me his two iPhone 6 pluses.  Now, this is a person who has purchased, as well as could afford, any camera system there is.  He has owned Phase One systems, Leica and just about anything you could imagine.   He tells me the iPhone is all he uses as of late and shares some stunning images.  He’s not the only one doing this.  While many people have not gone just to iPhones, many photographers have moved to lighter mirror less systems.  There are a lot of you.  The whole camera segment of what we do is changing very rapidly.

We also notice that most people have mastered the digital aspects of their cameras and are looking to explore how to be better photographers.  I have watched a number of photographers grow and develop an image that is distinctly theirs over the years.  I also hear that this is what more photographers want as far as content and what we have been delivering more of, thankfully, to a great number of contributors.  Some of the articles you won’t agree with and some you will.  However, all the articles on the forum will invoke thought and sometimes heated and interesting discussions.

We spent a lot of effort redesigning the site.  It had to be done.  We needed the infrastructure that the new site gives us to add new features and grow the way we want.  We do have a plan.  It allowed us to introduce a whole new video streaming delivery system (with optional download too.) It will give us a base to have contributors, in the near future, directly edit their articles on the site itself.  Also, it will allow us to expand the ability to sell books, e-books and specialty products.

We have a new page header where we try to change images every week (unless we are traveling as we were last week).  We offer 2 images by myself and 2 from Michael.  Unlike the old site, you can now see these images in a larger size by clicking on the enlarge button and you can pan around to look at details. Plus, we have a gallery of the images published by both Michael and myself.  We have added a proofreader recently and this person makes corrections on articles (most of them) prior to publication.  We listened to our readers on this one.

We also have some great video content coming soon.  We have a major multi-hour video coming on Landscape Photography.  We just finished shooting the C1 and LR update tutorials.  These are not ten-minute You Tube videos, but in depth tutorials of what is new with these two image processor programs.  We have some interviews, as well as reviews, and a new edition of Kevin and Michael’s Toy Shop coming. We start production soon on two new camera operational tutorials.

Luminous-Landscape is indicative of where we are in photography as an industry these days.  We are changing and adapting to the changing marketplace and to the maturity of digital imaging as whole.  Change is hard for us all, but it is also exciting.  We could have stayed the same and eventually we would have faded away.  I don’t have to mention the names of big photographic companies that didn’t change and are now just memories.  Other sites are having the same challenges.  There is no real competition in this market.  We all talk and compare notes.  Luminous-Landscape is not a product review site.  There are too may of those.  We will use gear and equipment and report our findings but more from a hands-on approach.  We are not a news aggregator.  We won’t print press releases. There are plenty of those sites too.  If we are invited to a camera manufacturer’s release announcement, we will go and report back what we learned.  Last week it was Phase One’s new XF Camera; this week there will be another camera maker’s news.  We are also not a ‘rumor site’.  You know where you can go to find the rumors and leaks of new products coming our way.  We have tried hard to retain the essence of what Michael started with this site and that is to provide original content and to be an educational resource.

The Luminous-Landscape forum is one of the most active forums for photography on the internet.  We share many opinions by our knowledgeable contributors. The forum can sometimes be dramatic but is always informative.  If you have ideas for new topics we will give them consideration.

We will continue to publish good and original content.  We will be discussing new topics in the future such as post-processing software options.  While we really love doing workshops and we have a number of them available (see our workshop section and Rockhopper Workshop site) we will begin doing some things differently in 2017.  There are several workshops being offered these days by a many different photographers.  I can count at least a dozen photographers who have been on my previous workshops that are now offering their own workshops to locations we have visited.  We consider our workshops to be different, as they are all inclusive, at top-notch locations, with hotels and meals included, and excellent instructors lead them. We offer amazing locations. If you have never been on one of our workshops, we encourage you to do so.  It’s just not the instructors and location that make a workshop but the attendees too.  We offer a unique learning, and fun, experience. We have some new ideas in development for 2017, so stay tuned.

We are not a big company with a large staff.  We are Michael, Chris and myself, with a good team of contributors.  We share one thing in common–a passion for photography and sharing that with you.  We would not be here if it was not for our advertisers, sales of videos and workshops.  We don’t charge a penny for our content, and we have over 5000 articles in our archives that are easily accessible.  We have a new search engine to help you find the content you want and we will improve on that and the site every day.

We are always looking for new articles and content.  If you are interested in writing for LuLa then please get in touch with me through the links provided on this site.  Also, if you have ideas or suggestions use those links too.  Doing a private email is always best as we have a system for logging in things as well as responding.  We do our best to reply to any email sent to us.

Thank you for your thoughts and comments.  I’ll leave you with this.  I once had a boss who said “bring me issues only if you have solutions”.   I love hearing about what our readers think, but I like hearing more about what they want.  We appreciate our loyal readers and followers of Luminous-Landscape; we want to work at making the site the best there is.  Not everything will be the way you may want it.  Times are changing and we will change and evolve with them.

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