• ******names are omitted to protect identities*******


    why do some people find it necessary to harass and belittle entrants to the arenas? i thought the whole point to the arenas and to gaia in general was to have fun. its become an epidemic! you cant look at more than three entries (regardless of which area) without someone being a total a** about something stupid. here is an example of my experience with such nonsense.


    i enjoy taking long time exposure photos. i am in no way a professional. i take pics because its fun and its something i enjoy doing. so i decided to put up a few in the photography arena to see what people thought of them and i got this comment on my lte of a bus (ref. picture attached):

    "If you're going to take a long exposure shot, don't do it hand held. Use a tripod. Don't just go with a point and shoot and snap a random shot of a bus and say 'long exposure shot' when it wasn't even really your intention."

    me being me, i was absolutely outraged. the first half, "If you're going to take a long exposure shot, don't do it hand held. Use a tripod." didnt bother me so much. but the second half , "Don't just go with a point and shoot and snap a random shot of a bus and say 'long exposure shot' when it wasn't even really your intention.", absolutely pissed me off. how dare this person tell me, the one who took the pic, how i took it! a random shot? hells to the no! i responded:

    "just so you know, the bus was pulling up as i took this. this photo was in no way "unintentional". i actually set my camera to LTE, waited for the bus, and took this picture. i would appreciate it if you bothered to get the whole story before making such an assumption. also, not all shots are premeditated. some of the best pictures ive ever seen were randomly taken at a moments notice. art isnt all about stringent planning and high end equipment."

    feeling well justified and slightly vindicated i went about my gaia wanderings. a few minutes later i happened to notice i had a pm. it was that person! the message was as follows:

    "Okay, you set it all up. Still makes it a bad picture, because it's handheld, very blurry and the bus is totally unrecognizable. Your picture is in the same league as any other picture that unintentionally got a longer exposure shot with some blurry lights in this. Hence my comment, because yours looks exactly like it.
    I agree some good shots are taken randomly, or you found a good shot when you weren't looking for it - but this has nothing to do with your picture."

    WTF?!?! is this person stupid?!?! i went and looked at her photos. they were amazing. so i figured this was a case of "look at me and my amazing photos!! check me out on my high horse!! horse, kick her in the face! paris is unworthy!!!" f*ck that! im tellin this b*tch like it is! just 'cause you have an expensive camera doesnt mean your an expert at photography and all its variations! i responded:

    "did it ever occur to you that the whole point of a long time exposure shot was to get a blurry distorted image? the reason i do LTEs is to capture the essence of light. it wasnt my intention to make it look like a bus. do you think marcel duchamps paintings would be better if they actually looked like people and not abstract interpretations of people? my guess is no. i am not going to spend $1000 on a camera and tripod and hope to get a great picture. all i wanted from that photo was interesting lights and color, and that is exactly what i got. i respect your opinion, but frankly i dont care if you like it or not. i didnt put that photo up to be harassed. i put it up for fun."

    long story short, she hasnt messaged me back, and i deleted her comment. seriously, what compels people to be rude and mean? what if i was a nine year old (and i know there here!) and i posted that? to be honest, it would probably make me cry. is that what gaia has come to? allowing people to be a**holes and potentially hurt young children? when people comment like that theyre stifling the creativeness of children. ill bet there are alot of gaians out there (young and old) that are afraid to post anything in the arenas because of people like this. its not fair to them. what ever happened to the old saying "if you have nothing nice to say, dont say anything at all"? dont get me wrong, im all for constructive criticism, but come on, people! do you honestly have to be outright mean to everyone? not everyone is a photographer! not everyone is a professional drawer! not everyone is an author! and im 100% positive not everyone can afford top-of-the-line gaia gear to make avatars with! all im saying is let people be.

    --paris_below--