It depends what the image demands - square compositions are stable and balanced for example. These days, as you say, 16:9 is the norm and other formats may start to look cramped. 3:2 was always a bit long for portraits in vertical format, so I always cropped those.

However, none of our pictures actually need to be one of these fixed ratios. We can crop to suit the image in software such as Photoshop and it can be any format we like.

Changing the format in camera may well alter the way we view a scene though, as will using the waist level position of a TLR like the Rolleiflex. Sometimes I set the 1:1 ratio in camera purely to force me to think Rollei for a specific set of images. Quite a few of my EPZ images are square format, and that uses the full area available quite well.

Peace, relaxation, all the things that rebalance the mind...it looks a great spot to be.

Always carry a camera, it gives you something to do whilst waiting for the rain to ease off.

They appeared all right, but if you feel you want to comment on them all, then that's what they are there for.

Probably the greatest general chat forum might be Facebook, and that's where I do my general chat. I do a fair amount of photography on there as well.

If you want to know what I'm having for breakfast, that's the place to ask. I might even tell you....

I'm also on Twitter, YouTube, Flikr, Google.....quite enough general chat for me personally to be very glad it doesn't clutter up PU.

I was talking to Ken earlier, and as he said, if we want to talk about our cars we go to a car forum, where people know something about cars.

If we want photography, we go to photography forums.

Even if I had access to the detailed information I wouldn't be able to tell you because it would be confidential.

All I can say is that in the past few years PU has grown very considerably and we should all be pleased with whatever contribution we have made to that.

There are many possible benchmarks, but the one we use at ADAPS for example for our own forum is traffic. We know when the figures are high that someone finds it worthwhile visiting and we can also see how many unique visitors there are, so there will be lots of statistics available.

We could also measure quality of content, a more subjective thing perhaps, but clearly some forums are full of drivel and some are not.

I don't speak for Pentax User in this regard, but from many points of view it's very successful. I've seen plenty of deadly quiet forums, even those supporting quite major marques.

Pentax User has a pretty unique pedigree in the way it arose, so I'd think enjoying what we have here is a good place to start.

You have no idea how many forums I or anybody else are involved in, so assumptions don't really help very much.

As for a General Chat forum, as several members have been told who asked, it's under consideration for the future. Peter, you have already been told that as well.

All sorts of things could be done and development and upgrades are considered very carefully. Pentax User is actually a very successful forum.

The perceived downside is that it encourages cliques of "click buddies" where merit has nothing to do with it. Facebook is a case maybe, if that's the model that's on your mind.

So if having posts liked makes us feel loved, what will no likes mean? And we're back to the same problem.

Things are what they are and all is equal and fair, that's the policy and I don't see anything inherently wrong with that.

One image removed, shot in April. Please remember that the monthly competition is for new images, shot in the same month as the competition.