The Thirtieth Random Discussion for (TPB)M (and may they R.I.P.)

Miniflash wrote in post #8785257
Not to get off topic just wanted to share this photo with you This is Dax when he was 2
His grandpa on his dads side was a avid train person , went on all the old steamers .And took Dax with him when he was young .

What a cute little gaffer.

Becky N wrote in post #8783563
Side note on the insignia Dan drew. Three stripes now are given to Senior Airmen. The rank of Sargent is no longer in the structure. When I went in it was Airmen Basic - no insignia; Airman - 1 stripe; Airman 1st Class-2 stripes; Sargent - 3 stripes; Staff Sargent - 4 stripes. While still in they added Senior Airman which took over 2 stripes, Airman lost their star and Airman 1st Class was 1 stripe with a star. I think the brass were bored and had nothing better to do then to mess with the ranks and make it take longer to reach NCO status.

There is your trivia for the day.

As a medic we wore our rank as tack pins on the lapels of our white uniforms. I achieved the rank of Sargent when my parents came to visit while I was at George AFB. They were able to be there when our CO presented me with the rank and my Dad pinned on my new stripes. It was our, "you've reached adulthood" moment that each of us kids had at some significant point in our early 20's with our dad. *wipes leaky eyes*

Sure wish I could find the pictures. I'm sure I have them, somewhere.

One of the good (and bad) things about the Navy is that they are so tradition bound. They haven't messed with the basic rank insignia since the Civil War. The only changes they have made is the addition and elimination of different rating badges as the rating structure has changed over the years. Now the uniforms... that's an entirely different matter.

Chet wrote in post #8783814
Yes he is. And let me tell you how powerful it is just seeing his name on the that wall. I give D.C. credit for getting the memorials right.

I was a bit disappointed it took so long to authorize and build the WWII memorial.

gjl711 wrote in post #8783958
So far i have avoided any fall illness. I think it's because i no longer have kids in school. Schools are natures virus breeding ground.

As is the zoo... Heather sometimes works at taking tickets at the entrance. Imagine the exposure she gets...

sevillafox wrote in post #8783986
HAHAHA.....we have swine flu going around in ours. We've already had a couple of cases.

Honestly though, I rarely get sick. But, I teach high school and they are germaphobes this year.

I fail to see how as soon as you reach age 65 you're automatically in a "high risk group" for the flu, whether it be H1N1 or any other strain. Have your 65th birthday and your immune system shuts down? It's a bit like how your 40D immediately stops working because the 50D was released...

I haven't had a flu shot in over 15 years becausee I got sicker from the shots than I ever did from the flu. I doubt I'm going to get one for H1N1 either, for a number of reasons. Except for my age, I'm not in any of the so-called high risk groups and I rarely go anywhere where I might be exposed. I really don't trust the vaccine either. It seems it's been rushed to market and despite the government's claims it's safe, I think I'll pass...

monkeygirl wrote in post #8784030
Ouch. I have voted three times this morning at work. Got to love work computers sometimes.

Shouldn't you be working?

monkeygirl wrote in post #8784137
TIme to get off the computer before my boss comes in. See you all later.

Ah ha, now it becomes clear...

Guineh wrote in post #8784466
I only got 40% on this... Do you know how Legislation works?

Me too... 40%. It's small wonder why we're so apathetic about politics in this country. The process is too complicated. This is why many people become one or two issue voters...

DoodleBunz wrote in post #8784739
And that is precisely the thoughts I was withholding. No one cared enough to find out WHY that mom felt the need to carry and brandish her firearm at the soccer game...no one gave a ****. It flat ticks me off. She was crying out for help, I'm sure of it. (edited verbage a little bit, sorry guys)

And she just might have been trying to tweak the authorities. Many gun owners are pushing the boundaries of open carry laws here and in other states, especially since the last election. They fear their guns are going to be taken away...

I'm sure there's more to that story than anyone will ever know...

Permagrin wrote in post #8784788
For those of you that shoot for pay, if you client is happy that's all that matters.

I think I said that to somebody yesterday

hahahaha, no - since I don't need those magic pills...

sevillafox wrote in post #8785266
WOOL someone posted in the 5D thread to not use the sensor pen and go for eclipse swabs.

Any valid reason or just because they liked their opinion more? I see no problems with Wools stuff and he pens the heck out of it. Pirate Dan too. I want to get a pen because I hate the eclipse swab things.

JWright wrote in post #8785337
I'm sure there's more to that story than anyone will ever know...

Truth!
Just to clarify, although I sound like I am ranting half the time I am not. I get excited about things I have a different incite on. I guess I have an over active sense reality, or at least what I perceive as real

short5 wrote in post #8785408
Any valid reason or just because they liked their opinion more? I see no problems with Wools stuff and he pens the heck out of it. Pirate Dan too. I want to get a pen because I hate the eclipse swab things.

Personal preference I think.

I'm sticking with wool. I trust him despite the 'stache.

Now, I've just got to pick something else out to get free shipping with Amazon because I'm too "need it now" to wait for BH to open back up.

Nice post, but I'm not sure if I fully agree with your conclusions.

Permagrin wrote in post #8784788
PONTIFICATION TIME!

....

I want the shots to be perfect ....
I want the feel to be perfect ....
I want the look to be perfect ....

Absolutely, though I come no where close to perfection, it is something I must strive for in each and every picture I take. Without that as a goal you'll soon stop improving and settle for mediocrity. Ok will become all you strive for and soon the bar will lower and lower. Where do you stop? For me I have to keep pushing for the ultimate where everything is perfect. Who knows, maybe one day I might actually get close.

Permagrin wrote in post #8784788
At the bottom of the pile somewhere is me the photographer, beginning to hate my job.

Is that really because you are striving for perfection or just the frustration of knowing that the road there is long, hard, and you might never make it.

Permagrin wrote in post #8784788
Yesterday I was looking at Jeff Ascough's work. I truly do love his stuff.....

I've seen the guys work and he is astounding. Clearly he has more than just a good set of tools. But don't youy think he is aspiring for perfection as well?

Permagrin wrote in post #8784788
.... Why, because he makes sure to get "that moment". He talked about it in the videos. And he does every time. It's the thing that makes people stop and look at his photos.

I have to believe that he worked hard to get there.

Permagrin wrote in post #8784788
.We pick things to death. We pick the technical things to pieces, we pick the clients to pieces...

How can one improve without direct and honest feedback. It is a necessary tool needed so that you can see the little imperfections and strive to reduce them in future pictures, then look for the next set of imperfections.

Permagrin wrote in post #8784788
I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to get better. I do. Badly. I hate making mistakes that take me hours to correct, if I can correct them at all.

I agree 100%

Permagrin wrote in post #8784788
But I think we have forgotten the reason we got into photography in the first place.

Everybody got into it for a different reason and those reasons can change over time. I got into it as a kid because it was fun. Later when I started to do it for work things changed, but it's still fun, just a different kind of fun.

Permagrin wrote in post #8784788
Forgive me for being too harsh a critic.

The only time criticism becomes too harsh is when it's done just to be mean or as a personal attack. Harsh criticism of a photograph, technique, and subject I don't see as harsh.

Permagrin wrote in post #8784788
For those of you that shoot for pay, if you client is happy that's all that matters.

Now that's the bottom line, and truer words were never spoken.

Permagrin wrote in post #8784962
the thing is, I truly do not know how to balance out the technical with the rest.

That's the tough part.

Permagrin wrote in post #8784962
I see what's wrong in every shot. I don't know how to let it go. I get so mad at myself for missing it at the time.

I have a talent for seeing whats wrong with all my shots. I see it right away. Now if I just had the talent on what to do about it I'd really have something. Unfortunately, I am clueless most of the time when it comes to fixing things.

Permagrin wrote in post #8784962
Then I go through the whole "I really do suck as a photographer. Whatever good shots happen, are just because I was lucky. People with skill, do it right in the tough situations." .

Thats just simple insecurity. Drink more, that goes away for a little while.

Permagrin wrote in post #8785189
Okay Harm. I'm just about to process some renaissance fair shots. I wonder if I can do them in lightroom. I hate lightroom for processing. It'll be interesting to see.

I do 90% of my processing in Lightroom, with an occasional tweak with Viveza or Silver Efex. About the only time I use PS is when i have to do major cloning or need a layer for one reason or another.

sevillafox wrote in post #8785266
Truth be told, from what I hear outside the bar, a 20% keeper rate at times is awesome! And, we have to remember when thinking about other photographers....they'​ve been doing it longer, they have a bigger pile of good to choose from....odds are their pile of rejects is far greater than their good pile (just as ours are) and we just don't realize it because of the quantity of good. KWIM?

20% was what I ended up with after I culled my images from the air show last weekend. I went from over 1100 to 215 and not all of those will be processed for the website.

sevillafox wrote in post #8785266
WOOL someone posted in the 5D thread to not use the sensor pen and go for eclipse swabs.

HELP!!!!

I have slurm the size of UFOs in my skies (ask diane...it's bad) and I need to get it cleaned off!!!

Did they say why?

You have to be careful doing a wet cleaning on the 5D as it has a tin oxide coating on the anti-alias filter than can be removed with the wrong solution. I think you need to use Eclipse 2 on the 5D.

I use the SensorKlear pen but I have the 40D, 20D and D60, none of which have the tin oxide coating. I love the pen. I had an awful problem with streaking when I did wet cleaning. The pen is perfect. Of course, I'm one of those that use "canned air" on my sensor, which gets all the gear heads twitching...

Of course, you could always use my back-up method...

IMAGE LINK: http://johnwright.smug​mug.com …X/1/#146893780_​f6s63-A-LB

Comes out spotless, eh John?

I think there is someone out there that actually did this... He had an old, broken, unrepairable Nikon, so he actually took pictures of it running water into the mirror box. You could actually see it flowing out over the lens mount...

On your politics test, I did 40% I'm not american though....

Here is a small train rant for you. Those are the last shots from my August trip. All were taken from the train going back home...

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Permi why don't you like to edit in Lightroom?

Pete wrote in post #8784424
I'm waiting for Lonnie and Cat dressed as each other...

Hey! Stop that, or I'll report you to the mo... Uh... Well, just stop it.

kumatron wrote in post #8784550
<---- Does not like it when pet finder asks me to confirm my vote by naming a rodent. I never get it right

Just so you know... "Permie" is apparently never correct, according to them. I've tried. They reject it every time.

It was a fun morning for me. I had a great time swapping email and research regarding the Weekly Pioneer blog and some future postings.

But, that freaking sidetracking means I'm so far behind in here yet again! I just can't do both... It's so frustrating...

And, now I must attempt to get my daily three or four hours of sleep.

Permagrin wrote in post #8785068
I promise, I'm not looking for pats on the back. I really am not. I'm just at a crossroads of sorts.

Things make me think...all the time. I was just as moved to examine my work when Neil posted his wedding shots as I was when I was watching the JA thing last night. Neil managed to shoot, process, post & make a book in record time. Why? Because his shots were technically correct. They looked great. THAT'S huge. I know it comes with experience. I'm only...I dunno how long I've had a camera...but maybe 4 years. I'd have to go look at the dates. When I was in school I took classes...but it was all b&w film 35mm stuff. The only thing I really remember from that was the stuff we used to do in the darkroom when the teacher wasn't present.

For months now I've been at the "I either need to move forward with this business" or "stop it all together". I've been trying to assess whether I've got the skills to really invest more than hobby time to this. That's all. It's just hard to make a decision.

I told Cat, two weddings ago that I was going to quit. I meant it too. Too many disasters/frustrations​.

If I could pinpoint where I go wrong, that would help. I shoot the same way every time. Two weddings ago, was such a frustrating wedding for me. And I spent almost 2 months "fixing it". It was also bad lighting. Either harsh sun or dappled forest bright and darks. Then my last wedding was perfect. Like my first wedding was. I dunno.

Anyway, sorry for thinking aloud. I'm just as confused as ever.

Dood. You already made the decision to move forward with it. You are committed. Quit looking backwards. Look forward to the happiness you are going to have as you constantly improve in what you do throughout your life.

DDA wrote in post #8785643
Here is a small train rant for you. Those are the last shots from my August trip. All were taken from the train going back home....

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Nice rant. I had to do a double take on this one though. Looks like a car is on the track.