Quote from: S21FOLGORE on November 26, 2024, 07:49:53 PM
Hi, thanks for the comment which is actually pretty deeply meaningful, to me.

I post photos on ADVrider forum’s photography thread also.
When I posted this photo,

Mill Valley-Sausalito Path by T K, on Flickr

One guy commented like this.
“<SNIP>
(The photo) looks like bad WB. The sunlit areas don't look sunny at all. I'd warm it up a bit and boost the saturation.

What were the WB settings for those? “

He didn’t read my description, or rather, ignored.
(Also, I DIDN'T ask an advice how to "correct" photo.}

“That photo (Mill Valley-Sausalito Path) was taken at around 4PM.( You probably missed that part?)
The sunlight at that time isn't "warmer hue" at all. It is still blue-ish white light. Not like warmer, orange-ish light in the morning or near sunset.
And, this particular area (Mill Valley, CA) is surrounded by hills and fogs, it's almost always "cool or cold".
At the time this photo was taken, it was chilly (despite the fact that we're in the middle of August and this is in sunny California )
So, the photo looks "cold", "isolated" "inhuman" on purpose.
I didn't want this photo to have "nice and warm" feeling.

He insisted, saying
“From my digital perspective, looking for accuracy:
(That Mill Valley-Sausalito path photo)  feels like real life would have been warmer.” (Despite that fact that I stated it WASN'T WARM AT ALL.)

After reading this post, I just decided to ignore this guy.
Digital sensor does NOT accurately reproduce what our eyes see.
NEVER.
Him chasing the “perfection” is one thing. (And it’s totally fine.)
But, commenting “BAD” on someone’s work, just because it doesn’t match with his preference is, well, I don’t know what to say.
It is like commenting on Pablo Picasso or Salvador Dali’s picture,
“That picture’s perspective is BAD, this picture’s figure proportion is off, it should be this way.”

Some people have very poor vocabulary. (So they tend to call everything that doesn’t please them as “bad”.)
Some people know how much they know, so they start preaching / criticizing others, but they don’t know how much stuff out there that they don’t know…

Lol. I think that guy's an idiot. I don't know anything about photography and I enjoyed that photo. Looking at it before I even read any of your description I could describe it as cold. Waning as if life has moved on. I like it.

Keyboard warriors gotta keyboard.

The advrider guy can go pound sand.

I'm another who thoroughly enjoys looking through the photos and appreciate you sharing with us! 

Quote from: Stella on November 29, 2024, 07:36:32 PM
The advrider guy can go pound sand.

I'm another who thoroughly enjoys looking through the photos and appreciate you sharing with us!  

Thanks for the comment, and sorry for the slow response.
(too many things happening around here right now. I'll show the photos after this post. But, first...)

Pro Sushi Chef’s quick lunch / Pork Kimuchi Udon
[Creative use of “Interval timer shooting”]

So, how do you photograph yourself, while cooking, alone, and in a sort of hurry?
And you want to capture the “action”, not just the final product.

Self timer wouldn’t work, for obvious reason.
Shooting video and capture the screenshot?

When I shoot photos of myself, I actually don’t use self timer that often.
Instead, I do “interval timer shooting”.
Works a whole lot better than self timer (for what I do, anyway).

I tired to take photos while I was quickly making my lunch before leaving for work.
Shot on Fuji X100V mounted on Gorilla Pod, set interval timer for shooting every 16 sec.

1_ingredients copy by T K, on Flickr

2_Garlic by T K, on Flickr

3_Pork Kimuchi Garlic by T K, on Flickr

4_Halfway by T K, on Flickr

5_Cleaning up by T K, on Flickr

6_Done by T K, on Flickr

7_Final product by T K, on Flickr

Shown in chronological order.
All images are straight out of camera JPEG files.
(The purpose of this photo shoot is to have fun with camera, documentation of my life, so they are fine.
I can work on RAW files later, if I want.)

That's a serious lunch 

Quote from: Monsterlover on December 30, 2024, 10:15:36 AM
That's a serious lunch 

And, the next time I get to eat something is after coming back home, at around 10 -10:30PM.
I have to eat a lot before heading to work  .

I’m a certified black sheep. Everyone and their grand mother and her cat says,
“You need wide angle lens for street photography.”

And I don’t like using wide angle lenses, unless the “story” calls for it.

So I went outside today, with vintage Canon FD50mm f1.4 (on Metabones Speed booster) + Fuji XH2.
(I also brought GoPro Hero10, for some behind the scene videos, so that I can make YouTube video later, if I decided to do so.)

I left at around 4:30PM. I decided to just walk around with camera. NOT driving too somewhere with camera.

All images are straight out from the camera. None of them are edited.

Rumble Fish_1 by T K, on Flickr

Rumble Fish_2 by T K, on Flickr

These black and white images were (somewhat) inspired by the opening scene of the1983 film, Rumble Fish. (Francis Ford Coppola film).
High contrast black and white image, time-lapse, and the music, … for some reason, this movie’s opening AND the ending scene are sticking into my mind, since the 80s,

https://youtu.be/8P84nW88v2M



Do you remember 1991 film “Harley Davidson and the Marlboro man” ?
Particularly, the scene Don Johnson and Micky Rourke sitting on the road sign over the freeway, looking down LA traffic at night, and repairing the boots with duct tape,...
(Surprisingly, you can watch the entire movie for free, on YouTube now.)
https://youtu.be/Tk6btg4Mepg

Someone left a shoe up there…

Harley &Marlboro_1 by T K, on Flickr

Harley&Marlboro_2 by T K, on Flickr

There three, I couldn’t decide which one was best, so I posted all three.

Airplane_3 by T K, on Flickr

Airplane_2 by T K, on Flickr

Airplane_1 by T K, on Flickr

Somebody cut a hole on the fence…
Hole on the fence by T K, on Flickr

Sunday evening 101 South bound traffic in Marin…
101 sunset by T K, on Flickr

101Sunset2 by T K, on Flickr

I can’t go any further (legally)…
the end_1 by T K, on Flickr

the end_2 by T K, on Flickr

…turn around, took one more shot before walking back to home…
the end of the night by T K, on Flickr

A new sketchbook for a new year!

New sketch book XT4 by T K, on Flickr

Now, the image above is shot with Fuji XT4, with vintage Asahi Super Takumar (PENTAX) 50mmf1.4, with comlite speed booster.
Typically, I like this kind of color, lighting, atmosphere. (Eg, “No country for old man (2007, Coen brothers film)
I like vintage PENTAX lenses, a lot, (Back in the early 80s, that’s what I had) for still photos.
However, for shooing videos, I prefer Canon FD lenses.
(Reason one is focus ring orientation. (FDs’ orientation feels more natural, to me).
Reason two is focus breathing. Yes, FD does it, too. (After all, they are still photo lenses.) But, it’s a lot more manageable.
Reason three, is that vintage PENTAX has more character. Therefore, when mixed with the footage shot by other cameras / lenses in the video editing, you can instantly tell the camera / lens was switched.)

Same lighting, different camera / lens.
Fuji X100V Straight Out Of the Camera

SOOC X100V new sketch book by T K, on Flickr

My old sketchbook was filled. Those are the last few pages that I just filled recently.

New sketch book_2XT4 by T K, on Flickr

New sketch book_3XT4 by T K, on Flickr

New sketch book_4XT4 by T K, on Flickr

Oh, and “THOUGHBUILT’ utility knife is also picked up recently.
It comes with an extra magazine.
It’s not a gravity drop. You can play John Wick while cutting down the cardboard boxes.

Watanabe AS_2 by T K, on Flickr

270mm Sujihiki, Blue Super, with burned handle, by Sinichi Watanabe, 2025.
This is NOT mine.

Watanabe AS_1 by T K, on Flickr

Just before I quit my job here in San Anselmo at the end of last year, I was talking with another coworker.
I told him about my experience with Shinich, although I haven’t purchased anything from him in the last 20 years or so, I would still highly recommend him, everything I bought from him were well worth the price.
This coworker showed up with this knife yesterday, saying it was just delivered.
So, I took some photo. (It’s a strange coincidence, that I was not carrying my GoPro yesterday. Instead, I had Fuji X100V, which, I normally don’t take to work.)

Watanabe AS_BigEye Tuna_1 by T K, on Flickr

Watanabe AS_BigEye Tuna_2 by T K, on Flickr

Anyhow, I let him cut a big piece of Big Eye Tuna. (That is my work, normally.)
If you look at his wrist angle, you can tell he’s cutting with the “wrist action”, which is a clear sign of lack of experience / skill.
He’s not extracting the real performance of this blade, yet.

Watanabe AS_BigEye Tuna_3 by T K, on Flickr

Watanabe AS_BigEye Tuna_4 by T K, on Flickr

But, it was REALLY nice to see Shinichi’s work after all these years.

Good tools make the work easy

Quote from: Monsterlover on February 12, 2025, 07:02:20 PM
Good tools make the work easy

Yes ! And, make it safer ! (It's obvious with edged tools. But it also applies working on the motor vehicles.
We all have some sort of experience, something like the wrench slipping off of the bolt head while you're "pulling the wrench toward your own face, you punched yourself in the mouth...)
Somethings, I learned in a hard way. (I stubbed myself with wood curving knife, when I was six years old or so. I was pushing the tool while the left hand that's holding the wood plate was in front of the curving knife...

Well that's a sobering thought

Yeah that's one of those things you'll learn the hard way. How to keep your hands and face out of the danger zone.

One of my favorite knives. Chris Reeve Green Beret, in CPM 4V.

Green Beret vs Snapper head by T K, on Flickr

Can Green Beret cut Snapper’s skull?
Well, you will find out soon…
(As usual, I’d say, ignore the YouTube video critiques. This is NOT a bushcraft knife. This is NOT a survival knife. This is a FIGHTING KNIFE, period. Don’t judge, or complain about the  fighting “tools” by using it for other mundane tasks.
You wouldn’t understand the true value of this type of tool unless you have your hands covered with blood and guts.

Samurai Breakfast ! In Friday morning…

So, I have a question.
Am I wasting my time editing the images, for such a subtle difference?
(Or, even more importantly, am I making the images worse, than the SOOC images?)
All shot on Fuji X100V.

Edited with flash
Samurai Breakfast! by S21Folgore_2, on Flickr

SOOC
oroginal_SOOC_w:F by S21Folgore_2, on Flickr

Edited without flash
Samurai Brreakfast2 by S21Folgore_2, on Flickr

SOOC
origina2_SOOC_wo:F by S21Folgore_2, on Flickr

Tea time !
Tea time by S21Folgore_2, on Flickr

I think it looks better with the flash. A little crisper

Thanks. That's how I feel about these 4 images.

The 1st pic, taken with flash and edited, has the most pleasing feel. Crisp, as you said. Just the right amount of contrast, and overall image is bright, which works better for this image.
The same image SOOC, is okay. But, because there;s less contrast, the fish head (the main subject) doesn't "pop-up" as much as the edited version.

The image without flash, they are obviously slightly darker. And the image is backlit. Which, I often do when shooting videos, but, probably not the best practice for "food photos," (You don't want to be your food photos, family portrait, etc, to be dark, gritty & moody, like crime thriller film )

The next day, I shot this short film.

The Last Samurai Breakfast

https://youtu.be/kh71kI6ln1w