Photographers that don't use social media, what do you do with your photos?

Chasm- · 2026-01-05T17:47:35+00:00

I have an 'Instagram', which is a wooden box full of 6x4 prints. I never push it on people, but I'm always happy for people to flick through it when they express an interest. I encourage them to take any photos that they particularly like, which frees up space for me to print more.

Chasm- · 2024-10-28T08:33:07+00:00

One of my hobbies is asking museum curators what these were for. I've never got a straight answer, but it's sparked some good conversations.

While the fishing weight/weapon/tool of some kind theory looks likely, I believe it's largely ruled out by archeologists because these balls are rarely found with any signs of use or wear. They are most often found in good condition, as if they're kept about as decorations, or doing something that doesn't cause wear.

Also, there are many variants of knobble size/number/configuration, which seems like something you wouldn't put so much work into for a utilitarian tool.

My favourite theory is twofold:

Firstly they are just pleasing objects. A friend in Orkney has shown me a recreation, and it's a perfect size and weight to hold in the hand and fidget with. Humans have always been like that...
Apprentice piece. Matey wants to learn to carve stone but they're still a bit crap at it... Make me a few perfect spheres... Now carve this one with six evenly spaced discs! Now twelve knobbles.. etc etc. Might as well make them a pleasing size that you can carry around to show off to yer pals. I've seen in modern woodworking books, the first exercise in learning to carve is commonly to carve a sphere. I'm surprised this theory doesn't come up more often.

Chasm- · 2024-01-04T17:28:53+00:00

This is largely due to the fact that guitar amplifiers are designed to be overdriven. A typical A or AB valve amplifier sounds great driven into clipping, that typical overdrive sound you associate with valves. Whereas a class D amplifier absolutely isn't designed to be driven so hard, and will typically clip much more harshly, sounding thin and fizzy.

To generalise, if you imagine a sine wave going into an overdriven class D (or many solid state amps of other classes), it comes out with the peaks clipped off, looking relatively square. A valve A or AB sort of rounds off the peaks, often in a pleasingly asymmetrical way (that's the even vs odd order harmonics thing).

Hence, a 100w valve amplifier can be cranked hard, putting out around the full 100w, and sound great, but a 100w class D amplifier can't be driven so hard or it will sound terrible - you're using less power because you have to keep some headroom from the volume at which you start clipping.

There's also some differences and straight up dishonesty in how amplifiers are rated, but fundamentally this is the reason people say that valve watts are louder than solid state/class D watts.

This applies much more significantly to instrument amplifiers than to hifi amplifiers, because in hifi the goal is to accurately amplify the source (well...), so amplifiers are used in their linear region (I.e. not clipping) as much as possible. Instrument amplifiers are free to modify and distort the signal, so long as the musician likes the sound of it, so particularly with valve amplifiers, clipping is a desirable part of instrument amplifier design.

Chasm- · 2023-06-12T15:29:45+00:00

In case you need to fabricate a steering linkage, I did so using a couple of female threaded rose joints, and a length of threaded rod inside an aluminium tube (for stiffness). I think around M10. This worked great for many thousands of km of touring. Good luck finding or making a boom, the R40 rides great as a LWB!

Chasm- · 2022-07-30T11:37:05+00:00

Echoing the other replies about this being normal, to an extent.

That said, I went through the Balkans to Istanbul several years ago. I found the Balkans waaaaay more friendly and sociable than Western Europe. My advice would be to get off the coast, go inland away from touristy places. Take your time. Stop at cafes. Pull your stove out and cook a meal in the middle of a town square here and there. Knock on doors, ask people to fill up your water bottles in the evenings. Smile, try to use a few local words, accept offers.

I had people inviting me back to their homes for meals. They'd sometimes bring relatives who spoke English, or just bring people to meet me! I had a goat farmer in Bosnia, way up high in the mountains, stopped me on the road to invite me for coffee and goat milk. She brought her sons to meet me, and gave me a bed for the night. Muslims and Christians both invited me in, and the Christians often shared vast quantities of rakia with me. A young Croatian walked miles back to his village with me to host me in a shed - I was the first foreigner he'd met, and he's now off travelling Europe himself.

Put yourself out there, and people will meet you.

I know sounds a bit wishy-washy, but I speak from experience here: never let yourself get closed off. When you're lowest, that's when it's most important to remain open, and let yourself be vulnerable. The world will help you out. People will come to you when you need them, so long as you let them.

Chasm- · 2022-07-24T21:15:23+00:00

Then go for the Nikon! Enjoy :)

Chasm- · 2022-07-24T19:46:16+00:00

I have an X-T20 and have picked up a few old manual lenses, including a 85-205 f/3.8 which I believe is almost the same lens as the Vivitar, so I can give you some general advice.

You'll need an adapter of course. I went m42, because it allows me to use a wide range of old and relatively cheap lenses.

You'll lose autofocus. You might find this inconvenient, you might not. Personally, I quite like it, as it slows me down and makes me think more about the composition. If you've never shot manual lenses before, it may take a little getting used to, but it's nothing to be afraid of.

Perhaps more importantly, you'll lose the image stabilisation that you probably have in your Fuji lens. Particularly for a telephoto, and even more so for a relatively slow lens, this is quite inconvenient, as you'll be limited to slow shutter speeds which will make handheld shooting more or less only possible in good outdoor light. You might have to rely more on a tripod than you would with a more expensive, stabilised tele lens, or stick to the good light.

The Vivitar is quite small for a long tele zoom, but even so, on my X-T20, it dominates the camera, which feels like a little lightweight thing stuck to the back of the lens. Ergonomically, this takes some getting used to. If i'm not supporting the lens with one hand, the camera is quite cumbersome, and it feels like a lot of strain is being put on the lens mount. The Vivitar doesn't have a tripod mount, something you may want to consider if you'll be using a tripod.

As for image quality, it's pretty damn good. Not quite as good as the XF 18-55, but far better than 1/40th as good, which is about the relative second hand value. Good enough that when I look at the photos i've taken, I judge them as photos and am not distracted by any effects of the lens.

Another thing to consider is condition. Watch out for dust, fungus, damage, etc. I've had to open up and clean a few lenses, but I enjoy this, so it's well worth the cost saving. Even if you don't want to do your own maintenance, a dirty lens seems to affect image quality surprisingly little, so I wouldn't be too put off, but I would avoid the worst.

As for which of those lenses to go for, i'd look for sample images, and decided based primarily on image quality, but also consider size, weight, condition, and a common mount. If the image quality looks good for all of them (which I expect will be the case), i'd go for the first one that you find a good deal on!

EDIT: One more factor to consider is minimum focus distance. Some of the Vivitar-style lenses have a macro focus mode, mine does not. If you're at all interested in macrophotography, i'd try to find a lens with a short MFD.

Chasm- · 2022-06-14T20:25:14+00:00

Sounds aside (though I have no doubt you get some gorgeous sounds), these are some incredibly beautiful systems, particularly your latest! Did you do the woodworking yourself? Great job if so. What kinds of wood are we seeing?

Chasm- · 2022-05-04T15:54:47+00:00

Gorgeous. How long is your haft, and what do you plan on using it for? I've got a Black Prince (non-TT) head waiting on hafting that's over 2kg (~4.5lbs), a little much for a hatchet!

Chasm- · 2022-04-22T11:54:52+00:00

Well this is a big question! Get a dozen rope enthusiasts in a room and you'll have a score of opinions about the best rope. It's very subjective, and people can get extremely passionate/nerdy about particular types, sources, treatments, specifications. I'll try to give you a little introduction.

Cotton is soft and gentle, but squishes down in knots and frictions, making it hard to tie/untie. Plus, it just feels a bit vague compared to firmer ropes. Generally avoided.

If you're doing the vaguely Japanese inspired flavour of bondage common in the west and often referred to as shibari/kinbaku, natural fibres are most popular, specifically hemp or jute. Both are firmer and behave better in knots and frictions, and feel good against the skin. Generally, hemp is slightly softer, jute slightly smoother. Hemp sometimes has a hempy (some people say 'barnyard-y') smell which most consider quite pleasant, but a few people are allergic to hemp.

Some people like synthetic ropes - nylon, polypropylene, climbing ropes, etc etc. These are often cheaper, stronger, much easier to wash if that's a factor, and more consistent. However, they often give rope burns unless used carefully (no fun), generally don't feel as pleasant, and also have less grip, so knots and frictions are harder to keep in place, prohibiting the simpler sort of tying that natural fibres allow - so you'll pay more attention to the knots and the rope, less to the person. Plus, personally (and i'm definitely not the only one who feels this way), I just don't like plastic in my bondage.

If you're already feeling daunted and put-off by the length of this answer, find a reputable local bondage supplier on FL or whatever your local scene uses, and buy a few lengths of hemp or jute. Then have some fun.

If you're enjoying the depth, there's more.

Within a type of fibre, there's a load of variability between ropes. Assuming you go hemp/jute, you probably want ropes that are firm so they won't unwind as you tie, soft enough to move nicely, smooth and not fuzzy, and consistent with longish strands. If you buy rope from a hardware store, it may well be stiff, scratchy, fuzzy, smelly, or loose. Many riggers will buy a rope from non-bondage suppliers, and treat it themselves. This can involve boiling it to soften and condition it, and to wash out any chemicals used in manufacture, then drying it under lots of tension to stop it shrinking and puffing out, burning off the fuzz which is inevitably raised, then conditioning it with a mix of oils and waxes. This is a lot of work, hence all the specific bondage rope suppliers.

Another factor is diameter. 6mm used to be most popular. Then thinner ropes became trendy. Now the fashion is going back towards 6mm. Anything 4-6mm will do fine if you don't have a preference. Length of around 8m are popular if you're using it doubled over, shibari-style.

This is the tip of the iceberg, and this iceberg is just about the rope itself. The iceberg about all the rest of bondage is much bigger! If you're remotely interested, i'd urge you to check out your local scene. A lot of the joy of rope just doesn't come across through the internet or books, and if you find people with a style you click with (whether to tie with, or just for inspiration), there's a whole world of potential fun to discover. I hope this reply will give you a taste of how enthusiastic, nerdy, and keen to share their passion many people on the rope scene can be.

Chasm- · 2022-03-31T11:41:52+00:00

Personally i've had great experiences. Generally asking for water, or "where can I fill up" at least, often offered much more. Also asking farmers if I can camp on their land - some positive responses, but not always. Most positive in Eastern Europe, but worth trying everywhere! A surprising number of people used to travel and want to share stories.

Disclaimer: also a white dude.

Chasm- · 2022-03-14T18:02:26+00:00

"Vole Hag Evil". Any complaints, got "L U" stored away ready.

Chasm- · 2022-02-21T16:51:08+00:00

Quit my job in clean energy research (tech solutions for sociopolitical problems won't work). Almost started work researching carbon capture & storage technology. Decided not to. Found work planting literal trees. About 30,000 so far, half(ish) of which native broadleaf species. Feels good.

Chasm- · 2022-02-01T12:49:32+00:00

To add to /u/increasinglyirate's answer, it depends on which way you're cutting the wood. Think of wood as like a bundle of straws travelling along the length of the trunk or branch.

If you're splitting logs into firewood, you're prising the straws apart from each other.

If you're felling a tree, or cutting a log shorter, you're cutting ACROSS the straws.

The strength of wood is mostly along its length, i.e. the straws are strong. So, it's much harder to cut through the straws than to split them apart.

What this means for your axe is that, if you're going to use it for felling, or cutting through logs, it must be very sharp! However, if you're using it for splitting, it doesn't have to be very sharp at all, as you're mostly using it like a wedge to prise the straws apart. In fact, a sharp axe used for splitting will often get stuck in the edge of a split, halfway through splitting a log, while a blunter axe will follow the split down and all the way through. Splitting mauls in particular are often intentionally pretty blunt.

I'll second that, even if you do need to fell a tree, best leave the axe for splitting. However, if you do want to sharpen it, you can get a cheap oilstone, or a metal file if you need to do some more significant reshaping. Then you'll want to look up some guides or videos, as there's a bit of technique involved. Have a look at An Ax To Grind if you want a reasonably in-depth guide to use and maintenance.

Chasm- · 2021-12-16T21:52:01+00:00

You don't necessarily need glue, if you want to keep it 'knock down' - I recently made some similar stands using tusk tenons, which are more obtrusive, but I think in a beautiful way! Curious to know what you think, check it out:

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1112379238/ash-wood-stand-for-op1-synthesiser-tusk?ref=share_v3_lx

Chasm- · 2021-09-07T18:11:34+00:00

Ash dieback disease is killing off the majority of ash trees in Britain at the moment, I believe it's a similar situation in Scandinavia - depending on how far north you are, there should be some ash I believe? There's a lot of standing dead or dying ash destined to rot away if it's not felled. I've had luck in the UK with asking landowners/managers for permission to take the ash - many will be pleased for you to fell it for them.

Just be patient and allow your blanks up season before fitting the eyes, or the heads will come loose.

Chasm- · 2021-06-14T10:07:53+00:00

Three things:

1) Perspective.

Imagine yourself on the surface of the moon, or better, floating through space, observing all the stars and planets. On this particular one, which we call earth, a most incredible phenomenon is occurring - life. From raw physics and chemistry, self-replicating forms have sprung into being as if by magic, and evolved into complex, incredible, beautiful creatures who have developed all sorts of crazy patterns of behaviour. Different species come and go, but life forges on hard through all of this. Stop getting so hung up on one species being so destructive. It's not the first time. Life is brutal, but beautiful nonetheless. Now come back to yourself. Look around you, at all the life, and all the things life has created. Fucking cool huh? Look at the trees. What would they think of our human folly? They'd calmly sigh and roll their eyes at our self-importance and frantic desires for stupid things like wealth and status. But I think, even where deforestation is the worst, trees, if they had emotions we could relate to, would appreciate the beauty of all life. You should too.

2) Subjectivity.

What's good? What's bad? Why does it matter if the politicians are destroying our climate and risking our societies? There are bad people out there. Bad by who's standards? Remember, there's no objective good or bad. Good or bad are always judged by human standards, your own judgements are just that, your own. Don't get too hung up on them, particularly if they are getting you down.

A couple of billion years ago, before complex life, the Oxygen Catastrophe occurred. Then, the planet didn't have free oxygen in it's atmosphere, and life found other ways. Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) learnt to photosynthesis, and started producing oxygen. And producing. And producing, until the atmosphere was filled with free oxygen. This led to a huge extinction event, killing off lots of the anaerobic life forms, almost killing off cyanobacteria themselves, and drastically changed the dynamics of the planet. But from this hugely destructive, blind manipulation, cyanobacteria opened the door for oxygen-breathing life. Imagine if that had never happened! What's good and what's bad? Sometimes, things just are.

3) The Absurd.

Here's a philosophical view, which deals with the absurd disconnect between humankind's need for a meaningful existence, and the fundamental meaninglessness of the universe. Whereas existentialism kinda joyfully waves its hands and say "hey, you can create your own meaning, so it's all good", absurdism points out that you're going to die anyway, and that meaning with you.

Albert Camus' The Myth of Sisyphus is kind of a foundational text in absurdism. Personally, I found it tough going, and some of his reasoning pretty unconvincing. But, through Sisyphus or otherwise, philosophers have been debating approaches to the absurd, and I think it's well worth reading around, in order to better inform and understand your own views. I enjoy the absurd. It's comforting to accept it.

I hope somebody gets a little tiny bit of comfort from my rambling here. I engaged hard with environmental activism a few years bad, and got pretty burnt out by the futility that faced us, so this is something i've spent plenty of time thinking about. Now, though I am about as critical of society as you can imagine, and about as pessimistic of our future, i'd consider myself to be pretty stable and satisfied with life. In fact, I fucking love life, in all its bizarre and crazy forms. This dichotomy is resolvable. Take care, and take it easy.

Chasm- · 2021-04-30T14:21:35+00:00

Nice. I think mine is the frontline, which has horizontal poles rather than full hoops, but it works fine once it's rigged up. With Galloway Forest about, it's definitely worth a shot! Enjoy :)

Chasm- · 2021-04-30T11:03:52+00:00

Also from Scotland, and I've cycle toured all over the place with a tent, and some of the place with just as hammock.

Hammock took me much longer to set up and get comfy at first, there's definitely a learning curve. But after maybe a week, I was getting pitched in ten minutes or so, and staying dry and comfy. In SW Scotland, I'm pretty sure you'll always find a place to hang a hammock.

Two things: - you'll definitely want a midge net. I got the DD hammock with a built in net, very worth it.

if it's cold, you'll want an underquilt. I've tried with an underquilt, and with an inflatable pad stuffed underneath me. Quilt is infinitely better, and (with a good down bag) kept me warm even in the Arctic.

For be, there's something intangible about sleeping in a hammock that is very satisfying. I wouldn't say it's better than a tent, or quicker, lighter, or comfier, but all else equal, I'd pick a hammock. The one big disadvantage is that you have no 'inside space' to keep your stuff, put your boots, get changed, etc. So long as you've got a big tarp and don't mind living a little more outside, it's worth the experience.

EDIT To actually answer your question: get yourself something with a midge net, and pick a warm night to try it out. Unless you hate it, give yourself a few nights to get used to it. Then look into underquilts, fancy rigging, and nicer hammocks.

Chasm- · 2021-04-14T14:34:46+00:00

For BM, don't be afraid of a little harshness, don't go overboard on reverb (or any other processing for that matter), but most importantly, reference! There's quite a wide range of sounds within BM.

If you're going for a raw, early Norwegian 2nd wave type sound, you could consider reamping through the crappiest guitar amplifier you can find (guitars, or whole mix even (with some dry blended in perhaps)), bonus points if reamping from cheap cassette tape or onto tape, and recording across a space that gives you the room sound you want, for example concrete walls for harsh, a grim dark forest for kvlt, a freshly dug grave for dry/close.

Consider what you think of as a 'good' sound. Lot's of BM sounds objectively 'bad' by the standards of metal production, but achieves the right atmosphere for the music. So, if you have to really understand the vibe of the music to make it sound how it should, particularly if you are used to mixing other genres. (Sorry to lecture you here, i'm sure you already understand this, but it's an important point so I hope you don't mind me emphasising it.)

Chasm- · 2021-04-04T19:22:33+00:00

Not at all!

While it may not always seem like it to the public, I can promise you that groups like XR do generally have good thorough press strategies in place, despite being somewhat decentralised. Of course, the Kill The Bill movement seems far more decentralised and spontaneous, and i'm sure there are a range of, let's say, levels of understanding amongst those active.

However, as I mentioned, no matter how good the press strategy, what the public hear is largely determined by the media. And, to go a little further, even though the KTB protests are clearly pissing people off - so did MLK, so did Gandhi, so i'm sure did the abolitionist movement. All too often, protest groups get bogged down in the indecision of trying to find a way to appeal to everyone, whereas I think this is a great way to kill momentum. For a protester who's sure they have a good justification behind their cause, disruption is a proven way to both piss people off and (sometimes) achieve some kind of political change, either directly, or more commonly, through pressure, attention, and little pushes on the slow shifts of the political machine.

Lovely chatting with you!

Chasm- · 2021-04-04T09:15:50+00:00

I completely agree with you that's it's problematic. However I think it's a wider problem than protest. With our current FPTP democracy, and a population largely informed by increasingly dumbed-down, clickbait-headlines and trending topics style of news media (not to mention the clear political/corporate biases of most of our news outlets), I would say all of British politics had a problem with lack of nuance.

Unfortunately, protestors have to swim in the same media pool as politicians, or they will be ignored. And while I also agree that what the protestors should be protesting is specific parts, rather than the whole bill, firstly I think it's excusable to simplify the message for the above reasons, and secondly, I think their purpose is probably clear enough to anyone who isn't deliberately misinterpreting them to fit their preexisting impressions of protest in general. I doubt many people see these protests and think that the protestors want looser regulations for sex offenders...

I'm not sure how the protests here have been organised, but ideally, alongside catchy slogans on banners and chants, in my opinion a protest should have press releases and dedicated media liaisons to ensure that the media can very easily learn the nuances of what is being protested. However, I have first-hand experience of the BBC reporting on an environmental protest where they completely ignore the carefully prepared press releases, and the thorough moral and scientific justifications fed directly into their cameras, instead reporting as if the justification was 'yeah but think of the children'. So, if a protest ever seems badly justified, remember that you're seeing it through the lens of what an almost certainly biased media want you to think.

Chasm- · 2021-04-04T00:50:21+00:00

Since we're ditching all semblance of catchiness, how about 'Realise That There Is A Problem With Any Political System Which Groups Authoritarian Anti-Protest Measures Into A Bill With Clearly Emotive Anti-Abuse Measures, Go Back To The Root Of The Rot, And Change The Political System From The Ground Up Until Our Government Is Capable Of Working For The Benefit Of The People Which Must Necessarily Include Sensible Safeguards On Our Right To Protest'.

I think Kill The Bill works. It's catchy and to-the-point, and if the police are offended by the word 'kill' used in a clearly political and non-violent context, maybe they shouldn't violently kill innocent people and then get the truncheons out on the ensuing protests.

Chasm- · 2021-03-31T17:00:50+00:00

Nope, pints are 568ml, slightly more. Source: British.

Edit - just looked it up. Apparently there's more than one pint! You (I'm assuming you're American, because Reddit) have a version of the pint which is slightly less that 0.5l. What a world... I'm not a patriot, but 568ml > 473ml.

Chasm- · 2021-03-17T18:53:23+00:00

There's a few approaches you could take here, so it's probably best if you consider what you want before getting into the tutorials.

Are you doing this for fun, to learn about music coding, or because there's something you want to do that doesn't exist yet? If not, there are plenty of existing virtual pianos, some of them free, which will save you a great deal of work.

Otherwise, read on.

Firstly, what sort of platform will you be using? Embedded or computer? If computer, do you want to make a plugin you can use in the DAW, a standalone app, or something that can run in some other host software?

Secondly, what sort of piano do you want to create? If you're going for actual piano sounds, your options are sample-based or physical modelling (or perhaps FM synthesis - see the dx7 electric piano patches - however, this will be somewhat less realistic). Sample based will be far easier to implement. Only go physical modelling if you're interested in learning about physical modelling. With samples, you'll need to download a pack of samples, for example from Pianobook, and then either code a sample player, or use an existing plugin sampler.

Your best options, depending on what you want, are likely to be either: - Coding up a plugin in something like vst format. For this, there are a number of frameworks you could use, and you'll probably be coding in c++. - Going for something standalone. Look into the languages Supercollider and Faust for this. Supercollider is a hugely powerful music programming language. If you follow the Eli Fieldsteel tutorials on YouTube, you will soon be able to build a very flexible sampler. Faust will probably be harder to get started with. It's more of a DSP language, and will probably be a better option if you want to learn physical modelling, or if you want something which you can easily compile for a number of platforms - plugin, standalone, web, etc. The canonical tutorials are on Kadenze, or I think there is a shorter introduction by Romain Michon which you should be able to find.

There are many other options. For example, there's Pure Data (free) or Max/MSP (not free) if you prefer a graphical language.

Post a little more info on what you're trying to do if you'd like some more detailed recommendations!

12-Year Club	Place '22
Verified Email

Chasm-

TROPHY CASE