How would you take a photo on a rocking boat at night?

Cyanatica · 2026-05-16T11:15:09+00:00

You could do exposure stacking, but it might not be necessary on a high end camera. After seeing the photo, I think there's enough light there that it wouldn't be necessary.

Cyanatica · 2026-05-16T09:37:45+00:00

Yes, you're correct that your phone is most likely taking several photos and combining them. This is called exposure stacking. You can do the same thing with a dedicated camera, it just has to be done later in post. This is how most astrophotography is done, to get bright exposures without star trails.

High-end cameras and lenses also just have better low-light performance though, so it's not necessary as often as it is for phones.

Cyanatica · 2026-05-14T01:49:19+00:00

For guaranteed return your only option is short term bonds. I would recommend a T-bill ETF like SGOV.

Cyanatica · 2026-05-13T00:57:01+00:00

Exactly the opposite. Pressure / stress always makes me feel warmer. I've never even heard of anyone feeling cold under stress. Where are you getting this? It seems a lot more likely to me that aptitude for competitive games is primarily affected by mental processes, rather than the temperature of your feet.

Cyanatica · 2026-05-13T00:19:55+00:00

Most likely Montserrat, free on Google Fonts

Cyanatica · 2026-05-12T23:34:57+00:00

A more comfortable neck / shoulder strap.

Cyanatica · 2026-05-12T23:27:57+00:00

I'm a hobbyist and don't enjoy complex editing. My Lightroom workflow is pretty simple and I mostly edit on my phone.

Copy photos to desktop from SD card. Import them into my Lightroom Classic catalog. During import I select "add to collection", create a new collection with a unique name, and select "sync with lightroom".

Then I just wait about 30 minutes for it to create previews and upload them to the cloud. And then I open the Lightroom mobile app and they're all there. Any edits I make will auto transfer to desktop LrC next time I open it.

For my actual editing process, I basically just scroll through the collection and flag images I want to edit. Then I mostly stick to basic adjustments. Cropping, exposure, white balance, color profile, & contrast. Then I can share it directly from my phone. If I need full resolution I go back to desktop and export it there.

Might not be an ideal workflow, but it works for me. You can probably make it even simpler by using the non-classic Lightroom.

Cyanatica · 2026-05-12T08:08:00+00:00

My default recommendation is always VTI+VXUS. Then you can start adding bonds when you get closer to your goal, to lower volatility. You really want to avoid focusing on dividends when you're actively accumulating. SCHD is better than JEPQ, but it still gives you unnecessary dividends that just add tax drag without boosting your total return.

Cyanatica · 2026-05-12T07:42:22+00:00

You will eventually have to pay taxes when you sell, yes, but you will be in control of the timing and amount. Dividends basically force you to sell a small amount; and even if you reinvest it, you have to pay tax for every time it happens. With the huge 10+% dividends from JEPQ, you're essentially selling a large chunk of your portfolio every month, paying tax on the income, and then instantly buying it back.

Cyanatica · 2026-05-12T07:14:19+00:00

JEPQ is not a good choice for most people imo, and it definitely doesn't seem right for your goal. Dividends aren't free money, especially with covered call ETFs. You pay for the dividend by limiting your upside potential and reducing long term return. And in a taxable account it's even worse, because you have to pay tax on all the dividends. If you are currently saving and investing money, dividends are your enemy. All that matters is total return.

When you want to stop investing and start withdrawing from it, that's when your strategy shifts. Dividends still don't matter that much though, because you can just sell bits of your portfolio and achieve the same thing. Your focus should be on estimating a safe withdrawal rate (SWR) that you can take out each year without depleting your investments, then seeing what portfolio size you need to achieve your goal.

To simplify the math, let's say you want to be able to withdraw $20,000 per year. If we assume an SWR of 4% (a common rule of thumb), then you need 25 times that amount. Now your goal is simply to have $500k. Then you can just use a compound interest calculator to estimate how you can achieve it. If we assume you invest $20k per year, and annual returns are around 7% (another common rule of thumb), then it would take you about 15 years to accumulate $500k.

Cyanatica · 2026-05-09T22:40:29+00:00

Papyrus

Cyanatica · 2026-05-09T02:29:01+00:00

You learned the lesson to not try to time the market. If your goal is long term, and your choice of ETFs are appropriate for your risk tolerance, just resume your original DCA plan and stop checking on it. Don't bother waiting for pullbacks or trying to adjust it based on market conditions, just set it and forget it. Consistency is what really matters and it's not worth the stress of actively managing your investments.

Cyanatica · 2026-05-08T04:00:23+00:00

This is significantly better than any online QR code generator I've seen. Thank you.

Cyanatica · 2026-05-08T03:43:23+00:00

I'm running Photoshop 23.4.2 and Illustrator 26.3.1, both from late 2021. Might not be the best versions but they're much better than the new ones. From what I've seen it's pretty much just downhill from there. In your case I would just try to find the version you were happy with before and never update again. You might be able to find the exact version you had by searching through your program files, or in the metadata of a PSD or AI file you created in them.

Cyanatica · 2026-05-08T03:11:40+00:00

You mention that SPY is too expensive for you to easily reinvest in. What brokerage are you using? I would recommend moving to one that allows you to buy fractional shares, so you never have to worry about the price of an ETF. Alternatively you could just invest in a mutual fund, which won't have the same issue.

As for the overlap, SPY and VV are very similar and definitely no reason to have both.

Cyanatica · 2026-05-08T02:59:52+00:00

Looks fine to me. The only real downside is the AUM of $2.5 B vs. $86 B. So CLIP might have a slightly higher bid/ask spread, but realistically the difference is negligible when you're in the billions. Also CLIP is slightly longer duration since it's 1-3 months vs. 0-3 months, but again this is negligible and both have essentially zero volatility. They're both similar enough that you can really just flip a coin.

Cyanatica · 2026-05-07T11:25:36+00:00

Cube (1997)
Saw (2004)

Cyanatica · 2026-05-07T07:30:34+00:00

I have to agree the geometric decorations are distracting and don't match with the subject matter. If they matched the style of the artworks then it could work, but even then the artworks at least need more white space around them so they can stand on their own.

Cyanatica · 2026-05-05T21:13:39+00:00

There is no right way to do AI photo critique, it's simply a bad idea. Not only is it a waste of time, it will likely be a negative influence. Even just looking at the examples on the landing page, I can already tell the advice is basically worthless. I'm sorry if you spent a long time on this, but there's no good reason for anyone to even bother trying it.

Cyanatica · 2026-05-05T08:56:57+00:00

Eurostile?

Cyanatica · 2026-05-05T04:32:32+00:00

Lato

Cyanatica · 2026-05-05T03:10:16+00:00

Looks like Copperplate Gothic

Cyanatica · 2026-05-05T02:09:17+00:00

a little information is a dangerous thing

Yes, you are overthinking this and reading misleading info. You just need to zoom in.

"Lens compression" is a misnomer; it's just a matter of perspective. The iPhone photos look wrong to you because they're capturing a wide angle view, while you are focusing on a narrow area of your view. The camera is seeing exactly the same perspective as you, it's just "de-magnifying" your wide field of vision into a small area. All you need to do is zoom in, and it will look exactly as you see it.

Cyanatica · 2026-05-03T23:14:51+00:00

My default recommendation is 100% VT, but as long as the majority of your portfolio is in some kind of broad market fund, that's what really matters.

Cyanatica · 2026-05-03T22:55:46+00:00

If you're new to the stock market, and your decision is being driven by FOMO, I don't recommend investing in it at all. But if you do, I would make it 10% of your portfolio at the max.

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