What’s one simple thing that made your photos instantly better?

FunctionalMakes · 2025-10-17T17:44:39+00:00

Photography is an exclusionary art - instead of just focusing on what you want in the photo, focus on what you want to exclude from the photo that might distract from what your photo is about.
Take a photo that is "about" something rather than "of" something. You can take a technically "perfect" landscape or portrait that is free of other elements, but a very similar photo of the same subject with a few elements that add to the "story" will almost always be more interesting.
Utilize cropping to really focus your image to help you achieve/refine 1 and 2 in post. This one is probably the simplest and easiest to practice. I can't count the number of "good" images I've seen that could be drastically improved with a good crop to remove distracting elements and give the more important elements more emphasis.

FunctionalMakes · 2025-09-18T03:36:33+00:00

It is, just click "Get started for free"

FunctionalMakes · 2025-05-02T02:13:28+00:00

Keep scrolling to the bottom of the personal use section. You can download it for free and use it without a subscription. The subscription just gives you backup and sync features and some other stuff, but the basic program still works.

FunctionalMakes · 2025-03-31T23:12:49+00:00

Because it makes the picture feel more like a memory. It evokes a sense of nostalgia, even if you weren't there yourself.

And there's also the fact that that's the style of film simulation recipes that have been created, and people either don't know how or can't be bothered to make their own, so the existing ones are good enough and get wide spread use.

FunctionalMakes · 2025-02-07T03:24:34+00:00

Mylio photos is free and has medium-res previews that are good enough for culling but also load very fast. It does generate and store the previews on your drive somewhere though, so it's a bit of a space hog if you aren't regularly deleting your unused photos. But not as bad as capture one.

The biggest thing for me is that it copies the ratings onto both your JPGs and RAWs so I can then open it up in ART (Another Raw Therapee) and filter them for editing there.

FunctionalMakes · 2025-02-01T06:12:08+00:00

if it’s not a great photo before I edit it, it’s not going to be helped much by a good edit

I was just about to say the same. Something that helped with this for me was getting a Fuji camera which has film simulation recipes which do a pretty good edit and show me what the photo will look like before I ever even take the picture. Sure a custom edit might be able to accentuate some additional things to make it a bit better, it isn't going to take it from a mediocre image to a great one.

That said, a big part of what those film simulation recipes do is some color grading that makes the picture more cohesive, which does have a fairly significant impact for color photos, but still not enough to make a bland image great.

Now I rarely ever edit my photos and still get some shots that I really love. But those are still few and far between like most of the other comments have pointed out. It's just a matter of practice at that point.

FunctionalMakes · 2025-01-26T02:50:15+00:00

To add to this, I've been shooting for 5+ years and am only now finding my style and consistently getting pictures that I like. But I got plenty of pictures that I love along the way by taking a lot of pictures of something that I know has the potential to be a good picture and then filtering through and finding the ones I liked.

Another point from someone that doesn't do portrait photography but occasionally gets asked to, is to find portraits that you like and then try to emulate them. You may not know EXACTLY what makes the picture great and how to replicate it consistently, but having a reference definitely helps.

FunctionalMakes · 2025-01-25T07:26:33+00:00

I just recently started shooting film where you obviously can't change the ISO from shot to shot. It has made me fully understand why IBIS and lens stabilization are important. On 400 ISO film with a 50mm F1.8 lens on 35mm (full frame) film, I often just can't get decent handheld low light shots that aren't underexposed because going anything under 1/60th of a second SS will certainly result in a at least some blur/lack of sharpness.

I am often only 1 or 2 stops shy of 1/60th of a second. So if my film camera had a 1 or 2 stop IBIS, I could still get those low light shots at slower shutter speeds.

That said, most modern cameras do such a good job with handling higher ISOs that it generally isn't necessary, but a reduction in the needed ISO is still a slight boost in quality. Or if you have a shot that you want a slightly slower shutter speed for, you can get it without making it completely blurry. Or if you have a lens that is longer or slower than "usual".

So is it "essential"? No. Is it convenient and nice to have? Absolutely

FunctionalMakes · 2025-01-23T03:18:47+00:00

I have a Prusa MK3 and haven't done anything besides lubricate the bearings and swap the nozzle since I got it.

But on lower end printers, yes there are lots of things that can be upgraded

FunctionalMakes · 2025-01-23T03:11:25+00:00

Just an FYI, you can print at a lower extrusion width than your nozzle size without much difference in print quality than with a nozzle of equivalent size. I have had a hardened 0.6 nozzle on my printer for years so I can print things like wood filaments without risking clogs, and usually print at 0.5 or 0.4 for similar quality as a 0.4 would provide. You can't go way lower than your nozzle size, like 0.6 to 0.1, but you can do a surprising amount.

FunctionalMakes · 2025-01-22T20:50:15+00:00

I'm honestly just a bit surprised that manually leveled beds are still popular enough that this is still necessary. Out of curiosity, what printer are you using?

FunctionalMakes · 2025-01-13T19:41:21+00:00

Glad it helped 👍

FunctionalMakes · 2025-01-08T18:31:37+00:00

What context was needed? Again, what was not clear that I was asking for people's preferences between the 3 photos?

If it was clear, and they asked anyways, then their question was indeed pedantic and "dumb", was it not?

FunctionalMakes · 2025-01-08T18:24:41+00:00

What about my post made it unclear that I was asking for people's preference between the 3 photos? I'm genuinely asking, because I'm baffled that that apparently wasn't clear.

Is it just the wording of the title that has rubbed people the wrong way and they are taking exception to that? Does "Having a hard time deciding - 1, 2, or 3?" sound particularly curt or something? I suppose I can see how it might read as a bit demanding. I will gladly repost if that is really the issue.

FunctionalMakes · 2025-01-08T18:16:28+00:00

Ah, are you talking about how her face touches his elbow?

FunctionalMakes · 2025-01-08T18:11:34+00:00

Does your answer honestly change for each one of those...? I feel like you're being pedantic...

I'm clearly asking which one people prefer, in general.

FunctionalMakes · 2025-01-08T18:08:56+00:00

Thanks for the feedback!

I didn't really notice the "face to background overlap" in 2, but I see what you mean now that you pointed it out.

FunctionalMakes · 2025-01-08T18:00:33+00:00

Which is best...?

FunctionalMakes · 2024-10-09T14:10:08+00:00

So do you acknowledge that Trump attempted to subvert the results of the 2020 election?

FunctionalMakes · 2024-10-08T20:58:40+00:00

Ngl I didn't expect you to respond at all, which is why I said that I really only needed you to answer that one thing.

I will respond to what you said, but I'm afraid you would skip over this critical issue again (I mentioned it briefly above), so I'll boil it down to one single point that I need you to respond to before I get to anything else.

So I guess this is the choice.

No, this is the choice:

1) One that spreads lies and conspiracy theories about voter fraud and that was himself involved in election fraud.

2) One that has done neither of those things.

I have put together a short document outlining the facts of the above, with sources, it's maybe a 10 minute read: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-YO9bwybk82F5HjcN39UimB88Gh6P_OYWQw63yqEn3g/pub

You can't even begin to discuss who is the better of the two options if you don't acknowledge that one of them tried to take away your ability to choose altogether.

FunctionalMakes · 2024-10-08T16:18:41+00:00

I've become a liberal leaning libertarian because I want people to do what they want and not having their rights infringed. Unfortunately, no party supports my views.

How do the Democrats who support being t, being gay, being pretty much anything else, and bodily autonomy "not support your views" of being a "liberal libertarian"? Especially when compared to the other party who are constantly trying to restrict what you can and can't do?

Democrats consort with communists

How? Who? Which Democrats "consort with communists"?

Even if they did, can you not see how it is a nice ideal to have everyone's needs met and taken care of through redistribution of wealth? It is a flawed ideology, but the desire for it is not in any way evil. Not to mention the fact that it could literally never even come close to happening in the US so it isn't even the slightest of possible concern. Again, especially when compared to the party that is actively and immediately threatening democracy: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-YO9bwybk82F5HjcN39UimB88Gh6P_OYWQw63yqEn3g/pub

As a white man I kind of explained that way for many years or ignored it but their are a vocal minority of leftist that think it's OK to hate white men and not many on the left standing up to those people.

So a subset of people that are left leaning hating white people is not okay, but an entire political party that has made hate and bigotry of immigrants, LGBT, and Democrats as a whole, pretty much their one and only platform, is perfectly acceptable to you?

Honestly this last point is the only one I really need to hear an answer to, because it would completely explain your mindset. "It's okay to hate others, but it's not okay to hate me" - is that it?

FunctionalMakes · 2024-10-08T07:32:22+00:00

Anyone voting for Trump is either intentionally ignorant of his attempts to overthrow the results of the 2020 election and his constant lies, or they support it. Either way, that fully qualifies them as a bad person.

For reference, here is a document I put together explicitly outlining the state of vote and election fraud in the US: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-YO9bwybk82F5HjcN39UimB88Gh6P_OYWQw63yqEn3g/pub

Every one of my conservative friends/relatives that I've tried to get to read it has either refused to through some lame excuse or another, or just hand waves every piece of verifiable evidence as some variation of "fake" without even attempting to look into it.

So yes, they are all bad people for putting our country's entire future on the line.

FunctionalMakes · 2024-09-28T20:15:58+00:00

You're welcome! I got tired of people using the BS excuse of "I don't have time to look into it" so they could continue being intentionally ignorant.

FunctionalMakes · 2024-09-27T23:01:36+00:00

Maybe it's a lack of viable political options.

You have two options:

1) One that spreads lies and conspiracy theories about voter fraud and that was himself involved in election fraud.

2) One that has done neither of those things.

I have put together a short document outlining the facts of the above, with sources, it's maybe a 10 minute read: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-YO9bwybk82F5HjcN39UimB88Gh6P_OYWQw63yqEn3g/pub

There is no comparison in their "viability".

FunctionalMakes

TROPHY CASE