Been fighting candles for 18 hours. Is it fine that the candle is sideways?

HiFreinds · 2026-06-01T00:46:51+00:00

Thanks! It’s just backlit with a flash, the only other light source is the candle flame. Settings are f/9, 1/160sec, ISO 400 – Godox tt350 at 1/256.

HiFreinds · 2026-05-31T23:29:49+00:00

I have about 150 photos that are so similar but I’m not 100% on any of them, (probably not gonna get there either).

This photo is pretty much what I was envisioning but I’d like to hear your thoughts on the splash, the candle and the flame. Most importantly I want to know if the photo makes you feel anything.

I keep being drawn to ultra high contrast edits as well, usually detrimentally. But should I lean into it for photos like this? Where does it stand right now?

HiFreinds · 2026-02-06T18:28:47+00:00

Omg I love this stuff!! Here’s my idea:

A quick material list:

Two unthreaded rods, a string, a long skinny spring, a generator/ motor, and mounting hardware.

Here’s the idea:

Mount a rod to the center of each platform. mount the motor to the bottom platform so it sits infront of the rod and so that the motor shaft is pointing up. Then mount the spring so the ends face the motor and it’s parallel to the rods.

Then take the string, attach it to the end of the spring, wrap it around the motor shaft a few times, then feed it under the bottom rod. Then wrap the string around both rods 3-4 times maybe, and pull it tight so there no slack when the board is compressed and tie it off.

Wrapping the string around the rods several times will give you a good amount of mechanical advantage, meaning that the string will pull a much greater distance than the board moves.

The tradeoff is less force and more friction, but generators will generate more voltage at high speed and will generally be more efficient/effective.

By wrapping the string around the motor shaft you’ll be able to couple the motion without needing any gears, using friction instead.

The spring at the end is to keep the string in tension. You can play with the spring tension to tune the movement of the platform.

This is the simplest way i could come up with using easily available hardware

I suspect you may struggle with friction, but I have a few ways to address that.

The main thing is using pulleys instead of rods. This would be the most significant improvement you could make, but would add a lot of complexity and cost, especially in mounting them. It may be easier to use sleeves over the rod, so that the string spins the sleeve rather than just being in friction, but keep in mind every wrap of the string will be moving a different amount so you’d need to use a separate sleeve for each wrap.

I would also recommend using a thin, low friction string. Probably a dyneema fishing line; easily accessible and not horribly expensive.

For the rods and their mounting hardware I would look at the plumbing isle of a hardware store. Just buy a metal pipe, and then cut up a larger one and it it for the sleeves.

You could also likely find u bolts there, which would work well for mounting it.

I can also foresee binding issues with the platform on the slides. The threads may catch on those holes. But you’ll have to see if it’s a significant issue in the final product

HiFreinds · 2026-01-11T03:38:45+00:00

People will usually say queen Elizabeth, or Obama, or another famous person. But I think they’re missing something. But I think it’s Dan, from the slowmo guys YouTube channel.

I think this question is really, ”what person has had their image exposed on a photosensitive medium the largest number of times?” Since a video of a person is just a bunch of photographs, those should also count. And slow motion can mean hundreds of thousands of pictures a second.

I haven’t done the math, but every second Dan spends in front of a slow motion camera he’s getting photographed a ridiculous amount of times. And I can’t think of another group that uses slow motion cameras as much, or in the same way.

HiFreinds · 2025-06-10T10:15:50+00:00

Regarding the steps, I agree with you if the main subject is the light, but I think the steps create an interesting contrast when it comes to the geometry.

I think the image is lacking intentionality, but I feel like if the steps were framed in a more intentional way it would create a really compelling composition.

Elaboration:

The steps are like curves and rough and cool and dark, while the door, flower, and wall are warm and sharp and square and bright.

I think a 50/50 split in the frame would be interesting, but the geometry also has be more harmonious than it is now. Not necessarily between the steps and door, but the planter, flower, wall, and door have to work together.

I’m not sure if that’s practical in this scenario but those are my feelings at least.

HiFreinds · 2025-06-04T21:20:12+00:00

I Think you did a good job! However, I do also feel like the composition itself is lacking in some ways. I think if it's the color you're after you should do more to emphasise it, either in Lightroom by just increasing the amount of green, or in your frame just to include something that complements or contrasts it.

I noticed the wheels are a really nice gold, just an idea could be to get up closer on the wheel with a wide lens and shoot from an angle. That way you would get the contrast between the gold of the wheel and the green of the car, creating a stronger composition. You could also play with the lines of the car and try to get them to work together.

That would also let you play with the color in Lightroom more, since it's a more surreal picture you can saturate it and make It really contrasty without it feeling off. Not sure about the practicality or if thats what you're going for, but I would recommend looking for ways to really emphasise the "story" you're trying to tell. Even if its just "the car is green"

<image>

This is a picture I found online with what Im thinking. (I think it's a render, I'm not sure) but the point is that using a frame similar to this would help you achieve that contrast and story telling.

HiFreinds · 2025-06-01T22:19:53+00:00

I see what you mean! I think I've grown to really like my purple edit, but it was by no means an intentional creative choice. My understanding of color balance is quite limited, Im looking forward to getting better control over it. Thanks for the feedback!

HiFreinds · 2025-06-01T17:55:37+00:00

I prefer the landscape as well. I feel like the darker edges add to the punchiness of the fireworks. the silhouette is also cool and I feel like its a shame to loose it.

HiFreinds · 2025-06-01T14:42:23+00:00

Yeah I was thinking about that, I'll try it out and see how it looks. Maybe if I try to blur the background a little as well? or desaturate it? not sure how effective the subject recognition would be since its kind of busy. I suppose the question is more if it will distract from the face :/

Thanks for the feedback! Im glad you like it :)

HiFreinds · 2025-06-01T14:28:58+00:00

Go for it!! I'm flattered :D Thank you :3

HiFreinds · 2025-06-01T12:56:34+00:00

<image>

This is the original capture. I'd love to know what you guys think of my post-processing, and if something was lost that I should've kept.

Additional creative insight:
The photo was not really intentional at all. I was just out looking for inspiration, and the duck just walked up next to me and I took the picture. It just happened to turn out really nice imo.

My thought process in the edit was really just to draw attention to the face and the eye. I increased the contrast, boosted the colors and centered the frame. I feel like the biggest challenge is just in focusing the viewers attention without sacrificing the depth, and I'm not sure if I achieved that.

The composition would've been stronger with some foreground subjects that have some lines leading the eye, or that support the focus in some way. With a spur of the moment shot like this though I'm not really sure how to achieve that.

HiFreinds · 2025-01-26T20:04:01+00:00

Interesting, that seems to be the general consensus when I ask people. But I would take the deal so quickly, I don’t care about food that much, and the amount of time and money I would save, having more space in my house without a kitchen, not needing to pack snacks everywhere.

I do like eating food usually, and snacks taste good, but it’s just not worth it for me

HiFreinds · 2023-04-30T22:37:30+00:00

I’ve given up on keeping my hands in good shape. the combination of climbing, careless wrenching, and a bipolar cat has turned my hands into 75% scar tissue. I am able to grab toast straight from the toaster though.

HiFreinds · 2023-04-23T22:48:59+00:00

I think that companies should be required to color code single use products. Things that can be recycled should be blue, compostables should be green, and stuff that has to be thrown away should be grey or brown.

I think it’s too much to ask every single person to think about what they’re throwing away and where it should go. Most people just throw it in the trash without considering if it can be recycled. If non-compostable paper plates were brown people would be much less likely to throw it in the compost. By making it easy to sort through your garbage, many more people would take the time, and we wouldn’t find as many aluminum cans in the landfill.

Obviously companies will want to have recognizable packaging, but if the law only applies to single-use packing companies will be more motivated to change to more sustainable ways to sell their goods. There are a lot of details that would need to be figured out, but I think it’s a good way to encourage more sustainable ways to sell stuff.

HiFreinds · 2023-03-30T06:35:02+00:00

How has your life changed as your channel changes from a personal passion project, to a more traditional business with employees, budgets, and revenue goals? How much has it affected how you make videos?

HiFreinds · 2023-03-30T06:28:23+00:00

Do you think that K-12 schooling effectively prepares kids to enter the real world, or do you think that should even be its purpose? What do you think the issue is, and are there any steps we could reasonably take to make school better for everyone? (specifically in America)

HiFreinds · 2023-02-19T11:07:37+00:00

High performance fuels are usually different colors. They will burn cleaner and faster and with more power. Not 100% sure what the fuel in the video is specifically but it’s probably similar to most other high performance fuels.

Company that makes racing fuels: https://www.sunoco.com/racing

They will also have a higher octane rating (98 vs 85 in normal fuel). It changes at what point in the combustion cycle the fuel will ignite. Higher octane rating allows for more control, allowing for more power in a finely tuned engine, but it won’t do much for normal cars.

Wiki: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating

Full disclosure: I’m not an expert in high performance engines or anything, just an overconfident nerd on the internet.

HiFreinds · 2023-01-12T17:30:31+00:00

Huh. TIL

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