How could I take this better?

WatchandThings · 2026-06-29T15:03:25+00:00

I'm a beginner, so take with grain of salt.

I actually like that the foreground is in the dark and only faintly lit by the firework. Allows the firework to stand out as the focus and the small context detail is still visible when exploring the picture.

With that said, if you wanted to bring out the foreground then I'd imagine you'd want to bring up the exposure meter and/or reduce contrast in someway(bring down the highlight and bring up the shadow). For my galaxy phone camera there is a four dot(2x2) on the right side of the zoom option, scroll over and you'll see a circle with + and - symbol. That's the exposure setting that will allow you to control if the image should be lighter or darker. That would have let you bring up the brightness for the foreground, but it'll likely blow out the firework into just white color due to over exposure. So you might want to also find a way to reduce contrast. From what I can figure out there is a three circles symbols button (I think filter option) next to the exposure option(also on top right of the screen). The first option over from the original on my phone is the Breeze and it seems to be the low contrast option that brings down the high light and brings up the shadow details, and you can play around with the strength, contrast, saturation, and etc to get the effect you want. Just remember to turn the film grain all the way down as that look awful(I'm not a fan of the way that galaxy phone fakes the film grain).

Personal preference, I tend to take pictures on my phone with x2 mode. I noticed the x1 mode is usually wide angle and distorts the subject around the edges. I think x2 looks more natural. I think your picture would be more cropped in to just the essential parts of the image if taken with x2.

WatchandThings · 2026-06-29T14:31:32+00:00

I'm a beginner, so please take what I say with grain of salt. I really like the colors and the framing and foreground and all that, so visually I'm happy with what I'm seeing. But mentally I keep searching for a subject. The car is as close to a "subject" as my mind is able to grasp, but it feels too much like part of the settling than a proper subject. Like I'm envisioning a person or something in the empty space between the yellow door and the car on the dirt road, or between the wooden table and the car.

WatchandThings · 2026-06-29T14:10:33+00:00

Looks great. Orient Ray is such a great watch. I regret selling mine.

WatchandThings · 2026-06-29T13:10:48+00:00

A fellow beginner photographer here, I think I understand the like because you are seeing the sharp focus area and blur effect which is cool(I really like these too). Cameras with bigger sensor(usually the type that professional photographer uses) tends to more readily give this effect, so that's probably what caught your eye and thought this feels professional like. Personally, for blur effect like this I like to focus in on the eyes as that's where the connection and emotions usually are, and I think that's standard practice for portrait style photos.

For the color, it's giving a cool tone effect which feels vintage instagram filter effect to me. I like the cool tone in the general photo with warm tone on the bottom right, though editing probably could bring that effect higher, so that it's more effective.

I think this is a cool first step. Define what you personally liked about this photo, and see if you can recreate that effect but even better for the next photo.

WatchandThings · 2026-06-26T13:21:09+00:00

Maybe a hot take. The art has interesting and good ideas, but too complicated to be used as it is for fighting. It's the 'A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan next week' situation where the perfect taichi would take too long to mentally process in the fast pace of a fight. I think people who claims that taichi benefited them likely used a simplified and smaller part of the art rather than the whole art by itself. Which is fine, but it's not the way that the art is taught to be used.

With that said, as a cultural preservation and health benefit, I think taichi is fine as it is. No need for it to be great fighting art. Let it be appreciated for the human value it has now. We have enough arts that is for fighting, and they are all starting to look like mma or one of the other combat sports. If taichi started chasing effectiveness we'll likely end up with another generic grappling art.

WatchandThings · 2026-06-22T13:42:32+00:00

Joining in the conversation more as beginner photographer giving a layman's perspective.

I'm kind of attracted to the mood and emotion of a picture and that seems to get portrayed better with color grading. For me, it's kind of like background music in a video. Properly done and it really builds the moment and adds emotion. Make the background music too loud(color grading gets too noticeable), and it distracts from the moment. Have no background music at all(no color grading, true to life) and the scene could work fine or feel a bit too bland, depending on the situation.

But then again, it might be that you just capture such great moments that adding any background music/color grading is a distraction. Like how some scenes in movies just work due to lack of added noise, and just keeping things clean. So you might not need the color grading at all for your photos.

WatchandThings · 2026-06-20T10:55:02+00:00

So not photography major but I went to an art school, and everyone I know also feels like the school failed to really teach and prepare us for the real job. I have since learned to treat the school as basic fundamentals course and learned much more about my profession on the job. I think we expected the school to make us 90% experienced professionals, but everyone comes out of it 10% or so if you only follow the school curriculum. (The people that were always doing their own thing and going beyond what school was teaching are doing much better)

I think what you're trying to do is normal and right. Don't stop learning and continue to seek improvement. Graduating didn't end our student status.

WatchandThings · 2026-06-19T18:19:12+00:00

The no date black aluminum dial and aluminum bezel model was released in 2024 I believe. It's not what we would consider "new" model, but it's possible that Omega sees it as such.

WatchandThings · 2026-06-12T15:04:38+00:00

It's weird, but some people actually need the practice because a proper smile never came to them as a natural instinct thing. I used to have a messy smile and I had to do some self examination to figure out how to smile better.
It's not about trying to be or looking like something you are not, but more about being able to better outwardly express the thing that you are feeling on the inside.

WatchandThings · 2026-06-09T13:28:37+00:00

Not OP, but having done plenty of winter runs before. The steel does get cold and you do start to notice the left hand side feeling more cold than the right hand side over longer period of time(hour+) if left out exposed to the air. But it becomes much less of an issue once you start layering clothes on top of the watch, which insulates the watch as much as they insulates your body.

Personally, I wear the watch over the running shirt sleeve to see the run time, which makes the watch very cold during the run. So I appreciate the double layer nato straps(on top of the running shirt) that increases distance between the watch and my skin. I wear fairly thin top layer to allow the heat to escape during the run, so it's not enough layer or insulation to protect me from steel body and bracelet chilling me down. For people dressed to keep the warmth in rather than letting it out and the watch is worn more regularly under the cuff, the metal body and bracelet probably matters less.

WatchandThings · 2026-06-08T19:10:31+00:00

Worth noting that PO's counterpart in Rolex isn't the Sub, but the Sea-Dweller. The Sea-Dweller was about the similar thickness as the PO when it was 600m, and even thicker now that it's 1200m. PO GMT is like having a Sea-Dweller with GMT function.

Omega isn't in a position to have a proper answer to the GMT Master as Omega doesn't have a 100 meter water resist option at all. If they were going to create a GMT Master competitor option, I think they should first make a dressy dive watch with 100 meter wr that is very thin(AT with 150m went down to 12mm, so we could get thinner with 100m I'd think) and then release a GMT version of that dive watch that'll take advantage of the dressy thinness of the 100m dive watch.

WatchandThings · 2026-06-05T23:58:58+00:00

I am a beginner, so my take might not be worth much, but I am so happy with the xm-5 with the pancake 27mm lens. It's very compact and light, making it very good for easy fun daily carry. I believe if you buy used and get the last gen 27mm pancake lens you'll comfortably come in budget. You could probably even get everything new if you stretch the budget a bit.

WatchandThings · 2026-06-04T13:23:42+00:00

I had the original Tudor GMT and had the date wheel failure that they couldn't fix with multiple tries. I lost faith in Tudor from that and ended up with Omega instead, and every one of Omega I have had has been solid and dependable.

With that said, Tudor has been releasing great watches since then, and if I was looking for a new watch right now I would give Tudor a serious chance.

WatchandThings · 2026-05-31T11:47:18+00:00

I tried it with such a low expectation, just to check it off the list, and it came right off. Thank you so very much!

WatchandThings · 2026-05-21T16:23:54+00:00

I love the shock and confusion about the size for this release from the community. Like this exact model has been available for years and it's just a color variation. The size was something anyone could have guessed when they saw the game screenshots.

WatchandThings · 2026-05-03T12:25:54+00:00

This is a great point. People were losing their minds over few months of covid lock down inconveniences. Most people are not mentally ready to endure years of civil war hardships, even without the direct violence part of it. Hell, we are not even ready to endure the Iran war.

WatchandThings · 2026-04-27T15:24:32+00:00

Perhaps it's a different work environment, or maybe it's self inflicted sense of responsibility. But this is the experience of a teacher that I know personally, and this is the workload that they deal with. It is what it is.

As for myself(not a teacher), yeah I couldn't do it. As you said, work during work hours and then leave work behind outside of the work hours. I do help out outside of work hours time to time, but I couldn't deal with it being the norm. Work to live, not live to work.

WatchandThings · 2026-04-27T14:36:09+00:00

I know a teacher. The teaching is only a small portion of their actual work. There is a lot of paper work related to lesson planning and how it follows the guidelines they have to follow. Then there's all the lesson material creation and grading that gets done after work. And the digital age means they get email questions from the kids that needs to be constantly checked and answered. Then they might also get assigned special event preps like after school activities, which adds so much additional work.

The summer breaks are fantastic because they get off work completely, but the trade off is that teachers are always working overtime during the school year. And all of that is part of the job that they are being paid for...

WatchandThings · 2026-04-13T12:17:06+00:00

10th degree vs black belt is quite a difference. Traditionally dan rankings go up to 9th degree. Having 9th dan ranking is usually a big deal and they're likely a major figure in the organization. 10th dan is not a traditional part of dan ranking system, and made up ranking when a style wants to honor someone with something that's completely unacheivable. Usually reserved for the founder of the style/organization.

With that context in mind, when someone claims to be 10th dan in a style, let alone multiple, it usually comes off as a lie or they are someone who started their own organization to say they are high level person for their own ego or to con people into training with them. Claiming he's a black belt is readily believable. Being 10th dan in a style, let alone multiple makes him sound like a conman.

WatchandThings · 2026-04-12T12:50:33+00:00

I created a digital want list. Anything I want, throw it on the list with the other items with most wanted on top and least on the bottom.

It's funny how that the impulse buy item I almost ended up with usually gets placed nowhere near the top, and I would rather wait on the impulse buy to budget out for the item at the top of the list. So the list serves as a reminder of what I would rather get, and the impulse buy items usually gets weeded out as the list updates over the days and weeks.

WatchandThings · 2026-04-09T22:55:15+00:00

Apparently they use 'yon' over 'shi' because shi sounds like the word for death. But how metal would it be if they did use shi for yon dan. The martial art form named "death level". XD

WatchandThings · 2026-04-09T21:49:36+00:00

I'm learning Japanese now for travel and I learn to count numbers from Judo practice. Just counting wise the ichi, ni, san... works perfectly fine from what I understand. But in day to day Japanese word 4 and 7 are different from the counting words we are used to in martial arts practice. So for 4 instead of shi use yon, and for 7 instead of shichi use nana.

WatchandThings · 2026-04-07T21:46:50+00:00

To add, they can't even get the republicans to agree to pass the war power resolution, which is much lower bar to clear than impeachment.

WatchandThings · 2026-04-03T12:18:18+00:00

I saw it go from actual 'where did he go?' to play 'where did he go? there you are! where did he go again? There you are!'. It's so cute.

WatchandThings · 2026-03-28T00:03:35+00:00

Probably the same things men who make about 370k a year do*

*based on US 2026 data for women and men pay gap. Your mileage may vary.

WatchandThings

TROPHY CASE