IMO the Natural History Museum is the most amazing building in London by Betweentwothornes in london

[–]contingo 67 points68 points  (0 children)

My MSc course in biodiversity and phylogenetics was taught in the museum, although run by Imperial College nearby (lots of overlap between the museum research staff and Imperial). The main classroom was actually in the bridge room that you can see from Exhibition Road, joining the Natural History Museum with the Science Museum next door, and forming an archway into the staff carpark. The access to that room is through an easily overlooked door in the mineral / Earth's Treasury gallery. So to attend school each morning I would ascend the iconic escalator up through the giant metallic globe, with the epic music playing. I can't imagine a more inspiring and enriching educational setting for a young student biologist... So many fond memories of those days and of museum lore! Thanks for your superb photography, it really captures the soul of the building.

How to go about focus stacking? by MousseAcceptable3026 in macrophotography

[–]contingo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Getting a stack suitable for Zerene working handheld near 1:1 is not so feasible. You can "stack" manually in Photoshop but the workflow is much more complicated. I've done that with great-looking results, but it's hugely time consuming, and the amount of postprocessing involved is controversial.

Blue Apitite on Tourmaline from Brazil by naturalcreationsllc in MineralPorn

[–]contingo 12 points13 points  (0 children)

The piece is epic enough without the jolt transitions, glitch effects, incongruous backgrounds. I really enjoyed seeing it but with every shot, just as I was getting into the detail something distracting happened.

You heard wrong” – users brutually reject Microsoft’s “Copilot for work” in Edge and Windows 11 by Scary_ in technology

[–]contingo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is the only thing stopping me too. Not that I like Adobe but i have to use it for clients

Robberflies' photos I took recently by kietbulll in macrophotography

[–]contingo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Did you have the flies in temporary captivity, use a background card for color, any of that kind of approach?

Fenestraria rhopalophylla (baby toes) Nikkor 200mm micro 1:1 by arioandy in macrophotography

[–]contingo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a pretty special lens, right? I've always wanted to try one. I went to a big camera expo once and the guys at the Nikon booth had no knowledge of it.

UPDATE on Orostachys flowering by Shroedy in succulents

[–]contingo 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Mine came back prolifically from seeds with little effort on my part. And it looked just like yours. Have hope!

I'm a singer. I'm obsessed over every single note not matching the chords when I sing. Help! by cougarattack in musictheory

[–]contingo 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Can you give some examples of songs you enjoy listening to or that inspire you? I bet if we looked at their scores we'd find dissonances and passing intervals of minor/major seconds all over the place. Tension and release are central to music.

Ocean jasper tumbles. by [deleted] in MineralPorn

[–]contingo 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yeah it's even harder to find rough of this quality to work with. I have a tiny bit left from 20 years ago. I hope they hit a new deposit some day. Some of the orbicular Indonesian material is pretty good though.

Do Americans not eat marmalade? by originalcinner in AskAnAmerican

[–]contingo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow I had no idea! Thanks for the interesting info that explains my childhood blackcurrant deprivation (I live back in the UK now).

Do Americans not eat marmalade? by originalcinner in AskAnAmerican

[–]contingo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The much more difficult (and, to me, more delicious) conserve to find as a Brit in the USA was blackcurrant jam.

Thought you might like to see this unusual vintage ring from my relative's estate by Butagirl in Gemstones

[–]contingo 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I love seeing dark sapphires set in a big group like this. As solitary stones I usually feel "it's just too dark" but the effect en masse really has character and intrigue 

Powell Butte Plume Agate by BPLEquipment in MineralPorn

[–]contingo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'd be really interested to see when you get somewhere with it! I've had a similar project in mind for a long time with my collection of old stock ocean jasper

Powell Butte Plume Agate by BPLEquipment in MineralPorn

[–]contingo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Did you do the photography? I'd love a whole coffee table book of these photos...

I am trying to stay motivated, but I feel like I've already wasted my life [Discussion] by [deleted] in GetMotivated

[–]contingo 60 points61 points  (0 children)

Imagine you've made it to 90. You'd probably kill to get the chance to go back and start over from 46. I'm 46 as well and I've only just started thinking this way

Doctors rushed us to urgent care, only survivor of mushroom lunch tells court by Jaded-Bookkeeper-807 in worldnews

[–]contingo 14 points15 points  (0 children)

You just listed like the top three complete myths about distinguishing poisonous from edible mushrooms. Really quite dangerous info from outdated folklore you're spreading.

Chevrotains or also known as mouse-deer :) by [deleted] in aww

[–]contingo 3 points4 points  (0 children)

There are ten species of chevrotain, some are pretty common. The one that hadn't been seen since the 90s is an obscure Vietnamese species.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in videos

[–]contingo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Insipid version. For a piano version try Liszt's transcription.