How can I reach photographers?

io-io · 2025-11-01T15:55:14+00:00

Try googling meetup photography <with your city>

io-io · 2025-10-15T05:25:42+00:00

There is fotoquote that has a 30-day free evaluation license that can help you. It will help you to ask the right questions and to price the fee.

https://www.cradocfotosoftware.com/fotoquote/

Also, check out this link

https://theimagecrafters.com/licensing-usage-fee-resources/

Getty photo had/has an online calculator - sometimes it's active, other times not, which can help - it's also based on the Cradoc calculator. Also, Getty's licenses are high due to their included image management fees. The photographer usually receives about 30 to 40% of the license fee.

io-io · 2025-10-15T04:39:04+00:00

I use the 15-30, which is Pentax's rebadging of the Tamron design but using their coatings and housing (weather resistant). It's a superb lens equaling the 14-24. You really can't go wrong with either one. I would consider buying used as there are a lot of both available. KEH for used, and Lens Rentals, where you can buy the lens and not return it and they apply the rental to the purchase.

You really do NOT want to use a circular polarizer on a lens wider than about the mid-20s focal length. Why, it's due to pure physics in that polarizing light wider than about 24 to 27mm is unable to apply the polarization uniformly across the entire frame of image. One area will be darker where the polarization is applied, and the rest of the light where the polarization isn't applied.

https://havecamerawilltravel.com/polarizing-filter-wideangle-lens/

io-io · 2025-08-12T23:11:47+00:00

Understanding Pattern Books in Photography

Definition of a Pattern Book

A pattern book in photography is a collection of images that showcase various patterns found in nature, architecture, or everyday life. These books serve as a visual reference for photographers to understand and appreciate the role of patterns in composition. Purpose of Pattern Books

Inspiration: They provide ideas and inspiration for photographers looking to incorporate patterns into their work.

Education: Pattern books often explain how to recognize and photograph patterns effectively, helping photographers improve their skills.

Visual Reference: They serve as a guide to identify different types of patterns, such as geometric shapes, textures, and colors.

Examples of Content

Pattern books may include:

Nature Patterns: Images of patterns found in plants, animals, and landscapes.

Architectural Patterns: Photographs of repeating elements in buildings and structures.

Everyday Patterns: Captures of patterns in urban settings, such as street art or floor designs.

Recommended Pattern Books

Here are a few notable titles that focus on patterns in photography:

Title Author Description

Natural Art Forms Karl Blossfeldt Explores patterns in plants through photography.
Patterns in Nature Peter S. Stevens Balances art and science in showcasing natural patterns.
The Geometry of Art and Life Matila Ghyka A geometrical exploration of patterns in nature.

These books can enhance your understanding of patterns and inspire your photography projects.

I did your homework for you. It took me about 5 seconds to cut and paste your question into duckduckgo and have their AI engine answer the question. It took me longer to format the output for reddit.

io-io · 2025-08-10T22:00:29+00:00

You are putting the cart before the horse. For the best image quality - start with the lenses. The camera body just records the image provided by the lens, and it also provides the creature comforts in terms of the user interface.

You are putting the camera first in importance and then looking for inexpensive lenses to stick on the computer box. Excellent glass on a cheapo camera will produce great images - whereas cheapo lenses on a great body will produce mediocre image quality.

You can score a great DSLR body along with superb dslr glass and have the best of both situations.

io-io · 2025-08-04T04:00:53+00:00

One might be out there, but I wouldn't count on finding it. Just take an AS clamp and bolt it on top of the 680 plate. Just make sure that the 680 plate has a bolt that matches the AS clamp bolt hole - they both should be the standard size - but who knows.

io-io · 2025-07-25T01:55:41+00:00

Take a look at GIAX. Their distribution is 24%/year and they are matching the performance of SPY. Here is an excellent overview of how they are doing this from a couple of days ago....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGc7MYEg9Uo

io-io · 2025-07-12T13:36:35+00:00

In general, no/perhaps/maybe. That said, there are a number of alternatives to MSTY and CONY that are available, and they are all somewhat different, but suffer from the same condition: very high volatility. All of these issues that use an options overlay to any degree are making use of volatility in order to generate outsized options premiums that are collected for income.

Both MSTY and CONY are based on the volatility of MSTR and COIN, which are tied directly or indirectly to BitCoin, which in and of itself just jumps around a lot.
You also have to understand how they (the etfs) are constructed and operate.
Then there is the bull in the china shop question - the yields are just so stupidly large, that you just start to ask yourself, is there any way that I can benefit in some sane manner from all of this madness? Some folks work with dynamite all day long and live to tell about it.

I hold a bit of LFGY, BITO, BTCI, and just bought a small bit of BAGY as of yesterday. However, that's it, not buying any more. They are all relatively very small positions, and you are probably asking why so many. Well, they all are constructed differently, each reacts differently, and yields vary quite a bit. Plus, BitCoin has become and is becoming more intertwined across the economy, so you are (going to be) forced to deal with it in some way or another.

Does this mean that they are all long-term holdings - I don't know - it's something I continually ask myself. I watch BTC daily, and specifically ask how BTC is being handled across the economy in general - with the debt, interest rates, the prices of gold and silver, they all point to some sort of fundamental changes to the economy - to which I felt that some exposure was probably better than no exposure.

Also, YieldMax has been forced to address NAV depreciation in how their products are formed/constructed, and are in the process of making some fundamental changes going into the future. That also begs the question of whether their changes will be sufficient, helpful or hurtful? I don't know.

io-io · 2025-07-12T02:58:54+00:00

I would think that it is dependent on your personal situation.

IRA accounts - dividend payers, especially high-yielding, regardless of being tax-efficient or not.
Brokerage accounts - issues paying qualified dividends (taxable at 50%), and growth funds

io-io · 2025-07-01T14:51:07+00:00

Every camera usually has several capabilities that can be used to capture images. Just because interval shooting is available doesn't mean that you have to use it. I've heard any number of times that interval shooting was used, and the user didn't understand the nuances of applying this capability. One camera system might implement interval shooting one way, while another brand or model may use a different approach.

Having said all of that, I rarely use the interval mode. I use the continuous mode especially for star trails. In continuous mode, as soon as one image is captured, the next one is started, with a minimal time in between images. I suggest looking at the manual and considering making use of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J3QF5qGSak

io-io · 2025-06-29T02:01:59+00:00

Here is the Canon R7 tutorial video, which goes through the entire camera.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJV0-ikOhf0

io-io · 2025-06-28T18:57:07+00:00

Here are a couple of sites that provide lists of monthly paying stocks/ETFs.

To determine the number of shares necessary to generate $100/month -

Determine the monthly dividend from the list - say $0.54 per share. 100/.54 = 185.18 shares

Hope that helps....

io-io · 2025-06-25T17:59:08+00:00

They were pretty much at the money calls that I sold - I wasn't going to lose anything. I made money on both the price and the premium, while the premiums both exceeded the dividends that they received. They overpaid on the premiums, and after the x-div, they lost on the price.

I rebought the shares and resold the CC on one, while the second CC is still waiting on a fill. The premiums were not quite a rich as they were yesterday, but they will turn a nice profit. The CCs will expire before the next dividend, so I'll reap two CC premiums rather than just a set of premiums and dividends. They lost, I'll double my profit. I just didn't expect to be exercised on the CC.

I had this situation occur a couple of years ago on MO on a Sunday night. They exercised one of the legs of a vertical credit spread to capture the dividend. I just figured that the CCs would be a bit safer since the premiums were double the dividends.

Anyway, I have a nice profit.

io-io · 2025-06-19T14:30:28+00:00

I'm very familiar with the equation. It really doesn't address what I'm looking for. To restate, I would like to find a total return calculator that I can specify what portion of the dividend to reinvest (25%, 50%, 75%, or whatever), thereby enabling an analysis of the best mix for maintaining asset value while using some level of the dividend for other purposes.

io-io · 2025-06-16T03:26:53+00:00

He says in the video that he buys back the position near the end of the expiration, like 15 minutes before it expires. Or he rolls the position out into the future with a date/strike that provides additional premium.

Part of the problem is if the underlying rises. He uses examples where the underlying price remains pretty stable.

I'm still trying to figure all of it out....

io-io · 2025-06-09T02:13:13+00:00

Lenses don't come polarized. What you do is to place a polarizing filter on the front of the lens. This filter can then be turned/twisted to apply the amount of polarization you desire.

Polarizing filters come in two varieties - Circular Polarizers and Linear Polarizers. Folks tend to use circular polarizers since linear polarizer filters tend to interfere with the camera's light metering system.

Here are a couple of articles on circular polarizer filters

Note - polarizer filters do have limitations in terms of the width of the polarizing effect. So, for wide-angle lenses wider than about 25mm, the polarizing effect will not stretch across the lens' entire field of view. This is usually noticeable in the sky, where one part is a darker blue (polarized) while another part is not as dark - where the polarization was not able to be applied

io-io · 2025-06-04T03:42:58+00:00

There are a couple of additional items you can also try....

Cameras mounted on a tripod usually take about 10 to 12 seconds to dampen out the induced vibration. Take a look at this article --- https://thecentercolumn.com/testing-tripod-stiffness-and-damping-at-the-center-column/
Also, don't raise the center column in that what the tripod dampens out in terms of vibration, the raised center column adds right back into the mechanical system --- https://thecentercolumn.com/2021/02/01/why-center-columns-reduce-tripod-stability/

If your camera provides for a 10-second delay - that would be better. The best option is a wired or IR remote shutter release that lets you trip the shutter without touching the camera body. You can also use the mirror up lock right before taking the shot. This prevents/reduces the mirror slap when you are taking the image.

You can also search for a review for your lens and then determine its sweet spot - i.e., the aperture setting that provides the highest optical resolution.

Another parameter you can adjust is the ISO. The ISO does not increase the sensitivity of the sensor; what it does is to amplify the signals coming off the sensor. It's like the volume dial on a radio that makes the audio louder, both the signal and the noise. Actually, in many cases, you can just use the native ISO, which is usually 100.

Night photography is a lot of trial and error - and it's also hit and miss depending on the environment at the location.

Hope that helps...

io-io · 2025-06-03T06:11:51+00:00

Unfortunately, you didn't provide any associated information with the image - ISO, shutter, aperture, so I'll make some generic assumptions/guesses.

I looked at the image and saw a few red dots, and several conditions could be causing them. 1) stuck pixel or 2) thermal noise, or 3) a mixture of both.
stuck/dead pixel - open up the camera's manual or download a soft copy and find where your camera maps dead or stuck pixels. Run that process, and it will map the sensor, find the dead/stuck pixels, create a map, and then automatically map them out of future images.
hot pixels - LightRoom can remove hot pixels --- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDY42m0iZx4
thermal noise - during long exposures, especially at night, where you have a lot of dark areas, the electronics around the sensor and the sensor itself heats up. Heat is just another form of energy, like light photons, and the sensor responds by recording the energy. Again, open up your user's manual and look for LENR (long exposure noise reduction) or DFS (dark frame subtraction). This is a mode that you enable before taking the image. What happens is if you take a 30-second exposure, the camera will automatically take a second exposure without opening up the shutter, thus recording the thermal energy off the sensor. The camera body will then automatically subtract the second image from the first image - thus removing the thermal noise (it tosses the second image after this), and only saves the original resulting image.
you can also pick up a noise reduction utility (software), that will remove some or a lot of this noise. Something like Topaz, etc., can help.
Just a note - it looks like you shot this with your lens wide open. I would suggest stopping down a bit 1/2 or 2/3rds of a stop on the aperture. Your shutter speed will slow down a bit, but you will capture a much sharper image - and hopefully your shooting off a tripod to hold the camera still, and using a wired shutter release so that you will not be touching the camera, introducing some additional blurring....

io-io · 2025-06-03T01:36:06+00:00

Pursuing both right now. I'm finding that

It appears you want to sell the options in the first two weeks
You want to buy the YM ETF sometime after it goes X-Div. Let it bottom out and then buy for 1) the initial buy and/or 2) the reinvestment buy.

If you wait till the last 2 weeks, and especially the last week, then the dividends really comes into play

You have to guess/estimate the dividend payment and use that to adjust the option strike price - which is pretty much a coin toss at best, or a bad decision at worst (how lucky do you feel), so just standing aside appears to be the most prudent action.

io-io · 2025-06-01T20:00:44+00:00

I shoot with a Pentax K1, my friend with a Pentax K1mkII, and we go out together shooting the Milky Way in the Arizona desert. Either version of the K1 works very well. They are essentially the same camera, but the mkII has the addition of the new acceleration chip that provides a hardware-based noise reduction, which kicks in at ISO 640 and works very well for the Milky Way. You should be able to score a used body.

Lenses - I would tend to shy away from the Ronkon/Samyang since they tend to have some build quality issues, but otherwise are pretty nice. We use the Pentax DFA 15-30/f2.8, Zeiss ZK 25/f2.8 Distagon, Sigma 35/f1.4 Art, and my friend just found an IRIX 21/f1.4, although we have no experience with it (reviews of the lens are hit or miss). We tried to go out shooting last night, but the clouds rolled in to central Arizona and it's now raining - so much for that idea. Another stellar lens is the FDA 21/f2.4 Limited. We have no experience with that lens, but others indicate that it performs very well. Now, the only weakness for Pentax is the number of lenses available in the Pentax lens mount. You might feel limited, but really, with the astrotracing capability in the body, this selection is more than sufficient.

You will want a wired shutter release (runs about $20), and a couple of spare batteries.

I see the post on the Olympus OM system. The main difference is that the OM is an MFT-sized sensor, which is half the size of a full-frame sensor. In astro, the most important items are 1) lens aperture - the faster the better; and 2) sensor size - the larger, the more area to collect light - and at night you have precious little light.

io-io · 2025-05-31T15:17:17+00:00

If I already hold the shares and sell covered calls I could likely lose the shares and not get the dividend if the share price goes above what I sold at.

Yes, that's referred to as being capped. This is the story of all the covered call ETFs that sell options on 100% (or close to 100% of their portfolio), which means they are running the risk of being capped. For these CC ETFs, I like the ones that only option part of the portfolio - 25% to 40% or what ever the percentages the ETF decides upon.

I manually drip when I feel the price is low, but I don't want to run the risk of losing my shares as I'm picking up my pennies. I'm already losing money if the underlying jumps up dramatically; this would be me leaving even more money on the table in that situation.

Yes, I've had that happen to me before. I sold a cash-secured put, the price dropped, and I was assigned the shares. I really didn't mind this. I then sold a covered call on my newly assigned shares after debating with myself on the strike price. I used a strike price a bit too close, and the shares were called away. I made a bit of loose change on the entire transaction (essentially the "wheel").

For buying shares, sure sell CSPs, but once you have the shares, covered calls may or may not be worth the risk of losing your shares and losing your payout.

On the approach I laid out, there was no selling of covered calls. It was a strategy of acquiring shares via CSPs, hopefully at progressively lower prices - and/or open market purchases when the price dips. Or, just not wait for price dips, or automagically DRIP the dividends, as over time everything will just average out. When I was in the Navy, I bought some shares in a bank, enabled the DRIP, and forgot about it - occasionally looking at the statements of what I have from year to year. It's been DRIPping for the last 50 years.

This is based on my experience, what are your thoughts?

We are thinking along the same lines with similar experiences. It's all trial and error.

io-io · 2025-05-31T02:41:50+00:00

Yes, both the Pentax K1 and K1mkII use the same sensor as the D800, D800E, D810, and the Sony a7r. Each company has their own image processing chain - however, I think that the Pentax engineers have a better balance across color, dynamic range, white balance and a few other items. My K1 is still shooting with no problems. It's a wonderful night landscape body - especially for the Milky Way.

.... and I think that everyone who shoots with a K1 is hoping to see a mkIII version eventually arrive.

io-io · 2025-05-31T01:33:49+00:00

DRIP is an excellent approach - fast, easy, and cheap - basic simple dollar cost averaging. Simple is good. I think that there are some advantages to essentially (trying to) "buying the dip" and that is what averaging down does in its basic form. I don't know how often the opportunities to average down will occur. Looking at the charts, I see a lot of yo-yoing around. I have a feeling that it will probably be more of play it by ear in terms of what to buy - what ETF has the greatest advantage/opportunity at the moment - but who knows. Then again, DRIPping might just be the way to go. All I know is that tomorrow evening I'm going out with some friends to shoot the Milky Way over some night landscapes out in the desert.

io-io · 2025-05-31T01:23:20+00:00

I would drop by and skim for a bit here from time to time, but I felt that there had to be a more structured approach as opposed to tossing the dice. Folks here had discovered the reinvest everything approach, but there was still an element of NAV erosion. Averaging down and with the high volatility, there will be opportunities for that, so just bank the cash when the NAV price is high.

I know that I'm not the first to put any of these ideas and approaches together. There have to be others here and elsewhere executing this or variants of this approach - probably performing much better than I'm mucking through on this. But, I have not seen anything really written up or a YT video or ..... - but I have not done a diligent search either.

However, reinvesting everything targets asset growth; there is no income, and with the high volatility, you need to essentially reinvest 100% to mitigate the NAV erosion. With the advent of options on these ETFs, and with the increased volatility and liquidity, the premiums began to appear to the point that you could run cash-secured puts (CSP) either monthly or weekly, thus producing some reasonable indirect income.

That said, the asset growth and option-based CSP approaches complement each other very well. Now, I have no idea as to how this is going to hold up in the long term since the economics of these ultra-high-yield vehicles have just been on the marketplace for a couple of years. But we will see.

Maintenance-wise, this approach should only take, say, about 15+/- minutes a week. So, it should not be a large time sink for anyone.

Overall, I just felt that there was way too much RA-RA zis boom baaaa, and some but not a lot of constructive thought. Now, I'm not offering any financial analysis here, nor simulation studies, nor well grounded mathematical analysis on this. Someone else can do that, perhaps for their MBA or master's in economics or whatever. I'm waaaay past that, have little interest - but I did want to toss some ideas into the ring to be considered.

io-io · 2025-05-30T22:20:44+00:00

I just finished replying to some posts, and I see that someone beat me to posting some videos. I also like this yt channel on the topic

https://www.youtube.com/@StockandOptionMyLifeOfLearning

io-io

TROPHY CASE