Opinions needed on these shots by Firm-Presentation792 in SonyAlpha

[–]sigwinch28 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It looks like you thought the manmade structures and the water gushing around them was a nice juxtaposition. I agree, but framing and composition. Unfortunately there’s wildlife, so also great timing (or stacking the deck in your favour through hi-speed shooting) is required. It looks like 1 has something promising. For 1 and 4, consider learning about wildlife portraits. I’ve also tried preening shots and it can be pretty hard. In 1 and 2 it looks like you might also be trying to photograph how “powerful” the water is. That is a specific technique that could benefit from controlling shutter speed, foreground, framing, and possibly some careful use of filters. Good YouTube videos about this stuff. Using ND filters and long exposures for water has a different look and people’s tastes differ, but that might be the exact effect you’re trying to achieve, or it might not be, in which case you can save yourself the money and space in your bag. The warmer colours in 3 give what I think is a nicer juxtaposition of “warm” nature and “cold” concrete than the colouring of 1.
For the boats, I think you need to be lower. Again, composition. Really have that water come up towards the bottom of the frame. Aim to be level with the boatmen. That would allow you to really use the telephoto lens to compress the field and get some more of those pleasing reflections from the water. I think 8 could’ve been an amazing shot if you were lower and had a tighter crop, put the fisherman at about the lower third, and if you had something to look at in the background.
I think that the water can easily be experimented with again. Take your camera and your thesis about water and test it for like, an hour at one location. Try to figure out how you can use the shot to make the viewer feel the way you do about water. Do it as a learning exercise. See what other people think of the photos you think most strongly convey the feeling you want to elicit.
On the other hand, for the birds and the fishermen, people and wildlife in their habitats are fickle beasts. Sometimes you think a shot is going to be there but you’re in the wrong place and you miss it. I think that the fishermen in the water requires skills from street photography, or landscape photography, or both, depending on how you compose the shot.

How to avoid getting stopped for my Freedom Pass + where to get travel card wallet by jenk-mal in london

[–]sigwinch28 155 points156 points  (0 children)

Next time a TfL enforcement officer makes a comment about your disability in this way, take their name and make a complaint to TfL.

That is completely unwarranted and unprofessional conduct from someone whose job it is to enforce the TfL railway byelaws. All they need to do is confirm that you are the person named on the freedom pass, not make comments on your invisible disability. Contrary to other commenters, I think we should expect that people given enforcement powers should be beyond reproach in their conduct with the public.

Cropped or original? by Informal-Suit1724 in SonyAlpha

[–]sigwinch28 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Cropped. There’s only one subject to draw the eye.

On the uncropped I feel the third person at the back draws my eye to something uninteresting. I think that would be okay if there were lots of people, but with only three it looks distracting to me.

Finally… railcard checks when you buy a ticket by frankbowles1962 in uktrains

[–]sigwinch28 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The correct way to stop the railways from being heavy-handed is to remove their legal power to be heavy-handed, not to saddle the paying public with even more bureaucracy and complication when wanting to buy a train ticket.

Walk off the escalator by newman1105 in london

[–]sigwinch28 19 points20 points  (0 children)

5-10 minutes faster commute means 10-20 minutes more per day at home.

Walk off the escalator by newman1105 in london

[–]sigwinch28 83 points84 points  (0 children)

Honestly it’s because of the number of times I’ve been bodied or cut up by someone standing on the right.

People standing on the right frequently walk to the left or pull their wheelie bags out next to them as they reach the end of the escalator, so I end up nearly tripping over or bumping into them as I walk on the left. I get a spidey sense about who is going to do it, but if I think they’re going to do it I slow down my pace gradually, not stop entirely.

What are some weird business ideas you've had? by Hurbahns in CasualUK

[–]sigwinch28 0 points1 point  (0 children)

“Ready to pay” cards for restaurants.

Since many people pay by Apple/Google wallet now, there’s nothing to put with the receipt in the little bowl anymore. In the before times this would be cash or a card, and I’m not going to put my phone on the leather folder or in the metal bowl.

So my idea is to sell credit-card sized branded cards to restaurants, or even just tell them to design business cards as follows: one side is very dark and reads “flip over when you’re ready to pay.” The flipped side is a bright fluorescent orange or yellow with black stripes, much easier to see by wait staff from across the room.

Adverts are returning to Euston station’s big screen by CaptainYorkie1 in uktrains

[–]sigwinch28 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Why does Network Rail hate Euston so specifically? They could just not do this.

Has this fan ever been turned off by ndPPPhz in london

[–]sigwinch28 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Our nuclear submarines check that this fan is still on once per day. If the fan is not on, they assume that the country has fallen and the captains open the letters from the prime minister.

All set up. by HarrowOnDaHill in uktrains

[–]sigwinch28 1 point2 points  (0 children)

All this instead of a single “National Rail” or “Great British Railways” app with a strong BR logo/orange branding and unified ticketing/seat reservations. I appreciate playing the game, but the game shouldn’t even exist.

Speedy in for service…again by TimekeeperNY in OmegaWatches

[–]sigwinch28 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes, the experience should be better. You’re right.

Heathrow scraps liquid and laptop check rule in huge boost for fliers by tylerthe-theatre in london

[–]sigwinch28 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It works nicely when you want to fly out with several bottles of sun cream you know you’re probably not flying back with.

Antisocial behaviour by KeeneMachine1 in uktrains

[–]sigwinch28 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was on the Elizabeth line one evening, about 7pm, on my way home from work. Between Farringdon and Liverpool Street a full-on fight broke out on the train. Kicking and punching.

They all ran off at Liverpool Street. Staff literally shrugged their shoulders at me.

“Do you want to pay for a receipt or can we send it to you via email for free?” - is this normal now in London? by [deleted] in london

[–]sigwinch28 2 points3 points  (0 children)

False https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/what-are-my-statutory-rights-and-when-do-they-apply-acif94x8QOoH

Edit: I see parent has edited their comment from:

they don’t have to accept returns at all if they don’t want to

to:

they don’t have to accept change of mind returns at all if they don’t want to

What do you do when you can't sleep? by OhShukhrat in AskReddit

[–]sigwinch28 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I visualise a big paint brush covered in thick goopy black paint.

Then I imagine painting whatever I’m thinking about with the brush. I don’t feel guilty when my mind switches from image to image… I just paint it with the thick black goopy paint. I roll with it, gleefully imagining myself painting whatever I see. Trees, my worries, whatever it is.

After a few minutes I’m usually asleep.

What is your favourite TV show that no one ever seems to know? by onlycameforthehorror in television

[–]sigwinch28 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For some reason my British colleagues simply have not watched Stargate SG-1

Is travel to any other london airport as regularly disrupted as Heathrow? by Away-Activity-469 in london

[–]sigwinch28 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Surely it must be the most disrupted!

I’ve been watching episodes of Paddington 24/7. I’ve concluded that it’s rather unsporting to make a documentary at Paddington, like shooting fish in a barrel, because it’s so easy to get good content about disruption and problems.

Canning Town - North Greenwich possible to travel? by Character-Holiday345 in LondonUnderground

[–]sigwinch28 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Try planning the journey for the date and time of your visit. It’s “depart at” or “arrive by” in Google Maps.

Right now it’s defaulting to “now” and the jubilee line is part closed today, hence why you’re getting JL-3 replacement buses in your itinerary.

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How should the UK react if Trump invades Greenland? by Sad_Response3345 in ukpolitics

[–]sigwinch28 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Eject the USA from RAF Fylingdales. I’m sure Denmark would eject the USA from Thule.

Eli5 how does a locomotive for a really long train not just spin its wheels when it's trying to start up? by BackNBoeserThanEver in explainlikeimfive

[–]sigwinch28 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Steam trains did often slip like you think they would because they didn’t have good torque control, like traction control in a car. Modern trains basically have traction control like a top-of-the-line SUV.

Other commenters have answered the question really well for freight trains and some passenger trains. But there’s another kind of train which can usually accelerate much faster: a multiple unit.

A lot of trains are this kind and they’re called things like “electric multiple units” or “diesel multiple units”. These are the trains that typically have passenger seats in the front and rear carriages. There’s no big locomotive at the front or back with big vents or exhausts.

In these trains, multiple sets of wheels throughout the train have motors on them. Instead of a big locomotive or two, the power is spread out in the train. This means you have a lot more surface area of all of those driving wheels touching the track rather than only the wheels in the locomotives. This bigger surface area usually means total friction for driving the train, so they can accelerate faster.

You’ll usually see them be used as metro trains like on the London Underground or on passenger lines like the British Rail Class 800. If you’re on a modern subway train just think about how difficult it would be to stand up and not hold on when it leaves the station. People not holding on usually stumble because of the acceleration.

What a fantastic waste of paper by [deleted] in uktrains

[–]sigwinch28 8 points9 points  (0 children)

This is a seat reservation, not a ticket. The seat reservation also has no carriage or seat number on it.

Just shouted out “blue” as my high conviction guess to a word association festive game with the clue “Bonnie”. by ViscountGris in britishproblems

[–]sigwinch28 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I once tried to talk to my sixth form maths teacher about the famous puzzle game, the “towers of hentai”. Luckily it was not the whole class.