Bryan Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 We ate the last of the home made Xmas cake this evening, no more until next year ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 On 24/01/2023 at 18:07, Bryan said: We ate the last of the home made Xmas cake this evening, no more until next year ! WHAT! You are not going to have any Christmas cake 2023? Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 32 minutes ago, Allan Bell said: WHAT! You are not going to have any Christmas cake 2023? Allan Ah indeed a slip of the brain, but still a while to wait ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sb photos Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 Was involved in a long queue in pouring rain last night around 18.45 due to what looked like a bad traffic accident. There was a red car on it's side in Honeypot Lane (40 mph limit), the Stanmore end, 2 fire engines, police and ambulance. Firemen were trying to enter the car through the rear hatch. Cars were moving off the dual carriageway on to what became a very congested side road, others were driving over the central reservation hoping to find another way past it. I pulled into a space between 2 parked cars and fired off a few shots of the rescue work. When home I was surprised they came out so well, 1/3rd second F3.5, 150mm on the RX100, was wishing I hadn't set the max iso to 400, though not good enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 1 hour ago, sb photos said: Was involved in a long queue in pouring rain last night around 18.45 due to what looked like a bad traffic accident. There was a red car on it's side in Honeypot Lane (40 mph limit), the Stanmore end, 2 fire engines, police and ambulance. Firemen were trying to enter the car through the rear hatch. Cars were moving off the dual carriageway on to what became a very congested side road, others were driving over the central reservation hoping to find another way past it. I pulled into a space between 2 parked cars and fired off a few shots of the rescue work. When home I was surprised they came out so well, 1/3rd second F3.5, 150mm on the RX100, was wishing I hadn't set the max iso to 400, though not good enough. I am using up to 1250 ISO on my RX100 mk7 and they are usable. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sooth Posted January 27, 2023 Share Posted January 27, 2023 (edited) . Edited October 19, 2023 by sooth 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted January 28, 2023 Share Posted January 28, 2023 15 hours ago, sooth said: was planning a day trip to boston, when I found out the last of the independent chinatown bus lines "lucky star bus" went out of business fast forward to today, was looking into getting a ticket to boston, discovered lucky star bus (chinatown bus), greyhound, and boltbus (greyhound/coach line bus' low cost bus service) has been folded into flixbus... I'm not a fan of flixbus. there's also megabus, but megabus [and amtrak] has become expensive if you don't book weeks ahead of time. Amtrak train costs $82-$182 coach class seat for a 4-5hr trip one way, megabus is $55 one way for a 4hr trip, flixbus is $30 one way for a 4hr trip. I don't like booking weeks in advance if you don't know what the weather is like, which was the case last year when i booked amtrak weeks in advance to take advantage of the government train carrier's low fares, but ended up not being able to use it due to a major snowstorm, no refunds. Here in the UK we have similar problems. Brexit saw an exodus of truck drivers and forced the hauliers to increase wages, this caused a number of bus drivers to move over to the haulage industry. Then a along came covid, sadly some bus drivers lost their lives to it, while passenger numbers dived. The number of people using public transport has not fully recovered while staff illness is still causing problems. Our once frequent and reliable bus service has been pared back while the service is nowhere near as reliable as it was previously - there are warnings posted in the bus stations that services may not run to timetable etc. There are similar problems on the railways, with some private companies in danger of losing their franchises due to a failure to provide a decent service. I use Northern Rail to visit family and have suffered long delays and cancellations. With the nation deep in debt following covid etc I can't see there being a short term fix. All of this is doing nothing in the struggle to prise folk out of their cars and use a greener alternative. However, to end on a positive note, my wife and I once enjoyed a train ride from NYC to Boston, before picking up a hire car to explore New England, happy days ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted January 28, 2023 Share Posted January 28, 2023 1 hour ago, Bryan said: Here in the UK we have similar problems. Brexit saw an exodus of truck drivers and forced the hauliers to increase wages, this caused a number of bus drivers to move over to the haulage industry. Then a along came covid, sadly some bus drivers lost their lives to it, while passenger numbers dived. The number of people using public transport has not fully recovered while staff illness is still causing problems. Our once frequent and reliable bus service has been pared back while the service is nowhere near as reliable as it was previously - there are warnings posted in the bus stations that services may not run to timetable etc. There are similar problems on the railways, with some private companies in danger of losing their franchises due to a failure to provide a decent service. I use Northern Rail to visit family and have suffered long delays and cancellations. With the nation deep in debt following covid etc I can't see there being a short term fix. All of this is doing nothing in the struggle to prise folk out of their cars and use a greener alternative. However, to end on a positive note, my wife and I once enjoyed a train ride from NYC to Boston, before picking up a hire car to explore New England, happy days ! In Lincoln today I saw a Stagecoach bus advertising that they were hiring drivers and the pay quoted is £24.5k per year. Think I will apply. Darn it! I cannot as I am way over the maximum driver insurance age. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYCat Posted January 28, 2023 Share Posted January 28, 2023 I've enjoyed the inexpensive buses between NYC and DC but there is something about a train. Really my favorite way to travel. There is a nice ride from Grand Central up the Hudson to lovely little towns. The bonus is being able to leave from Grand Central. It is such a wonderful building. Paulette 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted January 28, 2023 Author Share Posted January 28, 2023 On 26/01/2023 at 16:14, Allan Bell said: I am using up to 1250 ISO on my RX100 mk7 and they are usable. Allan I have my iSO set from 100 to 1250. Alamy has sold lots of my 1250 images. I'm wondering what levels of noise reduction you forum folks use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted January 28, 2023 Share Posted January 28, 2023 I tend to stick with "auto" settings when it comes to noise reduction. Haven't had a QC failure due to noise for several years. 🤞 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sooth Posted January 28, 2023 Share Posted January 28, 2023 (edited) . Edited October 19, 2023 by sooth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted January 28, 2023 Share Posted January 28, 2023 5 hours ago, Allan Bell said: In Lincoln today I saw a Stagecoach bus advertising that they were hiring drivers and the pay quoted is £24.5k per year. Think I will apply. Darn it! I cannot as I am way over the maximum driver insurance age. Allan Accordingly to this web site the average salary for a bus driver is £32,500, while train drivers earn considerably more. I recently read a piece in the paper comparing the two jobs and querying the disparity. On the face of it, the bus driver has the more difficult task. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvallee Posted January 29, 2023 Share Posted January 29, 2023 (edited) It's the place. Bad karma place. I'm sure of it. Some of you might recall what happened last time we went to our storage place in Cairns (no electricity, no lift, supremely hot, etc). This time round, we turned up with our motorhome to unload my cameras dry cabinet, about 1m high by 50 cm wide. Horror! For the first time, the door lock of our motorhome is jammed, no matter what we try. It's worth noting that in Toyota Coasters, there is no passenger door and the motor is in between the two front seats. Being a very determined person, I decide to lift the cabinet and get it out over the driver's seat. Hubby gets shirty as he's jammed against the wheel with his shorts caught in the handbrake and the horn is blaring in his ears. Success! Next battle is with the storage lock which won't accept the combination. We are dripping with sweat in 40C+ temperature. At last all done. I start driving back when hubby shouts 'we forgot to unload the printer!'. Turned back and repeated the procedure. By then, we are absolutely dripping in the high humidity of the wet season. Got back to our housesit and collapsed in the swimming pool. I'm afraid the doggies won't get a walk today. Oh well, they can always do zoomies around the pool, they are very good at it. Then it struck me: how am I going to put my bed mattress back in the motorhome? We call a locksmith who quotes us $330, being a Sunday. Forget it, back to the pool and a couple of glasses of wine... Tomorrow is another day. Edited January 29, 2023 by gvallee 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted January 29, 2023 Author Share Posted January 29, 2023 $330! Isn't robbery against the law Downunder? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvallee Posted January 29, 2023 Share Posted January 29, 2023 2 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said: $330! Isn't robbery against the law Downunder? And there's no guarantee that he will fix anything. He can probably dismantle the lock but it's highly likely that we will have to order another one from the door supplier. Not only do we need the door to open to put our stuff back in at the end of this housesit on Tuesday but we need it to be able to lock again to drive the vehicle to our next housesit. We can't let them down, they're flging abroad for 4 weeks. Exciting times! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted January 29, 2023 Share Posted January 29, 2023 18 hours ago, Ed Rooney said: I have my iSO set from 100 to 1250. Alamy has sold lots of my 1250 images. I'm wondering what levels of noise reduction you forum folks use? I am sure I have mentioned this tip elsewhere on the forums but not in as much detail. If you are sharpening the image, which I do using LRC, before you move the Amount slider click and hold the Masking slider pressing and holding down the the alt button or whatever on your keyboard. The image will turn completely white. Gradually move the slider to the right and the image will begin to appear as black and white negative and you will see what appears to be a lot of noise. It is not actually noise but if you sharpen while it still shows that "noise " will be exaggerated in the finished image thus degrading the image. Keep moving the masking slider to the right and that "noise" will disappear until only outlines in the image will remain. That is the time to sharpen. Allan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted January 29, 2023 Share Posted January 29, 2023 20 hours ago, Allan Bell said: In Lincoln today I saw a Stagecoach bus advertising that they were hiring drivers and the pay quoted is £24.5k per year. Think I will apply. Darn it! I cannot as I am way over the maximum driver insurance age. Allan No mention of it on the pager here https://stagecoach.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/External/details/Trainee-Bus-Driver_JR3341 which isn't surprising as an age limit would be unlawful now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted January 29, 2023 Share Posted January 29, 2023 1 minute ago, spacecadet said: No mention of it on the pager here https://stagecoach.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/External/details/Trainee-Bus-Driver_JR3341 which isn't surprising as an age limit would be unlawful now. All I can say when I wanted to hire a van for removals a couple of years ago I was told that I was over the age limit to drive the van according to the company's insurer. I was therefore assuming that with public transport the company's insurer would say the same especially as it is a passenger carrying vehicle. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted January 29, 2023 Share Posted January 29, 2023 (edited) 18 hours ago, Ed Rooney said: I have my iSO set from 100 to 1250. Alamy has sold lots of my 1250 images. I'm wondering what levels of noise reduction you forum folks use? In LR I go up as high as 50 at 3200 and also downsize. I used to have an import preset for it- default up to 1600 and a bit more above that- but I think I lost it on a reinstall. I see that I've sometimes had to push it up at 1250, presumably because of a bit of underexposure. But just luminance, nothing on colour. I often have to push the sharpening up a bit. This is APS-C on an A58, so your sensor is probably better on ISO. Edited January 29, 2023 by spacecadet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted January 29, 2023 Share Posted January 29, 2023 1 minute ago, Allan Bell said: All I can say when I wanted to hire a van for removals a couple of years ago I was told that I was over the age limit to drive the van according to the company's insurer. I was therefore assuming that with public transport the company's insurer would say the same especially as it is a passenger carrying vehicle. Allan That's different- that's not age discrimination in employment. Enterprise will rent you a van at any age over 30. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted January 29, 2023 Share Posted January 29, 2023 Just now, spacecadet said: That's different- that's not age discrimination in employment. Enterprise will rent you a van at any age over 30. Thanks Mark but I do not need to hire a van now.🙂 Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted January 29, 2023 Share Posted January 29, 2023 4 minutes ago, Allan Bell said: Thanks Mark but I do not need to hire a van now.🙂 Allan Well you never know. Camera bag might get a bit heavy😉 I'd say have a go at bus driver just to see how you get on. Sounds like a tough gig though, 40-hour week. Not sure I'd take that on and I'm younger less experienced than you. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted January 29, 2023 Share Posted January 29, 2023 2 minutes ago, spacecadet said: Well you never know. Camera bag might get a bit heavy😉 I'd say have a go at bus driver just to see how you get on. Sounds like a tough gig though, 40-hour week. Not sure I'd take that on and I'm younger less experienced than you. Yes you are younger but not necessarily less experienced. Depends on your and my lifestyles and experiences. You are correct I do not really want to take on the job of driving buses, not at my time of life, not even part time. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Ventura Posted January 29, 2023 Share Posted January 29, 2023 Well my luck ran out. Just tested positive for Covid this morning. Amazed I lasted this long not getting it. My shoots have me around new people all the time, had 8 shoots this past week, all were portraits....so no way of telling who I got it from. I started feeling bad Friday night and last night I had a tough time sleeping, had a cough and slight fever. I tested myself yesterday but was negative then. When I got worse, I thought I should test again. My doctor has prescribed Plaxlovid, which if taken right away, it is suppose to knock down the symptoms. Hopefully it will be no worse than a bad cold. Sadly though, I need to cancel upcoming shoots and that will sting in the wallet, I have 7 waiting to be done. 🤥 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts