#Shutter Speed Mode

[devnaut]

I agree that phone cameras are usually pretty bad at picking up cool lighting ie sunsets the way it actually looks, but most of the time it's fixed or at least serviceable if you just mess with exposure lol

[soobnny]

cops and robbers — kim seungmin

trope: kim seungmin x reader | strangers-to-lovers ; use of profanity ; mentions of a one night stand once ; he’s a fuckboy basically summary: fuckboy kim seungmin takes interest in the quiet, photography major who lives just across his dorm. wc: 3.8k words

The first time Kim Seungmin sees you, you have a camera strapped around your neck.

You’re just across his dorm room, hands fiddling on the buttons of your DSLR and eyes shifting where you can get your eyes on, looking.

Probably for something that can be added to your portfolio, he thinks. Not that he cares.

It isn’t all that hard to spot him either. Seungmin is easy to find, with a cigarette lit between his fingers and the smell of smoke vexing your senses. His entire body is leant on the wall, eyebrow slit and all to truly sell the fuckboy character.

You lock eyes when you finally find the source of smoke, and you think for a second to tell him to stop. It’s not what you do. Instead, you shift your attention.

It’s never a good idea to be within distance of boys like him anyway. There are other things to think about, things much more important. Like what you’ll have for dinner, the old pair of shoes you need to replace, your final portfolio.

Sighing, you look down at your camera.

You hope the low ISO 200 can capture whatever the fuck you want to take a photo of tonight—long shutter speeds, white balance on auto, manual mode. You’d be fucked if you didn’t have these settings memorized.

Different for day. Different for night. It’s a hassle, but it’s a hassle you keep up with if you want to graduate.

“You know, it isn’t safe for pretty girls like you to be out this late.”

Raspy. It comes from just behind you, and you have half a mind to turn to face the threat when you’re greeted face to face with a smirking Kim Seungmin. He sounds kitschy, looks kitchsy and it seems like he knows it as well.

You roll your eyes. “I think I’ll be fine.”

He stares at you for a minute.

“Whatever you say, princess.” The bass of his voice is a little terrifying, but not enough for you to shuffle away.

He would’ve been more if you weren’t hellbent on the idea of finishing your portfolio for the semester. Nothing scares you more than a failing class.

Not even Seungmin.

He doesn’t seem to mind your lack of chalant. He doesn’t really care. The boy has never been the type to stick his nose in other people’s business, talking to others only when necessary. Being annoyingly chatty was reserved for his friends.

In hindsight, starting a conversation with you should’ve been the first outlier he noticed on his sudden shift of behavior. But he doesn’t. Instead, he shrugs his shoulders and separates himself from you.

He was only out for a smoke anyway.

+

The next time he sees you is after his one-night-stand-gone-wrong.

It’s still at night, just a week later. And you look exactly like the way you were, camera in your hand and an unbothered look on your face.

Though, when you hear footsteps echoing from just a short distance and spot a speeding figure coming from his room, your face twists in disdain.

You were only out to practice a certain exposure you want to perfect. Not to bear witness to whatever the fuck happens in Seungmin’s dorms.

When he locks eyes with you for the second time that week, you pretend not to notice anything.

“You again?”

He’s shameless. A bit of his overgrown sideburns are sticking to his skin, shirt lazily thrown on, and sweat still glistening on his forehead. You don’t want to think of the connotations of what your observations could possibly mean.

You simply look at him, the way his face morphs in recognition and the way his neck cranes just a little. He looks like he’s in his element, sweat and fucked-out eyes and furrowed eyebrows.

You’re the exact opposite, picking at the buttons of your camera with sleep-riddled eyes and air struck hair.

Sighing, you push yourself off your unflattering position on the ground, brushing off the rubble that might’ve stuck on your pants from sitting there for so long.

You slip back into your dorm room without uttering a single response to the boy.

+

He sees you everywhere after that.

And truthfully, it was starting to get annoying. Especially when the boys started catching on to his staring.

While Changbin was narrating stories of nights Seungmin couldn’t care for the details of, he finds himself scanning the student hall.

He thinks he doesn’t know the reason why, or at least not until he finds you eating with some other girl.

Your eyes are intently glued to the screen of your camera. He wonders what photos could litter the memory of your SD card.

Before he can even shift his attention back to whatever the fuck was happening back with his friends, he’s caught red-handed. Shit-eating grins surround the table, a few howls here and there, and shoves that Seungmin could've gone without.

“Is she your next target, Seungmin?”

He wants to vomit at the word choice.

“Target?” He scoffs. You weren’t a target. “She isn’t even my type.”

Kim Seungmin brushes off their noise, canceling out the ill-intentions they’ve made up for him. He just sits there, unperturbed by everything until his friends finish eating.

He looks at you one last time before leaving. It’s hard not to.

It doesn’t save him from further teasing.

+

“You’re a photography major?”

You’re caught off guard by the sudden voice behind you.

It seems Seungmin has made a habit of surprising you when you least expect to see him.

“...I am.”

You finally reply after letting the question hang in the air for a few seconds longer than necessary. He doesn’t care, only cares that you responded to him.

“You don’t talk much, do you?”

Is he only capable of asking you questions?

“We’re not friends.” You deadpan. His lips pull into a smile.

“I’m just curious why you have a camera with you all the time. Loosen up.”

He doesn’t say anything after that, just lets the silence hang there. He knows he can tick you off even more, but he doesn’t find himself wanting to. He simply walks back to the dorms with you.

When he walks too fast, he stalls—for just enough time for you to catch up with him.

You fail to notice the way he shifts his position, always standing by the busy side of the road.

+

“Are you smoking again?”

It’s the first time you initiate conversation, and he snaps out of the trance he’d been in. He was outside again, similar to when he’d first met you. And you were still you, with your camera, and the way you lift it to fit your eye through the viewfinder.

“Why? Are you starting to care about me, princess?” There’s that same smirk evident, and it seems he took your question as invitation to stand next to where you are.

You want to stomp on his face.

“‘M just asking. I really couldn’t care less.”

You can smell the smoke off of him, warranting you to take a full step away. You’ve always hated its scent, and the second-hand smoke exposure.

In turn, Seungmin runs a hand through his hair. It’s shorter, looks like he got it trimmed recently. When you put your camera away in favor of leaving the site of crime, the boy attempts to stop you.

“Leaving already?”

“It isn’t exactly part of my tuition fee to talk to people like you.”

You sound harsh, and it’s an odd feeling to suddenly feel offended about a simple phrase he’s heard multiple times before.

People like you.

What the hell was that even supposed to mean?

“Spare me a few more minutes, angel.”

You don’t bother arguing any further. Besides, you still needed a few more practice photos of where you were looking. You lift your camera back up to peek through its viewfinder, and you can only hope the noise of your photos is enough to drown him out.

“What are you doing out here so late, anyway? Didn’t I tell you it wasn’t safe?”

“I also remember telling you I’ll be fine.” You grumble, snapping a shot. He moves closer to you when you open your mouth to continue talking. “Practicing helps ease the feeling of dread, like I’d be less likely to fail if I did.”

Seungmin notices the calluses on your hands, rough with hard work, and then his eyes trail to your side profile. The light exposure from the moon makes you look prettier than you already do.

Wait, what?

The boy has never stared at someone’s hands and drawn a conclusion before, never taken the time to admire and talk to someone he wasn’t planning on screwing over either.

There’s a first for everything.

“Smoking helps.”

You snort at his sudden comment. Too much time has passed by for him to suddenly butt back into the conversation. The timing makes you laugh a little.

His heart races at the sound.

“Are there thoughts when you feel dread?” He asks, albeit a little silent, in case you didn’t want to talk about it.

You contemplate whether you should talk about it. It’s an unlikely conversation to have with an unlikely person like Kim Seungmin.

Against your better judgement, you answer.

“I don’t know. It just feels like… it feels like my heart is palpitating. I feel scared for some reason. I guess I just really don’t want to fail. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah. It does.”

“You also feel dread?” You ask.

He hums in response. “All the time. Sometimes I’m not sure if the decisions I’m making are the right ones.”

It makes him sound so human to be able to empathize. You hate to admit you’re surprised.

“Just do what feels right in your heart.”

“How am I supposed to know?”

“You’ll know.” You mumble.

The few minutes you’ve spared him has run out. “Goodbye now, Seungmin.”

“You know who I am?”

“Everybody knows who you are. You and your friends.” You wave him off, finally shutting off your camera and putting the lens hood back. “Bye.”

You’re dismissive, and it’s something that would usually annoy Seungmin because he’s the dismissive one in his friend group.

The sudden challenge should anger him, but it doesn’t. What is it about you, and your playing hard to get, and your dismissiveness that has his attention so much?

He’s usually the one being chased, never chasing.

He’s usually the one being told things, never initiating. Never telling.

You’ve definitely done something to him, but he doesn’t want to think about it.

He really doesn’t want to think about it.

+

It happened without warning.

You only remember how angry Seungmin was. Everything else was a little blurry.

You don’t even know who threw the first punch. Shapes and shadows just seemed to move around you until a fight broke out.

The victim was from the Engineering department, though you don’t find the word victim befitting for someone like him. You don’t even know his name, just that he has a history for picking on people.

And it seemed today, you had fallen prey. You guess it just wasn’t your lucky day.

Though, if you think of the situation in whole, he definitely had worse luck than you.

Seungmin was locked and loaded behind gritted teeth and white knuckles when he threw a punch. And he was unforgiving with his hits.

“Seungmin, stop it.” Your voice comes out in a desperate plea, and as if a switch, he pulls himself off of the nameless Engineering boy.

“Fucking asshole.” Seungmin spits at him.

He surprises you with how cold he can speak. While you’ve always known that boys like him were a little more asshole-coded, you didn’t think he had it in his moral compass to defend you after having only shared not more than four conversations.

“Why would you do that? Seungmin, what the hell?”

You’re exasperated as you peel him away from the crime scene. He’d suffered a few blows you’re sure would bruise later, and his knuckles were bloody from his displays of violence earlier.

He’s speed walking ahead of you, doesn’t think he can look at you.

“Why didn’t you stand up for yourself? He had your camera.” His voice was significantly louder than it had been during your earlier conversations. You think it might be the first time he’s raised his voice at you.

His features, however, deeply contrast with the upset dripping from his voice. His face softens ridiculously fast when he turns back to look at you. And while his intentions send a soft nudge on your heart, you’re still upset at the predicament he’d willingly and intentionally put himself into.

“I didn’t need you to start a fight.” You sigh, tugging him by his arm after he’d stopped walking to direct his line of sight at you.

You continue the fleet-footed walk back to your dorm, dragging him with you.

“A thank you would be appreciated.” He grumbles from behind you, but makes no move to free his arm from your grip. Seungmin simply lets you drag him away.

“Stay there.” You sit him down just in front of your door before slipping into your little room. It takes no longer than two minutes before you’re back outside.

He’s still right where you left him. The only difference is he’s looking at you as if he’d been waiting for you to come out.

You make a move to crouch next to him.

There’s a first aid kit sitting between the two of you, a tub of water, among other things.

“How could you be so reckless?” You offer no warning when you take his hands, soaking them under the water and carefully washing the site of injury.

When you’re sure it’s clean, you turn to look at him. “You barely even know me, and you’re getting into fights.”

You’re clearly stressed, packing ice into a thin cloth while lecturing him under one breath. He doesn’t argue with you. Instead, he hyper fixates on the way you hold his hand—resting it on your thigh, applying light pressure on his bruise.

Your hand is warm, almost too warm against his. And he notices the same callouses he did that night you caught him smoking again. Yours with hard work, his with stubborn lament.

The action makes his face flush an embarrassing color. You don’t seem to notice. You’re too preoccupied being upset to even look him in the face.

“You better not do this again.”

In truth, Seungmin had probably suffered much worse than bruised knuckles. This, in comparison to all the previous fights he’d gotten himself into, was nothing. But it feels more significant than the rest.

His heart folds at how you’re taking care of him.

It was a curiously intimate thing for you to attempt to reduce the swelling with your makeshift cold compress. There’s an unidentifiable feeling in his heart he still doesn’t want to think about, but he knows there’s a subtle change in the air that he needs to address.

“He could’ve smashed years of your hard work.” He suddenly breaks the silence.

It triggers you to glance up, and you lock eyes with Seungmin once more. It looks like he’s rethinking whether he should continue talking.

Against his better judgment, he does. “He had your camera, and all I could think about was how devastated you would feel if he’d broken it.”

You blink a couple of times at his sudden confession. Moreso because he’d been observant enough to know the significance of that single piece of item. And maybe because he was looking at you a certain way.

He does that sometimes.

You don’t really know what to say to him, so you shift your focus back on his wounds. And when you’re sure there wasn’t any more damage, you let him go. “I’m done. You can go.”

A silence falls between you both before the boy climbs back on his feet while holding the cold compress you’d handed him. He takes a few tentative steps away.

“And Seungmin?”

He suddenly turns back at the interjection of your voice, looking at you with that same look from earlier, like you should know he’d do it again for you. It’s almost fond. And Seungmin hovers there, waiting.

You take the brief moment where his attention is on you to finally say the words that’d been brewing in your throat.

“Thank you.”

You’re trying so hard to keep your voice monotone. He’s trying so hard not to smile.

+

Seungmin’s been in front of you for almost ten minutes now.

It’d been almost a week since he’d gotten into a fight, and he has the gall to suddenly appear in front of you. In the student center during dinner, of all places.

“Hi.” It’s his fourth time uttering those words now, but it seems your attention is still on whatever the fuck poison they were serving for dinner.

“Talk to me. Hi.” He persists.

(“He likes her, for sure.” Hyunjin laughs from a few tables away.

There’s amusement in Chan’s eyes.

“Yeah, he definitely does.” The eldest smiles to himself.)

His attempts are fruitless. You are still drinking your soup, and he is still vying for your attention.

“You’re ignoring me.” Seungmin pouts. He actually pouts. “Are you still upset I started a fight?”

You don’t respond. If you were honest with yourself, you don’t know why you’re ignoring him either. Was it because you’d felt the slightest nudge in your feelings the last time you saw each other?

“Pretty girl.”

You stall before asking. “How’s your knuckles?”

He smiles. “Better. Will you stop ignoring me now?”

“I wasn’t ignoring you.”

“If you want me to apologize, I won’t. I don’t feel regret for doing what I did. I’d rather his face smashed than your camera.”

There’s that nudge again. You didn’t want him to apologize either. A few days of mulling it over and the news of quiet in the Engineering department since his fight with Seungmin tells you enough that the benefits had outweighed the risks.

No more stories of students being taunted for doing absolutely nothing.

The boy in front of you clears his throat, trying to get your attention. “But, I’m willing to do anything else for you to stop ignoring me, or apologize for anything else.”

An idea flashes in your head.

“I know how you can make it up to me.” You say in lieu of a real response.

+

When you’d asked him for a favor, he’d gotten a little excited.

He’d thought it was somewhere along the lines of a date, like that crap he sees in movies. He didn’t think he’d have to model for a few shots in your portfolio.

“New piercing?” You ask, gesturing at your own lips to try and mirror the spot he’d gotten it. It’s silver and shiny, and definitely adds to the fuckboy appeal.

You shudder, you know your own parents would never agree to you doing the same.

“Like it?” Seungmin has the audacity to smirk, flaunting the silver on his lower lip. You simply roll your eyes.

(Though, the few seconds you spare to stare at it is enough judgment for him.

You lift your camera back up. “Alright. Just do whatever for now. Actually, maybe a hand in your pocket—yeah. That’s perfect.”

He does whatever the hell he can think of. And while most would’ve been embarrassed by now, he couldn’t find it in himself to care. If it meant you’d stop ignoring him, he’d do this a million times over.

“Stay in that position.”

“Hmm, I like it when you’re being bossy.”

“Shut up.” You snap a shot, looking at the screen of your camera and smiling in contentment. You don’t give him the time to rest before you’re lifting it back up to eye-level.

And it goes on like that for a while. You use him to study lighting, and angles, and shadows, and forms.

Though, it’s a little difficult when he looks so damn attractive in everything. You might have a biased model. You’re afraid if you were to shoot him in shitty lighting, it would still turn out good.

“Alright.” You switch off your camera after flicking through the numerous shots you’d taken. “I think I’m done.”

“So, you’ll stop ignoring me now?”

He looks at you with everything so potently him when he’s with you.

“Uhuh.” You hum, letting your DSLR drop around your neck. He smiles victoriously.

None of you turn to leave.

You lament in the night air just a little longer, and Seungmin spends the time staring at you.

You suddenly turn to him. His gaze is a little too invasive not to notice. “What?”

“Just thinking.”

“About?”

“You.” There’s something about the way he says it that makes you look away. You could swear you saw a tint of red on the tip of his ears.

“Among other girls, I presume.”

He exhales. “No. Just you.”

“Resident fuckboy Kim Seungmin thinking about just one girl?”

“Fuck you.” Though, there’s no spit in the way he says it. His heart warms at the thought of you feeling comfortable enough to joke around with him now, despite you still coining him a fuckboy. He supposes that one’s on him for years of tainted reputation.

Your half laugh at being cursed echoes in his mind, lingering more there than in the air.

“You’re acting strange tonight, Seungmin.”

“You make me act strange.” His voice softens even though he’s essentially putting the blame on you for the way he was acting. And he says it in a way that makes you think he’s waiting for you to say something, or to at least understand the intentions behind his words.

You don’t know how to respond though. He sounds a little too serious to just merely be fucking around with you, like you’ve heard he does.

“The boys are saying I’m getting soft.” Seungmin doesn’t sound like he’s waiting for your response, so you let him continue talking. “Ever since that first night I met you. What the fuck did you do to me?”

He meets your eyes.

“Will you say something?”

You attempt to flat out your nerves at how he’s baring himself vulnerable in front of you all of a sudden. You would be lying if you said you hadn’t grown fond of the boy after his multiple attempts at getting your attention, but you’d also be lying if you said you didn’t think it was just another one of his ploys to get into your pants.

“How do I know you’re not lying?”

“I’m acting like a damn puppy following you around everywhere. And I let you boss me around for pictures when I could be drinking with my friends right now.” He’s still eye-to-eye with you, and it’s scary the way honestly spills from his.

“Then go drink with your friends then. ‘M not forcing you to be here.”

You’re so fucking stubborn, and he tries to search for your eyes but you aren’t looking at him anymore. Yours are downcast somewhere, on the ground, on anywhere but his eyes.

“Look at me.” You don’t know why, but you instantly do. Maybe it was in the way he said it, almost desperate. “I don’t want to drink with my friends. I want to be here with you. Because I like you.”

You crack a slow smile at his words, and at the way he’s stripped himself in genuine softness in front of you. It wasn’t everyday you’d see Kim Seungmin like this.

“So don’t think I’d lie to you about that.” He’s pouting again, and you tease him for it.

You get on your toes, get a good look on his face and the pout that adorns it. “Are you upset I thought you were lying?”

“Fuck off. I’m just—” He can’t help but laugh, pushing you away from him lest he wants to suffer the consequences of kissing you without your permission. He wants you to like him back, and if he has to do it slowly, so be it.

“Just give me a chance.” Almost pleading.

You press your tongue against the inside of your cheek. “Okay.”

“I understand if you—” He suddenly pauses. “Okay?”

“Okay.”

He stares at your lips, at the way it forms around the word, and he’s puzzled at how hot his face feels because he’s never been flustered like this. And he thinks his cheeks will start to burn if he doesn’t stop smiling. But he just can’t bring himself to stop, not when you’ve willingly given him a chance.

On your own autonomy.

“You won’t regret it.”

You don’t think you will.

[pikanchidouble-blog]

The Olympus Camera

So on a Saturday morning of 31st May Nicola Coughlan was spotted at Portobello Market located somewhere in Notting Hill near North Kensington.

How do we know? She was tagged by Cameras London Instagram account.

So of course, what did the fans notice right away, the camera in her hand. So the first thing they thought, oh that is the camera Luke gifted her. Well sadly, it is not. The camera Luke bought her is an Olympus Trip 35 and the one she is holding is an Olympus OM-10

Then we have the other camp who claims the camera Nic is holding is the same with a certain adjacent. Well, technically they are not wrong (yes both are the Olympus OM-10) but actually it is still not the same.

1. Because the camera Nic is holding has a round black knob on the front left side — this is the Manual Adapter, an accessory that lets you shoot in full manual mode (controlling shutter speed directly).

2. Nic actually just bought the camera from the vendor. This can be confirmed by a comment the vendor replied to a fan.

And a friend who is an expert in this field actually pointed out that it is pretty normal for someone who has a point and shoot camera (Luke's gift) to change to a camera which you can have more options after 2 to 3 years. So I guess Nic wants to explore more in photography (which she apparently has an interest in and that is why Luke gifted the camera during her birthday) and that is why she bought a camera more advanced than the one she has.

So conclusion from all this is Nic just loves film photography and looking to explore more in it (and maybe to bring to her upcoming summer vacay with that one 6ft tall guy). And if you focus on other stuff like her left hand (caladdagh ring) and the location she is in (near Kensington area), those are actually crumbs for the lukola fandom. In just one day, we do not have one crumb but three actually (the other being her repost of Frances Ha clip which she posted before back in 29th May 2023). I will take these as small victories for us. The other camp can just...

[libraford]

Sometimes, I forget how good of a photographer I am.

I'm doing sports candids at a high school. School is in the middle of nowhere. There is no cell reception. Its homecoming. Theres a million cameras.

Its middle of the second period and I see a professional looking photographer struggling with her camera. There are two dudes nearby also struggling, same uniform. But I know that look of desperation because I've been there. Guy 1 is fussing with video camera. Guy 2 is on the phone, but like I said- theres no cell service here.

"Are you having trouble?"

"Oh my god, do you know cameras?"

"Take a picture, show me what it looks like."

She takes a picture, shows it to me. Its blown out and blurry.

"It has to be on the sports setting because I'm shooting sports. But I cant get it to work right. This thing is old and busted."

"Shutter speed too low, looks like 1/60."

"What?"

"Can I fiddle with it?"

Mind you, theres a whole football game happening in front of us. The videographer and the guy on the phone are watching me very closely.

It's a different camera than mine, but it's the same brand.

"I'm putting you on manual, but you have to trust me."

"I... dont have a choice. Everything is malfunctioning."

I put it on manual, fast shutter speed, high ISO. Take a shot, dont like it, fiddle with it again. Take a shot, hand it back.

"Try it."

She takes a shot. "Its a little blurry."

"Bump up the shutter speed to 1/300. It will be darker, so the ISO goes up, too."

She does this. "Holy shit, I've never taken photos like this before! These are better than anything I've ever done! Thank you! You just saved all our asses."

"Congrats, you're now shooting in manual- you have full control of how light enters the sensor in your camera. And that makes you a pro."

She starts catching back up with photos. Her dudes come over to me and say "seriously, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you so so much. Our video equipment went down and we can't get ahold if anyone."

"No problem. But out of curiosity, who are yall with?"

They give the name of the news section that covers local sports.

I just taught a photojournalist manual mode in less than a minute.

...I'm pretty sure they just give a camera to whoever is on staff and dont tell them how to work it.

That's frustrating to me.

[biggie-chcese]

Blank Week Headcanon Time!!

(extremely big rain code spoilers lol)

so the thing about the blank week is that i think it's a really compelling twist and it's genuinely interesting to think about. but also, one problem is that thinking about it too much raises a lot of questions.

like, how were there no survivors? did no one in kanai ward fight back? how did it take only a week for amaterasu to make homunculi of everyone in the city, for those same homunculi to break out and wipe out everyone, and for makoto to clean it up and make the rain machine? what about nighttime, or whenever people were indoors? wouldn't the homunculi have calmed down?

so i came up with a few headcanons that answer these questions bc it's fun to come up with watsonian answers to doyalist problems! yippee!

So:

How'd all this research happen within a week? i dont think it actually did happen in a week. amaterasu probably already had the massive amount of homunculus birthing pods in place before extracting blood from everyone in kanai ward. i mean, homunculus research started 10 years ago, and the first successful one was made by the UG 3 years ago. this means they likely already had all of their equipment, but they were missing something to create successful specimens.

Why did the scientists just birth all the homunculi at once in the sun? Are they stupid? the homunculi they were creating were simply dying in the sunlight instead of going full on sicko mode. under the assumption sunlight just kills defects, the best way to test it when you're in a rush is to just awaken them all into the sunlight at once! perhaps the researchers assumed all the defects would do the same, leaving behind any successful specimens who would just... act like normal people. under this assumption, the research team wouldn't be in any danger. of course, making assumptions rarely ends well.

Why did the zombified homunculi instantly become aggressive in the sun, but Kurumi just passed out? while not explicitly canon, i think... defective homunculus bodies have a few stages they undergo when reacting to sunlight. the first stage is a loss of consciousness, like we see with kurumi. if their consciousness is already compromised (i.e. having little to no brain capacity), such as with zombified homunculi, this stage is skipped. the next stage is pure aggression and bloodlust, as seen with what happened during the blank week. the stage after extremely prolonged exposure is, of course, death. my headcanon is that it takes about a month of natural sunlight exposure to kill a defective homunculus, but direct UV light exposure such as a tanning bed would accelerate the process, sadly.

How did everyone in the city get wiped out within just a week? remember the huge shutter that apparently the hoard of homunculi just... tore right through in order to escape the lab? my headcanon is that, in their sunlight-berserk state, homunculi gain super strength and speed, pushing their bodies past the limit. this can cause strain on them that backfires when they regain consciousness, but feeding on human flesh heals this problem quickly, since it encourages their artificial regeneration. thanks to these superhuman abilities, most humans struggled to fight back. still, some homunculi did perish from humans defending themselves over the week, and those were among the first homunculi to be dumped off in the restricted area when makoto came to clean the place up. they were then considered "missing," just like kurumi's grandpa.

What about nighttime during the Blank Week? What about people who were indoors? the doyalist part of me wants to say the writers never even considered that, but the watsonian explanation is still based on real world logic: the moon does not produce its own unique light. it reflects the light of the sun. bc of that, kanai ward was certainly no safer at night as long as the moon was out. i also believe it takes a while for homunculi to calm down when under cover, such as when they're indoors with no direct sunlight. this is so their bodies can get the UV poisoning out of their system first. maybe it takes a few hours, so people who thought they were safe indoors ended up still getting mauled. eventually, being under cover from sunlight will knock a feral homunculus unconscious (since after the blank week, everyone is described by kurumi as "waking up to it being a week later"). and again, if they are already zombified, this step is skipped in favor of them just calming down like the ones in the restricted area.

How did Makoto just... clean up all that and build the rain machine in a week? well, we are in a futuristic cyberpunk type game. when makoto arrived, he probably just had machines work on the mass cleanup job for him while he was busy building his rain machine. though, homunculi devour basically everything, so corpse cleanup likely wasn't wasn't too difficult. hell, a lot of the blood outside can be washed away from the rain. also, kurumi does describe kanai ward as looking like a tornado ran through it when she woke up, so the clean up was likely not as thorough as we think. what's the problem with seeing a little blood amidst some rubble? it only adds to the mystery of it all. as for how makoto built the machine so quickly... he's the world's greatest mind so he can do what he wants <3

No survivors? At all? Seriously? Not a single human lived through the Blank Week? i actually think some humans did survive the blank week. but, i don't believe any of them made it out of the situation alive. doesn't make sense? well, let me lay out a scenario for you: it's been almost a week since the feral homunculi have been rampaging throughout the city. a small group of survivors quietly huddle together inside a building. they've run out of food and water, and now they're just counting down the hours before their inevitable demise. but then! the sounds of pouring rain begin, and after some time, the guy on lookout witnesses all of the homunculi simultaneously passing out on the streets. soon after, UG brand rescue vehicles and machines come rolling into the city. the group rejoices. they're saved! they're taken into a special UG facility that houses all of the survivors. they think they'll finally be free from this hell they endured. a UG agent comes into the shelter to invite small groups into another room. they're told that they'll have to fill out some paperwork. these survivors have no reason to distrust them, so they follow these orders. and one by one, each and every group is quietly executed, forever silenced for what they know. it's a real shame, but makoto tells himself it's important for the homunculi to survive. he has to eliminate any and all chances for kanai ward's secrets to become public. the UG would not have cooperated otherwise... As a bonus, here's some other headcanons I have about the deaths that happened during the blank week:

my headcanon for a lot of homunculi is that they instinctively tried to reach places familiar to them whilst in their berserk state- their work, their homes, their schools, etc., all following a routine that's pretty well ingrained into them. this led to a lot of poetic and ironic deaths, and many people getting killed by their own homunculi or by the homunculi of people they know and love. just to add to the angst of it all 😊 with that in mind...

kurumi was the one to kill and eat her grandpa, following the path she usually takes walking home. i dont know if homunculus kurumi ever figures this out in the future and is devastated, or if she spends years trying to search for a missing family member who she'd already unknowingly killed. i dont know which one is sadder.

martina, among several other peacekeepers, died thanks to yomi shoving them into hoards of hungry homunculi to save his own ass. yomi eventually died while trying to escape to the sewers, ironically devoured by yakou's homunculus

dominic was one of the biggest defenders on the human front, the only person with the raw strength to fend off against large hoards. however, dominic's homculus had the highest kill count for the exact same reasons, so they ended up fighting each other, and homunculus dominic prevailed. this basically marked the moment of lost hope amongst the last humans in kanai ward

(on this note, ive got an oddly cute but still fucked up headcanon that, because dominic was such a successful hunter, he would share his "food" with lots of smaller homunculi, including guillaume)

this isnt my headcanon (it's loremaster's) but im really attached to the idea that yakou died while trying to protect kurumi. it just feels right. before the blank week, he'd already failed to protect his wife, so to him the best way to go out was to die trying to save someone else... though, unfortunately, kurumi did not survive long after him

icardi's homunculus hunted in a very unique way. he'd swim along the kamasaki riverbank, dragging unsuspecting victims underwater to kill and eat them. servan died in this way, running towards the river to escape other homunculi, only to find himself cornered when he reached the water. icardi then took hold of him while he was still paralyzed with fear, sealing his fate

iruka managed to defend herself with her guns, but couldn't bring herself to shoot shachi's homunculus, leading to her death

the ch 1 church crew perished at the hands of their own homunculi, but the priest himself was devored upon the altar. for the raw imagery of it all. do you see the vision.

aaaand that's all my silly little thoughts about the blank week! it's such an insane plot twist and honestly i would love to see more fans talking abt it because it feels like such prime material for angst...

[ninhaoma-ya]

Another Year Older, Still Afloat

While I'm waiting for AO3 to come out of maintenance mode, I still want to share this on Nami's birthday.

Here you go, a completely impromptu short birthday fic for the best birthday girl.

Rating: Gen Characters: Nami, Trafalgar Law Words: 1325

A pleasant breeze filled the sails of a frigate far away, chasing the clouds across the sky and bringing a whiff of something sweet and flowery. The sea twinkled in cerulean blue, bright little light kittens jumping from one cresting wave to the other engaged in a never-ending game.

And Nami ran for her life.

The shouts of pursuit mixed with the sharp tap-tap-tap of her sandals hitting the cobblestones and the occasional scream as a well-aimed lightning bolt hit its target.

She dodged hanging laundry and open shutters, weaving through narrow alleys and ginnels barely wide enough for a cat. Terracotta roofs leaned in overhead, casting deep shadows that turned into blinding light when she burst out onto a wider street or a square. Church bells rang overhead; not in warning, but because it was noon and they had rang at noon for a hundred years and would not stop for something so petty as a little chase through town.

She ran, and ran, and ran, and harangued her companion who, impressively enough, managed to keep up with her pace.

“We wouldn’t be here if someone hadn’t alerted the whole port town at seven in the morning!”

“Blame you own captain! Or better yet, teach him to read!” Trafalgar dodged a bullet and slashed aimlessly behind him, the toppling houses creating a makeshift barrier and buying them a few moments. “I explicitly said -and wrote, just to make that abundantly clear- that we were supposed to start at seven in the evening!”

Nami swore under her breath at the combined effort of running, balancing the power of her Clima-Tact and trying to figure out the microclimates at once.

She really needed to up her cardio.

“Fine, I’ll blame Luffy for the flares and the foghorn. But I will blame you for the regatta.”

Trafalgar threw up his hands in exasperation. “Here I just try to do something nice for you—” they skidded around a corner, coming out on the high street.

It was a picture of serene summer stillness. Colourful bunting hang between whitewashed houses, covered in honeysuckle and wisteria and roses. Parents were leaning out over intricately carved windowsills painted in all the colours of the rainbow, calling for their children to come home to dinner, while the youth, in that liminal space between childhood freedom and adult responsibility, converged around the few remaining market stalls to tease out the complexities of ‘does she like me’ or ‘will he notice me if I do this’.

And down through this all, Nami and Trafalgar Law tore, like a couple of mad dogs. Children scattered, youth whooped and applauded as Nami did a particularly daring somersault over a stall, and parents gasped (before throwing their shutters closed) at the approaching ruckus and rumble of the navy on the couple’s tail.

“Nice it might have been, but what did you expect would happen with Luffy, Kid and yourself in the same port?”

“Excuse me!” Trafalgar snarled as he picked up speed, flying over the cobblestones. “But it was you who decided to invite them and make a whole spectacle out of it! I thought we’d just have a nice little trip to the nearby island to have a beach day since this island doesn’t have any beaches and you said you wanted a beach day!”

“IT WAS LUFFY WHO INVITED YOU ALL, YOU UTTER IDIOT!” Nami screamed over the cannon fire breaking out behind them and Trafalgar had to do some rather impressive Shambles, if he’d say so himself, to displace the approaching cannon balls with some flowers from a nearby field. He caught one, which Nami tucked daintily behind her ear.

“FINE, IT WAS THAT MENACE,” Trafalgar answered, grabbing her hand and dragging her along the promenade before turning down on the rickety pier. Although the market square had slowed down the navy, the pier was slowing him and Nami down too with an abundance of slippery boards, missing steps and sudden chasms. “But it was still you who managed to get Kid and Hawkins to actually crash!”

“I did no such thing,” Nami protested, balancing along a slippery beam where several planks had apparently fallen into the water. Suspiciously neatly cut, she noted. “I just took an alternative route.”

Trafalgar snorted. “Which you know they would follow and you knew they’d hit the reefs.”

“Not my fault they can’t read a map.”

He couldn’t see the Tang; good, Hakugan and Jean Bart had followed protocol and taken her out of port. They knew Captain would find his way back.

There was, however, a merrily bobbing ship with a lion’s head for a figurehead at the end of the wooden pier.

They were still a good way away when Nami took a deep breath and screamed at the top of her lungs, “JINBE – CAST OFF!”

Trafalgar grinned when he saw the ship start to move away, slowly but surely. It was good that the Straw Hats finally had another braincell on board.

He could see Nami’s captain waving to them from his perch on top of the lion as the Sunny picked up speed, wide grin visible from all this way away.

He sighed, throwing up a Room and grabbing Nami, ignoring her indignant squeak as he pressed her against him.

“Shambles.”

-_-_-

“You knew I’d get us on board.”

Law’s tone was even, and not just because he was still trying to catch his breath.

They stood by the railing, watching the rapidly disappearing port. Some bustling along the pier and around the navy ships indicated that the navy might have been in pursuit, but Usopp’s assurance of their propellers being quite out of order due to a ‘sudden infestation of sargasso seaweed’ made them both breathe a bit easier.

“Of course,” Nami scoffed, leaning against the railing beside him. “I’m just annoyed that you didn’t use it earlier and forced us to run through the whole town.”

A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “And yet I didn’t hear you complain or suggest it when we were running.”

Nami hit him in the shoulder. Hard enough to make a point, but not hard enough to hurt. “Shut it.”

“And there’s this…”

Law threw her a small, clumsily wrapped gift and watched from the corner of his eye as she carefully picked the paper apart, revealing an oblong wooden box. It was thin, with a pattern of nacre creating endlessly repeating waves with sparkling crests on the lid.

“Happy birthday.”

The soft gasp that escaped Nami as she opened the box almost escaped in the wind, but Law stood close enough to catch it, as well as the look of wonder in her eyes as she lifted out the thin golden chain decorated with a small, shimmering tangerine.

And suddenly she was there beside him, her warmth pressing into his side and her arms wrapped around his midriff. A whiff of something sweet and flowery filled his world as she pressed a kiss to his temple.

“I might have been woken up by a foghorn a foot from my face and almost gotten burnt by a flare let loose in the kitchen.

“You do understand that I also got woken up by that foghorn,” Law interjected, enjoying the feeling of Nami’s nails scratching lightly at his side. “And I want some credit for disappearing that flare before it went off.” He hummed in thought. “It was quite pretty when it went off outside.”

“Shush,” Nami said, nose in the air as she pinched him lightly to stop his nattering. “As I was saying; we managed to crash a whole regatta, and the navy might have chased us across half an island.”

She drew a deep breath, pressing another kiss to Law’s cheek. “Thank you.”

Her smile filled the world as the little port town disappeared into the distance, the navy cursing on its shores.

“This was the best birthday ever.”

[enigmatist17]

Absolutely feral over Hashtag and Starscream, like wtf why is this the cutest thing I've ever seen

It's probably something to do with the fact I was up at 3am watching this show for some of the best Starscream content since Prime/Armada

---

"Starscream is observing us. Again." Nightshade hummed as they headed up and out of the barn, face buried in the latest novel Dad had given them.

"Wasn't he here, like, yesterday?" Jawbreaker asked, Thrash and Twitch practicing their sparing while he watched from the sidelines, more than content to focus on the miniature painting he was working on. Whatever answer Nightshade could have given was drowned out by the noise of someone transforming, Hashtag speeding up and into the woods behind the Malto homestead, everyone stopping in place to watch her leave.

"She does know I did not tell her where he's currently residing, yes?" The scientist looked at the tracks left behind, more amused than anything else.

"She'll figure it out." Thrash shrugged before tackling Twitch, earning a squeak of indignation from his sister.

They didn't need to worry, Hashtag had figured out where Starscream liked to observe her homestead after his first visit, but just hadn't had the nerve to approach him. Sure, it was a bit of a silly thing to feel, but Hashtag didn't want to push her...friend? Ally?, too hard, but it had been two months, and enough was enough! The jet seemed to be focused on the horizon when she made the trek uphill, the large rocks serving as an adequate chair for the massive Transformer. They sat silently for a while, Hashtag remaining in her alt form as the various wildlife and rush of a distant stream filled the conversation neither seemed to want to start.

"Soooooo, where have you been?" Patience was not Hashtag's strong suit, and the short venting of air from the seeker beside her almost sounded amused.

"I have been...around." Starscream finally moved for the first time since she'd arrived, glancing down at her alt mode. The radar dish on the top of her vehicle faced up toward Starscream, and she transformed a moment later when he tipped his head, sitting cross-legged on the ground with a grin. "You've improved your blaster accuracy."

"I have!" Hashtag looked quite pleased, tapping her servos against her plating with a grin. "Bumblebee said I just need to keep at it, but I really like it when Arcee drops by, she gives me all sorts of tips. Wait, how did you know? Nightshade only mentioned you a few times, and we train mostly during the day?" Starscream seemed a bit stunned at the torrent of words sent his way, memory packets he'd forgotten about flashing fuzzy images of sparklings that were long dead for a moment before he shoved them back and into deep stasis. He'd never truly been comfortable around children, and even less so after the War began, yet here he was, listening to the young mech beside him ramble on about something called barbeque like it was just another solar-cycle.

" -scream? You listening?" Shuttering his optics, Starscream noted she had moved to stand before him, one hand hovering just above making contact with his knee with her optics staring at his wings. "Hellooo?"

"I...apologize, my mind wandered. What are you staring at?"

"Sorry, it's probably super rude to stare, but I've not really had a chance to look at wings like yours like, ever? Fights happen so fast you know, and the rare videos I find before G.H.O.S.T wipes 'em don't really give me a look either." Once again, it's another torrent of words, and the Decepticon can feel his wings rising slightly in discomfort. "Sorry, did I upset you?"

"N-No, you've done nothing wrong." When was the last time someone asked how he was feeling?

"Oh, okay!" Primus bless her, the little one's eyes lit up as she clasped her servos together. "Sooo, were you always able to fly, or did you have a ground alt once upon a time?"

"No, I have always been a Seeker." Starscream motioned for the smaller bot to sit beside him, shifting to the side so she had plenty of space. "My frame was initially suited for deep-space exploration rather than combat, but that changed quickly enough when the War began. I don't think I could ever enjoy being away from the sky, it is as much a part of me as every inch of my frame."

"Nightshade has said that too. Ever since they took their alt form, they have talked about flying like I do when I hack or manipulate things. There's just no other feeling like it." The Seeker nodded, and Hashtag was relieved to see his wings lower slightly, adding one mental tally mark to her "Operation Get Starscream To Relax" board.

"It is a feeling unlike any other, for every type of Cybertronian. I have seen those who command oceans as if they were assembled by it, others who use the strength of beasts long dead as if they'd been one their entire creation. Had it not been for so many things, you too might have seen the wonders that were our people."

"Well, I wouldn't mind listening to you talk about them." Hashtag hugged her legs to her chassis with a smile, ever the eager youngling waiting for a tale.

"If you're going to talk, you might as well bring this party to the house." The sudden voice behind them made both mechs jump, Starscream pointing his null ray at whatever the threat was as he tucked Hashtag behind him, only to find...Lieutenant Malto.

Ah...frag

"Hi Mom!" Hashtag stood up so she could see from behind Starscream's wings, waving as the null ray was powered back down. "How'd you know where to find us?"

"A mother knows, sweetie." The smile on the human's face was a little forced, which the Decepticon had to give was justified. "You doing alright?"

"Yep! Starscream has been answering some of the questions I've wanted to ask, and we've just been sitting up here and enjoying the view." She fully moved from behind the older mech as she spoke, standing beside the comically shorter woman who refused to break eye contact with Starscream, who just stared right back. "Are you serious about letting him come to the house?"

"Maybe, maybe not. If we're going to have guests, we should be prepared, right? Why don't you go and get some of the nice energon ready, and let your Dad know I'll be down soon."

"Okay! Oh I can't wait to show you around!" With a wave, Hashtag transformed and booked it down the mountain road her mother had used, leaving the two to stare silently at each other.

"What do you want with my daughter?" Ah, there it is.

"Nothing, I was merely...observing." As much as it loathed his inner demons, Starscream knelt down so they were more or less at an even height, both soldiers coiled for a fight that may or may not happen. "I was unaware she knew I've been here."

"I knew they'd catch on sooner or later, you didn't exactly pick the most hidden spot." Starscream rolled his optics, noting the other had relaxed slightly. "What have you been doing, since the big escape?"

"Hiding, mostly. I've no desire to be tortured again." It took her past as a fighter for Dot not to flinch at the angry hissing coming from the mech, face impassive when Starscream had to shake his helm for a moment. "Nor do I wish to see...him."

"...we're getting close to exposing G.H.O.S.T, for what it's worth. All of us are, and I'm sorry you had to suffer at their hands."

"Are you? I'm a Decepticon, surely this must be thrilling to hear, after all we've done?" There's no venom in those words; all Dot can hear is what isn't there as his wings hike up his back, and servos curl into fists. "Getting what we truly deserve, no?"

"All I see before me, is a mech who is tired. A mech who is exhausted, yet took the time to sit with my daughter, protect her from a perceived threat, and stare down her mother despite knowing I could take you down." The hissing is back, a slight red filter sweeping across blue optics before fading just as quick, but Dot holds her ground without batting an eye. "All I see is a Seeker without a trine, and while we may not be one, a little company can't hurt you, can it?" Starscream just....stares, and Dot wishes the bots breathed like humans did, just to offset how unsettling it was when mechs could watch without a single movement. That was one of the things that really got under her skin, and she was grateful that her kids hadn't learned that particular skill yet, full of too much energy and life to sit still like a waiting snare.

"You dare speak of my trine." The sentence nearly made her jump, the tall mech leaning closer with a blank look. "You understand nothing."

"No, I don't." It's a simple response, but it's all she can give. "Now, let's not keep the kids waiting." For the first time, Dot turns her back to Starscream to get into her truck. The Seeker is fully onto his pedes by the time she has the car on, his gaze focused on the home he can see just down the hill. "Don't break the fence, or you'll be the one fixing it."

"As you wish."

So this is how a Decepticon finds himself drinking the first pure energon in too many cycles to count, surrounded by mech younglings and cautious humans as the first mech to believe him waved her servos around, grinning as she told the tale of their first meeting. It is not...entirely how he thought the evening would go, but every time Hashtag smiled at the Seeker, something seemed to unfurl in his Spark, something that should have died off long ago.

So when she asks him to stay, even if it's for one night, Starscream does without hesitation.

[sitting-on-me-bum]

“Twilight smile”

In 2011, the Bahamas declared its waters a “shark sanctuary”. Off the island of Grand Bahama, I witnessed several unforgettable encounters. At dusk, several dozen lemon sharks rise from the depths and surround the dive boat. Perched on the swim-step with my body half-submerged, I set out to take split shots. On this day the sea was rough, it was almost dark, and the sharks were lively and very curious, not hesitating to come into contact with my housing! In these light conditions, I replaced my strobes with 2 headlamps to ensure continuous light. I used the burst mode coupled with a fast shutter speed to better freeze the movement. With a lot of patience and luck, I was able to capture some very close-up shots, and highlight the magnificent colours of the sunset. A striking face-to-face encounter!

Photo: ©Rodolphe Guignard/UPY 2024

2024 Underwater Photographer of the Year competition

[sirfrogsworth]

I just bought my first non-phone camera (Canon PowerShot SX70 HS). I travel a lot and want to take great photos of the landscapes I see. What would you recommend for someone who is essentially a novice? So far I've been afraid to change the settings from "auto" but I want to use the full capabilities of this camera!

I'm really tired and I don't have the energy to explain everything, so I'm going to give you the secret recipe to landscape photos. This works 80-90% of the time unless there are challenging variables to account for.

Put camera on tripod or stable surface. Set timer to a delay of 1 second. Put camera in Av or Aperture Priority Mode. Set f-stop to f/11. Set ISO to lowest setting. (Usually 100.) Let the camera decide the shutter speed automatically. Focus 1/3 of the way into your framing. Press the button, stand back, and let the camera take the shot.

Tripods are a pain in the butt to carry around, but they open up a whole new world of possibilities when it comes to landscape shots. You can also try a little bean bag weight, railings/ledges, or those gorillapod things.

If I am feeling better tomorrow, I will reblog this and explain why these settings usually work and add some additional tips along with settings for when you can't use a tripod or stable surface.

But this should give you something to start with.

[wingedjewels]

Female Speckled Hummingbird by Adam Rainoff Via Flickr: The Speckled Hummingbird (Adelomyia melanogenys) is a delightful resident of the Andean cloud forests, and capturing this species at La Minga Ecolodge near Cali, Colombia, was a rewarding experience. This particular individual perched briefly among striking purple flowers, offering a perfect opportunity to highlight its warm brown plumage and characteristic speckled chest. The soft natural light filtering through the forest canopy provided even illumination, allowing the fine details of its feathers to shine against the vibrant greens and purples of its environment. Using a Canon R5 paired with a 100-500mm lens at 500mm, I had initially set the shutter speed to 1/1000 second in TV mode to freeze hummingbirds in flight. However, when this bird landed unexpectedly, I quickly captured the moment, knowing the R5’s advanced stabilization would maintain sharpness, even with this low shutter speed. The composition took advantage of the surrounding flora to frame the subject, creating an intimate portrayal of this elusive species. Encounters like these remind me of the privilege and responsibility we have as photographers to showcase the delicate beauty of nature. ©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer

[andmaybegayer]

Did you manage to get any nice pictures of the fire spinners? One time I tried taking pictures of @astralarya, but it turns out getting nice pictures of fire spinners at night is photography on Ultra-Hard mode. I got one or two decent ones, but a pro photographer was there as well and said it’s almost impossible without a flash, which I didn’t have.

I was at the camera shop today and Sorely Tempted to grab a cheap 1.8 50mm for this but I ended up running with my 24-105 f/4, fortunately modern sensor tech is crazy good even at ISOs that would have ruined my old camera. Most of these probably won't work printed huge but they're perfectly serviceable at small-medium or online. I'll sift through these but here's some quick pulls with hastily thrown together edits to compensate for the noise. Definitely one of the situations where I think RAW really shows up, giving me a ton more latitude here. With a 2.8 on a Sony sensor you could really get the noise down.

I think if you're used to older cameras the one thing is to push your ISO way, way up. these are all 12800 or 25600, modern sensors (especially if you're not on Canon like me!) can do remarkable things even way up here, and you can push your shutter speed down a lot to get action solid in ambient light. These are mostly 1/200-ish, some as slow as 1/60 and some as fast as 1/400 depending on ambient light and vibes.

Flash I think would look pretty bad, flames aren't actually that bright so flashes tend to make them disappear, think taking a flash photo of a campfire, it just looks like ashes. You could maybe use a little flash to give you some breathing room on the face, or a continuous low-level light.

Also here's some video, both 30fps and 120fps slowmo. The raw video is a little better, here's an 8Mbps render of it.

(this group is Tribo Fuego)

[helluvatimes]

Soaring On Wings As Eagles

An immatured sea eagle learning the ropes from its parent on the Marina South coast. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

This image didn’t need to be cropped in post as the eagles including a third one were flying quite low at the time.

The given shutter speed of 1/500 second – I was then in Aperture Priority mode – was apparently not fast enough. A little motion blur could be seen at actual size but that wasn’t obvious here at this size.

[seabeck]

FAQ + About (for mobile)

About me: My name is Milli (she/her), 25yrs. I love taking photos of nature and my Subaru. I’m a huge nerd about mushrooms, plants, and skulls. I’ve been hiking ever since I was a little kid and at this point I feel at home in the woods.

I have a flock of chickens, a boyfriend, a dog, and waaay too many house plants

Did you take all the photos on this blog?

Yep, every photo posted here was taken by yours truly unless otherwise noted (very rare).

What camera/lenses do you use? 

My full frame kit is:

Nikon D850

Sigma 150-600mm f5.6-6.3 

Nikon 50mm f/1.8 G

Nikon 85mm 1.4 G

Nikon 105mm f/2.8 VR G

Nikon 17-35mm f2.8 

Kenko extension tubes

Raynox 250

Vanguard Alta Pro 263AB (works for macro + everything else)

Filters and other gear:

Hoya CPL 62mm + Stop down/up kit

B+W CPL 77mm

Tiffen Graduated ND

WNDRD PRVK 32L

Other cameras/lenses I’ve owned:

D50

D7000

60mm f/2.8 ED Macro

20mm 1.8 ED

Sigma 150-500mm f5.6-6.3  

What camera gear would you recommend for a beginner?

Before you worry too much about getting the best gear, make sure you learn how to use it first. You could go out and buy the fanciest camera and lenses and still not take good photos because you don’t know how to use your camera or how to “see”. There’s also a saying, “you marry your lenses and date your bodies”. Invest in good lenses, preferably full frame compatible ones in case you ever decide to upgrade to full frame, and get a cheaper body to start. With that out of the way…

If you’re just starting out, I’d recommend getting a refurbished or used camera from the D7100+ line. They’ve come down in price as of late and are pretty solid cameras. Just make sure to check the shutter count.

I’d skip anything from the D3000 & D5000 lines. They’re not bad cameras but they do not have built in autofocus meaning they rely on the lens itself having autofocus. This isn’t horrible but it does limit what lenses you can use (and some of the lenses that won’t autofocus with those cameras are good AND cheap) and that can be confusing for a beginner.

As for a lens, a 50mm f/1.8, or 35mm f/1.8 is a great lens. Both lenses are inexpensive, have good quality glass, and can used for nearly everything. The 18-55mm lens that comes with cameras isn’t bad either. 

I don’t shoot Canon/Sony/whatever else so I can’t give any advice there sorry!

How did you learn to take photos?

LOTS of practice, I first picked up a camera back in 2013. In high school and college I took photography classes but ultimately I didn’t really learn much from them, they started at too basic of a level.

I did learn a lot about photography from taking art classes however. They taught me framing, how to use shadows/light, and movement in a photo (where does your eye travel when you view an image/art piece). My mom is also a professional photojournalist so I picked up some knowledge from her and my grandfather who’s also a published photographer.

How can I take better photos?

Again, lots of practice. Learn what every setting and button on your camera does, try different shooting modes, take the same photo at several different apertures and shutter speeds to see what changes. You can learn a lot from reading articles too but the best way to learn, imo, is by doing. Don’t worry about getting the best gear and the best camera, learn how to take photos first.

Study other photographers photos, and even paintings, and see what you like. Pay attention to directional lines and where your eye travels. Learn how to use Photoshop/Lightroom (just pirate it). Take photos in different weather, lighting, and times of day. 

What programs do you use to edit? What presets/filters do you use?

I use Lightroom and Photoshop Classic along with custom presets that I’ve made for different situations (fog, snow, etc) to process most of my images and then I make minor tweaks. A lot of my presets started as VSCO presets and then I kept the things I liked and changed the things I didn’t.

What is your job?

I’m a real estate photographer specializing in short term rentals. I love it.

Are you related to Eddie Vedder?

Yep, we’re very distantly related. Something like 7th cousins twice removed but I’ve never met him.

Can you add a photo to your print shop?

Sure! Just tell me the name of the photo (or link it if possible, I reuse a lot of names) you want added and I’ll get it up there.

May I use one of your photos?

I’m 100% ok with people using my photos as a reference for drawing/painting, I’d even love to see the result. For anything else, just shoot me an ask beforehand and I’ll let you know. Please do not repost my photos on Tumblr or elsewhere without my permission.

[yvetteheiser]

Yvette Heiser’s Guide to Capturing Magical Nightscapes

Nighttime photography offers a unique and mesmerizing challenge for photographers. The interplay of light and shadow, the vibrant glow of city lights, and the tranquility of dark skies create opportunities for stunning and dreamlike images. Yvette Heiser Texas: A Complete Guide to Mastering Phone Photography serves as an excellent resource for those interested in capturing these scenes with a smartphone. Yvette Heiser, an experienced photographer with a passion for capturing the beauty of nightscapes, shares her expert tips on how to master this fascinating genre of photography

1. Understand the Lighting Conditions

One of the first things Yvette emphasizes is the importance of understanding the lighting conditions at night. Unlike daylight photography, where natural light is abundant, nightscapes often rely on artificial light sources such as streetlights, neon signs, or moonlight. The key to a successful night photograph is making the most of the available light. Yvette advises photographers to scout their location during the day to understand how artificial lights will interact with the surroundings once night falls. Pay attention to the position of lights, how they illuminate the scene, and where shadows will fall.

2. Use a Tripod for Stability

Long exposure times are often necessary when shooting nightscapes to capture the beauty of low-light scenes. Yvette stresses the importance of using a tripod to keep the camera stable during these extended exposures. Even the slightest movement can result in blurry images, so a sturdy tripod is essential. If you don’t have a tripod, consider placing your camera on a stable surface, such as a ledge or railing, to minimize camera shake.

3. Experiment with Exposure Settings

When it comes to capturing nightscapes, the right exposure settings are crucial. Yvette recommends shooting in manual mode to have full control over your camera’s settings. Start by adjusting the aperture to a lower f-number (like f/2.8 or f/4) to allow more light into the camera. Next, adjust your shutter speed—longer exposures (10-30 seconds or more) are often needed to capture the full effect of the scene, whether it’s the movement of stars or the soft glow of city lights. Finally, set the ISO to a lower value (around 100-800) to reduce noise in your images.

4. Focus on Composition

Composition remains just as important at night as it does during the day. Yvette encourages photographers to use the rule of thirds to create a balanced and visually appealing composition. Consider the placement of light sources, leading lines, and how the sky interacts with the ground in your frame. Nightscapes can look particularly stunning when they include reflections in water, such as rivers or lakes, so keep an eye out for scenes where these elements might come into play.

5. Embrace Post-Processing

Post-processing is where the magic of nightscape photography can truly shine. While it’s important to get the shot right in-camera, Yvette suggests using photo editing software like Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop to bring out the details and colors in your night images. You can enhance contrast, adjust exposure, and bring out the vibrancy of artificial lights. Additionally, consider adjusting the white balance to achieve the desired mood—whether it’s the warm glow of streetlights or the cool blue tones of a starry sky.

6. Capture the Stars

For those interested in capturing the night sky, Yvette shares her techniques for shooting stars or even the Milky Way. A wide aperture, low ISO, and a shutter speed of around 15-20 seconds can help capture the beauty of star trails. Use the “500 rule” to calculate the maximum exposure time without star trails, which is 500 divided by your lens’s focal length. Keep in mind that a clear, dark sky with minimal light pollution is key to capturing stunning starry scenes—Yvette Heiser’s Vision: Capturing Dreamlike Nightscapes offers valuable insights into how to achieve these breathtaking shots.

Conclusion

Capturing magical nightscapes is a rewarding yet challenging aspect of photography. With the right gear, a good understanding of lighting and exposure, and a creative eye for composition, photographers can transform ordinary nighttime scenes into extraordinary works of art. Yvette Heiser’s advice serves as a helpful guide for anyone looking to explore the world of night photography. So grab your camera, head out into the night, and start creating your own magical images!

[libraford]

I posted this earlier but I think most people don't want to see a four minute video of me playing with a glowing orb, so I cut it to a minute-ish.

The point of this session was twofold:

-show the difference between a fast shutter speed on video

-play with a glowing orb.

Slow shutter speed: Slowest my camera will go on video is 1/8. You can see that it creates this really dreamy motion blur that's fun with the moving light elements, but it does mean you lose details. Not necessarily a bad thing! It has a very emotional quality to it! However, if I was trying to document a performance, I would not use this.

Fast shutter speed: 1/250. Movements are sharper, details are clearer, you can tell where I'm moving and there's no motion trail. HOWEVER, this also means that you can see the LED in the orb flickering, which is a little distracting, and you can see the battery pack when it rolls your way.

The same concept applies to still photography, so if you're trying to shoot a moving object and it comes out blurry, it means that your shutter speed is too slow. (Or if you're using presets, you will want to put it on sports mode.)

Anyways, that was really fun! Its always kind of cool to know how to shoot with practical effects. Filters are fun, but when you know how to do cool stuff without having to do it in post, I think it really puts more fun into the creation aspect of it. I like to get stuff the way I want it inside the camera because it makes the shoot into a fun challenge.

[malavoie1]

Pollination in Progress: Bee on Joe-Pye Weed

Capturing the essence of nature’s intricate beauty, this close-up of a bee collecting pollen from vibrant pink Joe-Pye Weed flowers showcases the delicate dance between pollinator and bloom. The bee's black and yellow striped body, dusted with pollen, stands out against the lush green background, emphasizing the vibrant life and color found in the natural world.

On an overcast day, I captured the delicate interplay between a busy bee and the vibrant pink blossoms of Joe-Pye Weed. The soft, even lighting provided by the cloud cover created an ideal backdrop, minimizing shadows and highlighting the intricate details of both the bee and the flowers.

Using an aperture setting of ƒ/10 provided a balanced depth of field, ensuring that the bee was in sharp focus while maintaining enough background blur to isolate the subject from any distractions. A shutter speed of 1/200s was chosen to freeze the motion of the busy bee. Bees are notoriously fast and unpredictable, so a relatively fast shutter speed was essential to capture the fleeting moments of their activity without introducing motion blur. Even then, some motion blur was still present and was partially removed with post processing tools.

The ISO was automatically calculated by the camera's metering system in Aperture & Shutter priority mode, adapting to the available light conditions. On this overcast day, the even, soft lighting helped in achieving a well-exposed shot with minimal shadows. Spot metering was used to ensure that the bee, the main subject, was correctly exposed, rather than the entire scene, which might have led to an underexposed bee due to the bright flowers and background.

Processed with Affinity Photo v2 and Topaz Photo AI.

Camera: Pentax K-3

Lens: smc Pentax DA FA 1:2.8 100mm Macro

100mm / ƒ/10 / 1/200s / ISO 500

Taken: July 16, 2024