RANT: R.I.P. Tyrbolift

[Final_Rep]

Is that commonly available or do you have to trek through the wilderness or something?

Not commonly available. We have some farms nearby that produce it. Cross between bison and cattle. The taste is like a stronger grass fed beef flavor and we find it very tender.

[GeneralSerpant]

Not commonly available. We have some farms nearby that produce it. Cross between bison and cattle. The taste is like a stronger grass fed beef flavor and we find it very tender.

Do you think grass steak is better than corn? I like grass fed burger and milk for sure, but steaks tend to come out funny for me. Never tried ribeye gf.

[Final_Rep]

Do you think grass steak is better than corn? I like grass fed burger and milk for sure, but steaks tend to come out funny for me. Never tried ribeye gf.

In my experience corn fed beef usually has more marbling but the flavor profile is different. Just a matter of preference really. I like steaks rare (well, just warm in the center) so that may affect how a grass fed steak comes out, vs. say medium rare.

[GeneralSerpant]

In my experience corn fed beef usually has more marbling but the flavor profile is different. Just a matter of preference really. I like steaks rare (well, just warm in the center) so that may affect how a grass fed steak comes out, vs. say medium rare.

Wonder how it works out for prime rib.

Anyways I saw a video on ******** that showed a ribeye reverse seared, slow-roasting it on cedar planks then of course blasting it on the coals. Seems like a fun idea to try.

[Dominik]

Checkin in to support ribeye recommendation. Recently, we've been impressed with beefalo.

What's been going on in your world?

[Final_Rep]

What's been going on in your world?

Heya Dom.

The kids are getting huge. Both of them in soccer and gymnastics (they pronounce it gymmagics). Company I work for sold their assets to another company for 5.6 billion but I landed on my feet, so far. And I'm about to start querying agents for the book I was working on years back.

All in all, pretty good.

Hope you guys are okay with the fires and the girls are well.

[GeneralSerpant]

So as I thought about it today, my DB Bench Press and my weighted pull-ups have come to near the same volume schedule, that being 5 sets of 4 for one and 6 sets of 4 for the other as of this week.

I've kinda been wondering if I should scale down the pull-up weight a bit for MMC or keep trying at this one increment of weight that renders the overall sets a bit of a slugfest. Kinda fun to measure up to the lift, just not sure it's necessary or practical.

With the DBBP I probably will just go further with sets. Both exercises also I find myself adding whole sets as progress, I'm not sure how common or often that is among people. I'd think that makes it a form dominant progression to be adding whole sets. Then again it is just one exercise out of the whole workout technically, so that set progression might be inflated a bit.

[400Lb Gorilla]

Heya Dom.

The kids are getting huge. Both of them in soccer and gymnastics (they pronounce it gymmagics). Company I work for sold their assets to another company for 5.6 billion but I landed on my feet, so far. And I'm about to start querying agents for the book I was working on years back.

All in all, pretty good.

Hope you guys are okay with the fires and the girls are well.

you did not move to the other company?

been a while, glad you landed feet first and are looking to get back to your book.

[Final_Rep]

you did not move to the other company?

been a while, glad you landed feet first and are looking to get back to your book.

Thanks 400G.

Yeah, I'm moving to the other company. It's a big change for us - been with this company for 15 years and thought I'd probably make a full career out of it. But the new company does some exciting things with regards to employee ownership so there's definitely cause to be excited (while also a little nervous...).

Re: the book, I am in the querying stage. Writing a query letter to send to agents in hopes they want to pick me up. For debut authors this can be a long process that doesn't succeed, so I'm going to give it some effort and then pivot to self publishing on Amazon. Won't let this drag any longer. I have a couple other stories I want to start writing.

How you been?

[Orlando1234977]

Looking to move the family in the next few years - had enough of the southern US and there are some job opportunities further north.

Good choice, esp if Midwest.

[Dominik]

Heya Dom.

The kids are getting huge. Both of them in soccer and gymnastics (they pronounce it gymmagics). Company I work for sold their assets to another company for 5.6 billion but I landed on my feet, so far. And I'm about to start querying agents for the book I was working on years back.

All in all, pretty good.

Hope you guys are okay with the fires and the girls are well.

Great to hear from you BT. Everything is okay over here although there were a couple of months where the air quality was bad and I'd be concerned about prolonged exposure to that especially for people with lung problems, children, etc.

Hopefully now that your kids are older you'll get more time to do some of the stuff that inevitably gets put on hold. I've come to appreciate how important hobbies are and making time for them. It's too easy to fall into a rut "consuming" instead of being creative. Still taking photos?

Spoiler!

I can't remember if I told you this back in the photography thread but on my last trip to NZ I arrived early at a popular location I'd photographed several times before from different positions and angles, I was alone, and decided to move in a little closer because I was shooting a pano and I wanted to exaggerate the size of some tussock in the foreground and hide a small bus that was parked in the frame off to the right.

Suddenly a van rolled up and 9 people got out. Bags and tripods unpacked in 30 seconds flat like a military exercise and suddenly we were all standing shoulder to shoulder. The instagram hero running the circus says "Do you want to take a few steps back?" And then she delivered the burn in front of her army of minions. "It'll be a better photo anyway."

Anyway I never got around to looking at those photos but it was vivid sunrise with a lot of red in the sky so I probably should. I found her shot on instagram that she shared with her 200,000 followers. Looked great but I think a pano would be even better. I took this phone shot after most of the color in the sky was gone. Yellow arrow marks my spot. I have no idea how anyone could enjoy that experience.

[GeneralSerpant]

Nice use of panorama.

[Dominik]

Nice use of panorama.

Phones have definitely come a long way and I use that feature all the time. A few days earlier I experienced a really vivid sunset at Mt Cook. There were only two people shooting from that spot — me and the guy who took this below standing 10ft away directly across the road with a Sony a7R III. He posted this to instagram the next day and of course I immediately recognized the shot. All mine were panos with a long lens so it's basically that without the streaking lights from cars and more of the mountains but I still haven't got around to working on it. I'm posting this as a reminder.

Spoiler!

[GeneralSerpant]

So the lights remain because they are feeding the camera the most exposure, but the road remains because it's utterly consistent in the downtime?

[Dominik]

So the lights remain because they are feeding the camera the most exposure, but the road remains because it's utterly consistent in the downtime?

Long exposure and it captured cars in both directions. He might have even blended several exposures.

Aperture and shutter speed control the light hitting the sensor. You can close down the aperture to increase the shutter speed.

You can do the same with cloud and water movement. The camera generally needs to be on a tripod.

[Final_Rep]

Great to hear from you BT. Everything is okay over here although there were a couple of months where the air quality was bad and I'd be concerned about prolonged exposure to that especially for people with lung problems, children, etc.

Hopefully now that your kids are older you'll get more time to do some of the stuff that inevitably gets put on hold. I've come to appreciate how important hobbies are and making time for them. It's too easy to fall into a rut "consuming" instead of being creative. Still taking photos?

Spoiler!

I can't remember if I told you this back in the photography thread but on my last trip to NZ I arrived early at a popular location I'd photographed several times before from different positions and angles, I was alone, and decided to move in a little closer because I was shooting a pano and I wanted to exaggerate the size of some tussock in the foreground and hide a small bus that was parked in the frame off to the right.

Suddenly a van rolled up and 9 people got out. Bags and tripods unpacked in 30 seconds flat like a military exercise and suddenly we were all standing shoulder to shoulder. The instagram hero running the circus says "Do you want to take a few steps back?" And then she delivered the burn in front of her army of minions. "It'll be a better photo anyway."

Anyway I never got around to looking at those photos but it was vivid sunrise with a lot of red in the sky so I probably should. I found her shot on instagram that she shared with her 200,000 followers. Looked great but I think a pano would be even better. I took this phone shot after most of the color in the sky was gone. Yellow arrow marks my spot. I have no idea how anyone could enjoy that experience.

That NZ story irks me. There's an unspoken code with landscape photographers, imo. Or at least there should be. When you arrive on a scene and someone else is already there you don't walk into their shot. You don't try to hustle them. You don't walk up to them while they're composing and try to talk to them. You give it time. Even if the conditions are one in a million you show respect and wait for the right moment. When that comes you can say something and ask if they mind if you set up next to them, etc.

To be honest, I wouldn't have handled the Instagram lady as well as you did. I probably would have said, "I bet you're great with photoshop. So I'm going to walk forward and if you think I'm in your shot go ahead and photoshop me out. Next time, if you're less rude, maybe I'll listen to what you have to say."

Anyway...

Yeah I have been trying to get out there. Took the family to Zion, which was AMAZING. Got some of the iconic shots, like this of the Watchman (FB qual):

Spoiler!

If you look at the bottom right you can see a couple guys who walked out into EVERYONE's shot, on the banks of the river. They're blurry in my shot because it's a long exposure.

I took this shot from a bridge and the entire bridge was shoulder-to-shoulder with photographers.

[GeneralSerpant]

Long exposure and it captured cars in both directions. He might have even blended several exposures.

Aperture and shutter speed control the light hitting the sensor. You can close down the aperture to increase the shutter speed.

You can do the same with cloud and water movement. The camera generally needs to be on a tripod.

Generally yeah.

When you arrive on a scene and someone else is already there you don't walk into their shot.

Maybe you don't.

[Dominik]

That NZ story irks me. There's an unspoken code with landscape photographers, imo. Or at least there should be. When you arrive on a scene and someone else is already there you don't walk into their shot. You don't try to hustle them. You don't walk up to them while they're composing and try to talk to them. You give it time. Even if the conditions are one in a million you show respect and wait for the right moment. When that comes you can say something and ask if they mind if you set up next to them, etc.

To be honest, I wouldn't have handled the Instagram lady as well as you did. I probably would have said, "I bet you're great with photoshop. So I'm going to walk forward and if you think I'm in your shot go ahead and photoshop me out. Next time, if you're less rude, maybe I'll listen to what you have to say."

Agree with you. It was rude. She makes a living doing those workshops and I think those 8 people were paying something like $2500 each for 5 days with her so after expenses she probably pockets $10K for the week. After posting that I went and looked at her instagram and in many images she talks about how great it is to enjoy a location all to herself.

Here's her photo. It definitely reflects what I saw but I personally wanted more in the composition than that along with some shots with the beautiful lake behind it. I find I shoot panos by default these days because I can always crop later.

Here's my setup. With a longer lens I don't even bother with the upper rail, I have an Arca foot on the lens and it goes straight on there. Parallax isn't an issue at all not to mention software can sort out most of it with a wider lens but I like having everything centered and level so I just shoot a few frames across, tilt it down, and repeat. The ball head becomes the leveling base and everything above that is level. The panning clamp stays on the ball head full time so I can mount the camera directly to it if I'm not shooting a pano. Works for me.

Spoiler!

What rustled me the most was the thought that all her minions probably believed her. I mean every one of them was all set up with the exact composition, same grad filter on the lens, etc. That's the annoying part. As you know there is no one way to photograph something. Some of the best compositions come about when you try something different and it wasn't my first time there.

Anyway...

Yeah I have been trying to get out there. Took the family to Zion, which was AMAZING. Got some of the iconic shots, like this of the Watchman (FB qual):

Spoiler!

If you look at the bottom right you can see a couple guys who walked out into EVERYONE's shot, on the banks of the river. They're blurry in my shot because it's a long exposure.

I took this shot from a bridge and the entire bridge was shoulder-to-shoulder with photographers.

That's a beautiful shot and belongs on the wall at home. If Photoshop has a place it's removing people from an image so I wouldn't hesitate there. I shot a waterfall once where at a larger size you'd be able to see graffiti on some of the rocks. I removed it. I guess if you're taking the photojournalist approach preserve it all but for me the landscape comes first and I like to pretend people don't exist.

[Final_Rep]

Thanks - agreed re: removing those guys with photoshop. I have no qualms with doing that for landscape photography. I'm of the mind that it's important to be honest with people (inb4 Peter Lik) about what it took to get a shot and what it took to edit it, but for me it's all about trying to represent the scene as you experienced it, which is a subjective thing in itself.

HMU if you're ever in the PNW and want to grab a beer.

[Orlando1234977]

I've come to appreciate how important hobbies are and making time for them. It's too easy to fall into a rut "consuming" instead of being creative. Still taking photos?

That's great. You need to find time to break away from your hectic work schedule.

[Dominik]

Thanks - agreed re: removing those guys with photoshop. I have no qualms with doing that for landscape photography. I'm of the mind that it's important to be honest with people (inb4 Peter Lik) about what it took to get a shot and what it took to edit it, but for me it's all about trying to represent the scene as you experienced it, which is a subjective thing in itself.

I think where it gets tricky is removing something that is a fixture like a part of the landscape whereas people come and go so I'd get rid of them.

As you would have experienced many times in Alaska nothing beats being at a beautiful location without a crowd. With people flooding the same spots thanks to instagram it's getting harder to enjoy it but I have been lucky. Sunrise is typically better than sunset in that regard since fewer people are interested in getting up early and driving and walking around in the dark.

HMU if you're ever in the PNW and want to grab a beer.

Definitely. And if you ever plan another trip one day to NZ let me know.

[GeneralSerpant]

x2 on getting there early.

The water here doesn't usually reflect orange like that. There were some sort of gray haze clouds that day that the sun was tucked right behind on the end that emitted that with that type of vibrance.

Spoiler!

[Dominik]

x2 on getting there early.

The water here doesn't usually reflect orange like that. There were some sort of gray haze clouds that day that the sun was tucked right behind on the end that emitted that with that type of vibrance.

Spoiler!

Good job. It reminds me a bit of the sky here back in November-December when every afternoon it was a deep orange-red. Here are a few from Twitter. It was much worse in other states. It was weird seeing the sun like that.

[GeneralSerpant]

Tends to set a nice contrast for the unaffected scenery, but yeah kind of unsettling like a reverse vanilla sky or something.

[Orlando1234977]

A lot of people don't realize how much of a difference a good set of snow tires makes. Folks will pay the awd premium and then slide around on their "all" seasons.

[GeneralSerpant]

Also extended warranties. What a scam.

[Dominik]

More than 170 U.S. firefighters are in Australia, a country halfway around the world that some of them had never visited. Helping their Aussie counterparts, they have been adjusting to a unique firefighting culture, unusual lingo and landscapes that, while similar in some respects, differ from those of the American West.

“Crazy spiders, man, big spiders the size of your hand. Big ants, bullet ants and jumping jacks, ‘hoppers,’ they call ’em,” said Travis Braten, a U.S. Forest Service firefighter based in Shoshone, Wyo., who was working with the Californians over the weekend. “Some guys have seen snakes. I haven’t seen any, which is just fine with me. Sounds like everything is poisonous.”

Welcome to Australia boyos.

[theshoupguy]

Sweet photos, fellas.

[GeneralSerpant]

I see this on clickbait'ish articles, top 10 things your friends are sick of you posting; sunset/vacation photos. It's like, right, I'll keep doing what I want to do on my own profile, thank you much.

[Final_Rep]

More than 170 U.S. firefighters are in Australia, a country halfway around the world that some of them had never visited. Helping their Aussie counterparts, they have been adjusting to a unique firefighting culture, unusual lingo and landscapes that, while similar in some respects, differ from those of the American West.

“Crazy spiders, man, big spiders the size of your hand. Big ants, bullet ants and jumping jacks, ‘hoppers,’ they call ’em,” said Travis Braten, a U.S. Forest Service firefighter based in Shoshone, Wyo., who was working with the Californians over the weekend. “Some guys have seen snakes. I haven’t seen any, which is just fine with me. Sounds like everything is poisonous.”

Welcome to Australia boyos.

A good friend of mine is a hotshot firefighter, I have a strong suspicion he may be down under right now, or was recently.

That video is hilarious btw.