Improving the Sub2000: new on CTD

How to take this carbine and maker it even better: customizing the Sub2000

Posted in rifle | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Orange farm cat

Posted in beast | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Arran at the range

Perfect range weather today: about 50*F and overcast, with no wind.

Posted in rifle | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Arran at the range

Just back from the range

Leader 50 is finally in production at Micor but we played with the prototype.

Nightforce 12-42×46 scope in American Defense QD mount.

Posted in rifle | Tagged , , , , | 17 Comments

Mischevious Molly

Minute of Angle

Posted in interesting people | Tagged , | 7 Comments

New on CTD: Marking the Boundaries of Your Personal Space

Read it there — with new illustrations.

Posted in pistol, self-defense, training | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Cute vest

Posted in interesting people | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Various tints of khaki

Posted in interesting people | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Keeping warm?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Special effects by Tirzah

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Coonan autopistol receiver

A photo from my last factory visit.

Coonan

Posted in pistol | Tagged | 4 Comments

Pearl string bikini (nsfw)

Continue reading

Posted in nude | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

An actual Moire pattern!

Here’s something I don’t see often, a Moire pattern on clothing. The preview shows it a little, click to enlarge for a really bad case. No more of this shirt for photo shoots!

Posted in interesting people | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Gremlin latches onto a new person

Posted in beast, interesting people, pet | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Composition in sepia

Rifle | pistol | holster

Posted in holster, interesting people, pistol, rifle, self-defense, weapon | Tagged , , , , , | 14 Comments

Old photos, new edits (now with pictures showing)

A year and a half ago, I took photos which then sat unused because I wasn’t sure how to edit them. Finally had an idea, so here they are.

(Server migration didn’t go smoothly, but it’s all good now.)

Don’t worry, she’s got better since then.

Posted in interesting people | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

In her own costume

Fashion designer Leah D’Andrea

Может она реальный прототип “белых колготок“?

Posted in interesting people, rifle | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Will certain amateur features become professional?

Professionals thrive on feedback. An amateur can shoot at a deer and know he hit the right spot if that deer falls down. If the scope is zeroed right and the amount of compensation was correct, if the rifle has adequate accuracy for the range, the deer will fall. If not, the hunter can try again or go to lunch to a restaurant.

A professional dealing with a variety of targets, from deer to enemy soldiers to dinosaurs escaped from secret labs would more likely use a machine gun with tracers to adjust aim by observation of previous shots. That way the exact sight adjustment can be imperfect but the results would still be good enough and more reliably obtained.

By that logic, studio professionals have used Polaroids for decades. If, despite their best efforts, the lighting or other factors were not perfect, the pros could refine their aim with successive “instant” captures before proceeding onto regular film. Think “ranging machine gun coaxial to tank cannon” approach.

With cameras, we see a curious inversion of this principle. Currently, professional cameras use phase detection auto focus and amateur cameras use contrast detection auto focus. Phase detection is faster and a bit more reliable in low light, while contrast detection is more precise. That’s because DSLR focusing is conducted by a separate system which is calibrated at the time of construction but generally not updated once the camera is in use. The imperfections and eventual changes in calibration wouldn’t even be noticed until the photos are reviewed under higher magnification, at least with conventional lenses. With pro grade large aperture lenses for low light and nature photography, the margin for error is tiny due to the minimal depth of field. This is where contrast detection from the sensor could theoretically shine — that system provided incremental feedback directly from the final image.

At this time, contrast detection isn’t perfect or even good enough under certain circumstances (such as low light or fast subject movement), but the on-going improvements make me wonder if video viewfinders, the traditionally amateur feature, wouldn’t become common on pro cameras before long. After all, they are standard on the extremely expensive video cameras and that doesn’t surprise anybody.

If phase detection is superior in principle, I wonder if AF calibration can be incorporated into the start-up routine for every serious camera. Somehow, the concept of serious equipment with one of its most important functions on an open loop without internal feedback from the result seems like a stop-gap solution to me. Am I missing some technical reason why phase detection AF is here to stay?

Posted in civil rights | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

A salvaged photo

Did a test photo with a model who just couldn’t interact with the camera. Since she wants to do runway, she might get away without acting ability. I try to provide at least one usable image per photo session no matter what the circumstances.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 5 Comments

And just across the border…

A Californian living on the border with Arizona, Nevada or Oregon cannot legally buy a modern defensive rifle like an FAL or an AR15. His neighbors living just across the state lines in all the neighboring states can. Either Californians are all terribly untrustworthy, criminal and murderous or they are merely less free than their neighbors. Because criminals are already prohibited from buying or owning guns under federal law, so all the restrictions are on the law-abiding people who are not felons.

A resident of Illinois can look at the neighbors a few steps over the border with any neighboring state and know that they are able to carry sidearms legally. Either Illinoisans are all terribly untrustworthy, criminal and murderous or they are merely less free than their neighbors.

A person moving from New Jersey to the neighboring Pennsylvania pays lower taxes and gets so many civil rights back that the move feels like emigrating from the USSR.  So we can safely conclude that residents of New Jersey are less free than their Western neighbors.

Having seen first-hand how much effort, time and risk my parents wagered on getting our family out of the USSR, I am at a loss why so few leave the oppressive, restrictive and overtaxed jurisdictions when the effort required to move is so much less. On the plus side, most people who leave have more initiative and marketable skills than average, and so improve their new residences while their old locations decline further and further. The increase in geographic stratification is beginning to show, and hopefully illustrates why being more free is better than being less free.

Posted in civil rights, rkba | Tagged , , , , , , | 24 Comments