Quantcast
Channel: Oleg Volk
Viewing all 3086 articles
Browse latest View live

The social importance of Personal Defense Weapons


“Last chance to back down!”

And just across the border…

$
0
0

Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. Please leave any comments there.

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 live 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.

A salvaged photo

$
0
0

Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. Please leave any comments there.

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.

Will certain amateur features become professional?

$
0
0

Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. Please leave any comments there.

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?

In her own costume

Composition in sepia

Gremlin latches onto a new person


An actual Moire pattern!

$
0
0

Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. Please leave any comments there.

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!

Pearl string bikini (nsfw)

Coonan autopistol receiver

Special effects by Tirzah

Keeping warm?

Various tints of khaki

Cute vest


Mischevious Molly

Just back from the range

Arran at the range

Orange farm cat

Improving the Sub2000: new on CTD

Viewing all 3086 articles
Browse latest View live