u/Vaugith

I use helicon focus to focus stack groups of 100 raw files, 61MP each, on a windows machine with 32GB RAM. It works really quickly and it's a lot of fun to watch it build the stack.

I think if you want to do this professionally you should raise your budget. If you want to ask to be paid I would recommend a full frame body with dual card slots, cards of course, at least a couple lenses, a flash, stand, softbox, trigger.

Typical workhorse of a portrait shooter in full frame would be a 50 f1.4/f1.2 and/or an 85 f1.4/f1.2. For weddings you would most commonly see a single shooter operating with a two body setup, one glued to a 24-70 f2.8 and the other 70-200 f2.8, switching to the aforementioned portrait lens at the dedicated time set aside for portraits. At least one of these 3 or 4 should have a good close focusing distance for ring shots.

At least one light stand with a decently sized to large softbox/octabox/umbrella and a flash powerful enough to light it up outside (300-400ws) and a compatable trigger.

Thanks for that

We are both talking about the version of the tek at the link I provided there right? Wiki.dmt-nexus.me/Cielo ?

The entire wiki.dmt-nexus.me domain is not accessable to me, and others, for the last few days. That was the version of the tek I was using, is that correct? Searching tells me the wiki. domain is outdated, not maintained, and failing. Wiki domain is giving a "http 500 error" which indicates a server side issue - some kind of site hosting server breakdown or crash. The www.dmt-nexus.me domain is also giving me errors right now that say something about server side connection interrupted. The forum.dmt-nexus.me domain is working fine.

Oh, the not taking it with you factor is a thing for sure. I'm not taking a 24-70 f2.8 with me in my backpack to and from work every day or just out to the market on the weekend. I will absolutely do that with a significantly smaller lens like the 40 G. A lens the size of a 24-70 f2.8 is reserved for when I'm going somewhere that I specifically want to take photos of and I don't mind if people notice me taking photos or where taking photos is normal and expected.

I don't consider it unweildly, though others may. I'm fine with the weight, ergos, balance, size. I've just noticed it is above the size threshold where people notice your camera, want to stop you to talk about it, feel self conscious of you point the camera at them, have so I have some issues with candid photography. I don't have any of these issues when using a smaller lens.

It's fine. What in particular are you wanting to know about it?

Yes, into a suitably sized pot, and filter out organic chunks and add more porous inorganic while you do.

I think Samyang (aka Rokinon) is the only one making an 85 for aps-c - affordable and good but manual. If you are willing to consider aps-c 75mm or 90mm there are options - The viltrox 75mm f1.8 Evo would likely be the pick of the bunch value wise but Sirui and Viltrox also make wider 75s and Viltrox has the 90 f2.2 Evo.

Moving to full frame 85mm options, it's hard to advise you without a budget because there are a lot of options and multiple offerings from each manufacturer that vary in age and therefore quality. Sigma makes some 85 1.4s that rival the Sony GMII. Samyang and meikes 1.4s are really good. In the f1.8 category which are smaller and may make more sense for an aps-c sized body, there are at least 11 different brands offering options all of which are high quality and good, but with varying tradeoffs, but I think the viltrox 85mm f2 EVO would be a leader in terms of value and image quality.

This was asked yesterday and I laid out a pretty well encompassing answer. Scrolling, browsing, searching a little bit before asking is greatly appreciated.

Mostly copy/pasted from that post with modifications for you specifically:

You would dose tea or any other full spectrum extraction based on how much cactus you used in the preparation. Trichocereus cacti can range in potency from about 0.01% mescaline per dried weight to over 5%. Thats a potency range of over 500 times. No one can tell you how potent your marketplace cactus is unless you start from a named known tested cultivar. We can tell you a species average, but if you decide to go with that number you need to prepared to either feel nothing or to blast off. You could ask the person you are getting the cactus from how much to use for one dose if they are psychedelically inclined and open to this discussion, which is likely the easiest way to get the best answer.

Of course we always recommend purchasing known named tested cultivars off of our test results list from r/sanpedrocactusforsale

https://www.reddit.com/r/mescaline/comments/1qqhibs/pdf_of_118_cultivars_ranked_by_potency_using_166/?share_id=mcqU0guBmxgwXFX1bv-Ee&utm_content=2&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_source=share&utm_term=1

This list is based on mescaline citrate per dried weight. In my experience fresh to dry weight ratio is most commonly 5% to 10%.

Eating it raw, blending into a smoothie, any other method where you consume the actual plant material will absolutely give you full effects but also packs the most nausea and body load. There is also some concern about consuming oxalate crystals and potential stone effects.

All further preparation methods are focused on reducing the amount of nasty stuff you have to eat, reducing the body load and nausea by reducing plant material, lipids, and unwanted alkaloids, and accurate dosing only in the case for extractions that have a pure mescaline salt as the end product - Cielo or a/b ONLY.

The most basic preparation is tea. Basically you boil the cactus material for hours until it loses its taste and turns white, then you filter it out. That is all that has to happen, but there are additional optional steps that can be taken that can speed the extraction like freezing or acidifying with lemon or vinegar. Finally the liquid is reduced via boiling down to a small, easier to ingest volume.

The next category of extractions are full spectrum extracts. These minimize the volume and unwanted plant compounds in a low effort way but include most/all of the desirable plant alkaloids, which many people find give a slightly better experience than pure mescaline salts alone. In short, you can put your cactus into water and let it rest in the fridge a few days, or room temp cheap vodka or vinegar. Then you filter out the soilds, reduce, and evaporate the liquid with a food dehydrator or oven on low with the door open and a fan blowing inside, and are left with an extremely sticky and vile resin.

For most accurate dosing with more effort involved, you can do an extraction to a pure mescaline salt, which can be dosed precisely, but requires you to make some equipment and reagent purchases and requires following exact instructions to the letter. If you want to try your hand at a full extraction to mescaline salts, check the full process over here:

https://wiki.dmt-nexus.me/CIELO

Note this link is currently down, check back soon.

If you would like help growing cactus just let me know, I have a guide prepared for that. We also have guides for tea and some of the full spectrum preparations.

For me its culling. The lightroom AI assisted culling features are not good enough for me to rely on them yet. I bet they will be better soon.

I dont typically recommend soaps on cacti if it can be avoided but as a last resort here it may be necessary. Strips away the skins protective coatings.

Depending on the type of scale and where you are located, Imidacloprid may be a solution. Its highly effective on soft scale, though not effective on armored scale, and is restricted in certain states such as CA.

Sometimes, minimalistic text can add value. Its probably too much if its more than a sentence or two in addition to a line about specs such as location, gear, people. But how you present your photos, including the descriptions, can be part of your creative expression. So you dont have to follow rules.

Before you get a sensor cleaning kit first try to use an air blower, then your cameras sensor cleaning function (if it has one) which will vibrate the sensor to try to knock dust loose. If that fails, you can youtube how to use a sensor cleaning kit. Essentially you power up the camera and put it into sensor cleaning mode, put like two drops of fluid on the swab, use one clean swiping motion to swipe the entire sensor, optionally flip the swab and do it again. That should take care of it. I use VSGO swabs (choose the right ones for your sensor size) and eclipse sensor cleaning solution personally and they work but that doesnt mean other brands wont work just as well.

I did not say you could not practice and improve photography without an evf. I said I recommend using an evf to practice and improve photography. These are different statements. If you don't understand how or why an evf would help someone improve their photography over just using a display screen, then I recommend you try using one too.

No, you misunderstand me. I was saying to use only the 26 or only the 40 all day. With the a7crs cropping ability and the high iq of the lens, it's extremely doable. I regularly carry only the 40 alone during a day walking around the city. Some people are very hesitant to jump into using primes in this way, I would encourage you to try it out, but I recognize that I probably won't change your mind.

I have the Sony 24-70 f2.8 GMII. The Sigma 24-70 f2.8 DG DN II art is better in certain ways, worse in other ways, overall similar quality. I have no issue with focal length range, aperture range, packing size, or carrying weight /ergos using the GMII as the single lens I bring for an extended trip or for a single day out. The issue I have with it is the large lens makes taking candid photos and going unnoticed difficult. Even when taking photos of friends and family - people seem to get self conscious around a large lens. So what I tend to do is lean into the dumb tourist stereotype. Just a guy taking your photo with a large lens may be intimidating, but a tourist, in a location where tourists are expected, taking a photo of anything, with any camera, is normal and expected, so people don't even notice.

Well relatively, sure, I mean we are talking about the difference between an inch of vertical growth per column taking a week vs a week and a half. It can be hard to notice on a large plant. But kelp does contain a lot of auxins and that does do something if properly absorbed

Not what you are asking, but I think the Sony 40mm f2.5 G and the Viltrox 26mm f2.8 are worth having for the a7cr. They can be a single lens solution depending on your preference for wide vs a little more standard view, especially when paired with a custom button set to crop mode.

Personally, when I travel I just bite the bullet on size and take the 24-70 f2.8 though.

I dont think the rooting benefits are very pronounced, especially when discussing foliar application. I mostly see its effects manifest as increased pupping.

If you want to see maximum results from foliar application, you need to make sure the solution is still wet on the skin at 1amish when the pores fully open. Foliar spray at 7pm that dries by 10pm wont do a damn thing. Mixing a surfactant such as cocowet helps more evenly distribute it, and mixing in a small amount of humic/fulvic acids can really boost effects though may cause permanant dark staining to skin and may melt blue farina.

There is a middle ground between expensive premium options and cheap crappy options that are better value but work fine. I've heard people like the Zeiss eyeglasses wet wipes, spray, and dry individually packaged microfibers. I have used the k+f and VSGO from Amazon and think I prefer the VSGO slightly - seem to handle smudges a little better. I havent tried a shitload of different brands or anything but these were all recommended.

For the sensor cleaner I chose VSGO swabs and eclipse sensor cleaning fluid based on research and reviews.

I think weekly is appropriate. I used to use kelp all the time, but found excessive pupping to become an issue - too many simultaneous growth points will reduce girth of the central column and slow the vertical growth of all columns. Nowadays I aim to keep each plant in a pot at about 3 or 4 active growth points max. This may not apply to plants in ground with more established root systems. Anyway, nowadays I reserve applying kelp to plants that I want to pup or don't mind if they pop out additional pups.

Dual card slots mostly. I can use a 70-200 class lens fine on my a7cr. But also the features of full size body including the ergos, larger resolution rear screen and evf, joystick, additional custom buttons all of these features do lend themselves to a more productive workflow in a professional environment and other pros would recognize the compromise you made in a compact body. Compacts are hobbiest models and other pros know that. Good to give a good impression if working as a second shooter.

This post is about the Sony 100mm macro.

I would recommend using a lens hood to prevent bumping the front lens element into anything or accidentally touching it. I would only recommend a UV filter if you are in a situation where stuff is airborne and might hit the front element - very dusty environments, blowing sand, maybe in rain or snow if you want to baby the lens. If you use a UV filter and you want image quality you'll want a high quality UV filter - I recommend Tiffen or Hoya.

Touch and clean lens elements and sensors the least amount required to maintain clear photos. Always keep sensor and rear elements closed/covered as much as you can. Use an air blower to remove dust any time you see it. If the blower doesn't remove it, before taking further action take a test photo of a white surface with aperture stopped all the way down and focus close- if you don't see anything it's fine to leave alone for now, but if you see specs or smudges it needs further cleaning. Step 1 on lenses is a lens pen brush, then blow off again. If that doesn't get it, the next step is to use one of the sealed microfiber cloths lightly wet with some lens cleaning spray. I would be cautious about using cloths dry or about rubbing dust/dirt into the lens - wipe off well with one side, then use the other side or a clean cloth to polish out smudges.

If the front and rear lens elements are clean and you still have stuff visible with the white photo test it could be a dirty sensor. Try taking a photo as before of a bright white surface but with no lens attached (may need to toggle "release shutter with no lens" setting) and look for specs and smudges in the photo. If you determine there is dust or a smudge on the sensor causing visible issues in photos that the air blower won't remove, you should get the correct sized sensor cleaning swab and dedicated sensor cleaning fluid. Turn the camera on and put it in sensor cleaning mode. Two drops of fluid on the tip of the swab. One clean swipe across the sensor. Cover it and be done.