• j4k3@lemmy.worldOP
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    1 year ago

    So what are you into now? If it is still photography, once upon a time, around 8 years ago I built a makeshift low-light photo studio for a next level eBay attempt at selling high end bike stuff. I did that for a couple of years. Now I’m playing with programming AI, -which is way over my head but super interesting IMO. I also just got back into really cooking a few months ago, and tried my first slow BBQ yesterday 3pm till 1am. Pick your interesting, or monologue away and I will ;)

      • j4k3@lemmy.worldOP
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        1 year ago
        • Why the recent and bitter breakup with tattooing?

        I spent a bit of time painting cars and I’ve done some graphics work on cars and motorcycles. The pressure and difficulties are likely similar. It sucks doing pro auto body repair because your best work, is never acknowledged or recognized as such. Your biggest accomplishment is to be unnoticed.

        • Yeah, the BBQ is outside. I have a lot of learning to do if I am going to reach my goals with that one.

        Okay so I want to try something here, but I don’t care to be weird about it. I tend to be extremely boring when I explain anything technical I have done. I often regret what I send, like ‘why did I need to say all of that.’ When writing I just have a hard time explaining things in a concise way, and I do not explain things often enough to have skill. Anyways…I wrote one of these long boring messages I no doubt would regret, but stopped myself and passed the message through my main LLM prompt asking it to please make me sound more like the person I want to be, which I had to tell it in detail. I still rewrote most of it, but I let it make me more concise and less boring, I think. I really don’t wish to offend you in any way by doing this. I understand the tool fairly well; to the point where I see this as something like a highly advanced spelling and grammar correction device. It has no voice; only the steering of my prompt, and that is me. This is the interest I am actively exploring as well. If you wish, I will not use it again like this. It turned 900 words into 200…which I’m defeating by blabbing on and on about how I’m trying not to blab on and on. So here it goes:

        I had an opportunity to transform a parking garage into a photography studio. Despite some challenges like flooding when it rained, I got creative with black painter’s plastic and an old event tent canvas to create a low-light setup for capturing images. With six 4ft dual-fluorescent hanging-shop-light style fixtures attached to PVC stands and a little bit of color tuning using a Macbeth chart, I was able to produce decent quality photos. I had enough lighting and space separation available to make the background go full black if I dialed it in.

        To sell high-end bikes on eBay, my strategy involved creating 360° photography showcasing every detail of the product and its components. To achieve this, I set up a customized studio with adjustable stands, marks on the floor for positioning, and an overhead key light in a shipping box to avoid camera glare. This approach resulted in higher sales compared to other listings.

        In an effort to automate the photography process, I planned on using a microcontroller with motors to spin the subject in steps and adjustments to the lighting. However, due to dishonest practices by one person in ownership, I left out of principle. Additionally, eBay’s fees were not justifiable for the value provided, making it difficult to maintain a viable business on their platform.