| Smoke and Ink |
[Jan. 5th, 2010|11:04 pm] |
More from Sunday's photo session. Backlit smoke against a black background looks so cool. :-)
Lighting Info: Main light: speedlight through an umbrella softbox, camera left. Fill, speedlight through a Softliter II, camera right. Rim light, speedlight through a snoot, attached to background support by a Justin Clamp. Lights triggered via a combo of radio and optical slaves. |
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| an inspiring family. |
[Jan. 5th, 2010|05:15 pm] |
I shot this family, and aside from being "cute" they are truly inspiring.
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| from your mod |
[Jan. 5th, 2010|06:07 pm] |
Hey folks,
Sorry about the return of the Big Pierced Nipple tonight. I deleted it yesterday w/ a warning to the poster. This time the poster got a warning in Russian and English. I should have checked the first time to see where they were posting from & sent the appropriate note. But let this be a reminder to us all that before you post anywhere, it's a good idea to check the /info page of that community.
Your friendly neighborhood moderator,
Kyle |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 5th, 2010|02:09 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | California | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  optimistic | ] |
okay so i just got my own camera a fujifilm finepixZ will try to work retail to earn herself a Digital SLR and i took some good shots with the camera, however i was hoping to get some advice like last time
( more!? )
thank you for your time |
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| cold |
[Jan. 5th, 2010|04:08 pm] |
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| Red Mage Merits! |
[Jan. 5th, 2010|07:15 am] |
How one chooses to distribute their merit points as a RDM is a very opinionated subject and of course I carry my own opinions for various reasons of which I will explain.
First, some of the setups will be situationally better than others considering grouping or solo and the type of mobs being fought or type of event you are taking part in. Considering all of these variables is important when considering merit point distribution.
Category 1
(My choice)
Convert - 5
Ice Acc - 5
If there were options aside from magical accuracy I might not even merit those at all. Considering 3 Enfeebling skill or 6 Int = 3 Macc to ALL elements and one can quite easily obtain a healthy enfeebling magic skill and magic acc ( a general magic accuracy which also includes all elements) I don't think there's a whole lot of value in the magic accuracy of one element, even if you can choose one rdm benefits the most from. At the skill/gear level my rdm was, the only time I would ever resist was on an intrinsically resistant mob or on a mob which has built up a resistance through the repeated use of an enfeeble over time. A tiny amount more (1-2% with maxed 5/5 macc merits) is almost never going to determine a resist once max geared as a rdm.
Convert on the other hand is one of the abilities that defines the rdm job. 5 merits takes over 20% off of the recast timer, which is a considerable amount. Basically could be thought of as an ability which would make spells cost 20% less mana, which im sure quite a few people would be interested in.
For these reasons, I highly suggest 5/5 convert merits and then do whatever you want with the Macc merits. 5/5 Ice is fine. 2 wind, 2 ice, 1 earth is fine. 5/5 Lightning if you like nuking as high as possible. (Since rdm nuking actually does require a good amount of Macc and this would make more of a difference, it wouldn't be a horrible idea.. though I'd probably stick to the 5/5 Ice since that effects para, bind and blizzard. Another case for the 5/5 Ice is that more mind could be added to your paralyze macro and less enfeebling/macc gear required for success rate.
Category 2
There is a LOT of good choices here and my choice sometimes varies day by day, so I will list 3-4 choices of which I think are all great on any given day. I'll go over what I think of each merit first.
Bio 3 - As I've stated in this livejournal before, where many consider Bio only for its damage over time properties, I tend to think of it more for it's attack reduction. When blood tanking or trying to take the least physical damage possible, Bio 3 reduces enemy attack 15% versus Bio 2's 10%. Just the opposite of Dia. Now, I still max my dark skill so that Bio 3 will reduce 8 dmg/tick, but any reasonably geared blm's bio 2 will also reduce 8 dmg/tick (291+ dark skill). If you can somehow get your dark skill as a Rdm to 251, you can reduce 9 dmg/tick, but I believe this requires dark magic skill merits (never looked into getting it that high, just know it wasn't possible with gear alone when I focused merits here.) Considering the high MP cost of bio 3 (54 MP), I would not suggest meriting this without at least 3-4 merits.
Dia 3 - One of the best merits available period, especially considering more and more fights are moving to zerg style battles. This is more of an HNM / group type merit in general, since it benefits parties and alliances in general more than the Rdm using it. It reduces mobs defense an additional 5% beyond Dia 2 to a total of 15%. Dia 3 stacks with other Defense down techniques such as angon and acid bolts. When used on high defense mobs where the attack curve is the sharpest the difference can really be seen. (ie. Kirin) Sometimes adding as much as 15% damage (sometimes even seemed like more) to each of my shots/weapon skills as a ranger.
Phalanx 2 - Another amazing merit, especially in salvage. Many groups, including my own, prioritize the Rdm to recieve the first magic cell and almost always require that rdm to have phalanx 2. Combined with protect IV and early floor salvage mobs are hitting for 0 damage half the time. This spell is also useful teamed with Bio 3 in reducing the most possible physical damage to a tank and especially useful on encounters where shadows can't keep up (ie. hundred fists / chigoes / etc)
Slow 2 - Get yourself 5 of these babies and you're... still not nearly as good as a carnage elegy, but you're getting kinda close! 5 slow II merits can net a 39% slowing of the enemy if you have enough mind equipped over your targets. Now the percentages for this spell are somewhat odd, so only certain combinations are suggested. (2 Merits in slow II shows hardly any gain over 1 merit). I typically suggest 1, 3, or 5)
Paralyze 2 - This is probably the biggest controversy amongst available tier 2 merits. Some people love it and some people, such as myself, think it's rather useless. I've had merits here before (as many as 3) and noticed little to no potency benefits. Considering I'm rarely resisted on paralyze 1 and the duration didn't seem any better on Para 2, I see little reason to spend the MP (not to mention the merit points) on this spell.
Blind 2 - Pretty universally thought of as the most useless tier 2 merit. Unless your rdm play consists of duoing with a thief or evasion ninja, I don't suggest putting merits into this spell.
Combination suggestions for Category 2
Solo - If your rdm play consists of primarily soloing and playing primarily ninja sub I suggest..
Bio 3 - 5/5
Slow 2 - 5/5
Solo/Grouping - If you do a good amount of soloing but also would like to benefit your group in multiple aspects I suggest...
Bio 3 - 4/5
Slow 2 - 1/5
Dia 2 - 2/5
Phalanx 2 - 3/5
(This was my personal merit choice)
Other good Solo/Group options
Slow 2 - 5/5
Phalanx 2 - 3/5
Dia 2 - 2/5
Slow 2 - 3/5
Phalanx 2 - 3/5
Dia 2 - 4/5
(This would be my personal second choice, if I didn't choose to merit Bio 3)
Things to consider
No matter how many merits you have on dia, the MP cost is the same. In many cases I suggested only 2 merits, which is not extremely MP efficient. The though process behind this is many of the fights Dia 3 will be extremely important in will be zerg style fights where MP is not an issue at all. 4 Merits in Dia puts it at the same duration as Dia 2 - 2 minutes.
Cycling with other spells - 2 Merits on phalanx 2 and you have a 2.5 minute duration which is the same as refresh. Therefor you can cycle your phalanx 2 at the same time as your refresh on group members to make it more convenient. 3 Merits is a 3 minute duration which is equivalent to haste duration and can be cycled with haste. I prefer to cycle with haste, since those requiring haste often require phalanx 2 as well. (Though many require refresh too.. damn pld/nin's and nin/drk's....)
Don't Forget
Bio 3 - Dark Magic skill is still required to reach the maximum DOT damage. The formula is different than Bio 2. Additional merits only affect duration.
- Bio III Damage vs Skill/Number of Bio III Merits
| Dark Magic Skill | ??? ~ 210 | 211 ~ 250 | 251 ~ ??? | | Damage | 7/tic | 8/tic | 9/tic | | Total dmg, 1 Merit | 70 | 80 | 90 | | Total dmg, 2 Merit | 140 | 160 | 180 | | Total dmg, 3 Merit | 210 | 240 | 270 | | Total dmg, 4 Merit | 280 | 320 | 360 | | Total dmg, 5 Merit | 350 | 400 | 450 |
Phalanx II - Your enhancing skill affects the amount of damage your target reduces but on a different formula than your personal phalanx. Additional merits affect both duration and amount reduced.
Damage absorbed chart | Enhancing magic skill | 1 merit
(2 minutes) | 2 merits
(2.5 minutes) | 3 merits
(3 minutes) | 4 merits
(3.5 minutes) | 5 merits
(4 minutes) | | 250-274 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 23 | 26 | | 275-299 | 15 | 18 | 21 | 24 | 27 | | 300-324 | 16 | 19 | 22 | 25 | 28 | | 325+ | 17 | 20 | 23 | 26 | 29 |
Slow / Para II - Maximum Mind is still required to hit the available cap. Potency and Accuracy is increased with additional merits, but require the correct amount of mind above your targets mind in order to achieve the capped percentage.
That's the gist of my opinions on tier 2 merits for rdm! |
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| После 20-00. |
[Jan. 5th, 2010|12:44 pm] |
Мой первый опыт вечерних съёмок.Хотелось бы услышать критику по поводу работы.На фото Дубненский городской парк.EXIF:f/6.3,выдержка 30 сек,исо 100,17 мм.Режим приоритет диафрагмы.Камера Canon EOS 50D.
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| Playland |
[Jan. 4th, 2010|11:39 pm] |
 Playland
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| Portrait |
[Jan. 4th, 2010|11:07 pm] |
Lighting: Main light: speedlight through an umbrella softbox, camera left. Fill, speedlight through a Softliter II, camera right. Rim light, speedlight through a snoot, attached to background support by a Justin Clamp. Lights triggered via a combo of radio and optical slaves.
Did the whole shoot with my 50 f/1.8. Been a while since I didn't change lenses or focal lengths during a people shoot. |
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