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I'm an enthusiast amateur and this thread is inspiring for what may be possible with the nearly 1000 RAW pictures stored in my Sony A7C from the euro trip I'm currently on.
I always wanted to document my travels better, and really hoping to learn some post skills along with mastering the controls on my camera during this trip. There's going to be a significant increase in quality from the first pic I snapped to the the last. Thanks for the inspiration. |
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Originally Posted By JustinHEMI04: I'm an enthusiast amateur and this thread is inspiring for what may be possible with the nearly 1000 RAW pictures stored in my Sony A7C from the euro trip I'm currently on. I always wanted to document my travels better, and really hoping to learn some post skills along with mastering the controls on my camera during this trip. There's going to be a significant increase in quality from the first pic I snapped to the the last. Thanks for the inspiration. View Quote Practice makes perfect. For an exceptionally extreme example of skillset increase, consider this very early shot I took of the moon, many years ago: DSC_1370 by FredMan, on Flickr I mean, frankly, that sucks ass. I only keep it around as an example of how poor my skills were when i first started really getting interested in photography. Now, I can produce this without even trying. The moon, for me, is a closed subject (usually), becasue there's nothing there to challenge me any more. Moon 20190611 by FredMan, on Flickr Part of it is gear, and part of it is knowing how to run the camera. |
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GD is like putting on crampons and walking through a room full of puppies.
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Originally Posted By FredMan: Practice makes perfect. For an exceptionally extreme example of skillset increase, consider this very early shot I took of the moon, many years ago: https://live.staticflickr.com/773/32098600401_d9a15f8e38_b.jpgDSC_1370 by FredMan, on Flickr I mean, frankly, that sucks ass. I only keep it around as an example of how poor my skills were when i first started really getting interested in photography. Now, I can produce this without even trying. The moon, for me, is a closed subject (usually), becasue there's nothing there to challenge me any more. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48046881586_1dbd520a28_b.jpgMoon 20190611 by FredMan, on Flickr Part of it is gear, and part of it is knowing how to run the camera. View Quote I would say that yes practice, practice, practice, however I am guessing there are a lot more dollars invested to produce the second picture. And of course gear is not cheap but worth the investment as seen in your comparison. |
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Originally Posted By resteva: I would say that yes practice, practice, practice, however I am guessing there are a lot more dollars invested to produce the second picture. And of course gear is not cheap but worth the investment as seen in your comparison. View Quote Yeah, the first was a D50 and the kit 18-55 lens, the second was a D500 and the Tamron 150-600. A cost differential of about 8x. |
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GD is like putting on crampons and walking through a room full of puppies.
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Originally Posted By FredMan: Yeah, the first was a D50 and the kit 18-55 lens, the second was a D500 and the Tamron 150-600. A cost differential of about 8x. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Originally Posted By FredMan: Originally Posted By resteva: I would say that yes practice, practice, practice, however I am guessing there are a lot more dollars invested to produce the second picture. And of course gear is not cheap but worth the investment as seen in your comparison. Yeah, the first was a D50 and the kit 18-55 lens, the second was a D500 and the Tamron 150-600. A cost differential of about 8x. Nice capture, to most shooting the moon is difficult. |
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Originally Posted By resteva: Nice capture, to most shooting the moon is difficult. View Quote I find that so odd. The moon is easy to shoot; it’s a pretty bright object. I think people get hung up on the whole night thing and overthink it. To my way of thinking if you can shoot a lamp you can shoot the moon. |
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GD is like putting on crampons and walking through a room full of puppies.
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Originally Posted By FredMan: I find that so odd. The moon is easy to shoot; it's a pretty bright object. I think people get hung up on the whole night thing and overthink it. To my way of thinking if you can shoot a lamp you can shoot the moon. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Originally Posted By FredMan: Originally Posted By resteva: Nice capture, to most shooting the moon is difficult. I find that so odd. The moon is easy to shoot; it's a pretty bright object. I think people get hung up on the whole night thing and overthink it. To my way of thinking if you can shoot a lamp you can shoot the moon. I read somewhere that the moon is just reflected sunlight, so a good starting place is a bright sunny outdoors exposure. |
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Attached File
Attached File It's amazing how much detail can be extracted from modern sensors (even ones 3-4 years old) - if one shoots in raw. |
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The power of raw and ETTR...
It's hard to believe this image has not one single blown out highlight. Attached File See? Attached File |
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Originally Posted By tknogeek: The power of raw and ETTR... It's hard to believe this image has not one single blown out highlight. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/216762/Tabor_20210924_131503_jpg-2120776.JPG See? https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/216762/Tabor_20210924_131503-2_jpg-2120778.JPG View Quote Preach it, Brother! |
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GD is like putting on crampons and walking through a room full of puppies.
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Originally Posted By FredMan: I find that so odd. The moon is easy to shoot; it’s a pretty bright object. I think people get hung up on the whole night thing and overthink it. To my way of thinking if you can shoot a lamp you can shoot the moon. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Originally Posted By FredMan: Originally Posted By resteva: Nice capture, to most shooting the moon is difficult. I find that so odd. The moon is easy to shoot; it’s a pretty bright object. I think people get hung up on the whole night thing and overthink it. To my way of thinking if you can shoot a lamp you can shoot the moon. Exactly this. |
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Originally Posted By L_JE: I probably did this first edit in a bar in Jackson. Just enough to know that my concept for the image would work. Or, possibly at the breakfast counter at a place in West Yellowstone. Can't really recall. Definitely done with the .jpg files because my little laptop just isn't cut out for this stuff. https://photos.smugmug.com/Climbing-Outings/20210826-West/i-s3MhvL5/1/452d7fc9/X3/9920CompB1%20-%204128-X3.jpg I revisited this image, and worked it from the ground up with the .NEF files this time. https://photos.smugmug.com/Climbing-Outings/20210826-West/i-jW33Vjv/0/b9b98693/X3/DSC_9920A%2B001-247NEF-067pct%20B%20-%204128-X3.jpg View Quote That really brings out the colors of stars in the night sky. |
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GD is like putting on crampons and walking through a room full of puppies.
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Originally Posted By L_JE: I probably did this first edit in a bar in Jackson. Just enough to know that my concept for the image would work. Or, possibly at the breakfast counter at a place in West Yellowstone. Can't really recall. Definitely done with the .jpg files because my little laptop just isn't cut out for this stuff. https://photos.smugmug.com/Climbing-Outings/20210826-West/i-s3MhvL5/1/452d7fc9/X3/9920CompB1%20-%204128-X3.jpg I revisited this image, and worked it from the ground up with the .NEF files this time. https://photos.smugmug.com/Climbing-Outings/20210826-West/i-jW33Vjv/0/b9b98693/X3/DSC_9920A%2B001-247NEF-067pct%20B%20-%204128-X3.jpg View Quote That second one is amazing. What is the foreground which looks like a tornado or some cloud bank on the ground? Looks awesome with a lot of colors to stars rather than bluish to white streaks. |
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The person who complains most, and is the most critical of others has the most to hide.
All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. |
Originally Posted By brass: That second one is amazing. What is the foreground which looks like a tornado or some cloud bank on the ground? Looks awesome with a lot of colors to stars rather than bluish to white streaks. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Originally Posted By brass: Originally Posted By L_JE: I probably did this first edit in a bar in Jackson. Just enough to know that my concept for the image would work. Or, possibly at the breakfast counter at a place in West Yellowstone. Can't really recall. Definitely done with the .jpg files because my little laptop just isn't cut out for this stuff. https://photos.smugmug.com/Climbing-Outings/20210826-West/i-s3MhvL5/1/452d7fc9/X3/9920CompB1%20-%204128-X3.jpg I revisited this image, and worked it from the ground up with the .NEF files this time. https://photos.smugmug.com/Climbing-Outings/20210826-West/i-jW33Vjv/0/b9b98693/X3/DSC_9920A%2B001-247NEF-067pct%20B%20-%204128-X3.jpg That second one is amazing. What is the foreground which looks like a tornado or some cloud bank on the ground? Looks awesome with a lot of colors to stars rather than bluish to white streaks. The neon blue streaks to the immediate right of the Old Faithful plume are part of the Big Dipper. And that's where I'd expect pushback from someone looking at this image. And I welcome the pushback of somebody saying those stars aren't like that. Because, it's at this point where I'm just going to say to step outside and really give that constellation a good, long look under good conditions. Yes, there are some stars in the Big Dipper that are noticeably bluer than the others in that constellation, and that's what I've brought out in this image. And, I brought up all the stars together, not playing favorites. So, if there are some odd colors in there, I like to go into Stellarium, et al, and see if I can find the particular star. Every time I do this, it seems I learn something new about what's up in the sky. To get this look, it involves going into the raw files, and dropping the levels way down and saturating the remaining highlights and then either bringing those highlights back up as a "lighten" layer, or possibly using them as a "screen" layer if the sky was dark enough. No, you don't see this. Not in one single moment, anyway. But, in the collection of moments that you've sat there, in that time that everyone else with half a brain walked away, went inside, and got out of the cold, these sweeps are what you're watching. It's those hours of sitting there, by yourself, yeah imaging having Old Faithful to yourself, that's what you remember. It's hours. |
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I rented a Z7ii to take on an upcoming trip. The goal is to compare the second generation Nikon mirrorless with my D850 to see whether I think the third generation will be good enough to spend the coin on a new primary camera (and demote the D850 to second camera status).
Here's a shot exposed at +2.7 EV (exposed on the brightest section of the sky). Attached File Here we can see the level of cloud detail available. (Note that this is not how I'd process this image for reals, but my goal was to see how far I could push the EV on the highlights of a scene.) Attached File I'll do more experimentation before my trip but, based on today's testing, I'll likely end up using +2.0 EV for my trip. Meanwhile, I'm not sure how I should interpret the results of this experiment. Is the camera intentionally pulling down the exposure? I'll grant that the early test shots I took at +0.0 EV are typically dark and even Lightroom's "auto develop" pulled the exposure up on most of them by over a full stop. Or is my experiment demonstrating that this sensor really can be pushed to ~+2.0 EV - especially for wide dynamic range scenes? |
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When the hammer drops, the BS stops!
Support the Heller Foundation! www.hellerfoundation.com |
Originally Posted By tknogeek: https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/216762/Tabor_20210917_153253_raw_jpg-2109423.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/216762/Tabor_20210917_153253_jpg-2109424.JPG It's amazing how much detail can be extracted from modern sensors (even ones 3-4 years old) - if one shoots in raw. View Quote lol @tknogeek Alamo Wall OOC by FredMan, on Flickr Alamo Wall by FredMan, on Flickr |
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GD is like putting on crampons and walking through a room full of puppies.
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Originally Posted By FredMan: lol @tknogeek https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52348739270_d03b1db521_b.jpgAlamo Wall OOC by FredMan, on Flickr https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52348562383_f04ec889d6_b.jpgAlamo Wall by FredMan, on Flickr View Quote |
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"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the boogaloo, whose face is marred by pixels and ink and cheetos.”,
Teddy the Toad, (w,stte), "The Derpmen" |
Originally Posted By doc_Zox: https://petapixel.com/2013/09/12/marked-photographs-show-iconic-prints-edited-darkroom/ https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/3097/13C86D50-4308-4EE8-ADE8-80B920B9E9E6-2523062.jpg View Quote Dodge and Burn.... Aside from cutting/splicing, the continually expanding number and spectrum of Photo editing effects is mind blowing, standing on the shoulders of giants. I remember playing with Photoshop 5 (like the version 5, Might have been 3 or 4, it was really cheap back then with their upgrade tracks) in the 90s and trying to crop somebody back into a picture. I'd nudge it over a couple pixels and wait a bit then it'd refresh and show it with the little ants marching around, then there was the laggy stamp tool (Everything was laggy when working on a picture bigger than 1024 pixels on a side) and you had to do the Gaussian fuzz to get the snip to fit after exposure matching. Today it can be done nearly automatically and it is instant. Then there was the difference between what you came out with in Photoshop to see what the Photo shop would mangle it into when making a new print. Color Correction has changed all that with everybody having access to Hollywood Studio display color matching for under 4 digits now. |
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The person who complains most, and is the most critical of others has the most to hide.
All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. |
I taught Photoshop for a classroom of picture editors back in 92-3
I was using Silicon Beach Digital Darkroom at the time and I spent the weekend learning photoshop Photoshop: The First Demo | Adobe Photoshop |
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"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the boogaloo, whose face is marred by pixels and ink and cheetos.”,
Teddy the Toad, (w,stte), "The Derpmen" |
Originally Posted By doc_Zox: https://petapixel.com/2013/09/12/marked-photographs-show-iconic-prints-edited-darkroom/ https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/3097/13C86D50-4308-4EE8-ADE8-80B920B9E9E6-2523062.jpg View Quote |
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Originally Posted By keiswa: Some infrared examples: 720 nanometers, straight out of camera, and after processing https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-HDzW53X/0/11bc2be3/XL/i-HDzW53X-XL.jpg https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-JFTMSmD/0/6db6eb49/XL/i-JFTMSmD-XL.jpg 590 nanometers, straight out of camera, and after processing https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-SBvd536/0/c3c2305e/XL/i-SBvd536-XL.jpg https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-6xSNGxQ/0/fdc72cec/XL/i-6xSNGxQ-XL.jpg 470 nanometers, straight out of camera, and after processing https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-mBkvQpC/0/b37cc11b/XL/i-mBkvQpC-XL.jpg https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-3WwGFZh/0/a14cfbab/XL/i-3WwGFZh-XL.jpg View Quote @keiswa What is your camera and filters? How tight of notch at 720? The Astrophotography guys having a notch pass of a few nm or a little more wiggle room than that? Modified DSLR camera or a monochrome custom? |
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The person who complains most, and is the most critical of others has the most to hide.
All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. |
Originally Posted By brass: @keiswa What is your camera and filters? How tight of notch at 720? The Astrophotography guys having a notch pass of a few nm or a little more wiggle room than that? Modified DSLR camera or a monochrome custom? View Quote For the 720nm, I purchased a new, converted Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS8 from Kolari Vision. I don't know the size of the pass and I don't recall seeing that referenced on their website. The 590nm is my Canon 7D I had converted by Life Pixel and the 470nm is my Canon 50D also converted by Life Pixel. Both are DSLRs. |
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Originally Posted By keiswa: For the 720nm, I purchased a new, converted Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS8 from Kolari Vision. I don't know the size of the pass and I don't recall seeing that referenced on their website. The 590nm is my Canon 7D I had converted by Life Pixel and the 470nm is my Canon 50D also converted by Life Pixel. Both are DSLRs. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Originally Posted By keiswa: Originally Posted By brass: @keiswa What is your camera and filters? How tight of notch at 720? The Astrophotography guys having a notch pass of a few nm or a little more wiggle room than that? Modified DSLR camera or a monochrome custom? For the 720nm, I purchased a new, converted Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS8 from Kolari Vision. I don't know the size of the pass and I don't recall seeing that referenced on their website. The 590nm is my Canon 7D I had converted by Life Pixel and the 470nm is my Canon 50D also converted by Life Pixel. Both are DSLRs. Can you still use the 7D and 50D for regular photography if you add an IR filter to the lens, or is it the UV conversion that makes them not usable for "normal" photography again? |
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The person who complains most, and is the most critical of others has the most to hide.
All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. |
Originally Posted By brass: Can you still use the 7D and 50D for regular photography if you add an IR filter to the lens, or is it the UV conversion that makes them not usable for "normal" photography again? View Quote Yes. My two DSLRS were converted, and conversions are permanent, involving the sensor. However, there are various IR filters that can be screwed onto a lens on a "regular" DSLR. May or may not give IR results as good and a converted camera, and this usually involves long exposures and the use of a tripod....IIRC. |
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Resurrection! You can pull a lot out of raw with a little effort.
Schwartzman Premerch OOC by FredMan, on Flickr Schwartzman Premerch by FredMan, on Flickr |
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GD is like putting on crampons and walking through a room full of puppies.
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Attached File
Straight out of camera Attached File After edit to mimic the way it appeared in the woods. (It was a heavy overcast morning.) Attached File I'll also throw in a comment about ISO. This image was shot at ISO 10,000. Modern processing tools are good enough that there is no need to fear high ISO values. |
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A few before and after shots from my works.
Attached File Attached File Attached File Attached File Attached File |
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When the hammer drops, the BS stops!
Support the Heller Foundation! www.hellerfoundation.com |
@tknogeek, what are you using for NR? I’ve been using the built in LR tool, but I’ve heard good things about the DxO plug-ins.
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GD is like putting on crampons and walking through a room full of puppies.
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Originally Posted By FredMan: @tknogeek, what are you using for NR? I've been using the built in LR tool, but I've heard good things about the DxO plug-ins. View Quote |
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Originally Posted By tknogeek: My go-to tool these days is DXO PureRaw 3. For me, it does a far[/i] better job than LR. I still use Topaz DeNoise AI periodically, but PureRaw usually works better for me. View Quote Copy that. LR is not bad, necessarily, but I've seen some examples from DxO that blow my mind. |
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GD is like putting on crampons and walking through a room full of puppies.
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Originally Posted By @FredMan: Copy that. LR is not bad, necessarily, but I've seen some examples from DxO that blow my mind. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Originally Posted By @FredMan: Originally Posted By tknogeek: My go-to tool these days is DXO PureRaw 3. For me, it does a far[/i] better job than LR. I still use Topaz DeNoise AI periodically, but PureRaw usually works better for me. Copy that. LR is not bad, necessarily, but I've seen some examples from DxO that blow my mind. I just may have a new go-to option. LR's new denoise enhancement is very impressive. |
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GD is like putting on crampons and walking through a room full of puppies.
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Subtle, but effective
Compton Oak OOC by FredMan, on Flickr Compton Oak by FredMan, on Flickr Colonial Courthouse OOC by FredMan, on Flickr Colonial Courthouse by FredMan, on Flickr |
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GD is like putting on crampons and walking through a room full of puppies.
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36 Inch CBO Selfie OOC by FredMan, on Flickr
36 Inch CBO Selfie by FredMan, on Flickr Now here's the really cool thing. LR's new AI Denoise is nothing short of phenomenal. This is after using manual NR within LR 36 Inch CBO Selfie Noise Detail by FredMan, on Flickr And the Denoise feature 36 Inch CBO Selfie Noise Detail by FredMan, on Flickr |
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GD is like putting on crampons and walking through a room full of puppies.
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Originally Posted By FredMan: Now here's the really cool thing. LR's new AI Denoise is nothing short of phenomenal. View Quote I haven't opened DXO PureRaw for processing images since LR's update. __________ I had a little fun with this scene I found in Cuyahoga Valley National Park (Ledges Trail). Original: Attached File Fun version: |
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Originally Posted By FredMan: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52904120848_58a7a9e713_h.jpg36 Inch CBO Selfie Noise Detail by FredMan, on Flickr And the Denoise feature https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52903831714_e19b5f6f23_h.jpg36 Inch CBO Selfie Noise Detail by FredMan, on Flickr View Quote That is nothing short of amazing! Is it a slow process or is it done on an online server type cloud system? |
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The person who complains most, and is the most critical of others has the most to hide.
All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. |
GD is like putting on crampons and walking through a room full of puppies.
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