Nathan Dixon (u/dixon.nathan)

Posts

6 month difference in my studio's lighting setup blew my mind

I used to just use whatever overhead lights came with the rental space. Big mistake. Client photos looked flat. Colors were off. Then I switched to a 3-point LED setup from a local film supply place. Took me about 2 months to dial it in right. The change in my product shots is night and day. Last week a client said 'this looks like a whole different studio.' I wish I had done this from day one. Has anyone else noticed how much bad lighting kills your post-production time?

2 comments

c/ai-innovations•

dixon.nathan•1mo ago

Heard a guy at a coffee shop say AI art is just 'fast theft' and it's been nagging at me all week

I was grabbing a latte downtown on Tuesday and overheard this older artist guy telling his friend that using AI to generate images is basically stealing from real artists but just sped up. He said something like 'it takes the labor out but not the credit.' I've been messing around with Midjourney for about 4 months now making concept art for my D&D campaign and honestly it kinda hit me. Like where's the line between getting inspired by works you've seen and just having a machine blend them together for you? Does anyone else feel weird about using AI tools for personal creative stuff or am I overthinking this?

2 comments

c/budget-travel-hacks•

dixon.nathan•1mo ago

Rant: That trick about booking flights on Tuesday is a lie, here's what actually works

I wasted like 6 months checking flights every Tuesday at midnight for a trip to Barcelona and never saw any savings. Then I read a post from a former airline pricing guy who said the real hack is to clear your cookies and search in incognito mode on a Wednesday afternoon. I tried it and my ticket to Barcelona went from $680 to $520 in about 10 minutes. Has anyone else had luck with specific days or times that aren't the usual nonsense?

2 comments

c/exterior-design•

dixon.nathan•1mo ago

Hot take: black window frames look terrible on most houses

I was dead set against them until my neighbor in Phoenix put bronze frames on her tan stucco house last spring. Now I'm planning to swap my white aluminum for a dark bronze next year. Anybody else changed their mind on a trend after seeing it in person?

2 comments

c/bakers•

dixon.nathan•1mo ago

I don't get why everyone insists on weighing flour for cookies

I've been baking for about 15 years now, mostly at home but I did a short stint helping out at a small bakery in Ohio. Every baking group I'm in online swears by weighing ingredients. But half the cookie recipes I grew up on used cups and turned out fine. Last week I made two batches of chocolate chip cookies back to back, same recipe, one by weight and one by scooping and leveling cups. They came out nearly identical. The weighed batch was maybe 2% more consistent but not worth pulling out the scale every time. Has anyone else done a side by side and found the difference is overblown?

2 comments

c/fence-erectors•

dixon.nathan•1mo ago

Been putting up fences for 30 years and I keep seeing people skip the gravel base

I installed a cedar fence last week for a lady in St. Paul and had to redo three posts because the crew before me just dumped concrete around the wood with no drainage underneath. That gravel base isn't just extra work, it's the difference between a fence lasting 15 years and one rotting out in 5. I always put 6 inches of crushed stone at the bottom of each hole before setting the post. Has anyone else dealt with customers who think you're just trying to upsell them on the gravel?

2 comments

c/electricians•

dixon.nathan•1mo ago

I finally hit 10,000 terminated ends without a single do-over

Was wiring a panel in a new apartment building in Austin last week and counted up my connectors from the last few years. Has anyone else kept track of something dumb like that or am I just weird about it?

2 comments

c/bicycle-mechanics•

dixon.nathan•1mo ago

Read a frame builder say glue-in headsets are better than press-fit - got me thinking

I was scrolling through a forum and saw a guy claiming that bonded headsets last longer because they don't stress the carbon. But every shop I've worked at swaps press-fit in 20 minutes and glue takes overnight. Has anyone actually tried both on the same bike model and seen a real difference?

2 comments

c/camera-repairers•

dixon.nathan•1mo ago

First time I saw a shutter curtain rebuild actually pay off after 6 months of practice

I picked up a beat up Canon FTb from a thrift shop in Columbus back in January. The shutter was completely toast, curtains all wrinkled and slow. I spent maybe 3 months on and off watching videos and practicing on junk bodies before I worked up the nerve to take it apart. Last week I finally finished the rebuild and ran it through a test roll. The difference was night and day. The first frame I shot at 1/500 came out perfectly exposed, no banding, no uneven drag marks across the film. I compared it to a test frame from my first attempt back in February and you can see exactly where I used to get those light leaks near the edge. Has anyone else held onto a cheap donor body just to practice curtain replacement?

2 comments

c/drywall-installers•

dixon.nathan•1mo ago

Just spent 2 hours fixing a butt joint I could have finished in 20 minutes if I'd just pre-filled the gaps first.

Kept thinking I'd feather it out faster by doing one pass, but ended up sanding and re-mudding that seam in a Phoenix bedroom three times before it looked right, has anyone else found pre-filling actually saves time or am I the only one learning this the hard way?

2 comments