Max2

Glad you like. My nephew runs a camera shop in Chicago and turned me on to them. I initially planned on filling my hallway with alloy prints from Vacations, but man its hard to choose which photos! I like the original best, but I'd choose the first processed one of the 3. I just recently had some black and whites printed on metallic paper... the result is amazing. Much better contrast and pick up of tones. Thank you Amy. Im not that big on or "baking" photos to this level, but Im going for something a little whimsical and where her friends will say cool pic, who is she? Like you, I think the Blue background andBlack dress is my favorite too. I like the deep red, but I am worried about the deep reds and solid blacks taking away from the image after its gets sized to 24"X30". I do however like the hair tones in the red the best.

Did a 75 gallon reef tank for few years, it can get to be really expensive but beautiful. It had a lighting system that would start out with Actinic bulbs and a little later the Metal Halide would come on, I loved to watch all the invertebrates come alive and open up. I wish I would have known a place to buy grafts like you had it would have been better than what I was doing. I would go to any place with reef tanks I could find, even when on vacation just to look for something different. It can be addicting looking for something new, this was back when they were starting to ban live rock and prices were going crazy. I ran into a man who had just retired from the military and he had always wanted a reef tank but moved often. After getting to know him and how much he wanted a tank I decided to get away from it and sold the whole setup to him. I sold it for less than a quarter of what it had cost me but after having had all the animals and coral for years I felt good about it and the time was right, it was easy knowing he would take care of everything which as you know is a big deal. After missing it for a while I started something new (for me) Garden ponds and Japanese Koi. Even got into breeding Koi and selling them, the pond thing was fun, especially building waterfalls. We also collected and grew water lilies and bog plants for fun. Like Paul Harvey would say, now the rest of the story....... Just to show how you never know how things will turn out everyone who seen the pond wanted one. It turned into a business, I quit my job as a restaurant manager and started building ponds with Koi, fully planted with tropical water lilies and bog plants. It was just my wife and I with occasional help. After a while people wanted more than just ponds, they wanted us to also do around the ponds and the rest of the yard, that required a state test and a license. Well almost 20 year later I have to say that reef tank led me into easily the most fun job of my life, you just never know. We quit, not by choice but by hurricane, landscaping is not very important when your house is trashed and rebuilding is very slow, but we do now have 10 ponds roughly 20'x 40' were seeding again with tropical water lilies which we will sell later, or just look at ? My name here when I signed up was from our business name, down to earth landscaping = dtel Sorry for going on so long but your pictures brought back great memories. Ok carry, on enough for one day. Cool story Dtel. I was always curious of your dtel "handle". You're right. Reefing is not cheap. I was running 4, 6 foot 160 watt VHO's and 2, 400 watt 10K Metal Halides. Replacing those every 6 months and R/O filters add up quick. I had an evaporation rate of 1.5 gallons a day, so I was constantly making clean water. I had a clown fish from 1994 until 2012 and I think he/she is what kept me going. Money, time and a kiddo all caught up with me, but in the end it was flatworms that wiped me out. I still have a couple of fish, but Im taking the tank down this summer. Just too many irons in the fire now.

I have ordered a couple of alloy prints that have turned out really good. The color and depth of the finished print is crazy good. They look like they have been poured on like a liquid and just pop hanging on a wall. They give an almost 3D look without a frame. Long story short. I would like you guys to tell me which processed version of these you like the best. Thx! The original. PP'd versions

I think time is on our side and possibly lossless will become the norm. With more and more Blu Ray audio titles coming out that are very affordable from $15-$30, huge cheap hard drives being the norm, etc...... Well one can hope anyhow. Also cloud storage seems to be a hot avenue where you could keep a large storage amount of data that you didn't have to worry about being compromised. It would be nice to download or stream your lossless playlist after coming from work or while in the car. I think things are going to get better before they get worse, but it may take 10 years.

Even good wire is dirt cheap. If you're gonna break the seal, might as well freshen it all up. Update your X-over caps too while you're in there. Here is decent wire http://www.knukonceptz.com/productMaster.cfm?category=Karma SS Speaker Kable

Thank you Mdeneen. Those are pieces of Coral that I cut from my Coral head colonies. They are cut, then superglued to a ceramic "plug" and then left to grow out and heal for 3-4 weeks. I would overnight them to old Reef club members for their tank. Unlike the other pics, this pic was taken with a water box. It basically a clear acrylic box that fits around your camera that you dip down into the tank for your shot. No green glass tinting of the colors that you look through from a glass tank and its the way you would see them if you were diving. A lot more colors in the ocean than a bag of skittles! This coral on the right is called Ice/Fire Echinata. Known as a bottle brush coral from its structure. Its origins come from the Land Down under and the reefs of Indonesia. A primo 1" frag went from $75-$150 10 years ago. Out of all my coral, this was by far the most valuable.

Thanks Chris. I figured this had been done in the past. My thread searches in the new forum need improvement.

Rate your lossless 2 channel or multi channel audio disks with a brief description for future buyers. Also put which format you own. Rate disks from 1-10 Update your personal post with new purchases. Pink Floyd- Dark Side of the Moon. (SACD) Good use of rear channels. Great mixing. This is a superb Demo disk and is Easily at the top of my short list. 9.5/10 Rush -Moving Pictures. (Blu Ray audio) Another favorite of mine. Excellent mixing and outrageous dynamics. The beginning of the Camera Eye really turned up brings goose bumps and gives the sub a heavy workout 9+/10 (GET the double album Bluray that includes Moving Pictures and 2112) Getz/Gilberto. Lossless (Blu Ray 2 channel) only. Extreme horns with clarity, yet delicate and no hiss in pauses. You can hear Stans reed flutter on his Sax. 9/10 Fleetwood Mac-Rumors (DVD audio) Expensive, but worth it. This disk makes all your FM lossy copies worthless and spoils you. Drums, bass all very defined and the sub was utilized well in the mix. A must have if you even remotely like the old Mac band. 9.5/10 Zeppelin- Celebration (BluRay audio) only. This was the last get together with the members and Bonhams son. Great live Concert but no video. A little harsh at times and mixing could have been better. There are other Zeppelin live DVD's I like better. 7.5+/10 Steely Dan- Gaucho. (DVDA) Easily a demo disk for any system. All the hits that we grew up listening on the radio. Clarity, dynamics and that perfect mixing SD is known for. This one makes my top three easily. 9.5/10 Queen- A Night at the Opera (Blu Ray audio) only. Really good. Brings in the rear channels with some spatial mixing. Freddy never sounded better. Subwoofer was almost non existent which I appreciate keeping the original edit, but could have been a tad better. 8.5/10 Stone Temple Pilots- Core. (DVD Audio) Another great example of what lossless multi channel should be. Huge improvement. Even though this album has so much energy, they make it cleaner and more dynamic. One of the strongest and cleanest drum passages I have heard period. The mix alone is a 9.5/10

Thanks. They're actual not as vibrant as they should be. Those pics are taken through 1/2" green tinted plate glass. Im digging around trying to find somefull tank shots. I had this reef set up from 1994-2012...I actually have pics of the tank before digital cameras were around!

A few coral pics from my old Reef tank A few fresh cut frags growing out.

That looks awesome! Did you build that Dtel?

I have had a chance to pick up some other BluRays and Multi channel disks. I got Getz/Gilberto on 2channel BluRay. A great disk. You can hear the reed flutter in Stans Saxophone. Im loving this one. Fleetwood Mac: Rumors on DTS. Holy Cow, worth all 50 bucks I paid. This one ranks in my top three favorites easily. Queen: A Night at the Opera on BluRay DTS HD master. This one has some spacious mixing going on and utilizes the rear channels very well. Im eagerly waiting on a Jethro Tull Aqualung Anniversary box set. Let me rephrase....Im jonesing hard for some lossless JT. I also picked up the BeeGees, but it turned out to be a live 5.1. Although they played 33 songs which initially I though would be studio recordings, it turned out to be a live performance where they just played snippets of various songs. A little let down on that one, but still worth 20 bucks. Very happy with my Oppo so far. As you can see I have only been using it for music, but Im thrilled I can finally play a SACD. Im going to start a thread on the forum members here Personal must have SACD's, Blu ray Audio and DVDaudio disks.

I read where there were only 6 sets built. Anyone know if this is correct?

6'5" Garage door. 6'7" Boxx

Wow. That sounds like an awesome experience. I am very intrigued by the Pimento wood and can only imagine the smell on that pit. I have been around the Caribbean a little bit and a few open pits, but nothing as authentic as you just described. It seems that most of the shops you hit down there are really upscale or you get some lazy grillers that just barely satisfy the less fortunate locals.

I have purchased a "pellet smoker" which is the best thing since sliced bread. Absolutely love it!!. I use 100% Hickory pellets with it. The thing has a digital controller which I can set to desired temp and the smoker will keep it there feeding the firepot pellets as needed via auger. It's amazing how good the thing works too. That seems to be the new trend. Its not just a fad either, lots of people bringing home trophies using them too. I think there have been a few folks on Pit Master using them.

Thanks for the Pimento link. I am a Jerk freak! Jerk Fish, Jerk Chicken, Jerk Pork, you name it. Speaking of. One of my favorite and easy things to do is a Jerk Pork tenderloin in a slow cooker. A little Caribbean rice on the side and Mango Salsa to go on top. Man, Im getting hungry! I tell you, I almost enjoy Crock pot cooking as much as do smoking and I definitely do when its winter. You just cant beat the smell of your house in the morning after having the slow cooker doing its thing all night. Although there is something about sitting around the smoker and having some beverages in the summer.

The ketchup remark was somewhat a joke, guess I should have included a smiley face there. ...... Although, I do feel like ketchup on a dog is UN AMERICAN ! Mesquite has a unique taste and its ok if its not too dry, but get it too green and it always seems a little bitter to me. Its bad to hang around in my box and taint the next smoke. My cousins love Mesquite and its where I almost can't eat their stuff on the holidays. Maybe it just stays in my pores too long . Im not against other woods, but not when it comes to pork. True Pork Q needs sweet Hickory, but again, just my opinion. You're welcome. One thing I have found is that a lot of times people don't cook Beef Brisket long enough and its not done or they over cook it and its very dry. Always wrap it midway and test it with a thermometer and its always decent. Im sure there are some better in-depth Beef brisket ideas from folks here. The mustard works and I think there is a little more to it than just using it to get the rub to stick. One thing to add. My wife bought me an Igrill monitor. It graphs your temps and shows you how much heat you lose when changing wood or opening the door. You can set heat parameters and basically taylor fit it to keep you informed on your Iphone. Swimming and drinking makes me forgetful, but this thing has blutooth that actually has good range and keeps me from screwing up. All in all, a basic meat thermometer is a must have for Tenderloins, Shoulders, Briskets, etc. even for the pro's.

Im a big BBQ fan being an AR native and I have eaten at quite a few joints around here over 3 or so decades. Sims, although I have not been there in years was always really good. The stack of bread they give and their mustard style sauce I always enjoyed. Even the bullet holes in the front door were always a conversation with every trip. Say McIntosh had a sandwich shop, but maybe it was BBQ joint, cant remember. A shady character, but I got conned into going there one time and it was my last. There was one little place off of Levy and I cant remember the name for the life of me. I ate there a few times, but I cant say I was memorable...obviously. I have family in Memphis, so I have hit most of the usual suspects over there and always enjoy it. The problem with a lot of the chains and many outfits today, is that they buy pre smoked cuts from Sysco which is blasphemy in my eyes. I have even tasted a little liquid smoke at one place in the Conway area and my stomach does not lie as I can tolerate LS period! I guess all in all most of the outfits are pretty good, but fewer and fewer are actually keeping it old school with stick fired smokers. I must confess, my propane smoker is pretty close to my stick burner as well and MUCH more convenient ! These are just my opinions and remarks. Take them with a grain of salt. I have a pretty simple 3-2-1 approach for ribs and some ideas taken from Pitt Masters. No fast power cooking for me even though many champs have great results. I always use Hickory with Pork. No fruit or Nutt tree wood or I might as well put Ketchup on a damn Hotdog. Propane smoker. It holds a solid temp and I use it unless I have over 50lbs of meat. Cast Iron Wood box for your smoke directly above fire. Always use real chunks of wood and never use chips or any flavored wood!. You need to make sure your wood never catches fire. Putting soaked chips or dry chips directly on coals should only be done if you have no smoke box. It will make your meat bitter IMO. Baby backs are my favorite and of course peel the membrane. Using paper towels allow you to get grip on it and do this really easy. I always put the ribs in at room temp and dry them before they get the rub. I use whatever rub I have on hand as I have a few friends that always bringing by something new they have blended. I smoke the uncovered ribs, meat side up with the rub at around 225ish or close, wherever the box settles in at. I run two rounds of wood for smoke in the first 3 hours. The smoke box emits such a thin blue smoke, two rounds is all you need for a three quarter inch smoke ring on a large tenderloin. I like to still taste meat and not just smoke, some folks can and will over do it every time. Unlike a stick burner, you can over smoke with a large cast covered smoke box because there is no flame to burn a lot of it off. When the moisture is pulled from the smoking wood there is large pieces of very light black lump coal there, but never any ash from a flame. As soon as you remove the lid from the box, the wood catches fire so be prepared. After 3 hours I wrap the ribs in foil with honey, brown sugar and little Apple juice, you can get creative with this though. Make sure the meat side sits on top of the goodies you put on your foil before you wrap them. Some of the Champion BBQ'rs add squeeze parkay because it doesn't burn like butter. I add neither because I think it makes the ribs greasy when your reheat them for leftovers. With the ribs wrapped, I put them meat side down for two hours. After that, I unwrap them and place them back on the grill meat side up this time and add a little more goodies if they need it. Depending on how much they have shrunk determines when I pull them, but I like to get a good hard, candy, glaze on them with the rub and goodies as I never use any dipping sauce doing them this way. I don't cook them too long where the racks are breaking in half when you pick them off the grill with tongs, I just want the ends of those bones exposed a little or where you can see they have shrunk some. This will be a sweet and tangy rib depending on your rub that some wont like, but they are my favorite when it comes to baby backs. If I do spare ribs, I like doing them semi dry with just sweetened vinegar and dry rub mixed and constantly mop them. This isn't a traditional dry rib but the vinegar doesn't stay long in the heat which gives them a firm bite and good flavor. A lot of dry ribs I have had you just get the rub taste and no meat flavor. The sweetened vinegar will help with this. Beef Brisket is much easier IMO, but a few of my friends cook it better than I do. I have copied their routine. Take your brisket and trim it well carving most of the fat off. Coat it well with yellow mustard, (you'll never taste it when its done). Season with what you like. I like Rendezvous rub and a tad bit of Montreal steak seasoning blended and coat the entire piece of meat. I cook with a higher temp with the brisket just for time sake. I go 275deg. smoking uncovered constantly with wood for 4hours. I then wrap it up in foil and let it go for another 4 hours give or take depending on how big of a cut it is or when it reaches 200 degrees internally. Really good Beef Brisket is hard to beat in my book, but Im still a Pork guy.

Definitely a different tweeter and different X-over I think. Cant comment on sound difference, but I wouldn't lose sleep over it.

Like the lighting and colors on the rose pic, nice. Thanks dtel! Natural light from a window. Can't beat it. I agree. I has a very soft or satin look, but keeps the sharpness and detail

Roll bar on a lawn mower! I could have used one of those a a time or two! I think once they reach a certain weight there is a Fed law that makes the manus put them on. I have a really steep hill I have to hit and I sure wouldn't want this thing on top of me, so I keep it extended.

There's an app for that. I have an old Iphone4. Wife has a 5 and its a tad bit better, but it still lacks when compared to most of the other brands. I have seen a few PP apps out there, but they always have made the photos look to color baked and have glows and halos to deal with. Maybe you have a better app....what is it? Thx

I was just thinking the same thing. Apple needs to get their crap together with this next new launch.... Low lighting is where the Apple really, really sucks and you never get colors like that!. Geez, I have 3-4K in lenses and would have a tough run trying to pull off colors like that without any PP

That's good to know. I'd hate to have to convince my self that they sound crappy now...................... Hey I laughed........ this thread needed a little humor