iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dzyga's Paw @dzygaspaw.com · 11/10/2026

Reposted by Ben Rains

The US announced a deal to import Russian diesel this week, suspending sanctions on those exports until April. We want to speak directly to our supporters in the US and around the world.

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Ben Rains @benrains.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Fuck Trump. He’s such a piece of shit. He’s completely unable to accept responsibility for the mess he started with Iran and the resulting oil crisis.

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Ben Rains @benrains.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

A sad baked potato topped with caviar… Is the restaurant owned by a russian oligarch?

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Reposted by Ben Rains

UNITED24 Media @united24media.com · 08/10/2026

When leaving temporarily occupied territories, Ukrainians often have to pack only the essentials in a hurry—and under the watch of Russian troops. Yet sometimes, they still manage to take something deeply meaningful with them. 🧵 1/7

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Ben Rains @benrains.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Something about this makes me think the outrage by South Korea has less to do with Zelensky mentioning North Korean POWs being sent there than it does with Seoul trying to provide a distraction because they already knew they were caught by Ukraine selling diesel to russia.

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Ben Rains @benrains.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Some additional context (this site is old and doesn't support HTTPS)- www.salem-news.com/articles/feb...

salem-news.com

New Jersey Police Take Student Down Over Question Posed to Ann Coulter - Salem-News.Com

Ben Rains @benrains.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Not as hard as Michael Tracey cried when he was arrested in 2009 at an Ann Coulter speaking engagement at The College of New Jersey?- www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHRa...

youtube.com

Get Off My Head! - sunglasses man Arrest

YouTube video by standards11

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Ben Rains @benrains.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

My favorite social media moment of Michael Tracey is this 2009 one where he gets arrested at an Ann Coulter lecture at The College of New Jersey- www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHRa...

youtube.com

Get Off My Head! - sunglasses man Arrest

YouTube video by standards11

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Ben Rains @benrains.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I love the MST3K'ed version of this film.

Ben Rains @benrains.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

This is clearly directed at their own people to try and prepare them for the big mobilization that Putin and the Kremlin have been denying for months.

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Ben Rains @benrains.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Yeah. I avoid it as well except to periodically check on the camera repair and the dry plate emulsion group.

Ben Rains @benrains.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Back in the day when men’s pants came up to their rib cages.

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Ben Rains @benrains.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

If you have an account on Facebook there's an excellent camera repair group on it where you might be able to get some more info. I stopped using Fb years ago, but there are some great film photography related communities on there- www.facebook.com/groups/36049...

facebook.com

Facebook

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Ben Rains @benrains.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

More rambling nonsense from Trump.

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Ben Rains @benrains.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Check the following for a period advertisement from Eastman Kodak- www.piercevaubel.com/cam/catalogi...

piercevaubel.com

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Ben Rains @benrains.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I saw this and thought of you- www.ebay.com/itm/14750755... I'm 99% sure it's an Eastman Portrait Lens, Series B, No.2--Kodak's take on the Dallmeyer soft-focus lens. Around the turn of the century I know that Wollensak, B&L, and Kodak all allowed their lenses to be sold under other names.

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Ben Rains @benrains.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

It’s remarkable to see how quickly Republicans are to push things like communist price controls when capitalism and the free markets make their base angry at them.

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Dude. You can’t even spell Kyiv correctly.

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To make the dummy russian soldiers look more realistic, they arrange them to look like they’re passed out from drinking too much vodka.

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"Some 150 Catholic priests and friars, a bishop and nuns from around the world have marched to the Vatican to call for an end to the genocide in Gaza." I fixed it for you. Your editors need to grow some spines and learn how to report facts.

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25 blades, but they are large and were pretty easy to work with.

Ben Rains @benrains.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

That tree branch is giving him a big thumbs up.

Get well soon ❤️‍🩹

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We’re already at point where you don’t even need a camera, or to be at a location, or to have a subject to create convincing photorealistic images. It’s fine to stick with older equipment and processes (be they digital or analog). Real craft and artistry stands out.

“Taking an actual photo & editing it yourself will soon be a rare & eccentric fringe activity.” That sounds a lot like what it’s already like to be film photographer these days.

Thanks! It is a little tricky with any soft-focus lens, finding a good setting that’s not overwhelmingly soft, and then getting the actual focus correct so the right parts of the subject are in focus. It takes practice and a lot of mistakes.

There is a tendency and temptation to overdue it. With the Veritos, at any aperture smaller than f/8, the effect disappears. For the adjustable Velostigmat’s I found it almost unnoticeable with the factory setup. I have to unscrew the element a full 2-3 turns to get a modest effect.

If you mean a Dallmeyer or a Cooke Portrait lens. Yeah. Either of those would be super nice, but so for I've never seen one that was within my budget. And I don't think I ever will at this point!

Are you talking about the Wollensak Velostigmat Series II lenses with the soft-focus adjustment? Those have an ok effect, but the factory setup only gives a very slight soft-focus. You can remove (or back-off) a set screw in them to be able to adjust the front element more than one full turn.

Here's an example of an image made on 4x5 film with an 8.75" focal length version- bsky.app/profile/benr...

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I've two other shorter focal length Verito lenses that I use with 4x5 and 5x7 film, but I'm looking forward to finally having one that's suitable for 8x10 work.

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It's one of the classic early 20th century soft-focus portrait lenses used in the US during the height of the Pictorialist photographic movement and the golden age of Hollywood portrait photography.

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A few years ago I got this Verito 14.5in soft-focus lens for a real bargain. Its aperture blades had come unseated, and it lacked a mounting flange. It was unexpectedly easy to repair the aperture myself, but it was only last month that I finally had a flange machined for it. #largeformatphotography

A photograph of a vintage Wollensak Verito 14.5" portrait lens set on a table next to a 12oz drink can (for size comparison).

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I don’t care how many pages of plans they have. What I want to know is Whether NATO has the spine to actually act on any of them.

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Honestly, given all the footage I saw of their air defense missiles with low trajectories hitting their own buildings, I wouldn’t be surprised if they managed to blow up their own air defense systems. They seem rather unreliable.

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Clearly russian propoganda facilitated through Fico with the intention of trying to sow division between Ukraine and Poland in addition to the main bit of information. I don't believe for a moment that Donald Tusk would say anything like this to Fico.

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I don't trust or believe her intentions on this at all.

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An entirely different sort of russian smoking accident.

Ben Rains @benrains.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Yeah, their magazine based camera model looks like the winner with the name plate and the lens positioned higher up on the front of the camera.

Ben Rains @benrains.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

It could be a 4x5 plate box camera. They’re pretty large. I’ve a couple of them.

Ben Rains @benrains.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Looking super lovely and happy here 🌟