* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #794 / Revived #014 on 2023 07 05 *

Welcome to the Wednesday Comments and Critique (No Theme & No Brand) thread!
We are dedicated to continuing the great tradition of this C&C thread because we are convinced that looking at, and talking about images is vital for better photography.
Our tried and tested concept (15 years and running!) is a weekly "peer-to-peer" photo comments & critique encounter, in which you GIVE and RECEIVE.

The idea is simple: you post an image and get critique on it, and in return give other people your opinion of their images, or vice versa.
Any Theme, Any Camera, Any Style, Any Subject.

We are still figuring out how to create the convenience of threaded view on this new forum.
For now, let us agree that you post an image with a title and short explanation, and that all comments include the image as a quote.
Replies to comments may or may not include quotes.

THREAD GUIDELINES – THE SHORT & SWEET VERSION
• This thread does not care about brands. It’s not about the tool, but the image.
• Post one image that you would like to get comments on (exceptions: see below).
• Add a clear title to your post to reflect the image’s title and distinguish your entry.
• Look at the other images and give your comments on at least one of those.
• For comments, try to go beyond a simple pat on the back or a short dismissal.
• Do you like an image (or essay) ? Try to explain WHY it appeals to you.
• Negative feedback is OK (we all want to learn), but be polite and constructive.

Try to explain why the image (or essay) does not appeal to you and how it might be improved.

We will start with single images.
Re-establishing our C&C for essays will be a next step.
Please limit any individual contribution to a single image. This avoids confusion.

The critique you give is vital.
What was your first impression? What catches your eye about an image? Why?
What do you like, and what distracts you? What would you change?

Fiddle with the image in your head - composition, perspective, color balance, exposure.

*It is understood that unless the original poster specifically states that they do not want an altered image posted that you are free to alter the posted image and repost it in a reply for C&C purposes (no use for other purposes!). That reposted image may remain permanently or you may remove it after a short period of time if you prefer. No copyright disputes here!

*More general feedback is also welcome. Do you know something about taking the same sort of image that would make matters easier - share your own as an example in your reply. Encourage - it is a scary business putting your work up for other people to judge!

And finally, here are some useful hints for navigating and familiarizing yourself with the forum mechanics of DPRevived:
• Unfortunately, there is no threaded view (yet). We can’t simply keep images and their related comments together like we used to. So please make clear about which image you are commenting.
• To do that, you may make good use of the “quote” feature. This allows you to keep the image in your reply. Excess content can be deleted. The “preview” button allows you to look at what you are going to post.
• There is a difference between the “reply” button that sits at the top of the forum, and the reply buttons under every post.
• A few threads in this new forum with useful navigation information:
dprevived.com/t/how-to-use-this-site/387/
and
dprevived.com/t/how-to-embed-photos-into-your-post-directly-from-flickr/456/
(this applies also, with modifications, to other photo hosting websites)
and
dprevived.com/t/how-to-quote/1014/

Have fun and let’s stick together!

LEUVEN - St Pieter Church as seen from City Hall

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had been working on the images for a soon to be published book on the city Leuven in Belgium.
The production process of that book is now in the stage of layout and graphic design and first selections of images.
This allows me to share another image that is going to be an outtake.

This view shows the City's main church (St Pieters Church) as seen from a window on the top floor of City Hall,
the façade of which is literally filled to the brim with statues of historical figures:

Caged

This is almost a companion image to last week's.

Despite the growth of the numbers of birds of prey in Germany in recent years, it is still quite a highlight to see one in rural areas and very rare in cities. In India I was staggered at the numbers in cities. This was taken at the wonderful Jama Masjid Mosque in Delhi and there were huge numbers of Black Kites there. I have photos with dozens on them, so there must have been hundreds around the building.

You will need to view the large version to appreciate it.

Pete

The photo of the church would be a good illustration on its own, but the statue figure gazing at it adds so much in my opinion. Our eyes follow the wall and his body upwards and then his line of sight towards the church. As you will have noticed, I am a great fan of juxtaposition.

I like the tilt of the buildings too, and it has an interesting effect. We are used to seeing it looking up at tall structures, so, even though we are actually seeing the church from above, the effect seems to trick the eye into giving the church more height, instead of feeling diminished by looking down at it.

Pete

Great capture! It seems like just the right amount and placement of the birds and while you can't influence that exactly, I appreciate the choice of this particular capture as well as the composition/crop. The only thing I'd probably try to change is the sky, which could be a little bit brighter in my opinion. The most interesting part to me, is that the woman seems to look out to the birds, wishing to be (free) like them, perhaps wishing for a change, while the man next to her seems to look out at nothing in particular, content with the status quo. I have no idea if any of that crossed your mind, but I found it interesting nontheless.

Well done!

Light up… and FACE the darkness! by simple.joy, on Flickr

Quite a bit of fun that I had with this old lens, which, according to the information I found, was once used to capture screenshots of an Oscilloscope. It certainly felt right at home at the distance.

Thanks!
It could be a bit brighter, in fact I need to have a look at the calibration of my monitor, as I noticed my photos often seem a bit darker after posting. I actually noticed and tried a brighter version, but side by side still preferred the darker original, but that was probably because I had just raised the brightness without much care. Having said all that, the photo was taken between two torrential thunder storms, so it really was a gloomy day.

When taking the photo. I was trying to get as many birds as possible in the frame around the "cage", and did not pay attention to what the people were doing, and anyway they were too small to see properly with the naked eye. So I was delighted when the frame with the best birds also had the woman in a very suitable pose.

Pete

That lens certainly seems very sharp with a beautiful bokeh and that has been used to good effect in this image. It does what all great macro shots do - open our eyes to interesting detail in the subject and be beautiful at the same time, and that has been achieved with the transitions of sharpness and the transitions of shades of blue.The dynamic slope brings a lot to the image, and is one of the reasons it has not become a boring documentary record shot of a piece of equipment. The lighting tube has taken on the look of a spaceship and then the icing on the cake is the space face it creates together with the dark shadow below.

Pete

Bike Heaven. Naples.

Early Morning

What a graveyard, what a history!!! Just WOW. Preserved and frozen in time. Absolutely incredible!!!

What a precision instrument!. Looks like the eyes of an alien. The fact that position is at the angle makes it much more impactful.

A M A Z I N G capture. Well seen. I like the birds, tower and people. Brick colour of the main structure is very contrasty and adds great interest to the whole scene.
I wish we could see more of a vertical tower, but that's personal.

Excellent angle view. We see the feautres of the main building and the surroundings, but to me the knight and the gargoyle play instrumental role in fully appreciating the magnificent beauty of the building.

There are quite a few more of them. They are in tunnels beneath Naples. The original tunnels were built by the Greeks in pre roman times. The Romans developedthem further as part of their aqueduct system. They are giant underground reservoirs for water. In WW2 1000s of people took ahelter here from allied bombing. Underground hospitals with very limited resources were established here.
I don't know this for certain but I have been told that the old bikes and vehicles were originally confiscated for parking infringements. They were stored down in the tunnels and many were never reclaimed. The tunnel system was largely forgotten and abandoned. Now the tunnels, including vehicles, are a tourist attraction.
I'll post some more from the tunnels later this week.

This reminds me about Catacombs in Rome, the difference is that they started in 2nd century AD...

PS.
I see a very small car in your image #1. Unbelievable - Fiat 500 c. 1957?

On that same trip to Downieville where I saw the teenagers, I ran into this old guy in the service bay of a gas station. The bins behind him were once used to sort mail, and you can see the city names in the full size image.

Here's an alternate version:

No idea what sort of car it is. i only recognized the Vespas.
First photo is a model of a man who had to climb down the steps inside the huge reservoirs to clean them in medieval times. Exceptionally dangerous work. That dome is far, far larger than it looks in the photo.
The next photo shows a room that was used for births during the bombing in WW2. The equipment is original.