* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #795 / Revived #015 on 2023 07 12 *

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!

Cycling to the Cliffs

Here's an image from my cycling trip with my friend Jan on the Côte d'Opale in France, last weekend.
We had a room in Wissant, just south-west of Calais right between Cap Blanc Nez and Cap Gris Nez.
From that base, we made two long offroad cycling trips with a gravel and cyclo cross bike and then another one, a bit more inland with the race bikes.
One of the satisfying climbs on bad terrain was the one up a hill towering over Wissant in the near distance, with a view of the cliffs of Dover in the far distance.
At least that was the idea but on our first evening, the sky was overcast and thus the view not as breathtaking as it can be.
So we climbed back up that hill on the second day (twice) to catch a better sky.
The climb became breathtaking in itself, nevermind the view.

This is from the second day:

(obviously shot with a phone - no room in my cycling jersey for a real camera...)

Bricks.
At the Forum in Rome I came across an unexpected piece of sculpture. It was a tribute to bricks. I liked the idea. The Greeks did marble. The Romans did bricks. They still do. They did bricks right through the Middle Ages and they kept going. I took an awful lot of photos of Roman/Italian brickwork. Roma innovations in mortar are at least as important. Starting with the sculpture, here are just a few.
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3 X 4

Title relates to the window set-up in a downtown building, probably created in 1930's.
Picture taken with smartphone and no pp was involved.

"Tour de France" episode...

Great Vista and of course congratulations to you for being in excellent shape to reach that site. It's a dream shot, really.

Superb selection of bricklayers art. Love your angles and excellent contrast of redish colours vs blue sky. Chimneys and towers are also to be admired for their timeless construction techniques. Romans were really masters in their trade.

Ps.

We have issue viewing #2 and last shot. Probably technical?!

I had to edit the original post and reorder the shots. Then the clips appeared. I need to work out how to remove them from the post.

I like this one a lot! Excellent use of the lines and perspective. Also beautiful colors of course. Very well done!

Also an interesting sculture you've found. Roman brickwork was certainly very effective and influential and deserves the shoutout.

Day on the River

WhyNot

Creative misuse of the GFX 50S electronic shutter.

Fantastic and very creative work. Looks like some kind of fabric? Really excellent use of your shutter, that's for sure! 👍

Something different from the macro-guy? I guess so... 😉:

Eye - ought to focus by simple.joy, on Flickr

I‘ve been thinking for a while what kind of portraits I‘d like to shoot, if I ever have an opportunity to do so… I think I‘m getting closer - it certainly involves some use of my tilt/shift setup and some unusual lenses.

Suffice to say that this looks better with photogenic people (I can confirm from trying the technique with my kids) but this is what you have to make do with, I suppose! 😅

Right you are. A shirt.

Hat's off to you for that cycling ability and the view!

Rich

Watching

The Strand, Oceanside, CA.

Thanks to Photoshop for supplying shift, tilt and swing capability (well, almost) to my D800E and 50mm shot in its Perspective Warp functions.

I was perched on a narrow, rocky sea wall along the single-lane "Strand", looking up at this scene (and getting some spray from the unpredictable waves). I wasn't brave or creative enough to try setting up my view camera in such a situation. Besides, the opportunity for the shot, as it turned out, would have been defeated by the laborious effort of real shifts, tilts and swings. Let alone figuring a way to actually see the ground glass which would have been behind the wall, perched over the waves.

The unedited image had a lot of optical perspective "distortion."

The building and stairs had been a faded salmon color for some years, before it got a fresh coat of salmon and new green paint on the wooden superstructure in 2014, literally begging to be photographed. The lone figure was a serendipitous plus. A few years later, a new owner painted everything a uniform gray.

Rich

"Hate to eat and run, but I gotta go now..."
I get fascinated with the shapes and tones beneath the dam.

Incredible brick work. Good God, the height of the brick tower in the second shot is impressive!

Rich