* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #803 / Revived #023 on 2023 09 06 *

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!

FATHER of the BRIDE

The main reason why I have been less active than usual in last week's thread, is the fact that our son has just married this weekend.

A blissful day, composed entirely of friendship, sunshine, love, gratitude, good food, deep emotions and sorely aching dancing feet.
(Truth be told : I also had one too many beers, having to toast constantly with my son's group of loyal buddies, many of whom we"ve known since elementary school. The stories we heard of what has happened over the years in our house when we were away traveling, were mindboggling. It was a good moment to come clean. But we loved all of those confessions, because deep down we had always known about the misadventures and the messes they had made - but always cleaned up...)

Anyway: the marriage gave me the opportunity to follow the work of the wedding photographer that our daughter in law had chosen.
A very young lady with maturity and skill far beyond her years: discreet, always well positioned, with eye for the light, and very efficient.
I was seriously impressed by Lore Mattens. www.instagram.com/picturesbyloremattens/

It reminded of the (only) time when I shot a full wedding, having been asked by the sister of the bride, an acquaintance of mine who was the wedding planner.
I acccepted that job on the strict condition that I could employ my normal, fly-on-the-wall documentary style and that I would not be asked constantly to "please come over here and make a portrait of uncle charles and aunt camilla" (the clients were not the Windsors). We agreed on that.

Still, it was a gruelling job that I had sorely underestimated (also the amount of selecting and processing afterwards).
Respect for wedding photographers who can do that economically!

I started my day at 6.00 AM in the house of the bride, and ended the next day at 2.00 AM on a boiling dance floor.
(I was not required to stay that long, but I thought it was a big part of the day so what the heck.)

The fact that I was limping around on a foot that had a fractured small bone somewhere in its center (occurred three days before) did not help.
I did the whole wedding in the heaviest mountain boots I own: this was the orthopedist's compromise for a full foot cast.

My then 15 year old daughter was the second photographer. She loved the idea and got some good additional angles.
For the opening dance, I gave her my camera with the fastest lens and she shot some of the best images of that moment.

I heard afterwards that we had provided priceless memories of many moments that the family had not even really be aware of.
It was worth it.

Here is an early shot from that long day : the father of the bride knotting his tie:

Candid portrait at dinner:

With his new son in law:

With his wife:

One of the later, dancing action images of the day (and the last of the whole series)
It is made with my beloved fisheye, in extremely low light and grainy as hell, but they L-O-V-E-D it:

Rooftop shadow
Thinking about the upcoming winter reminded me of an old favorite photo I took while walking through the snow near Mühlbach.
I liked how this raven flew over the mountain hut, making his shadow on the rooftop.

Wow, all of these candid shots are incredibly intimate & packed full of emotion!
I can see why they loved them.
B&W makes them look somehow even more artistic.
Each one of the shots from the whole set has something special. The first tie shot with the man's portrait behind him is very well thought out and composed

A Short Story About Fishing From The Shore

The dam birds and their human counterparts do not have enough water right now to support fishing beneath the dam (no water going in so no water coming out), so they have moved about 100 feet downriver to fish the shore of the Pearl which is still shallow and very hot but they are dedicated.

Little egrets gather in groups to fish. This bunch was having only occasional luck, and they aren't happy about it.

The diverse group across the river on the east side aren't doing much either. I see some of these guys almost every time I'm there. Even getting down there is a dangerous proposition, and they can't fly in like the birds.

I have never caught a decent picture of this phenomenon before. This young blue heron is overheated (it's been over 100 degrees every day for 6 weeks) so he is using gular fluttering to cool himself, similar to a dog panting. The blue's throat vibrates very rapidly and it makes a unique somewhat musical sound.

This fisherman found a green spot on the west bank that looks slightly more hospitable than the rocks but it still looks pretty hot.

Dutch Tilt - What's That?

I'd never heard of a Dutch Angle or Dutch Tilt until I posted this photo to a forum back in 2016. I hadn't made a conscious artistic choice; I was simply trying to fit stuff into my 40mm fixed lens angle of view 😁 Here's the restaurant info (which seems to have left out the stories they used to tell abou that artwork, such as much of it was done by stoned college students): bethscafe.com/about-us/

An absolutely excellent image - really impressive work capturing that short moment so well! I love the special shadow and the wonderful blue and white tones in contrast to the dark bird and chimney. I would try to crop it differently because I feel like it would perhaps improve the overall balance, but I get it if you're hesitant, because it would probably require to get rid of some of the beautiful blue sky... (I've tried a square crop, but that didn't really work for me). So here's what I would go for:

Wonderful - love that color combination and the composition as well! 👍

What a wonderful image.

Rich

Great catch!

Rich

Lemon Grass and Dirt Road, Molokai

Rich

Looking at Me? #2

WhyNot

I love that combination of color - it's so wonderful. The shade of the lemon grass with the dark parts helps in order for it not to turn completely abstract and provides some additional contrast and shapes to the wonderful gradients of red and green. Just delightful!

If you want, please add this excellent capture to the thread on powerful color-combinations, as it seems to be another perfect example for that.

Thanks for sharing that background story. It adds a lot of context to the whole thing. I like all of your shots, they all look meaningful and real and seem like a great success at capturing the mood. I love your last shot in particular though because it appears to show the brides father - who probably (like most people involved in a wedding) felt a lot of pressure and stress still during the earlier parts of the event - relaxed, happy and glad that everything went well (I assume it did from your very positive description of that). It's a very human image in that way and I love the expression and the very appropriate use of the fisheye lens that shows a lot of the busy surroundings in some detail, which probably are a complete blur in the mind of a happy and proud father.

I've been thinking quite a bit about my purpose and role(s) in this world, so I guess a lot of that (partly unprocessed) thoughts are still lingering in the background whenever I create something. So today, I found 10 minutes of time (while drinking a cup of coffee, which regularly tends to get cold when I'm distracted) and decided to build up this very basic scene... I won't describe exactly what I tried to depict, but the title should provide a good hint.

Papa-clip explaining... by simple.joy, on Flickr

Shadow

Since my earlier post is seven years old, I'd like to ask for your indulgence on a second entry this week, which is a recent photo. I'm interested to know if you think the shadow is distinct enough in shape to be of interest. Also, I've had suggestions to crop to two images, or stretch/crop to remove what still remains of the dumpster on the left, which I've tried. But I wanted to start with the original here. Thanks!

Anna Ruby Fall, GA