* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #816 / Revived #036 on 2023 12 06 *

"Falling in the Ocean"

This is a beautiful abstract.
The wavy lines and swirly patterns are quite fascinating to follow.
Colours are good too.

Actually the loss of natural areas is still trending up. The graph shows the increase each year. But, at least it is not increasing as fast as it was before :-)
... still losing and sealing up 7 football fields of ground each day, which is far away from the goal.

"Split & Bent"

I fully agree with @RoelHendrickx on the two sides and I love that diagonal which the eyes, arm and knife create. It's a great reminder that everyone has dreams and that many of the hard or even upleasant things we have to do in life are part of someone's plan to make them a reality. Excellent portrait with wonderful symbolism.

I love how pronounced the color and texture of the leaf (we would probably not pay any attention to on an earth-tone background) gets. Excellent use of the snow + shadow as a tool of contrast and composition. Simple things with great effect!

Well done and otherworldly capture, mostly because of the twisted shapes (was it shot through a car window/windshield?) but also because of the colors. Surreal but interesting, particularly in combination with the title.

Beautiful colors of course and I like your inclusion of a title (Darkness is falling) because it helped to make me realize how much darker the wonderful gradient from left to right gets. And that in turn reminded me, that while the left side looks like a pleasant place to be (reminiscent of vacation indeed), the right side (reminiscent of the open sea at night) is a place I'd rather not be. What a difference light makes...

Same gimmicks as always just able to bring a subject much closer this time. At least I think that's what I was doing. I'm honestly not sure but I think this is the reflection and not the leaf itself.

I've tried some boxing photos and the advantage in angle that your favoured elevated position gave you makes quite a difference. especially in the first shot. Here the closeness of the heads, the leaning in to each other and the eyes bring out the conflict. The ref is well placed. Removed from the action, slightly out of focus but clearly hovering over.
I wouldn't want a target saying "home" on my shorts in that position.

Andrew Wyeth indeed. The complementary curves of the curtains are exquisitely matched. I don't think you could have got them better if tou =has stached and pinned them to shape. The hat positioning is also perfect. The photo would not have looked balanced otherwise. It does more, we are aware of the person and what the view might mean to them.
Beautifully done.

Snow photography is way out of my usual habitat so my first comment about the first photo may be way off the mark.
In photo one, the snow doesn't look white enough whereas in two, it does. Is this simply my inexperience with snow and sun on snow?
Similar tones on some of the snow in 4 but the little patch of direct sun and the sunstar lifts the image. The contrasting snow and branch lines plus the black and white railings frames up the image as well. The added detail feels more satisfying when compared to 1, even though much of the snow has similar colour.
Given the right boots and jacket, It would be a walk to enjoy.

The left/right daylight and night division is quite dramatic. The curtain is falling across the stage. In the daylight, appropriately we still have activity. Nicely judged exposure. There's a big dynamic range shift here but you have avoided burning out highlights or blocking up the shadows. The bright strip of sun reflection on the wet sand, foreground left, is balanced by the second bright strip, background right and they work together to bring a pleasing harmony to the shot.

I did not know the painting.
So pointing me in that direction is the first thing to be grateful for.
It (the painting) is a masterclass in the portrayal of transparant fabric, but even more so a masterclass is suggesting subtle movement (on the physical level) and suggesting tension and an aching sense of desire to look beyond the edges of the frame (on the emotional level).
That is a very high bar to aspire to.

I must have somehow missed your kitchen curtains, but the bedroom is quite nice.
The wind in the curtains is more subtle, less turbulent than in Wyeth's painting.
There is not a rush of air coming into the room here, or a warning of stormy conditions outdoors.
Rather a gentle breeze and an invitation to come outside and enjoy it.

The hat is a cool touch: it brings human presence and expands on the idea of going outdoors.
The B&W is nicely contained, with just enough detail remaining in the bright outdoors but also in the darkness of the cabinet with drawers.

Often I enjoy titles but not this time. Here, the title pushes my thoughts along a channel and it preconditions my response. It's an image that has broad interpretive possibilities and I would rather have digested them raw.
The tilt of the head suggests a question. The eye on the right is a little more focused so it becomes important. It bores into us. We feel involved. The dark spaces are sombre, it's a moment between us of some significance. The mouth is open and we wait for a statement. There is no clothing or background to give context. It's all him and us.
Palpable drama and tension. Very different to your usual whimsical moods.