* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #843 / Revived #063 on 2024 06 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.

PLEASE NOTE CLEARLY:
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!

Encourage - it is a scary business putting your work up for other people to judge!

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.

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!

REFLECTIONS ON THE CIRCUS

Last week's thread contained an interesting discussion on shallow DOF, low light photography, Medium format, Full Frame and fast lenses.
It brought back memories of a project I did more than 10 years ago, where I followed, as fly-on-the-wall, the happenings in a small family circus that visited my city.
Gaining those people's trust, they had allowed me to shoot not only their performance, but also their actions backstage.

I shared one image from that shoot, made with the ultra-fast Voigtländer Nokton F0.95 17,5mm lens on Four Thirds.
I thought I'd share a couple more today.

Last week's image showed the pater familias of the family circus, preparing for his role as clown and ringmaster by applying his clown makeup in the intimacy of the circus' backstage.

Today, I'll include three more from moments later:
- one where he is now dressed and talking to another performer/family member
- one where he is relaxing and concentrating before the performance begins
- one where he is just at that point where he will leave the low light and privacy of the dressing area to enter the ring and confront the spotlights.

Full EXIF is absent, because the Voigtländer is a fully manual lens.
The camera records ISO and shutter speed, but aperture was manual.
We can assume that I was shooting not wide open at F0.95, but close to wide open (maybe F1.2 or F1.4).

The Waiter. Paris.

Everything has an advantage and a disadvantage here.
Including the stuff on your table (glass, small bowl of nibbles, ashtray) creates immersion but also looks a bit cluttered, especially since your waiter seems to be standing in your glass basically.
Same with the distortion of the faraway buildings: they tell us we are in wide angle land.
The only thing that is only disadvantage and no advantage, is the overlap between the waiter and the pole behind him (and coming out of his head).

I am thinking how this image would look with the waiter in another position, more to the left in our frame.
No overlap with glass. No overlap with background pole. Better.

Gathering Place

Awen’ Gathering Place is a space along the Collingwood, Ontario waterfront to recognize the First Nations presence in South Georgian Bay and to create opportunities for engagement of Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples while fostering reconciliation through education and conversation.

Very busy image. Buildings behind create a great background and various dishes on a table in the front give us precisely the location for the capture, but I do have to agree with Roel's assessment. Glass in front and the pole behind the waiter are rather distracting, however the picture certainly reflects the moment in time ( a bit humorous) during your visit to France. Lots of memories...

Great inside look of what's involved during circus preparation. The image with number of paraphanelia is very interesting and so is the curtain shot. To me however the most appealing is the portrait of the main character in sitting position. We certainly witness his face and superb outfit together with period shoes and top. Excellent.

Eastern Yellow Robin

Love the colours and the fact that bird is in the middle of the image. Just ideal capture.

I'm going to get all defensive here but this is linked to my memory of the moment and I can't expect the same response from those who weren't there.
We had already noted the waiter. He was magnificent. All professionalism and courtesy with ram rod bearing. There was no choice of angles, as he approached our table I hit the button. I wanted the tabletop and background to be identifiable but the waiter and his bearing were the point. When I look at it I see vertical line after vertical line from the glasses, to the creases in the apron to the braces and including the pole. The latter seems appropriate within the over all and I found it funny. It was very deliberately left in.
That lump halfway down on the right (a passerby elbow??) is what I thought would have attracted more attention. It's a candidate for trying out the new LR object removal tool and I'll have a go at using it and posting the result here in the next day or so.

Landscape in Croatia

[quote="@RoelHendrickx"]
REFLECTIONS ON THE CIRCUS

It's an excellent photo that I wish I had taken myself.
To put into words why this photo is so good could take a long time.

Don't make me laugh, my face will crack!

I walked into the bedroom a few minutes after my wife had applied a "cosmetic mask." Thankfully my camera was in my hand.

I looked at her in amazement, trying not to laugh. Through clenched teeth, she muttered, "Don't make me laugh, my face will crack!" She was doing her utter best to be stoic. You can see the grin starting in the corners of her mouth. It was like trying not to laugh when being tickled. In a few seconds she was laughing hysterically.

I had some flavor of Ektachrome in the camera. There was practically no light in the room. The shutter took forever to complete, resulting in tremendous motion blur/camera shake in the shot.

On a whim, I submitted this image to a juried show, printed large - 20"x30" - It won!

Rich

Tea towels

Side yard at the country house.

You're a brave man.
Hiding a face behind a mask always parts the masked and the viewer. You can't hide the eyes though. The sideways an upwards direction challenges. I know you are looking at me! The pursed mouth makes its own challenge. Go on, say it!
Not this little black duck.
Full of impact.

It's all about the colours, red, yellow and green which draw the viewer to it. Otherwise image would be different and less interesting.

I like how rugged land is split by the river with distant mountains on horizon.

Priceless image of "if looks could kill" (well, almost). A definite entry into family album.
One can look at this capture many times and imagine what the subject could say...