* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #845 / Revived #065 on 2024 06 26 *

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 or essay 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 or essay that you would like to get comments on.
An entry can either be a single image or a short essay. With an essay we mean not a collection of random images without any connection, seeking C&C on more than one of them. We mean instead a limited number (3 to 10) of connected images that together try to tell a story, create a fuller picture of a situation, event or location, etc.*
• Add a clear title to your post to distinguish your entry.
• Look at the other images/essays 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.
• Please stay on topic, i.e. concentrate on the image and the photographic comments, without getting into politics or other distractions. No non-photographic arguments. *

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.

Have fun and let’s stick together!

LA GRANDE BELLEZZA

An image from March 2022, around my dear wife Els' birthday.
We travelled to Rome to cheer on a couple of friends who were going to run the Rome Marathon.
We arrived a few days early.
This gave us the opportunity to explore some areas of the city that are not so much on the regular tourist track.
The area around the Piramide, Testaccio (lovely popular quarter), Gazometro (up and coming), Gianicolo (great views over the city), Trastevere but not the touristy bits, etc.

I had been introduced to a few of those areas while shooting images for "500 Hidden Secrets Rome".
I was glad to finally have the chance to rediscover them more at my ease and with Els. Joy shared is double joy.

This playful fisheye portrait is on Gianicolo hill.

You may recognize the building with fountain and balcony (Fontana dell'Acqua Paola).
It is featured prominently and dramatically in the opening scene of "La Grande Bellezza".
This is Paolo Sorrentino's stupendous love letter to Rome and Fellini ...
... while also an equally melancholy reflection on hte relativity of fame and age.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Beauty

Go see that movie if you haven't already. Or watch it again.
And while you are at it: "La mano di Dio" is equally beautiful and poetic, but in/about Napoli.

EMU. Central Australia.

WATER COLORS

Ovens River running through Bright, North East Victoria, Australia.

The "orange fringe" around the head really stands out on my screen even at default viewing size.

Can you elaborate on what it might be for us?

Is it a masking artefact for some editing that might have been done on the background?

Thanks for sharing 😊

I'm not into ultra wide angle or fisheye shots generally but this one seems to work for me because of its composition and/or cropping. I like the glow from the backlight surrounding the building. It helps take me through the scene from foreground to background.

Just some food for thought. Maybe highlight your wife a bit more to help her standout in the scene?

Thank you for sharing 😊

High density

Massive residential development is happening in downtown Toronto recently.

Great take Mike. A puzzled expression on bird's face is priceless.

Great background to a very memorable vacation shot. WA lens helps tremendously in this image. One of those dream setting one wishes for.

I'm just guessing and I suppose Mike will also reply.
But could this not be just the effect of backlighting on hair?
When I shoot portraits in natural (outdoors) light, I often aim to get that glow in the hair by backlighting.
Placing the subject with back to the sun also avoids squinting eyes.
The face can always be light with fill light from a reflector.
I have noticed that even auburn or darker hair can get that orangy glow.

Thanks.
You may already have noticed that I love using a fisheye lens, and not only in circumstances where one would expect its use. Els was a bit closer to me than you might think. 7.5mm fisheye has quite an effect.

Els got a bit "lost in the foreground", because her legs coincided with the side of the fountain bassin... until I asked her to get up on that shaky metal railing.
Fortunately, she is keen to indulge me for such whims (not always, but sometimes, if I ask nicely and not too often...)

Icefields Highway (wish I was there now instead of here in 110 degree heat). One from the archives, so old it was taken with the venerable E30. I never did anything with the picture because there was a worrisome distraction I could not get rid of without making major alterations in the scene, but the sky and light were so dramatic I couldn't delete it. So yesterday I decided to see whether the new lightroom tools would salvage it, and this is the result. Still a few nits but I'm better satisfied with it.

Our closest neighbor in Space.

Icefields

[/quote]

Normally i tend to do less pp and not knowing what the original image was your existing result is more than satisfactory.
You have absolutely amazing mountains with beautiful and dramatic sky above and those shadows are just perfect. The water, reflections, vegetation - all components are there for the viewer to enjoy. Well seen.

Classic and detailed image. One constantly wonders about this particular member of the galaxy...

This one was taken the same day as last week's.

The Triefen
My nephew came to visit us this week. We had planned a walk higher up in the mountains but had to change those plans when a big bank of low hanging cloud decided to sit half way up the mountain all day.
So instead we took him to one of our old favorite walks lower down. This was a path along a wild river to a waterfall called the Triefen at Hinterthal .
As the name in German sort of suggests it’s like a long curtain of water falling like rain drops out of the riverbank wall. It'a formed by the ground water seeping down untill it meets a horizonal impervious layer where it pours out into the river, It’s only about 2-3 m high but more than 70m long!

It's a beautiful place and a bit different everytime we visit, This time the river was very full.
Here’s some shots:

A conveniently placed dog takes a look at the waterfall

A slightly more detailed shot showing all the splashes and drops

And of you like it more silky, F22 will get you there. Slow enough at 1/20s , but of course at F22 you get some diffraction effects too

Looking through that gap from the other side, still using F22 to get the silky effect at 1/5 s this time.
Some ND filters would have given me a slower speed without diffraction but with no filters at hand,….