* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #847 / Revived #067 on 2024 07 10 *

As an Australian, these photos are hard to accept. "Wildfires," you say? In all that green and pleasant land with water everywhere? Surely not?
As towers go, this is a nice specimen. A government that assists photographers by building them sets a fine example to governments everywhere,

Every now and again I'll share more like this. The impressionist movement and its theoretical base appeal to me.
Burp.

I didn't get that view of being a participant until you mentioned it. Now I feel that table is ours, a chair out ready to be seated, and I can take in the patterns inlaid in the table top.
What I do love about this image, is the ability, when viewed 1:1, to explore and take in all the detail of this street scene.

I like impressionism in practice and theory. ICM is my preferred way to try to do it in photography.
The two versions here may be saying something about "conditioning." When Europeans arrived in Australia, they couldn't paint the Australian bush. They saw colours and shapes through the expectation of European eyes. This might be the same thing in reverse. I took the photo in Europe. European forest greens always look odd to me - the greens are too bright. I wasn't thinking about this when I processed the image. Paula's greens are more realistic.

That's the beauty of critiques. Sometimes our opinions can be influenced by other people's opinions.

You have my permission. Just mention the photographer.

A bit of extra info : the is the Fire WatchTower in Kalmthoutse Heide.
It is fairly close to the info center "De Vroente" that is on the edge of the nature reserve.

this link from Google Maps may yield further images (of the full tower) or can lead you to them:
<maps.app.goo.gl/TXCpFgCcLqNvnXAWA>

Like this image (not mine, so ask that guy's permission) that shows the actual structure better (there are also some internal top down views etc)
<maps.app.goo.gl/gLZS7dKnHt1SC6TG8>

The Kalmthoutse Heide has been victim to devastating fires.
Sure, it looks green now because we are having a wet summer.
But in dry summers, the grasses all dry up (it looks a lot more like African Savannah then - just imagine giraffe and zebra).
The ponds of water get much lower levels.
And what water remains, does not help when the grasses catch fire (through lightning or some idiot with a cigarette).
Some parts of the park are only now recovering from fires that were years ago.

News from 2011 (use google translate to get the idea):
www.hln.be/binnenland/grootste-brand-ooit-op-kalmthoutse-heide-lijkt-onder-controle~a6d851cd/?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.be%2F

I bet Australia has seen much worse.
But nature and open space is scarce and precious in Belgium (a VERY densely populated country), so 600ha on fire is what we call "devastating".

Rocks of Cappadocia. Where you see holes were living quarters.

PLEASE DO NOT EDIT THIS IMAGE

I don't think it is possible to stop digital copies. Mine have been copied while hanging on gallery walls. I rely on personal signatures and tech information cards. The ease of digital copying is the reason I think analogue photography is likely to return.
OK. To return to my original point. Was I correct in thinking you have posted this week's image previously?

How hard is to scan a print and make a digital copy?

Of course it isn't.

At the very least someone could take a photo of an image using a digital camera.

Interesting formations, well taken against a lovely sky. Humans give a sense of scale and animation without being too much of a distraction. Makes me curious about their story. Nice documentary photograph.

You can read here about these formations.
www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/fairy-chimneys-turkey-180956654/
They also have entire underground cities

In modern days they have hotels inside the rocks. This is a bedroom in the rock.

I don't think that will be the dominant reason. I've scanned hundreds of family photo prints from way back when digital photography was just science fiction.

Thanks heaps Roel

Thank you, I was fond of that little spider once I found him. I always appreciate anyone who takes the time to edit and re-share a photo. It is interesting to learn about others' editing tricks and preferences. I'm finding the increased contrast you used a little too much for my taste on this particular photo. Contrast, like color, seems to be one of those things where individual preferences vary a lot. I actually reduce contrast in some of my images to get a softer look.

Thanks Mike, it was luck more than skill. He lined up just perfectly to suit me as I hung over the rail of the pier, and was kind enough not to move.

Thank you Bryan, and no I'm no dragon master, I just got lucky. I was not happy with the blur on the rightmost wingtip, but the lighting did help hide that problem.

Yes, I was quite cautious with my PP on this one. Tried running it through Topaz AI but it made a mess of things, so I gave up on that and tried On One denoise and got a more subdued denoise/detail enhancement effect, then fiddled in tiny increments to get little improvements in color and background blur. I have no objection to PP in any form or degree, but I sometimes have very specific outcomes I'm trying to reach, and when I get there, I stop.

Yes, individual preferences in photography tend to vary quite a bit. My own preferences vary a lot depending on the kind of photo it is.

No problem minniev.

And what people sometimes forget is that how an image looks on their screen after they have finished editing will not always result in it rendering the same on other people's screens for obvious reasons.

So all discussions are senseless because everybody is talking about different images.