* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #851 / Revived #071 on 2024 08 07 *

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 a photo or photo-based image that you have made and get critique on it. And in return you give other people your honest but constructive opinion of their images.

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 have made and 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:
Unless the original poster specifically states (for every individual posting offered for C&C) that they do not want their image(s) to be downloaded, altered or reposted, it is understood that within the context of this thread, other participants are free to download and alter the posted image and repost it in a reply for C&C purposes. That reposted image may remain permanently within the week's thread, or you may remove it after a short period of time if you prefer. The downloaded and altered images are not to be used for any other purposes nor uploaded anywhere else than within the context of the C&C in this thread. 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, be respectful and let’s stick together!

TO BE CLEAR - SOME GENTLE REMINDERS

In an ideal world, one would hope that further guidelines for respectful forum behaviour are not necessary.
But apparently this is not an ideal world, so here are some additional gentle reminders about how to behave in this thread.
I hope not to have to repeat this every week.

A. This thread is open to all images that are photo-based and the personal creation of the contributing poster.
Meaning :
1) "straight" (documentary) photos are welcome, whether they are straight OOC or have undergone processing.
2) equally welcome are images that have undergone extensive creative processes (collages, composites, layered photos, whatever)
(Basically, anything visual and 2D that has a photo as starting point, just to distinguish from straight drawings and paintings and other processes that do not involve any form or degree of photography.)

B. Discussions on all aspects of the entries are welcome : content, visual impact, technique.
Suggestions for improvement are welcome.
(If the poster agrees, you may work on his/her image. This agreement is implied. If you do NOT want it, please be explicit.)

C. There is no right or wrong, just differences of opinion.
The point of this thread is not only to learn to get (and accept) feedback on our own images.
But also to learn to express our opinions on other people's images in a motivated and respectful manner.
(I have been doing this for 15 years, and I have learnt as much if not more from GIVING feedback and having to think about it, as from GETTING feedback.)

D. Our skill levels are varied. Some are good at composition, others at processing.
We admire in others what they do well and try to help them within our own skill set.

E. With our differences in skill, comes a difference in focus and attention for what we value most in images..
Something that is not good for a person with processing focus, may be alright for the person who just looks at composition.

F. Ideally we can learn from eachother.
Learning (and tutoring) requires respect.
There will be no looking down on someone nor on his/her work (images), nor on his/her comments.
Be constructive, not disruptive. Say what can be improved, not what is "wrong" or "bad". Don’t call eachother offensive names. In general, do not post any comment that you yourself would be offended by if it was written about your own images or opinions.

G. Just like our photo skills, our language skills are also not equal. Keep that in mind when the desire hits to jump to conclusions about how someone expressed his/her thoughts. (Native English speakers are bound to have a linguistic advantage. Do not abuse that.)

BA BE VALLEY

An image from more than 14 years ago, when I was actually just discovering photography beyond the family album.
I had been making family snaps all my life, but I had bought a first DSLR only a few years before.
That was an E-330, bought for the "Live View" option that I thought I would not be able to live without (how wrong was that).
Soon followed an E-3 because I wanted to take a weatherproof camera and lenses on some adventurous trips.
This shot was made with that E-3, in the Ba Be Valley National Park in North-Vietnam.

Looking back, those images from the first trips in which I really concentrated on photography, have all the primal building stones of my developing "style".
I have always valued human connection, image composition and emotional impact over technical attributes like absolute sharpness etc.

WORKING BEE

Very nice photo!! 😊

Normally crooked photos are one of my pet hates but this is one of the rare occasions where it works for me, mainly because the v-shaped sky is nicely centred and balanced in the image. Had the image been straightened the v-shaped sky would have been lop-sided and out of balance for me.

It's a pity the sky and some of the background is too washed for my liking but not a big deal in this image.

Junior Olympics

This seemed an appropriate picture to post this week.

Pete

Boyz Toyz

Beehive

Latest award-winning community development downtown

Interesting point of view. Lush foreground is very appealing and so are distant mountains.

Wild and crazy, but very intriguing. Parts, lots of various parts make this shot interesting, together with bright colour.

Incredible sharpness of the main subject against the mild background draws viewers to this image.

Well captured kids in motion against industrial pipes background.

Harbinger

Our Choctaw friends believe that owls, when found in one's yard, are delivering warnings of imminent misfortune. My husband reminded me of this when an owl landed just outside the kitchen window recently, our first visit from one of these guys at the country house. My husband became ill that night and before the sun rose next morning, he was in an ambulance on the way from the small rural hospital near us to a larger urban hospital for an emergency appendectomy. He's recovered well but it was quite an adventure. Our Choctaw friends were unsurprised by this story. I was impressed with the timeline.

Anecdotal - either good or bad luck. Every culture paints it as mythological omen.
Good capture nevertheless.

Man, life don't get no better'n this!

Weekend beachfront condo rental, The Strand, Oceanside, CA.

Among the amenities - close-by public walkways . . . inches from your bedroom!

Rich

A couple

PLEASE DO NOT EDIT THIS IMAGE