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

Agree! The joy of the race is a universal experience, transcending age, gender, country, language. This IS the Olympic spirit, and could easily be a slide in a promo for the next one. Photographically, it is well caught, sharply detailed, and the seriousness of the race is revealed not only in the concentration on their faces but in the taut muscles in those thin legs, and the high stride of the runner in the rear. The shadows of course add to the drama. And the industrial backdrop is a sharp contrast to the expansive stadium settings we see every night in the Paris version. Tells a big story. My favorite kind of photo.

Ok so this is Dutch Angle week. I like this one too. The crazy angle makes the super cool vehicle more of an art shot than a tribute to a snazzy antique car. The colors are overdone but that too is part of the fun here, so they work. All the zany appendages that stick out like the claws of a crustacean take our eyes in every conceivable direction. The background is appropriately quiet so we can chase down all these varied parts and enjoy the chaos. Well conceived image.

It looks like a bunch of us have chosen images at a tilt this week. Yours is an upward tilt with squares and triangles and a few arched curves pointing our view up, in and then out of the frame at about 11:00. The tonalities and shapes are reminiscent of some of the classic cityscape photographs by the great masters of 20th century architectural photography. Nicely spotted, taken and processed.

In the Stephen Shore /Jack Sprat manner of street photography. You have shown us two ordinary folks fully revealing themselves to the camera. They don't look like they're particularly happy or unhappy and don't seem stressed or uncomfortable about your popping up with a camera aimed for them. They just look kind of resigned to whatever might come along. An interesting study.

A pretty scene, with a rich array of colors and tones. Nice presentation of a summer garden.

An interesting and varied collection, each nice in its own way. My favorites are the second and the last. They show interesting views of a pleasant village surprisingly empty of people. The emptiness lets us study the details more closely since we aren't distracted by those busy, bothersome humans who steal our attention. And study lets us find interesting lines, designs, shapes, and intricacies we would not have paid mind to if the streets had been full of people. i am partial to the monochrome in the last one, very effective.

A nice set of a pretty little birdie doing her thing. The super bright light is never the best for birding but all we can do is the best we can with the conditions we find ourselves in, and I'm sure you've tried to do as much mitigation as you safely can. Might she be collecting mud to make a nest? Do your swallows use mud for their nests as ours do? My phoebes are mudders too, weaving a structure from grasses then slathering it up with mud to hold it together (and making a big mess on my porch).

Technik Museum Sinsheim

Please do not edit these photos.

I'm sure they make nice memory photos of the occasions but in that type of sorrounding they don't have an impact on me.

Unless you want photos as close to documentary as possible, the photos are better if the grey bars infront of the wheels are cloned out. They are distracting eye-magnets detracting from the images.

🤣

If you're happy with photos as they are, that's fine.

For me they look much better with the grey bars removed.

Like Roel correctly stated, there are no right and wrong, just differences in opinions.

Each to their own 😊

I was running through the posts to find Alan's shots before commenting and I came across this from Bryan. I'd have said almost exactly the same and for the same reasons.

I don't think we have seen this shot before Alan. It's interesting to compare the two bee /flower images this week. The focus point in Alan's image is slightly in front of the bee. All the spikey structure of the thistle is emphasized but the bee disappoints. Neither does the background here help the bee to emerge. Of course, the photographer often has to work with the camera/lens and subject matter to hand at the moment. It isn't always optimal. The image feels caught between wanting to make the thistle or the bee the subject. Perhaps get in closer (or crop in) to make the bee more prominent and capture the detail. Or. Concentrate on the thistle form.

Single point AF with back button focus helps me a lot to set focus accurately.

Yes. Or manual focus. Or one of the newer generation af ai tech cameras. I guessed something like Alan's explanation which is why I had those last sentences.

This is a subject we are going to discuss in detail sometime. I don't quite agree that "there are no right or wrong, just differences in opinions." Note the "quite." My statement however requires a lengthy explanation and some qualification. I know there will be counter points made. It isn't something I can do quickly and I don't have time to start it now. We'll get around to it.