* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #860 / Revived #080 on 2024 10 09 *

+++ SHADOWS ***

(DO NOT alter)

I like the rich colours in the reflections, that nice big tree and the diagonal line made by that log, but then, in the next second, looking a bit closer,... there's a surprise with a big aligator on the log !!
Wow, I'm glad we don't have those down by our local stream !
As you said, I guess the turtles know what they are doing :-)

Driftwood

In just about every seaside town in the U.S. there's a store that sells "seaside memorabilia" including faux-weathered signs with directions "To the Sea" or declarations that "Surf's Up." There's also a selection of "artistic" driftwood.

Sometimes such "knick-knacks" occupy a corner of an otherwise serious art studio type of establishment - the work of a "serious" craftsperson/artisan who scours the beaches for such objects and "refines" them for sale. (I've been told that there's actually an industry for this type of thing. Tree limbs and other nondescript chunks of wood are chained behind power boats which drag the debris through salt water and sand to rapidly create "art."

I bought my prize sometime in the mid-1970s in Laguna Beach, CA. It looks like it's been turned on a lathe, briefly and it's been given a coat of some kind of wood finish. It's graced shelves and mantels in every house in which I've lived. I think the wood is Yew. It's about a foot high.

I searched for its "best face" for a few minutes before taking its portrait. It's sitting on a chair with a white tablecloth as a drape, looking a bit like the fine white sand of a pristine beach. Lit by two strobes fired through umbrellas.

I like it.

Rich

A marvelously-mysterious image with its high contrasts and ominous looking depths leading to, who knows what lies beyond?

Rich

Nicely-composed abstraction of both form and color, anchored by a human figure, giving scale and reality, but also increasing the ambiguity of the scene.

Rich

The composition is great. It's one of those situations where one has little say in the matter and the lines, form and color are just there and just "work."

The image tells its tale very well - It's a very tough existence.

Rich

Brilliant, startling color and a composition that creates an abstraction of form, elevating the image far above "just a picture of a bird."

I would have pushed the saturation quite a bit in post.

Very nice.

Rich

I misread the request "Do not alter" as the title of the image, "DO NOT Enter." (Which my brain obviously thinks would be a good title.)

Mysterious, abstract, forboding.

Good image.

Rich

I like it too.
It's definitely a good looking, eye catching piece of "natural art", with lots of details and texture.
The way you've arranged the lighting to show some reflections and shadows on that shiny surface help a lot to define its 3D shape.

An excellent photo.
Composition, colors, mood: everything is consistent.
The dark areas in the background are a sign that the photo has not been improved to make it worse.

It's actually a B&W photo where the wind has brought in colored elements.
I really like this idea.

Warm tones in autumn

Warm tones dominate this photo, but the ambient temperature doesn't change.
These people will soon miss days like this.

Absolutely loaded with potential interpretations for a viewer. A choice of two paths that clearly have different destinations. A man and a woman have chosen one and the "fingers of God" lighting on their path suggests the choice has significance. The lighting that picks up the step edges and the handrails on their path adds more gravitas to their choice. Black and white and the stone structure implies something important and timeless is involved, at least for the couple.
The left right balance is exactly right even while the curve in from the lower right adds to the movement of the couple up the staircase.
As an aside, a perfect example of how blowing out the whites isn't automatically a mistake.

It is interesting and instructive to look at the two images together. They use different techniques to take the viewer's eye through the image.
The first has the brighter areas predominantly in the foreground and then uses the treelines to the mid ground. The second frames the midground with the foreground trees and brings up the middleground with the brighter, sunlit meadow.
In both, the dappled light on land and sky tells us lots about what the day was like.
Once again, I'm envious of your walking opportunities.

I like the second one more after WB has been corrected.

The first one looks better with WB corrected and contrast added to add some punch.

I didn’t edit the images.

There's a balance here between extended neck, synchronized the turtles on one end of the log and the "gator on the other. The turtles are keeping a close eye on their buddy and that tension makes the shot. I wouldn't trust a 'gator that winked at me. The brighter light along the log makes it stands out from the shadows, concentrates the area of subject and plays up the spiky bits along the backbone and tail. Those spiky things are part of the mystique of these critters.
A Topaz note. I use it too for the same reasons. In my shots and this one from you, I don't like what it sometimes does in adding an overemphsis to some lines. The section I'm talking about here is the line of short ripples running along the edge of the log from behind the alligator's tail.