* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #862 / Revived #082 on 2024 10 23 *

SORRY FOR THE DELAY IN STARTING OUR WEEKLY THREAD - HAVE BEEN TOO BUSY THIS MORNING UNTIL NOW

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!

BERAT AROUND SUNSET

Another image from Albania, and another one made with my Iphone
("real camera" images, many similar to these previews, at least in composition, but with other lenses are made,
but are on my hard drive waiting for me to find time for selection and processing).
Enlarge for more detail.

This is a view of Berat, a gorgeous (and seemingly very pleasant to live in) city in the center of the country, south of Tirana.

Berat consists of several quarters, dominated by a citadel with old fortress ruins (and a few churches perched on the cliffs).
One quarter on the one side of the river that transects the town between steep hills is predominantly muslim originally.
The other on the opposite side of the river is predominantly christian. Two bridges unite them and the (more modern) recent quarters of the city.

Both of the historic quarters are beautiful to stroll through and together they give the city UNESCO status and also its nickname of "The City of 1000 Windows".
Indeed : the houses against the hills and cliffs form a remarkably harmonious ensemble, because most houses have the same type of rectangular window in white stucco walls, and the windows are most often even spaced similarly. It looks highly harmonious while also organic, as if the whole city is one big organism.

Nearly there!
The long and winding road, starting in the Riedingtal valley and used to take supplies up to the “4 huts”.
They are a popular hiking destination, for a welcome rest along the way, and can be reached on foot via several different routes.
(Please do not edit this image)

Gladie - Traveling in Kentucky and explored the Red River Gorge yesterday, it is geological oddity that is protected and available to the public like a national park but under auspices of the dept of Agriculture. This old farm is called Gladie and is used by district rangers. It was beautiful in the sunset light, which comes earlier inside a gorge than it does in the above-world. I have some closer ups but liked the distant scene the way I came upon it, though unsure if it works for others.
\

** SNACK TIME **

** KEEPING LOOKOUT **

I like this scene and lighting very much but the hut leaning over slightly is a little off putting for me.

Straightening it and cropping a bit off the bottom making it more of a pano aspect ratio works better for me.

As always, just some food for thought.

Glass

Half empty or half full...

Manga Territory.
This part of Osaka is dedicated to Manga and Transformas and action figures and comics......

Going to a pano ratio is a good move here.

This is a prime example of the fact that a wider shot can be so much better than a zoomed-in image.
I am quite certain that most photographers shooting the art installations in this neighbourhood, would whip out the telephoto lens and try to isolate that insect (a bee? a wasp?) perching on the building.
Such an image would be a good shot for in an art catalog, but not a good representation of the art in its natural surroundings.
A wider view adds context and (frankly) life.
Many would consider the chaos and tangle of all those electricity and telecom wires a distraction and a nuisance.
But they are integral to this area of the world (although I must admit I would expect them sooner in Thailand Vietnam or China than in Japan; Japan always conjures images of exaggerated neatness and structure in my mind).
More than just context and a sense of place, it adds also interest and a layer.
Because, of course, that tangle of wires resembles a spider's web, enlarged, and it fits with the insect sitting above it, about to be caught.

I like it.
At full res, the quality looks good for a phone. Quite sharp, lots of detail, relatively low noise and it has handled the light quite well.
The chosen scene is good too. Especially at that time of day. All those windows do make a striking pattern. When you get round to processing the others maybe you could consider also straightening the keystone effects, like the tree and buildings leaning in.
I think it would give you more the feeling that you are really there, and less that you are looking at a photo of the place.

Just Sitting Around

Taken from a boat at the quay in Kappeln, on the Schlei Fjord in Northern Germany this summer. It was showery weather, going from cloudy, to fine rain, to shower, to hardly raining, to heavy shower and back again in quick succession. When I took this it wasn't raining, but I think these people just got fed up of opening and closing umbrellas, and just left them up!

Pete

Good shot.
The umbrellas certainly make a big splash of colour in the image.
The composition is good here.
With the big circle of almost B&W chairs balancing the little "circle" of "colourful" people. They are near the edge and sort of looking out of the frame, but still have enough room in front of them.

Guard

Rich

I don't know if another angle without all the clutter in the bottom half was possible but the clutter spoils the image for me regardless of the intention of the image.

For me, straightening the image helps make the other elements (cables and buildings) apart from the bee less distracting and less of an eye magnet given the cables leading our eyes away from the bee.

And depending on what you would like to highlight as the subject, a crop something like this after straightening works much better for me.

Amazing and wonderful image.!!!! 👍😀

I really like the upward angle of the shot capturing an inverted reflection of the background in the fluid (wine?) in the glass.

I like the way the splash of colour stands out from the monochrome like rest of the scene.