* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #868 / Revived #088 on 2024 12 04 *

I didn't want to comment before about the whites (the white fur on the jaguar's face) being blown out in the previous images. (Such discussions get terribly out of control on these forums). Here, it looks like you lowered the "exposure"/lightness of the image, recovering those highlights. But now the midtones need to be lifted somewhat as the overall image looks too dark/flat as is.

I think you need to decide what you want the image to look like and just say so. And that's that. Image correction by committee is the Internet at its worst.

Rich

I like this one the best. It looks very nice on my screen.

I like the way the jaguar now stands out against the background.

Thank you everyone.

Regarding cloning out the branch, it's really a toss of the coin. I cloned it out originally and it didn't have much effect on the overall scene; so I left it in.

For me the middle version hits the sweet spot.
In that, we can see the foliage and it looks like a daytime scene (or around dusk) with a subtle, hardly conscious virtual spotlight on the cat.
In the further iteration, there is a bit more detail on the cat itself (which is a bonus), but the atmosphere of the scene has changed drastically.
It is now not a daytime or dusk scene anymore, but it feels like a night scene, and then, of course, the "spotlight" feels like actual illumination with a physical torch.
The effect is that we are aware of a human presence looking at the cat and illuminating it. It feels more like a view from a safari and less like a nature documentary.
(I hope this expresses adequately how I feel about the impact of the changes.)

The beauty of true love. They look like they are doing ballroom dancing. Delicate threadlike "hands" gently touching. Wonderful capture with rich texture, soft pastels, nicely blurred background, but the best part is the dance.

Hard to imagine a more dramatic swan photo. The sky, the beautiful pink/purple sunset, the distant cameo appearance by the setting sun, the slanted beach, the faraway mountains, and the flock of the most beautiful and graceful birds we know.

Excellent.

Colorful and full of energy, this is a great travel shot. The reds dominate and multiply the energy.

A nicely composed shot an interesting scene. Somehow the colors of the left half (yellow and orange tones) seem to clash with the colors of the right half (blue and green tones), reminding me of odd prints from old film cameras where something went awry in the developing. With some color adjustment, this could be a very nice image.

Nice set. Love the S-shaped series of posts in the snow and the dramatic white trees. Your mountains are incredible.

Oh how I love old boathouses and fish houses, especially when you can catch a bit of reflection to complete the composition. The matching sets of windows and doors give an almost face-like impression. Very engaging.

Love the joy in the faces and the gesture of the lead character. Nice color palette with an analogous color scheme.

I do wish the lead character's feet weren't cut off. Or perhaps if it were cropped a bit further up, they'd be similar? I'm funny like that...

I love finding these guys on the roadsides in BC and Alberta when I visit up there. I always feel like I'm intruding in their world rather than vice versa. That is a baleful look he's casting your way. Love the speck of scenery in the background - mountains and trees, would like to see more. It is a beautiful place. Nice portrait!

I like the darker version, though you might want to "protect" that dark spot just left of his nose by blending with the prior version and masking just that area, to keep the spot from getting so dark it becomes an eye magnet. But the cat himself is more beautiful and dramatic in the darkest version. His colors are richer, his expression more ominous, and the reflection holds more detail.

Just an excellent image. All of us are jealous I suspect. What a moment!

Thank you minniev.

The "clash" of colours is what I aimed for so I'm glad that part worked. I wanted to highlight the foreground and then gradually move to a "soothing" background.

Maintaining total reality was a low priority for this version.

However, I suspect that the colours you are seeing on your screen are not exactly the same as I am seeing on my screen for obvious well documented reasons.

On my screen the image and its colours look good and how I want them to look.

Warrior II

Yeah, in Street Photography, ya get what ya get. Framing and composition are hit and miss. I did have the kid's feet in the frame, but to get them in the rotated final image I would have had to "create" surrounding image to fill in beyond the rotated crop margin. I could'a done it, but, yeah, no.

Rich