* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #873 / Revived #093 on 2025 01 08*

Welcome to this year's second 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!

The evening colours at Erichhütte

I didn’t do any trips this week so here is one from my archives.
This coming weekend I’ll be back in exactly this area and if the weather plays nice with us, we might put on the snow shoes and go back up to the Erichhütte mountain hut shown here.
It will be closed in the winter, of course, but as they say “the journey is the goal”
Would be nice if the colours this weekend are as nice as they were in this old shot 😊

ELS in LANGRES

It seems a bit of a coincidence, but the theme of this no-theme thread so far, is clearly wintery.
I'll add mine.

On our way back from Lyon, we made a stop for lunch and a walk in Langres.
It is a provincial city a bit higher than Dijon, characterized by its historic peculiarities.
The city dominates a slightly elevated hill top and is completely surrounded (to this day) by historic battlements and fortifications.
Those were built and expanded in several waves: medieval times up until the Vauban era.

We walked the whole contour of the city and enjoyed magnificent views towards the countryside, dusted with snow.
The battlements themselves were also cold and covered in a layer of snow.
The restaurant people told us that Langres is by far the coldest city in the whole area, because it is so exposed, on its hill, to the winds.
May be an urban legend, but we gladly believed it.

This image shows my wife Els on our walk.
As can often be the case on our walks when there is so much to photograph, I lagged a bit behind.

China - Old and New

This was taken in Leshan in China at the site of the Giant Buddha, who is behind me to the right. Three rivers meet in Leshan, causing violent currents and severe flooding in the rainy season, both of which caused many shipping accidents and deaths. In around 720 A.D. a Buddhist monk had the idea of carving a huge Buddha statue in the over 200 ft high cliffs at the site to placate the waters, and 80 years later it was completed. Interestingly, so much discarded rock was thrown into the river that the currents changed their course, and the river really was slightly less dangerous.

However, the Buddha statue is not the subject of my photo, which shows the stairway hewn out of the rock alongside the statue and the modern city on the far bank. The composition has a very empty centre and points of interest around the edges, which is not exactly text-book stuff. I think it works, but I would be glad to hear your opinions too. Do you think the composition works? And, of course, does the photo do anything for you - in either a positive or negative way?

Photos of sunsets can actually be quite boring, no matter how fantastic the colours are, unless the scene itself is interesting. This photo definitely has tremendous scenery, as well as a beautiful sky, making it a real winner. The colours and clouds are not dramatic, however the subtle yellows, blues and pinks combine with the wispy, but interesting, cloud layers to form an eye-catching sunset. The balance between the brightness and colour of the heart of the sunset on the left, with the geometry and contrast of the building and scenery on the right is good, especially since the leading lines in the snow bring more attention to the hostel and help raise its impact to compete with the powerful light and colour of the left side.

Winter walk

To continue with this week's theme.
Forest, snow, fog. These are surroundings where Dunlop Observatory is located (from last week's post).

When there is nothing else, I turn to the dam...

Yes, definitly a winter theme this week.
Walking through a snowy forest is something special. I love the way the snow transforms everthing.
Nice shots. This one is my fav from the set

Great light reflecting in those icicles. The cold blue snow on the wall contrasts nicely with the warm sun set colours.
I often lag behind on our walks too ;-).

As so often in DPRevived this photo gains a lot by looking at it in full res.
I know you want to show the open space where the rivers meet, but an alternative approach might be to use a vertical portrait frame, by cropping about 35-40% off from the left side so it tells the story of "Old and New" better. You'd then have the "Old" stairs with their intricate details and nice colours on the bottom right and in the top left corner, in a nice balanced position, you can concentrate more (in the less cluttered image) on the "New" buildings, all just in my opinion of course.

And rightly so:-)
Nicely composed with plenty of contrast. The bird is sitting and waiting for the right moment to pounce, I presume.
The splashing water, top and bottom makes for a good frame. Nice how it looks like a gentle soft spray at the bottom while the water at the top has much more power

Looks definitely very cold and foggy. A nice curvy bend in the road in this one

Behind the Smiles.

Wow, really interesting photo.
Certainly gets you thinking about AI and robots. I'm guessing, with that machinery behind them, the faces can speak, and smile and even look directly at you when talking?

Fractal

This image is a fractal.

Nature likes to economize on how it accomplishes things. Shapes and contours of natural things tend to look the same whether microscopic or macroscopic. The edge of a continent looks similar whether viewed under a microscope or seen from high altitude. Mandelbrot sets repeat themselves at any magnification.

Without the small leaves for scale, it would not be possible to know the size of the stones from the image alone. They are about 1 to 1-1/2 inches, lining the walkway to my house.

I walked through a boulder field at the southern tip of Cabo San Lucas years ago. It looked just like this (but without the leaves). Those rocks were all at least as big as my house. I can imagine these pebbles being that large.

I like the way the plane of focus cuts through the middle of the field.

Rich

This photo is very good, I like it.

I really like this photo as it is.
Excellent!
Probably the air pollution in China is affecting this photo.