* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #875 / Revived #095 on 2025 01 22*

A picture of pure joy..

Very clever shot. Well done.

The birds are following you or...you are following them. Great shot.

Very unique shot. One can look at it for a while, trying to decipher...

Very intriguing shot. It's a kitty, but the beast nevertheless...

Dahlia

Bright and beautiful.

Candle stall at the Christmas market

That woman in the background seems to photobomb a lot of my shots. On this occasion she saw what I was shooting and tried to duck out of the way. Accidental though it was, , I liked the older generation peekiing over the shoulder of the youngies.
Glad you noticed the fan as well.

I was in Lyon at the end of Summer and know how far it was for you to cycle rapidly. There is no way I would have done that and risk getting there after the light had gone, and would have been happy to nurse a drink in the sunshine! However, you were well rewarded for the risk you took.
Both photos show the intriguing architecture of Musée des Confluences and have a counterpoint of older architecture tucked into the bottom right corner. The lines, particularly in the first image, help lead the eye into the corner to discover those little Easter Eggs.
I love the light on the 3D diamond shapes at top left in the first and the way they contrast with the flat expanse of glass to their right. Also their slightly yellow tone contrasts well with the slight blue of the flat area.
I think the second captures the flamboyant architecture even better than the first and the light is better too.
There are so many delightful details in this building, that I found it relatively easy to find interesting compositions of small sections, but surprisingly difficult to find good compositions of the whole thing, so I appreciate what you achieved here.

In addition to all that has been mentioned, I like the little chinese onlooker painted on the fan, and that fan is even more old-school than the rotary fan by the telephone. Also, below the rotary phone is a little wood drawer instead of a "Contacts" icon to contain a list of phone numbers.
The woman with the phone is perfect, expressing her amusement at the old technology so expressively and instantly grabbing our attention into the centre of the photo for us to explore the details from there.

Indeed. It is also great that the tree is against the background of a featureless sky, which make the filigree details of the frosty branches stand out and are a joy to explore.

I like Minnie's observation too. I hadn't noticed it consciously until she pointed it out, but I agree that subconsciously they play an important role.

Having thought about what I wanted to say, I looked at other comments and found Mike had neatly expressed everything I wanted to say.
Well done, Rich, and thank you, Mike.

Maybe it is typical that the swarm of tourists, taking over the place in the first image, lack the grace and elegance of the local residents. The latter appear in the second image and I like them standing stoically in their corner, letting the tourists get on with it. This new scene does not have the contrast of a brutal man-made object to compare with their delicate beauty, but the bleak winter leafless branches actually make a very good substitute.

All three images are ones to be proud of and together they make an excellent triptych. They are all of the same scene as the jaguar grooms itself, but are sufficiently different to make each image interesting in its own right. The white borders work well, and I like the vertical arrangement and I prefer them that way than a thin horizontal arrangement. On a wall it would depend on their location. On a large expanse of wall, then a horizontal layout would probably work well, but a verticall lay-out would be better in smaller spaces, even in a stair well or on a chimney breast.

Normally I am not overly fussed about sharpness, but since these are all about the intricate patterns of the ice sculptures, then I think it is important here. For this reason I am not keen on the first one as there is only a very thin strip of sharpness in the centre of the frame.The second is fine though, with all of the right side nicely detailed. The left side is unsharp, and while the whole frame doesn't need to be sharp in my view, I would still crop off the left-hand quarter, or slightly less, as there is not much going on here.
I like the two dark out of focus vertical shapes in the second image. Presumably they are trees, but the help set off the details of the ice and their shapes echo the shapes of the vertical threads os ice.

The bloom is beautifully sharp and detailed and the background beautifully blurred. This is not the only contrast, as the magenta of the bloom contrasts nicely with the green leaves.
The composition is nice too, with the bloom right in the centre of a square frame, both of which symbolise stability and, therefore, peacefulness.

Pete and I seem to be on the same page today and I agree with his comments here too. I'll add one more. When seen large, there is a very nice extra little touch. The lines of crystals become thinner as they reach the extreme end. Chris has captured what happens next. The finest lines melt first so each of the lines of crystals has a delicate and exquisite continuation of the line where the drops have melted.