* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #878 / Revived #098 on 2025 02 12*

A fine and delicate latticework pictured clealy here. Good pose with a smooth and creamy background!

A very elegant photo.
Great contrast with the two white birds posing mid-air for you against the dark black dam walls :-)
We can see here again why it is your favourite place for phgotography !

The gold/brown cloudburst makes the shot. It creates a starburst of attention around the head of the lead guitarist/singer. It also fills in an oval in a composition that unifies the band. They would be happy to have this image for their publicity album.

IMNHO, one of the best of your dragon fly series.
The wing vein structure is fabulously detailed and sharp and the angle means you have the wings sharp across the full width of the photo. The slightly out of focus tail tip suggests depth without the viewer feeling detail has been lost. The slim stem impresses with the sense of balance. Background bokeh/colour helps the wing detail stand out but it has enough shape that we accept it was taken in the wild.

This image reminds me of the performances of "Royale De Luxe", the french event/theatre company that has bewitched Antwerp on numerous occasions with their multi-day performances and parades through the city, combining giant puppets with a generous spoonful of lilliputian puppetmasters. The effect is always magical, and so it seems to be here.

The fact that the performers are people with prostethic limbs, adds another layer : the puppet can be considered an extension of those artificial means of articulation.
I really like the angle you caught here, from below looking up, enhancing the effect of the puppet towering above the crowd, and with the human performer for scale.

The crane holding up the puppet is just about invisible but not quite. And it does not really have to be: the suspension of disbelief is powerful enough to make us forget the puppetry techniques at work.
Like the act of a ventriloquist : it doesn't matter that we see the manipulation and the puppeteer: if done well, we will still be focused on the puppet and it being alive.

I love diagonals in images so this one has immediate appeal for me.
But there is more at work to make it a succesful sporting image:

• the dynamic pose of the skier, expressing concentration and focus and tension

• the winning colour combination of black and the brightest red against a blue that we know to be white (with the goggles a laser point to guide us to a face full of concentration

• and probably my favourite element: the cloud of powder snow kicked up by the skier and catching the backlighting sun: it enhances that beloved diagonal.

Take away the smoke and the lighting that catches that smoke, and this image becomes dull.
But with that smoke, there is suddenly spirit here, like the actual music taking shape and drifting up from the musicians towards the sky, or like a divine inspiration raining down on them (choose one, depending on your humanistic vs theological world view).

It's the size and complexity of the whole exhibition that impresses.
The angles and heights selected for the two photos are calculated to show both.
In both the included people show these models are considerably more than the usual home builds.

Dramatic art filter certainly did a great job in accentuating the scene by the river. The fog and mist did the rest to bring the atmosphere to the forefront.

Theatrical drama at its best. It must have been something to watch this in person.

Brilliant capture of the light and the skier.

It must have been very interesting to watch this group's performance. They certainly set the stage for memorable act.

Very cool helicopter shot.

Looks very realistic and the light was excellent.

Very joyful capture which will remain with you for long time.

Well, you have certainly captured those birds in a moment of joyful play. Amazing.

It's all about colours and shapes and undoubtedly joy for young minds when they assemble the toys.

Dramatic and timeless scene that is similar to scenes in classic photographs and paintings of that landscape. The drama of the bulky clouds of mist and darkly defined rock formations is familiar even to those of us who've never been there. The boat docks and lighthouse (?) provide color and contrast in tone and shape and clarify the human element. A travel brochure would do well to include such as this.

The cheerful trio of ladies with the selfie stick interrupt our romantic reverie, and bring us back to reality, with the backdrop being the scene we've just appreciated. I do love to take pictures of people taking pictures.