* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #880 / Revived #100 (ONE HUNDRED) on 2025 02 26*

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RoelHendrickx
Members 908 posts

March 4, 2025, 4:14 p.m. March 4, 2025, 4:14 p.m.
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@MikeFewster has written:

@JonasB has written:

@AlanSh has written:

Jonas,

Photos, to me, are eoither art or memories. Either way, they have value to me.
These are special. They are a part of a great holiday we had. In 2008 I started keeping a diary of these things knowing that 10 years later, I wouldn't remember every detail. Once someone mentioned where the dolphins were, I remembered more. So, it was worth my posting that one. The other one is just a nice picture.

Alan

OK, I see, and there you go. I'm sorry and I'll stay in the corner repeating "Don't be blunt " for a while.

There is no problem at all in being blunt here with critique Jonas. Critique is meaningless without honesty. You were also polite and respectful.
We recognize that every person who looks at an image brings something of themself and their experience to the interaction. Appreciating that images do this and sharing our varied responses is all part of the process.
Keep them coming.

Agree 100%
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RoelHendrickx
Members 908 posts

March 4, 2025, 4:15 p.m. March 4, 2025, 4:15 p.m.
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@MikeFewster has written:

@Rich42 has written:

@minniev has written:

I take more pictures of my grandsons than anything else, even more than of the dam birds. Most are for their fun or for keepsakes, but every once in a while I get a photo I like for more than sentimental reasons, and this was one. Most soccer shots have a plethora of unattractive parents and referees, vehicles, bags and water jugs, portable toilets and tents. On rare occasions they play on a field at the edge of a complex that has real trees alongside! This was one of those times. Soccer also has some occasional moments that look choreographed. Grandson approved (the one in red in the middle).

Yeah, C'mon . . . the dance instructor or Cheer captain was standing just outside the image. They practiced this for hours. Carefully choreographed to upbeat music!

It takes a lot of shots! Photogs for Life and National Geo used to do it all the time. The image that got printed in the weekly magazine was the distilled effort of all the hundreds of images that were failures and frankly, boring pics of athletes in one kind of uniform or another.

But when the moment happens . . . Wow!

Nice work.

Rich

Posted my response a few minutes ago, then read yours.

It's all in how the legs are positioned here.
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RoelHendrickx
Members 908 posts

March 4, 2025, 4:16 p.m. March 4, 2025, 4:16 p.m.
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@Fireplace33 has written:

Two puzzling lines

About 12 years ago I took this photo on a great beach in Estonia. Taken with a Sigma 17-50 lens on a Nikon D7100 and corrected afterwards for lens distortion during the processing.
I was happy with the result but then noticed something that was somehow confusing for me at the time.
Now it's completely clear and obvious, of course :-)
I wonder if anyone else could be puzzled about why the shadow line, from the rock and sun, and the bright line on the water from the same sun had somewhat different angles in the picture ?

I guess that by now, someone else has surely pointed at the upwards slope of the beach?

I like the image. I love long shadows.
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RoelHendrickx
Members 908 posts

March 4, 2025, 4:17 p.m. March 4, 2025, 4:17 p.m.
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@JonasB has written:

The sauna

The odd harbour building is a recently renovated community sauna. The architecture is a mix of favela standard and the No to aluminum front (if that exists). It's situated aside of a couple of small swimmingpools in the harbour, free to use and quite popular.
From a No people-series of images of Gothenburg, Sweden.

A very pleasing minimalist reflection in contrast-rich black&white.
Good to see you around, Jonas!
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RoelHendrickx
Members 908 posts

March 4, 2025, 4:19 p.m. March 4, 2025, 4:19 p.m.
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@Sagittarius has written:

Hot Air Balloons Over Cappadoccia
Getting ready

Boarding

Flying

And Champaign after successful landing

Only once in my life have I made a hot air balloon trip (over Canberra : a city that is much more interesting to look at from the air than on ground level...).

Cappadocia is of course a prime location for ballooning, and your images help to show us why.

Another one for the bucket list.
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MikeFewster
Members 1782 posts

March 4, 2025, 8:20 p.m. March 4, 2025, 8:20 p.m.
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@PeteS has written:

@RoelHendrickx has written:

@MikeFewster has written:

I'm convinced.
Another celebratory shot from India.
Street band. Kolkota.

I really like the festive atmosphere here.
That large instrument (tuba? I am worthless at recognizing instrument) feels like black hole, sucking us into the image.
Getting close to the action definitely paid off here.
What it also looks like, that same instrument, is like a eye pointing straight ahead, guiding the guy playing it.
And that is a good thing, because that guy himself is not watching the road, but the photographer.
The eye contact is a bonus.

Roel has said what I wanted to say. The eye contact is especially good, as it is with more than one member of the band.
Close inspection suggests that maybe Topaz (or similar) was used to recover the blur, especially of the faces. I wonder if that was the reason for your cryptic‘I am convinced.‘ comment, Mike? If so, I agree with you. It is only noticeable if you study the image in detail, as the important things in the image are sharp, and the rest not blurred enough to bother and in keeping with the movement of a marching band. In fact I actually like a bit of motion blur.

See also the edit I've added to my comment on Roel's India shot. I must have had my head only partially engaged at the time. I have no idea what I meant by "I am convinced." It was something to do with me deciding to also use an Indian celebration photo. I'm glad Pete that you agree with me, 'cause I don't know what it was.
Yes, Topaz was used on the shot. I came very close to cropping about 1/3 off the bottom and 1/3 off the right to concentrate more on both faces and the tuba.
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MikeFewster
Members 1782 posts

March 5, 2025, 1:56 a.m. March 5, 2025, 1:56 a.m.
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@Sagittarius has written:

Hot Air Balloons Over Cappadoccia
Getting ready

Boarding

Flying

And Champaign after successful landing

It's a well selected series showing different stages of the flight. The balloons give plenty of colour and shape to the shots. 2 with the fully inflated and part inflated canopy is interesting. Likewise 3 showing the repeating balloon shapes at largish size.
For the series, there are a few of shots I could wish for. Voyagers inside the basket. More of the landscape view. The final shot with intrepid travelers celebrating , glasses in hand.
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MikeFewster
Members 1782 posts

March 5, 2025, 1:57 a.m. March 5, 2025, 1:57 a.m.
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@PeteS has written:

@minniev has written:

@streamdream has written:

High Above

There's this amazing spiral viewing tower on top of the Grünberg in Austria. Even viewing it from the side, you get a glimpse of the breathtaking view onto Traunstein and Traunsee, that you'd be able to fully see from up top.

A rather incredible and massive structure, Your image captures its delicate geometry and the monochrome version reveals the contrast between the sharp architectural features and the foggy (and romantic) background of the mountainous countryside. There are many lines to guide us visually and they all work. But there is one impediment, the large dark box on the left upper thirds intersection, and that is an eye magnet that sucks my attention away from the more delicate elements. I tried a crop that would at least limit its force, and had the extra benefit of making the lone figure more important.

I just wanted to add a vote to Minnie‘s vertical crop suggestion. You wrote that your interest was the structure and to show its size, and that the view was of secondary interest. The vertical crop draws more attention to the structure and actually accentuates the sense of size. The figure also becomes a more important part of the image.
The view is high key, which reduces the amount of detail and avoids distracting from the main subject, but leaves enough details to make it interesting.

I like this crop too.