* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #897 / Revived #117 on 2025 06 25*

Welcome to the 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 (almost 17 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!

PORCH

First a small service announcement.
You may have noticed that I was not very active last week. This week, I may also limit my commenting.
I have undergone emergency eye surgery last week Wednesday evening (damaged retina). The physical damage is repaired, but my eyesight is still fuzzy because of bloodtraces (bloodmist) in my eye liquid. This has to subside and that may take weeks or even months. Watching with concentration is more strenuous than normal. I have to limit my screen time.

Having said that, I can offer this contribution to the thread.
It is an image from the Venice Biennale for Architecture, that we visited three weeks ago.
Many national pavillions were interesting to visit (Belgium, UK come to mind).
But the one that attracted me most was the USA Pavillion.
The University of Kansas was the main contributor to a wonderful exhibition on the phenomenon of the (front or back) porch (both in private residences and public buildings), and its historical and societal importance. Very informative, and with an inviting combination of historic and modern design elements.

Here is an impression (yes, Iphone again):

Roel - Ouch! - wishing you a full and speedy recovery

Alan - I think that's holly, not a thistle!

Tim

All the best wishes for your recovery!

This image is great. I love how the lines work out - very interesting to look at and a great balance of colors as well.

I like this one. The shapes of the trees are indeed awesome and work together very well. I think the image is too bright however, particularly in the foreground, which distracts from the good composition. I would personally darken the reds significantly, the greens slightly and adjust the tones overall.

Pelligrini's. Melbourne.
A Melbourne tradition.

At the edge

Infinity pool at the entrance of a local museum.

Mike, I read a mouth watering menu - lasagne, gelato, espresso. Oh, ah, uh!!!

Good shot nevertheless. Gives an idea of the family run establishment. The atmosphere is there with all the details.

Very innovative. I like that wooden handle pocket knife. Old Victorinox?

Thank you! I'm afraid it's not - doesn't feel high grade, but it is from my mother, so it certainly managed to stay functional for quite some time.

Great series. This is my fave, the contrast is outstanding, framing excellent. I wonder about the colours of the bark though...

Wishing you speedy recovery.

As to image - it certainly merges various architectural trends and styles and definiely has an impact. To me it's totally avant-garde...

White Wall and Grasses

We had been having very hot and dry weather for about a week ("Santa Ana Wind").

The humidity was around 4-5%. The air was crystal-clear. This scene just presented itself as I parked my car, hoping to get some shots in our small-boat harbor.

The white wall was almost impossible to look at in the late-afternoon sun. It looked like it was glowing with white heat. The stalks of dry grass on the very steep hill behind the retaining wall looked "etched" in the dry air. The red curb was too good to ignore.

I squared up the scene as best as possible with the camera on a tripod and later did further perspective correction in Photoshop.

Roel - I'm so sorry to hear about your eye mishap. I've sent you a PM.

Rich

Interesting!
I like the pool, great idea and work by some unknown artist or architect.
The image works fine giving me an idea about what the place looks like. It is technically good and there is nothing disturbing when looking at it on screen. I like that the angle of the pool is not in the dead center of the image. Without knowledge about the surroundings I don't know of course.... but had it been possible to go lower and angle the camera a couple of degree upwards? I wonder what that could have looked like.

I'm not sure what this image can be used for but it surely exists in its own right as eye-candy. Thank you.

Having something happen to the eyes is of course a stressful experience. I hope the weeks to come will gradually let you come back with full/normal vision!

Hi,
Walls are walls, the crispy day made it better and the sprayed red together with the rebars made it!
The image is the kind of image making me stop and go back when scrolling my way down a homesite page. I like it and appreciate that the image was taken, processed and posted!
All god? Probably. That's personal though. I would have threatened it slightly different.
I would crop to the right making the image almost square as the wall make it tip over towards the right. The remaining part of the wall has a blue tone from the sky. To strengthen the feeling of intense white I would desaturate the wall leaving only a minimum of blue in it. Further, in my mind, I would also crop the image at the bottom following the concrete curbstones as the parking lot ground is not needed here and in fact is disturbing. Perhaps a 0.5 degree rotation would be necessary.
Something like that. I think it would increase emphasis on the red and the rebars thanks to balance improvements.

On the other hand somebody else surely has it perfect as it is. It's seldom we all are happy at the same time. Thank you for the image!

Jonas,

Thanks for commenting! Great suggestions.

I did crop the image to the right and decided against it. I liked the more "landscape" shape better, but I'm still undecided.

The horizontal lines are as "level" as I can get them in Photoshop. It's a little bit of an illusion that the image should be straightened. If I tilt it one direction, it looks off in the other, and back again. But, I agree it should look straight whether it measures that way or not. The actual wall runs uphill on the right, quite a bit in the unedited shot.

I probably could have made a pretty good composition with just the red curb, the paint splash, the rebar and the left end of the wall. But what looks like an empty street was filled with passing cars!

Rich

Hi again
If you tried cropping I can't ask for more.
It seems as the situation at the wall clearly was more complicated than the finished image suggests. I know how it feels standing on, for example, a sidewalk with a tripod wishing everybody could stop move around for just a minute... Well, we get what we get and the image is good so well done!

Hi,
Some of you may remember a couple of earlier images from my "No People" project. They were dark night time images. Here is one from the daylight part of the series.

I need some help, or input, here. In short: Is it just plain boring or does it add anything to the series (imagine 15-20 images showing known parts of Gothenburg but, unusually enough, with no people present in them)? Is it in any possible way interesting to look at it printed big? In short, print, edit or bin, that's the question. Ideas are welcome!