* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #901 / Revived #121 on 2025 07 23*

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!

SALAMAMANDERING

An old image this week, from a year's end trip to Malta in December 2014-January 2015.

I think this image is one of the earliest examples of photos showing my wife Els with very specific behaviour.
Since then, I have shot numerous similar images in places all over the world.

On days that are not too hot, she will find a spot against a light coloured wall in the middle of the city and place herself there, eyes closed, to bask in what little sunshine there is and warm up a bit. (Most often this behaviour can be spotted while I am running around to catch a few photo opportunities.)

Together with our children, we have coined a word for that behaviour: we call it "salamamandering"
(You will recognize this as a combination of the words "salamander" and "mama", but then in the form of a verb.)

Two more from the "50mm" Hike

Last week I took only one lens on a hike, the new Viltrox AF 50mm F2 Air Z
Here are two more from that series in the Hochkönig region that I processed today

A bright green mountain pasture

Flowering meadows lower down

A couple of days ago, my son called to say he and his 13 yr old were kayaking and the light was nice for pictures (I have trained the family to know good light), so I went to the little neighborhood boat dock and met them.

Copper-Clad

Back to some opulent on-the-beach "cottages."

The rear entrance of a non-pretentious little abode. Two of its three copper-clad garage doors.

We're just simple folk here. Doesn't everyone have marble and copper-clad garages? And personalized municipal ordinances to keep one's driveways clear?

It's good to be king, or friends with the mayor and City Council Chairman.

Rich

Your son learned to see the light very well. It’s quite beautiful. The composition is beautiful on its own.

Rich

At least she has found something to do while you are wasting time with that darn camera!

My wife’s a good sport, but when I catch her in one of my shots, she looks patient but bored to tears!😉

Rich

Beautiful mountain scenery and light. What elevation?

Rich

Thanks Rich
This is about 1500m above sea level

Thanks, everyone, for encouragement about submitting images for a local gallery exhibition.

I received notification today that, unfortunately, none was accepted.

The life of an artist is full of rejection!

😱

Carrying on! 😎

Rich

I enjoyed playing grand theft auto as a kid. It was always amusing (and a little spooky) to me to discover abandoned vehicles, often on the hillsides. It wasn't until I moved to Montana later in life that I discovered this wasn't all too unusual for this part of the country. I've recently been trying to collect pictures of any I come across (assuming I have my camera with me).

Here's one of an abandoned truck on a hillside. This ones presumably been up here for a while, so much so that the trail has now been named the "old Chevy trail".

Here's a decorative jeep perched on top of a shipping container in front of a local business.

The Breakaways and bonus crow.

I like the composition here. And the colors and nuances int he tones are great as well - beautiful work! Whenever I see meadows in the mountains I'm reminded how much color was lost down in the valleys in terms of variety. Thankfully it's getting more common that at least small portions of land are dedicated to wildflowers and a variety of other plants again. It's a slow process though... (as everything in Austria tends to be!)

A really interesting and quite unique shot. I love that you were able to include the crow. It's somewhat distracting there right in the middle, but it adds another layer and makes the image special. I certainly enjoy it.

Time Warped

When it is time to choose a photo for C&C, I often have no idea what I should post. Ideally it should be edgy enough to cause some discussion, and perhaps one about which I am not so sure myself. This week I decided to follow Roel's lead and took a look in my Malta folder, since I was there in the same year as Roel, in 2014. Not just in the selected photos, but in the rejects too, where I found this one.

It shows a showcase containing a painting, which over time has become rather warped. The reflections of the old stone buildings are warped by the pane of glass, which is no longer flat and true. My memory of it has become somewhat warped too, as I cannot remember what the paintiing was about, or exactly on which building it was hung. Finally my appreciation of it has warped, as I no longer see it as a reject, but rather like how the two warped images combine to give a new image, which doesn't record facts, but offers food for fantasy and interpretation.

Photographers' partners. They also serve who only wait. A photographic genre.
The warmer weather version is labelled 'We'll be waiting in the bar over there."
I'll bet the fella in the cap is a photographer too. His response sums the moment up.

A higher and lower pastures grouping is a nice bit of story telling. It's my left-right reading training on display here but I'd suggest the second shot should come first. The steep angle to the right suggests we are going up and builds some anticipation.
I'm not familiar with the greens of this landscape but both look a little yellow in the tones.
An edit note. Re the tones. It might be me. Having next looked at minniev's image, it also looks a touch yellow to me.

I'm impressed. It's a credit to you that your family responds to good light. It's usually overlooked in manuals on child rearing. My kids became hostile about National Geographic red jackets for birthdays.

All the proportions here feel right. The grandson is large enough in the shot to make the most of his good looks. We have enough of the trees and the reflections to share the location. The splash is easily seen and adds youthful energy.
A note on the colour. I previously suggested that The greens and blues in the shot from Fireplace looked a bit yellow. To a lesser extent, I thought the same here. It's me. You have more blues in your shot and I don't see any yellow cast on them.

I have an "either" "or" feeling about this shot. The slice on the far left doesn't give me enough information about the location so it doesn't fire up a response about the appropriateness or other wise of the doors. Three of these doors and the "No Parking" sign would be quite a statement of opulence and privilege. In a nutshell, I think the shot needs either more from the left or more on the right or both. It's a location worth exploring.

Glad to hear you are soldiering on. You are in good company. Van Gogh, Maier.....

Good action shot and great light. I bet both you and your grandson will treasure this one.

I also trained my family to spot good light :-)
The breakthrough was on a tour through Scotland, where good light was easier to spot :-)

Works well !
...pure poppy red with those lovely sharp details in the middle, all shown against a darker background to make it POP

Il like it too. Reminds me of some scene from a dream sequence