* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #927 / Revived #147 on 2026 01 21 *

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 or critical 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!

SKOURA OASIS and its KASBAHS

Our Morocco trip was filled with unexpected gems.

As usual, we had prepared well, reading through a few guides and getting the Michelin map to determine which roads between our stops would be most scenic (and doable in winter). We had rented a car for the whole duration and booked three lodgings in advance (Casablanca, Fez & Ouarzazate) for three nights each, leaving a gap of four nights as well as the final night still to be determined, based on weather and whim. Worked out well.

But still, the unexpected treasures are always the ones that taste best.

In the historic royal cities (and in Volubilis) we approached people at the entrance of the site or at the ticket booth of a main museum to get in contact with an official guide. We got lucky with all of those.

Our stop in Ouarzazate (the most southern point of our trip) was the one that yielded most serendipity.
We had programmed that city in our itinerary for several reasons: * to have a goal to cross the Atlas Mountains (over the wonderful N9 road and the Tizi N Tichka Pass) * to get close to Ait Ben Haddou * to not limit our trip to cities but also get the desert feeling * to visit the Atlas Movie Studios (where Ridley Scott is a loyal customer but also many other biblical and other epics and war movies are filmed).

We checked most of those boxes on our trip towards Ouarzazate and on the first full day in town, leaving us with another full day to explore the region.

Skoura Oasis became our daytrip destination, and it turned out to be one of the undisputed highlights of the whole trip (although we had read precious little about it in advance).

Skoura Oasis is (guestimate) 25to 40 square kms of palm trees, olive trees and centuries old agriculture with ingenious irrigation, lodged between desert and mountains. Traditionally fertile ground, it was precious territory and thus well defended. The oasis hosts a multitude of Kasbahs, the traditional fortified houses of the region, built in pisé (which is like adobe: a mixture of red mud and straw, hammered to firmness) and then decorated with geometrical figures cut out from the dried walls. Wonderful, timeless architecture and design that we had already seen in the form of a Ksar (fortified village) in Ait Ben Haddou, but now in the oasis context.

Our entry gate to the oasis was Amridil Kasbah, one of the best preserved (and renovated at least once every ten years), where a friendly and humourous guide Ayoub showed us the secrets of building techniques, architectural features and practical design. Fun fact: the kasbah has not one but TWO "official" entrances, operated by two different companies/people, who each boast what their tour has to offer. I do believe we picked the best one.

Asking Ayoub after our 45 minute tour if it would be a good idea to meander our way by car through the rest of the oasis, he told us that this would of course be possible (although there is no map and the dirt roads are not always known to GPS), but we would probably never find the nicest spots and would have a hard time locating and entering the olive and date gardens, that are private etc. A local guide could offer us access and information.

So of course we hired another guide who was conveniently loitering around the Kasbah's entrance, sunny and funny Abdul, who rode shotgun in our car for the next three hours and was a cornucopia of not so much historical knowledge, but practical trivia about everyday oasis life, economics and society in past and present (including: how to avoid and bypass one of the many standard police controls on the main road by taking a vertiginous and dusty side road cutting through a shallow river and through some fields - Abdul did not have an official guide licence and badge and did not feel like explaining his presence in our car to the policemen; there is the best of Morocco for you...) We had the best of times with him.

This is one of the many dozen "not so touristy" kasbahs that Abdul showed us:

Winter reflections at the lake

Frozen snow in the forest

The snow in the local forest here in Pilsbach is currently very hard, with a frozen layer on top, which makes walking difficult, but it does look good, especially with the sunlight shining through

That wavy ragged edge in the water gives this image quite an abstract feel.
The B&W high contrast rendering here helps you concentrate on the nice shapes.

Stormy weather

This wavy ice formation is very, very unique. If I may suggest a slight truncation (20%) of grasses on lhs to accentuate incredibly unusual natural phenomenon.

Starburst is the "star of the show" here. I like the snow, forest, trees, curve in the terrain. All great components to illustrate the winter.

Great story to go along with very foreign castle (to most of us). I like the colours: building, sky and trees. Naturally your framing is stellar here.

Alcúdia Part 1 - Good Morning Alcúdia
I had a break in the resort of Alcudia, Mallorca, in the last week of the season in October 2025, and it's something of a tale of woe. On the plane out, I placed my small case in the overhead bin, and my Thinktank Mirrorless Mover camera bag (contents: OMD-EM5 mk ii, Olympus 12-40 lens, Google Pixel Buds Pro and various cables) under the seat. At the end of the flight, I helped the elderly couple sitting next to me and blissfully forgot about the camera bag until I got to the hotel. Perhaps a reminder that no good deed goes unpunished! So, the only camera I had with me, on this holiday, taken very much to reconnect with photography, was my Google Pixel 9 Pro.

Taken during my morning exercise, a Japanese interval walk along the beach. So, walk as fast as I bloody well can for three minutes, slow down for three minutes and take some photos, walk as fast as I bloody well can for three minutes, slow down for three minutes and take some photos, repeat, repeat, repeat.

Dawn. Dunes and mountains.

The palm trees are real? Silly question?
No it isn't. In Egypt there are trees that look very similar but have plastic fronds. They are camouflaged cell phone communication towers.
Some of the verticals get close to the discussion of Tinternait's shot last week.
A shot that is dominated b y the framing.

A candidate for printing and hanging in a place of honour on the wall. There is no single subject point but there are several visual journeys along repeating shapes and lines. All the things I like a good B&W shot.

Very peaceful shot. It has all the ingredients for calming and the colours are magical.

Just Wow! The scene, the colours, the figures on the beach. Amazing. The Great White Frozen North (Toronto, Canada) is expecting -26C at night this Friday....

Wonderful image of wonderful and exotic architecture. Marvelous natural framing from the palm trees and fronds. the muted earth tones and greens of the desert work well with the blue sky. Love the detail in the design-work you describe. Before I read your note I was wondering exactly what created that effect. Thanks for sharing.

What a beautiful image! The sun star is quite perfect, but it's just icing on an already nice cake. The sun quietly and subtly illuminating the snowscape and turning a cool scene warm is just wonderful. The few remnants of orange foliage catch and multiply the warmth in the slight haze of the background. Very nice.

A lovely image, moody and dramatic. Spare landscape images with multiple distinct layers or bands of color always make me think of that famous Gursky photo.

I like all those thin layers and especially the light you have in the middle of the shot.
It works fine as it is, and would also work as a long thin panorama format by removing some from the top and bottom.

This works well! Simple and effective.
That texture in the dune is lovely and the orange colour is bold but not over the top.

Your phone camera did a respectable job! They are getting better all the time. You captured the amazingly vibrant colors of the sunset and the details of the beach arrangements and the human visitors in an exotic location. I particularly like the last one because of the cloud formations.

Your story reminds me of a similar mistake I made last year. I finally pursued a decades long wish to meet my most admired photographer, Freeman Patterson, and spend a few days studying with him in New Brunswick. But the night before the ferry crossing into Canada, I left my camera outfit in a hotel in Maine. So I arrived for this long dreamed-of workshop with only my phone. (I did eventually get my stuff back though a photography workshop without a real camera is frustrating),

Beautifully and simplistically composed of three elements with different forms/textures/colors, sharp transitions between them, and a wonderful flowing line to guide us through. There are subtle nudges from the lighting as well, to aid our passage. Lovely image.