* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #928 / Revived #148 on 2026 01 28 *

Beautiful, striking flowers and perfectly lit to show off their features.
I'm a bit uncomfortable with the composition though. The container has been awkwardly sliced off by the bottom frame.
Similarly, the flower top rightdoesn't feel right to me. There's almost a straight line on the petals against the right hand edge. It seems, to me, to break the line of flowers that were moving to the top right corner. But others might not agree.

All the photos are fine. It's the accompanying text here that presses the buttons. I laughed at the title and I enjoyed the snippets of information.
Another bit of unexpected info that always amazes me about these birds. Inland Australia is the last place I'd expect to find these birds that seem specifically designed for oceans. But there they are. Any kind of flooding (it happens) in central Australian deserts and pelicans arrive in huge flocks

The warm monotone feels just right for the somewhat old fashioned ferry and docks. It all speaks of leisurely travel and enjoyment in the trip. The composition is unusual and I feel it really works. At first glance, there seems to be too much subject concentrated on the left - but it doesn't feel unbalanced. The smoke from the ferry and the darker cloud line on the left balance similar shapes in the cloud and land on the right. The flag catches the eye but it is counterpointed by the gull. Seen large, just enough of Hagia Sophia and minarets emerge to give another counterpoise to the poles on the left. We know where we are and the ferry offers the journey across.
It's a very fine image.

The two huge portraits are unusually detailed and lifelike for street art, so they appear to be hovering/watching over the small figures of the woman and child below. What makes this composition work for me is the multiplicity of angles: the fencing, the portraits, the buildings, the walkway. It gives an abstract, patterned and almost surreal feel to the image. Well captured.

Nice nature abstracts with interesting details and shapes. I love ice, and all the interesting and often geometric or fractal things it does of its own accord. Good photographic fun.

Both/either would be a fine abstract if the snake was only a rope - color, pattern, shapes, textures. But the fork tongued serpent takes it to another level, It's sinuous form is headed right for the interesting flower so it conveys movement and intent. Both are good photos but quite different. My own preference is almost always for leaving all the stuff in the frame, and that holds true for these two versions. The weirdness of those manmade utilitarian features in bold and patterned blues and yellows is too interesting to give up. I'm not all that fond of the fuzzy green fur along the right border though.

Beautiful old cathedral, well captured to retain the colors in the stained glass and the detail in the intricate design features. I know from experience that those kinds of light fixtures are hard to retain in the dark interiors of these cavernous old churches. I would probably straighten it more, but a case can surely be made for keeping the distortion to convey the size of the place. Just a personal preference!

Well captured, those reds are always challenging. The flowers are sharply caught, with realistic colors. I might would wish for the bottom of the flowerpot not to be cut off. With that stark white background, something to "ground" the subject might be helpful.

A nice maritime image that looks great (and somewhat vintage) in monochrome. Excellent breadth of tonalities makes the image very engaging visually. Compositionally the placement of the bird and the mast and stack at the thirds junctions makes for a good balance. Quite a pleasing image.

I am jealous. A medieval walled city in the Mediterranean must be amazing to explore and photograph, even without your "real" camera. Like you, I am not a big fan of the HDR look that sometimes affects phone camera captures, and I'm steadily trying methods to counteract that behavior in my phone, with some success that usually requires using a non native ap that lets me control more parameters and/or using post processing to reduce that effect. I don't think the HDR look affects these too badly though. It's most obvious in the first one, with the man lugging the sideways baby, and in that one it actually makes the photo more fun by revealing the pair in ultra detail. It works well for those images with no (or distant) people, too. Good job!

Wonderful use of light and pattern.

I agree with you about the shadows. The phone's processing has flattened the shots out by over brightening the shadows. Shot 1 works best for me because it is adding depth with more dynamic range from front to rear. Plus the fabulous father and child moment which is sufficient to carry the photo on its own.
I'm a sucker for laneway shots and can never resist shooting yet another one. It must be something about old lanes like these being rare in Australia. You have added Alcudia to the lanes to be visied.
You have given me an idea. While the flatness of the scenes has removed depth, there are plenty of lines and planes. I’m going to revise some of my old lane shots and copy what your phone has done. Then I’ll try to abstract the image further. I’m hoping for a flat collection of shapes, lines, planes that suggests something of the atmosphere of the lanes. And I’d like the colours tinternaut has captured.
In due course, I’ll let y’all know how I got on.

These portraits were probably commissioned. They are large and interesting.
The mother and daughter complement the composition.
Very well observed.

Interesting patterns, this is my favorite.

I prefer the first version.
The snake has very beautiful patterns.

A beautiful, imposing church.
Lots of light and beautiful colors.

A beautiful photo.

All very interesting photos.
I know the area.
Unfortunately, the photos look overly edited (Google).