* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #949 / Revived #169 on 2026 06 24 *

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A very good photo.
It’s a shame for me that I’ve never photographed this building near me.

Very interesting photos.
I’ve often experienced that too—the camera unnecessarily darkening the sky like that.
I’m referring to the first three photos.

I hope this image proves that photos do lie, otherwise he appears to be one of the worst demi-gods ever created in heaven or hell!
The light casts shadows to transform a neutral expression into an evil one, and the resulting detached but malicious face gives it a psychopathic quality. However, it is the excellent framing that really makes this a stand-out, with the gong forming a shimmering halo as a final flourish.

The series has a dramatic start. The subconscious notices that something is wrong with the bird, and rings alarm bells, before the analytical side looks for details to explain why the bird is scary. It was a good idea to remove the support and to create this effect, and it has been done in such a way that it is not obvious, even when looking for it.
The second and third lower the heart beats and show the beautiful calm pastoral scenes.
It is a great little series, which tells a story.

The first introduces and explains the scene and with the added nugget of providing an amusing but appropriate title.
The next two are both interesting studies in texture and shape, but, most importantly, they are abstracts, which stand up to a longer study, finding different interpretations and emotions in them.

The first is a great example of showing how to compose with a tiny subject. The glowing red feeder is an eye-magnet and could even be the subject itself, but it is the fragile little bird, with no colour whatsoever, which holds the attention the longest. It is also set against the plain background of the sky, whose colours are a further attraction. The trees form a lovely vignette to highlight the subject.
The second works in a similar way, with the flower attracting the eye to the wasp in the same way it attracted the wasp in the first place. It doesn’t work quite as well as the first, because the delicate wasp is set against part of the details at the centre of the flower, making it more difficult to see. However, it works well enough to want to zoom in and see what an attractive insect it is.

The soft, warm light is indeed good, and makes the building glow gently. The pinks on the other buildings in the shade complement the orange and do not distract. The lines of the buildings and the road lead towards the subject nicely. It is a delightful quiet scene of a calm evening.

As others have mentioned, I too can only see the “missing link” symbol for the first. The warmer sepia cast in the third doesn’t bother me, in fact I quite like it, but obviously for a series it would be better to be consistent with either the grey or the sepia version.
The second is a good study of men at work, but it is the third, which is the stand-out for me. I like the composition with the large boat on the left balanced by the boat on the water, the men and the paraphernalia on the right. The man in the foreground gives an impression that they are in control of the comparatively huge boat and is important to emphasise the scale. Without him and the other men, I would have imagined a much smaller boat. How the boat is still balanced upright and what makes the men think it can be persuaded to slide into the sea and not simply roll over and crush them is beyond me. But what do I know, they and their forebears have been doing it this way for hundreds, or even thousands, of years, but it is still impressive.
Mike, I hope you are having as much fun going into the cellars of your archive and pulling up tasty vintages to savour as I am having looking at the results.

This does indeed have a certain aura of Hogwarts about it.
It is a proud, confidant, building, which is emphasised by the low angle from which it was taken, even if the steep hill forces that view anyway. As Mike points out, the hill and the angle of shooting makes interesting patterns from the steps, and the slope means we can see the cobblestones nicely, which wouldn’t be possible on flat ground, both adding interest to the shot and echoe the highly decorated building with their details in the foreground.

I don't do much 'street' but saw this when out enjoying an icecream in Ghent

PXL_20260623_190737623.RAW-01 by softmarmotte, on Flickr

Thanks Arvo. I have no idea why I was seeing it correctly and others weren't.

Thanks Pete. I agree that as these are shown together, I should have first matched the tones.
Hopefully you can now see 1 which gives the scale .
The second boat showing in 3 acted as a tug and connected with a hawser to the new boat. With the chocks removed, it dragged it down the ramp.

Years ago I had a couple of scans done of the negs. The camera, the Mamiya C330pro was exceptional. I was disappointed with the scans and forgot about these shots. My son recently convinced me to dig them out again and try using my Sony A7CR with a macro lens, much higher resolution sensor and light panel. I'm still working on the conversion process which explains the varying warmth of the outputs. This time I feel the results do justice to the originals.
There are still a few to come.

Getting him fitted into his golden halo, reminiscent of those in medieval religious paintings, was quite an accomplishment. Framing it tightly to eliminate the extraneous parts of the music equipment and the other band members was a good choice too. Nicely done.

Though all are nice, well taken photographs of interesting subjects, the first is an eye grabber. A viewer may be astounded, then confused, then suspicious, then entertained all within seconds. Was he on a post outside in the wilderness or did you transport him from another photo? Either way, it's an interesting image.

I really enjoy these texture images you've been sharing. These weathered boat surfaces make wonderful subjects. Keep on chasing these things down for those of us who don't live near the places ships hang out.

An interesting building architecturally makes an even better subject in afternoon light. The detail in the brickwork is visually appealing too.

The vintage nature of these images (given away by the hair and clothing styles as well as the processing) makes them more appealing. A window into the life of a seaside village half a century ago. One wonders if it is much the same today, or if it's very different.