* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #963 / Revived #183 on 2026 09 30 *

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 (15 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!

ARTIST PORTRAIT

Last June I was at a small town rock festival in Hoeven (Netherlands) in order to shoot some images of Mind Control, the cover band in which a dear friend plays the guitar. (Also to try out my new OM-1 camera in challenging concert circumstances.)

Between the sound check and the actual concert, we improvised some band and individual portraits in the backstage area (a former church, now library; our band had a little room off to the side of the former sacristy...).

Here is one of their singer that I was not unhappy with:

That's a really good portrait! I think the composition works well and the processing seems like a good fit. If the (somewhat serious/concentrated) expression is also fitting, depends on the musician, I guess... but (as a band-member myself) I would certainly be happy with a shot like that.

I've remembered an old macro lens (roughly 100 years old) yesterday and decided to try it once more:

Grow in by simple.joy, on Flickr

The magnification is somewhere around 10:1

Blue Mosque at night

I love lighthouses and explored a bunch of them last week in Michigan. My favorite was this little lighthouse tucked away in the tiny village of Eagle Harbor, off the beaten track, staffed by a couple of volunteers who keep the light burning and show visitors around.

How to cross a river without a motor

This is a story of how a ferry crosses the River Elbe by using only the power of the flowing water.
There are, of course, multiple uses of similar techniques worldwide, this is just one example that we saw last week in Germany.
The ferry is attached to the river bank with a strong cable marked with several yellow buoys.
The boat without a motor would normally be driven downstream by the current but it’s held in position with the cable.
The captain just needs to turns the rudder to the left or to the right to reach either of the two landing piers.

Here’s a few views from higher up, as it gradually crosses from right to left

Half way across

The shipping in the river has the right of way, so when any ships are coming the ferry has to make sure it is over on the left hand side, so that the cable doesn’t block the way.

...nearly there

The passengers leave, and the next ones are waiting to board

Now it’s our turn to cross, the lady captain turns the wheel.

It's still working well, especially in your hands !

very picturesque!
Love the colours, well composed!

At first glance, I thought it was a very good photo.
For me, the out-of-focus areas take up far too much space.
I would crop the photo like this:

I have photographed this front door again and again with various cameras.
Last time, I noticed that the street is also named Unicorn Street.

V&A East

The host city of the Olympic Games usually promises that the games will vitalise the part of the city around the venue, but that doesn’t always happen, however it seems to be true for the East End of London, which hosted the games in 2012. The area around Stratford (only the name has anything to do with Shakespeare’s Stratford upon Avon) has metamorphosed from a run down depressed area to a modern thriving and inspirational area.

The Victoria & Albert Museum, or V&A, has long been an attraction in the West End of London, with its collection of Applied Arts and Crafts, but now the V&A East in Stratford is becoming an attraction in its own right, with its focus on Youth Culture and the Culture of the East End, which is the centuries old magnet for the immigration wave of the time, and a unique melting pot of those influences.

We just went to a very cool exhibition there on the history of Black music in the UK, where visitors receive excellent quality Sennheiser headphones, which automatically play the appropriate music as they walk around the exhibits.

The photo shows the building in its surroundings.

As a photograph, it’s good—everything is right.
But as architecture, it is hideous—the kind we see everywhere, every day.

I thought I would reply, and I will eventually.
But I will first let others make up their mind between the two versions. Interesting!!

Tool art

Context, as our fearless leader advocates...

Aberfoyle Antique Market, Ontario, Canada-
Some resourceful individual lovingly assembled and affixed to the wall various tools and implements from different epochs for viewing pleasure of prospective buyers.

Personally I find it amazing that someone would go to that extent to showcase tools made decades ago, which could still be used today, either as actual tools or be decorative elements on someone 's wall...

I humbly agree that bigger image is considerably more impact full. But that's just me. We appreciate this face more.

Incredible detail. You should be commended.

Lit minerats are truly extraordinary.

Love the colours and location. The red colour is a winner.

It's a miracle. Great series.

Well, different approach, different taste, but i see a conflict...

Mainly, I prefer the Kumsal crop but I think it needs to have the right edge further to the right. In Roel's original, we get more of the person and so understanding that the circled image is a reflection, not something like a porthole, is more easily grasped. I like Kumsal's crop of the top and bottom. Adding more to the right of his crop would also change the overall shape and give a little more horizontal movement, especially from the hat brim and I feel this would help link the reflection with the rear of the musician. The large white highlight at the base is intrusive. Perhaps crop some of this out as well?
The hat brim, hat band and their reflections are creating lines that frame the reflected portrait,
Apart from all that, just the face, hands, eyes and mouth organ are beautifully positioned. The parallel lines beween the hat brim and the mouth organ and hat brim are terrific. Dirro for the fingers, especially the one connecting up to the eye.

Well, well, well - I must admit it's very unusual and really extraordinary. I see your interest in it and why you are attracted to it.

What is it? I have no idea but the image is very enjoyable. There's an unusual and striking mix of colours. The purple arc dominates the composition and gets the eye to the area of sharpest focus. The hairllike threads with blobs on the end and their reversed golden shapes are intriguing.