Wednesday C&C * Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #907 / Revived #127 on 2025 09 03*

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!

LIBYAN SAHARA STORY ARCH

Going back to and through really old images.
This one dates from April 2009 and was shot on an adventurous trip through the Sahara in South Libya.
I may post a few more in coming weeks.

The context is that we had walked with camels in a group of adult friends and colleagues through a small stretch of Tunisian Sahara in 2008 and really wanted to share that experience with our children.

So we contacted the french travel agency that had arranged the Tunisian trek and asked them their recommendations for a trip in the Sahara with two families (4 adults, 4 children aged between 17 and 12). They highly recommended Libya, for the diversity of saharan landscapes (it is not all sanddunes) int the country's south region.

So we did that: flew to Tripoli (still with Colonel Khaddafi in power at the time), spent a few days in the capital and around (Sabratha: marvelous roman archeology) and then flew on with a smaller plane to a dusty airstrip south, where we spent the next 8 or 10 days (don't recall exactly) driving to different areas (Meggedet, Fezzan), sleeping in sleeping bags under the stars, and getting back into a small town once to stock on fuel and water and have a shower. Quite the adventure.

I remember that one day, we drove to a formation of huge rocks with boulders and arches that would make any American National Park proud.
This was one of the most impressive:

Mosh Pit.

Transition season at the little bay down the road. This blue heron has some odd coloring so I've been visiting with him lately. Some leukistic features.

Beach Art

Someone was very creative at the end of summer with logs washed up at the shore and impaling them upright into the sand.
Mysterious tribe...?!

Lake Huron, Ontario - approx surface area of 39K sq mi (60K sq km) fresh body of water bordering Canada and US.

Too bad it's so dark, but there is an attraction to this capture. One needs time and effort to explore the details and one is rewarded by the site of a magnificent bird.

We are witnessing what it could loosely be called - musical trance. Excellent.

Great picture within picture with some human figures to add interest. Excellent capture.

Frog and flowers

Simple shot, but well seen and executed. Great colours and light.

Lovely capture of lilies at their peak with vibrant colours. Frog is hiding, but clearly visible against surrounding water. Excellent.

The arch curve is repeated and reduces in size four times, maybe five or six. It creates a frame that ensures we pinpoint the small figures that give scale and content to everything. The smoothness of the sky and dunes emphasize the craggy shapes and texture of the rock. Isolation, aridity, human scale and time. It's all here.

"leukistic" was a new word for me. Now stored for future reference.
I'm undecided about this shot.
You have the feel of the location. It's a dark, somewhat overgrown tangle of a pool. I like the framing given to the bird and its reflection by the angled branch and its reflection. What I'm less sure about is the lighting. The bird itself (not the reflection) seems a little too bright. To me it feels as though this has been done in PP. I feel even more so about the patch of green grass behind the bird. It is bright to a degree where it takes attention away from the star and it feels artificial. Without a little less brighteninggreen, I think the more muted blue/greys and the branch framing would have been sufficient to make the picture of the bird in its environment.
But I'm undecided.