Wednesday C&C * Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #908 / Revived #128 on 2025 09 10*

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!

TUAREG SKETCHES

Another three images from our trip in the Libyan Sahara in 2009

We had slept under the stars in the desert, surrounded by ghost-like rock formations.
The two families travelling together on this adventure had mostly made comfortable, cozy nests with our sleeping bags and thin mattresses, with the girls close to the parents or together at a short distance, if they still wanted to talk into the night. (The sleeping bags were a luxury added to our camp only after a couple of days, because half of our luggage had been lost at the Tripoli airport and was brought to us only days later. In the first days, we had given the children the few sleeping bags that we had immediately available, while the parents used woollen blankets provided by our crew.)
Our two boys had embraced the sleeping tactics employed by our Tuareg crew of drivers, guide and cook.
They had taken up position off-wind, huddled against the large wheels of our Toyota Land Cruisers.
(No tents. Tents are only useful in bad weather or to protect against the worst of dust storms. When the air is clear, the minuscule tents we had, only created a claustrophobic atmosphere in which swirling dust enters through the tiniest of openings. Just getting off-wind was better.)

Blissful sleeping in the cool of the night, knowing that all around us at dawn, we would find the traces of all the little critters that come out at night.
And then you wake up to be greeted by a wonderful sunrise that has also already stirred life into our friendly guide Risa:

Later the same day, after a bit of driving and desert exploration, we had taken shelter from the afternoon sun in the shade of a few giant rocks.
As per usual, our cook was preparing an early dinner (goat's meat, hung to dry against the sunbeaten side of one of those giant rocks before being lightly grilled and seasoned; cucumber and tomato salad, sour milk, rice), while the rest of us slept or made small talk.

Risa would shuttle between his crew of Tuareg and ourselves.
He was always ready for a conversation about his people and how they had been reduced from the lords of the sahara, to minorities in all the different countries that had been created by random lines on the map.

And this one is probably one of my favourite images of three of our crew, amidst the rocks that they call home.

The Golden Hour.

Glory days

Former location for radio chum am studios c 1959 till 2009. Now boutique condo. Metal vinyl ornament is the only reminder. Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

How primitive, how practical...
Fabulous light, I must say.

Fantastic shot. The surroundings and the contrasty attire make this very memorable capture.

Technicolor Garden Leftovers

Vienna

We are nearing the end of a three week holiday with grandchildren, which is wonderful, exhausting, rewarding and takes up all our time. I am managing to take photos, but nothing else.
We are currently in Vienna and sitting in a traditional Viennese Café.
The photo was taken outside a chocolate shop, avoiding the negotiations between children, adults and amounts of chocolate, and discovered it was a great location for street photography.
Do you find the person on the right a cool addition or a distraction?

The other version