Wednesday C&C * Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #920 / Revived #140 on 2025 12 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 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!

LOGISTICS

An image from more than 15 years ago, in April 2010 on a wonderful trip to North-Vietnam.

While still in Hanoi (prior to moving further north to Ha Long Bay and on to the area of the Chinese border with Lang Son and Ba Be on our schedule), we visited a city (or settlement) in the neighbourhood of the capital.

On the muddy banks of the river was a community of pottery makers, with small handicraft operations and also some larger scale stoneware factories.

I don't recall the name of this settlement, but it was worth a day long visit to the diverse pottery operations and to daily life in Vietnam in general.

(I remember a tasty lunch somewhere at a stall on a sidewalk: a woman sold food and had the whole "restaurant" with her in two large baskets, carried with a wooden pole over her shoulder. One basket contained the (burning) stove that she unpacked and on which she cooked, together with her vegetables, rice noodles and condiments. The other basket contained three minuscule plastic table and 12 even smaller plastic chairs. It was a "Bring Your Own Bottle" type of restaurant.)

And this is how transport of the finished pottery product was organized.

PS.
As an afterthought, I was frustrated at not remembering the name of the village.
A quick google search for "pottery town near Hanoi" revealed that is was the village of Bat Trang on the banks of the Red River, with its centuries old pottery tradition. The river being called "red" is probably an indication of where the ceramics industry gets its clay...

An incredible photo! With an interesting "slice of life" from 15 years ago.
Transporting all that stuff, especially those huge ceramic vases, on a bicycle, looks like a tricky job to have; iIt all looks so fragile.
The choice of using B&W here, gives quite a fitting "old fashioned feel" to it, and I like the tonality of the result.

On his way to the top of the rocky outcrop.

Well, I feel that it’s quite an honour to meet a “Gams” in the mountains!
They are usually quite shy and far away, but this weekend there was one watching us closely, from the top of that rocky outcrop at Stegmoosalm, Austria
Btw, “Gams” is the German name for an “Alpine Chamois”

It was a sort of B&W day ;-)

I'll post some more from this trip in the Weekly Landscape Thread on Friday

Very well seen and captured. While the thing which makes it truly special might not be seen immediately, there's certainly enough interest to keep exploring the different parts of the image and the composition works well, as does the B&W conversion.

I might have posted this one before, but I'm not sure and I can't find anything via the search function...

Every year flickr encourages its users to share what they perceive to be their best shot of the year. Even though many shots might be important to us for very different reasons, it's interesting to think about. I've decide that this would be my pick:

Protect the light within you by simple.joy, on Flickr

Love the way you combine sharp details and bokeh elements and tell a story with a photo.
I can see why this one was was your favourite !

The Classic Image and The Reality.

It's amazing that you managed to capture such a timeless looking image in the first shot.

If I look very hard and close, I can see one or two persons in modern dress half hiding behind a camel or carriage (bright blue shirt on the left, for example).
Those are the only give-aways of time and era.

Indeed a classic.

I wonder if you made use of a specific vantage point that is reserved for this kind of image, and where the authorities (or the tourist organisations) make sure that there are no modern destractions spoiling the classic view. Kinda like the "photo opportunity spots" (or "selfie spots") that you would find in entertainment parks (sometimes even with the framing suggested by an actual frame placed on sticks).

Your other image gives a more "realistic" view of the pilgrimage towards the pyramids, not just with people and guides and transport, but also with the metropolis city in the hazy background (and especially that is sobering).

It would constitute an interesting photo series, I think, to round up a number of this kind of juxtapositions, preferably all images in which the A and B image are shot from the exact same location, but just with the photographer making a 90° or 180° turn.

• Look one way and you see Instagram bliss: the wonders of the world like they have been there for centuries (or forever, for natural wonders).

• Look the other way and you see a long queue of visitors, guides, souvenir stands, portable toilets and maybe even a McDonalds.

Last week we spent in Fort Myers Beach, FL. During our walk along the ocean I've taken some pictures of the birds.
Pelicans fishing.

Manistique Breakwater Light

I'm still doing red architecture.

This little breakwater light was built in 1916 to protect a commercial harbor that housed all kinds of boats transporting iron ore and timber. When the boom was over, the harbor and most of the little towns dried up. Now ghost towns dot the shore. There's a hiking trail along the beach leading to the breakwater walkway to the lighthouse. Since the breakwater is long and flat, and the sky was featureless I photographed this one through the weeds just to get something else in the frame, not sure if it worked or not.

The seies idea would be fun. If I search my catalogue there will probably be other sontenders.
We have a tv series in Ox that targets advertising. One of their fearures is a segment where the item is shown alongside the package image.
Maybe next week- the new Grand Egyptian Museum is constructed around pyramid shapes. It includes huge window with views of the pyramids. Some clever landscaping has been done to hide wht is between GEM and the pyramids and what is behind the pyramids. They look as if they are standing in the desert.
In shot , some blatantly modern people on the left were cropped. The viewing point, I gather, has been upgraded recently. There is a considerable distance to be walked around the whole pyramid site. In the last year, free shuttle buses have been ontroduced and the roads have been discreetly slected. Previously tourists had a long hot walk or hired camels or pony carts. The camel and pony cart owners aren't happy about the new arrangements. Photo one was taken from one of the bus shuttle stop points, It also has souvenir shops, cafe and good toilets.. The whole ptramid area is large, a few km across and it isn;t difficult to get shots that look like desert wilderness. We were there in early November. It was still hot. I expected I would be disappointed by the pyramids but I wasn't. Still very,very impressive. More photos to come.

A Road Journey in Laos

The roads in Laos are not good, especially after a day of heavy rain.

Luckily there is not much traffic and most of it is motorcycles.
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But there is rarely just one person on a motorcycle.

Some of the riders seemed quite young, even though you can only obtain a licence aged 16,

However, in the countryside there are no driving schools to teach and test, so everyone just rides anyway.

We needed to travel 160km (100 miles) and with 30 km (19 miles) to go, on the edge of a village, we ran into a traffic jam, despite the low traffic density.

After a few stationary minutes, the driver investigated and asked what had happened. A lorry had got stuck across the road and blocked the traffic. He asked how long they had been waiting. "Since yesterday evening." (it was now 2pm!). However a bulldozer was on the way. This was not good for my travel plans.

Luckily the bulldozer managed to move the lorry so it was no longer blocking the road, but the lorry wasn't going anywhere in a hurry, so a digger came and dug out the embankment, so that small vehicles could pass. Lucky for me, but not for other lorries, which could look forward to at least another night in the jam.

The 160km took 9 hours, but they were never boring!

The two photos show a nice comparison.
In a way, all the photos we take are a bit like this.
I spend time to look for and compose a shot in such a way that it reflects what I felt, or wanted to portray, about a particular place at a particular time.
... But, If I were to turn round and look in some other direction, that shot probably wouldn’t tell anything even approaching the same story.

That can make the difference between say :
-a beautiful or an ugly shot, or
-a simplified or a messy shot, or
-a peaceful serene scene, or a noisy busy place
-or, as in this case, a classic Egyptian Pyramid scene, or a modern day city with tourists milling around
I guess that list could be endless😊

What an interesting photo essay!
There's a fitting phrase for this in german that translate to something like "The journey is the destination" long, but rewarding
It also makes it sort of clear that Europe’s comparatively good roads are the lifeblood of our civilisation, even though we hardly notice them or appreciate their importance.

Very impressive comparison - what a difference! Also an interesting reminder of the passing of time and how long civilization has been around. A lot of things have gotten better. A number of things have gotten worse. And many stay the same... they might just look different!

And Now For Something Different...

A collection of powerful (and sometimes disturbing) news photos from 2025.

https://www.theatlantic.com/photography/2025/12/top-25-news-photos-2025/685128/

Even if you are not into that kind of (documentary) photography, there is always something ot admire and learn.
Compositionwise, these selections are worth studying.

IMHO, the photo editors of The Atlantic and The Guardian are aces in their trade.

The weekly selection of photos in The Atlantic is more often than not a wonderful "stream of consciousness" with memorable photos that are subtly and subconsciously linked to each other.