Wednesday C&C * Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #922 / Revived #142 on 2025 12 17*

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!

GALLOWAY

The last two kilometers of Belgian coastline, on the far west in De Panne, are a stretch of nature reserve called the "Westhoekreservaat". It blends seamlessly into the first kilometers of French territory, where the same landscape forms the "Dune du Perroquet".

When we are at the seaside, we like to walk all the way from Koksijde or De Panne, through the wooded dunes of on the beach into France for lunch in one of the cosy restaurants of Bray-Dunes and then back again.

Last weekend we had plenty of time under a nice sky so we opted for the longer walk, not straight over the beach but meandering through and over the dunes, some of which are desert-like and sandy, while others are filled with grasses and shrubs. We combine stretches of a few paths, one of which is called the "Ligusterpath", named for the type of low, dense and prickly vegetation that dominates the landscape.

Some parts of the path require navigating through some gates and turnstiles, because there are free-roaming bovine gardeners at work.

This is one of them. A very close encounter with a friendly and soft creature:

Cuteness applied in heaps.
I guess this is a developed breed but looking at the photo you might think this fella evolved to blend into the landscape.

I'm going to be camping and traveling over the Christmas/New Year period and it's not likely that I'll be posting for close to three weeks.
Have a safe, wonderful Christmas season everyone.
Mike

I like the idea of this beautiful creature blending into the landscape, but for me it would be significantly improved if the tones were more even (which might be a challenge, as there's too much white/bright tones in there, which usually are hard to correct in terms of tones) or you convert it to B&W.

Here's a B&W image from the summer:

Bloom and doom by simple.joy, on Flickr

The Forbidden City

The vast Imperial Palace in the centre of Beijing was the seat of power of the Emperor of China for 500 years and only the Emperor and his household were allowed to enter, so it is also known as the Forbidden City. Today, its official name is the Palace Museum.
Here are a couple of photos

One of the gates taken from Chang'an St.

Outside the Hall of Preserved Harmony at the centre of the Forbidden City

You made a nice, competent B&W.
But you won’t hold it against me if I still prefer my original with its subtle variations in the muted soft colour palette (I did not fiddle too much with was just there…)

I like how your two images both are not just showing the site but also contain subtle (and less subtle) contemporary echoes of the building complex’ complicated history.

The “No Entry” sign is obviously a bit on the nose.

The other one is more subtle with the half hidden security guard, and I like it a lot.

Both provided a nice throwback to our own visit a few years ago.

Lunch anyone

This picture puts a smile on my face. The natural environment for the beast with corresponding vegetation around created ideal capture.

It's almost as though now you see the flower clearly and next moment you don't .
Great visual distortion. Works well.

First pic for context, but second revealed very intricate woodwork. The guard on a side is a bonus and is synonymous with "forbidden ". Excellent capture.

Going to side with Roel on this one -- I, too, prefer the muted colors. The BW conversion is good, though. Just prefer the color version. By a hair. 😁

For me, there's something specific that makes this photo kinda cool:

But I'm not going to say what it is. 😘

Hint: you would have to see at the larger size to have a chance of guessing. In other words, it looks cool (to me) at the larger size, but meh at the embedded size.