Wednesday C&C * Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #924 / Revived #144 on 2025 12 31*

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!

RABAT

Sorry for the slightly unconventional formatting of the thread starter post.
I am currently in Morocco (Casablanca) without wifi for my laptop so I am experiencing the hassle involved in starting a new thread through copy-pasting between tabs on the small screen of my phone. Not ideal.

But our time here is worth the hassle.

Here is an image from yesterday on the entrance to the Kasbah of the Oudaydes in Rabat:

Space is nicely used here. It wouldn't work without the man who appears to be tying his shoelaces. Criticism? Perhaps the perspective could be better (but that would lose sky, where space is also important).

So, here's a beachscape from Costa Teguise, Lanzarote.

This is an image I'm still playing with in Lightroom. I don't like the effects of blacks and clarity on the water, yet the subtract brush in Lightroom masking doesn't seem to subtract anything.

Photo page is here: www.flickr.com/photos/jason_hindle/55010469934/

Drinks All Round

A light-hearted image to end the year.

Wishing everyone a great year in 2026 - personally and photographically.

I have been off the grid for a few weeks with a family medical crisis that is only just beginning, so I may disappear again. There's a few days respite so I wanted to participate in this week's thread.

One night the week before Christmas, I had a somewhat amazing encounter at a local gas station with a group of 19 Buddhist monks on a peace walk across the country to Washington DC. About a dozen other folks were milling around talking with the monks, learning about their monastery and their mission. I asked the leader what they would do in Washington when they got there and he told me they would try to get the government involved in their mission for peace. I told him that would be indeed a miracle and he laughed ruefully with me. Their dog Aloka (who is a bit of a monk himself) was a little sick and we helped connect them to a local veterinarian (he's fine now and resumed his position in the lineup). I found out they were doing a lunch picnic lecture the next day further down the road so I went to that, ate the Vietnamese picnic food their support team provided (it was great), listened to their peace lecture, received a peace bracelet, visited with them and about 75 other folks from every conceivable background who showed up. Of course I took pictures, some shown below. The monks ask for nothing. They walk all day, often barefoot. They eat one meal a day. They sleep in little tents even when it's below freezing. They are outside Atlanta now. These highly diverse crowds are growing. Now, instead of 75, there are thousands waiting to meet them, or lining the roads they are walking. Today Sen Rafael Warnock came to their mid day meeting.

The publicity is low key, social media only, run by their very capable support team who follows them in an RV, manages logistics, and prepares their meals. There is a monk photographer traveling with them to make photos and videos! The dog has become so popular that the team last week invented a social media page just for him. I see Aloka has 100,000 followers today. There are live maps showing their route, and the places they will stop for visits and rest. It is hard to put into words the effect they have, but the social media posts are very much like the comments I heard at the lunch visit I had with them. They found themselves among people they would never have encountered in their normal lives, sharing stories and a meal. And it was all good.