• Members 597 posts
    Jan. 20, 2024, 11:46 a.m.

    Thank you sir! Glad you like it.

  • Members 1167 posts
    Jan. 20, 2024, 11:58 a.m.

    2Tone reflection.

    r1140011x.jpg

    r1140011x.jpg

    JPG, 21.9 KB, uploaded by ChrisOly on Jan. 20, 2024.

  • Members 597 posts
    Jan. 20, 2024, 12:01 p.m.

    My picks. The ceiling fresco is amazing as ever. I always think of the artists stuck up there for weeks on end on flimsy scaffolding. Not a job for me!

  • Members 291 posts
    Jan. 20, 2024, 12:01 p.m.

    All nicely done, I really do miss the image stabilisation of Olympus cameras. I found my E-M1 MKII quite remarkable in that regard and carrying a tripod everywhere is no fun at all.

    This is such a really unusual, organic looking building. I like the symmetry.

    It's "The Santa Cruz de Tenerife Auditorio for ants!" (To paraphrase Derek Zoolander, which will mean nothing if you've never seen the movie).

  • Members 1167 posts
    Jan. 20, 2024, 12:06 p.m.

    I actually prefer full shot better. It gives us tremendous view of the sunset in all its glory. It must have been very mesmerizing to witness this moment in time.

  • Members 1167 posts
    Jan. 20, 2024, 12:10 p.m.

    I totally concur. These 2 shots are really demonstrating the full aspect of architectural achievement this site has. Excellent

  • Members 1167 posts
    Jan. 20, 2024, 12:11 p.m.

    Bag man extraordinary. Well seen.

  • Members 1167 posts
  • Members 124 posts
    Jan. 20, 2024, 12:14 p.m.

    I agree that removing it and leaving it more balanced is better than just cropping it out. I was just making the point about what distracted me when looking at the photo. I'm surprised to hear that a landscape photography competition would prohibit that kind of modification. It is encouraged in our camera club critiques.

  • Members 124 posts
    Jan. 20, 2024, 12:18 p.m.

    I like this one a WHOLE lot better than either your initial post or the modified second version! Seeing the houses more prominently enhances it greatly.

  • Members 124 posts
    Jan. 20, 2024, 12:22 p.m.

    A nice shot but you posted a very low resolution version so I couldn't enjoy it full screen.

  • Members 1167 posts
    Jan. 20, 2024, 12:22 p.m.

    Glorious shots!
    All of them, but if I have to choose...

  • Members 291 posts
    Jan. 20, 2024, 1:05 p.m.

    That's fair and I appreciate the initial comment, I was just replying with my thoughts on your suggestion and the thinking behind the image in general. It's always interesting to hear other peoples thoughts on an image I've made and often surprising. When I post a larger set, I often get the most positive feedback about images I nearly didn't include because I didn't really think they were strong enough and hear nothing about the ones I really liked, so it's always interesting to hear a spread of other people's opinions, although I will enter into a discussion about it if I think there's more to be said or disagree with the suggestion.

    I believe it's very common. My only experience of this is Landscape Photographer of The Year. From what I remember when I entered a few years ago they allow light manipulation in line with what you can do in a darkroom, i.e. cropping, local dodging / burning / colour balance and so on, but wholesale removal of objects from a scene is considered a no no. Finalists must agree to submit raw files so that the extent of modification can be verified.

    I guess the idea is you're supposed to be capturing a representation of the natural world, so adding or removing things isn't really true to that, so I suppose you've got to draw the line somewhere.

    I guess at some point, after a certain amount of manipulation the image stops being a representation of reality and becomes art, which is a much broader canvas.

    I think Thomas Heaton recently did a video on what's considered "cheating" in competitions. Some are really strict, others less so, but also some of the examples he shows really did deserve to be disqualified.

  • Members 291 posts
    Jan. 20, 2024, 1:15 p.m.

    Just to clarify, this is a small full res crop from the centre of the wide image i posted earlier. I only posted this to show the amount of detail the GFX100S captures without posting the full res version of the complete image. The full wide image posted earlier has exactly the same amount of detail.

    Here are the two crops side by side...

    two-crops-side-by-side.jpg

    That said, if I'd brought a longer lens along on this walk, I might have also shot something like this too, but as it was, it was just a short walk up a steep hill and I didn't want to pack (or carry) a full kit, so I only brought along the 45-100 (35-80-ish in 35mm terms) which is a good general purpose lens.

    two-crops-side-by-side.jpg

    JPG, 86.2 KB, uploaded by SteveMonks on Jan. 20, 2024.

  • Members 335 posts
    Jan. 20, 2024, 1:20 p.m.

    Walk in old town day after snowfall.

    Wrong thread, should go to "Lonely benches" instead?
    P1190044_DxO.jpg

    Olde Hansa, one of most "authentic" medieval restaurants in town
    P1190050_DxO.jpg

    Selling sweet almonds
    P1190052_DxO.jpg

    Gates of Babylon
    P1190055_DxO.jpg

    Nice place but nobody wants to sit there with such cold
    P1190057_DxO.jpg

    Main street in old town, connecting city center with town hall
    P1190058_DxO.jpg

    St. Catherine's passage
    P1190064_DxO.jpg

    Western part of old town with best preserved city wall
    P1190088_DxO.jpg

    P1190089_DxO.jpg

    P1190089_DxO.jpg

    JPG, 457.8 KB, uploaded by Vahur on Jan. 20, 2024.

    P1190088_DxO.jpg

    JPG, 368.1 KB, uploaded by Vahur on Jan. 20, 2024.

    P1190050_DxO.jpg

    JPG, 362.3 KB, uploaded by Vahur on Jan. 20, 2024.

    P1190064_DxO.jpg

    JPG, 286.6 KB, uploaded by Vahur on Jan. 20, 2024.

    P1190058_DxO.jpg

    JPG, 283.8 KB, uploaded by Vahur on Jan. 20, 2024.

    P1190057_DxO.jpg

    JPG, 244.8 KB, uploaded by Vahur on Jan. 20, 2024.

    P1190052_DxO.jpg

    JPG, 477.0 KB, uploaded by Vahur on Jan. 20, 2024.

    P1190055_DxO.jpg

    JPG, 261.1 KB, uploaded by Vahur on Jan. 20, 2024.

    P1190044_DxO.jpg

    JPG, 485.5 KB, uploaded by Vahur on Jan. 20, 2024.

  • Members 1167 posts
    Jan. 20, 2024, 1:27 p.m.

    Some fab shots you have here. Thanks for the tour. My fave...Classic wins.

  • Members 124 posts
    Jan. 20, 2024, 1:55 p.m.

    I have the exact same experience.

    The view of our judges is that we are creating art. We have a separate category called altered reality. You must enter it as that if you "add" anything to the photo that wasn't there. However, removing distracting elements, even people, is considered fair game.

    I enjoy these kinds of discussions. Sharing diverse opinions. I wish there was more of that in this weekly thread.

  • Members 124 posts
    Jan. 20, 2024, 2 p.m.

    And to be clear, I think the I think the gigantic crop is a better photograph. The advantage of today's high res cameras is you can make a photo out of a crop like that... certainly if you are posting it online... but as long as you are not posting a wall-size print you can be selective.