* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #782 / Revived #003 on 2023 04 19 *

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 (15 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 an image and get critique on it, and in return give other people your opinion of their images, or vice versa.
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 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 that you would like to get comments on (exceptions: see below).
Change the title of your post to reflect the image’s title. (IS THIS POSSIBLE??)
Look at the other images 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 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.

We will start with single images. Re-establishing our C&C for essays will be a next step.
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.

It is understood that unless the original poster specifically states that they do not want an altered image posted that you are free to alter the posted image and repost it in a reply for C&C purposes (no use for other purposes!). That reposted image may remain permanently or you may remove it after a short period of time if you prefer. No copyright disputes here!

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. Encourage - it is a scary business putting your work up for other people to judge!

And finally, here are some useful hints for navigating and familiarizing yourself with the forum mechanics of DPRevived:
Unfortunately, there is no threaded view (yet).
We can’t simply keep images and their related comments together like we used to.
So please make clear about which image you are commenting.
To do that, you may make good use of the “quote” feature. This allows you to keep the image in your reply.
Excess content can be deleted. The “preview” button allows you to look at what you are going to post.
There is a difference between the “reply” button that sits at the top of the forum, and the reply buttons under every post.

A few threads in this new forum with useful navigation information:
dprevived.com/t/how-to-use-this-site/387/ 
and
dprevived.com/t/how-to-embed-photos-into-your-post-directly-from-flickr/456/
(this applies also, with modifications, to other photo hosting websites)
and
dprevived.com/t/how-to-quote/1014/

Have fun and let’s stick together!

My image for this week is an Iphone image from the Orkney Islands: "WAITING"

Shot around sunrise, about a year ago, on a pre-dawn walk on the Orkney Islands.
(This is an image from my preview gallery of that trip, filled with iphone images.
It is a placeholder for a more definitive gallery that will be filled with "real camera" images - if I ever get around to processing those...)

I'm unsure here. I think it is the incongruity that appeals. It is such a neat, pristine, suburban looking shelter that finds itself in a very non suburban location. A delicate looking structure that frames a distant massive structure and we know what that far structure is, anything but delicate.
Personally, I'd have cropped out the white road marking for two reasons. It's angle conflicts with the neatness of the shelter and to me, that neat precision is a core part of the image. I'd also like the shelter to be a little lower in the frame which would give more prominence to the sky. The blue grey of the lower pavement sandwiches the shelter with the blue grey of the sky so I wouldn't;t want to lose all the pavement.

Another macro image, titled "How'd you get into the bottle, cap?"

How'd you get into the bottle, cap? by simple.joy, on Flickr

It was shot with a Steinheil Optronic lens (no focal length mentioned, but it might be around 50-60 mm and it has a maximum aperture of f/2.8). This simple triplet lens was used in a so-called Oscillophot, which was a camera meant to capture images of an oscilloscope. Doesn't make any sense? Well, wait until you hear about some of my stranger lenses. 😂

Why would you adapt this thing, you ask? Here's another image, but just meant to show some of the bokeh-qualities (or probably lack thereof in many people's eyes 😉) of this peculiar piece of glass:

Wide open by simple.joy, on Flickr

So please don't go and criticise the lighting in this one... 😱 of course there had to be some compromises.

Personally I hate this. I just don't know why.

I wouldn't say that I hate it but I don't like it. It reminds me of the sort of shot You are likely to meet in a melodramatic film of ghosts and exorcists and the like in a little isolated country town. The purple colouring, the dramatic cross against the sky, the low upwards peering angle with dramatic over contrast toned and out of focus clouds. It looks like the kind of effects utilized to build atmosphere on the cheap. If early in the film I'd be guessing that low budget applies to the plot as well and I'd be considering the exit.

I really like those. Rich colours. Not a criticism because I understand that you aren't going to have much dof with that lens, but it would have been nice if there was more in focus. But then again it is effective in that the top of the bottle is in focus above and below the cap.
Can you explain what we are seeing besides the cap in the second one? (what caused the light circles and the green swirls)

Barnacle encrusted swimming lanes?

[edit] That was meant as a joke not a criticism, in that barnacles would make you swim straight...
I am assuming it is an old wharf / pier that has lost it's deck through age. Whatever, it is very long.

Australian Cattle Dog (Blue / Red Heeler)

I would have preferred a different background, but then again these dogs are often found on farms. Cropped to remove an over exposed light coloured wall to the right.
How many different emotions can you see in his eyes?

Lunch Hour

It refers to M.Fewster shot.

No swimming, no mooring. Superb shot with perfect symmetry. Like the atmosphere and endless poles.

[quote="@RoelHendrickx"]

Excellent background with peaceful sky and mountains and water. Positioning of oil rig is good. The shelter( on such a small island) is very surprising and agree with MF as to removal of white line. It does conflict with the rest of horizontal bars on the glass. The shadow of a human figure above the orange line - we have to ignore it.

[quote="@simplejoy"]

[url=flic.kr/p/2otss5Z]

Classic and interesting abstract with a bottle and the cap. I really like the colours, they draw the viewer to investigate the subjects.

[quote="@Bryan"]
Australian Cattle Dog (Blue / Red Heeler)

Oh that pipe. Really spoils the image (sorry). I would definitely clone it out. The dog is certainly focussing on something of interest. Clarity is amazing.

I like th eidea ... I agree mostly with Mike ,,, I'd like that white line gone and I really think you could have taken a knee and gotten a lower angle of view ...But I do like the picture and the idea ...

WhyNot

Again an idea I like... but the subjects are walking out of the picture instead of into it so I left early ... If they had been walking into the picture I would have been more intrigued with how they are dressed .. not lunch ....

WhyNot

Ambiguity

or maybe a shave and a haircut ....

WhyNot