* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #801 / Revived #021 on 2023 08 23 *

I like your shot a lot - it's very beautiful and stood out to me immediately. When looking at the bigger version I agree with some parts that have been mentioned (slighly less sharpening and perhaps trying to crop it at the top) plus I'd try to get a bit more details into the bright areas of the rock surface... All that being said, it doesn't really change the fact that it seems like a great shot as it is.

The new version (with the selective sharpening) looks la little bit ike a tilt/shift version to me, which would be very interesting to try with this scene for real (I personally LOVE tilting), but perhaps not something I'd recommend in post.

@simplejoy

Thank you for the kind words. Not sure what do you mean by tilt/shift like on the last image. It is the same image just with selective sharpening applied.

MinnieV, LindaS and Simplejoy,

Thank you for the comments.

Cool winter storms are rare, but do happen in Hawaii. Winds blow unimpeded over two to three thousand miles of Pacific ocean, saturating with moisture before slamming up against the volcanic peaks that comprise the island chain, drenching the windward north shores of the islands and producing some of the wettest places on Earth with up to 400 inches of rain yearly. The leeward (south) sides of the islands are in a "wind shadow," are dry and often are balmy and sunny when storms are raging on the north shores.

I was driving from Molokai airport, through the Central Plains region to the only town, Kaunakakai, in February, 2004. Usually a 30 minute trip. A storm was blowing in. The Plains have no protection from a mountain range.

The cloud formations were fantastic and the color and light were changing by the minute. It was raining intermittently. I got the little rental car over to the side of the two-lane road and got this first shot at 50mm with a 24-105 zoom.

I thought it had possibilities with the additional band of green at the bottom. But then I moved closer to the Kiawe and zoomed to 105mm. The second shot (the first I posted) is better as the graphic elements are simplified and more powerful.

I got pretty wet getting back to the car.

I got to Kaunakakai on the south shore a few minutes later - completely in the wind shadow of Molokai's East End mountains. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was beautifully calm, warm and dry. A typical day in Paradise. Perfect for tropical drinks with little umbrellas in them!

Rich

I know of course - seemed clear from what you've mentioned... however the selective sharpening makes things in front and behind the trees (which look slightly out of focus in the new version because of the blur) look like they're in focus. That's only possible if you're using a tilted lens in real life.

As I've mentioned I actually feel like that would be a great opportunity in this instance in order to focus on the rocks and their surface structure, while still having parts of the trees sharp and the rest as beautiful soft background tones. Of course this could also be achieved in post, but it's a lot of work to do it properly and it's probably not worth it.

All that being said: Most people really don't like tilt/shift landscapes and prefer everything to be sharp and in focus anyway, so it's most likely a good idea to not listen to me... 😉

It took me sometime to figure this out, including the caption. My interpretation may be way off Simplejoy's intention.
Raspberries and one of those raspberries is different and then some. A cygnet in the ducklings message?
Here, I'm guessing. I think Simplejoy has altered the color to individualize the subject? There is a very shallow dof and altering the colour might have been necessary so the chosen one emerges from the pack.
Assuming that I am correct about this, and I may not be, I feel that a bit more dof would have helped. As it is, the rest of the mob are too hard to distinguish for what they are. Therefore the subject berry doesn't emerge as one of the mob, but different.

This version does a better job of distinguishing the fine lines and of course, that's the thing about dandelion seed heads.

I can see why you added the "no photoshopping" info. Looking at large size it is nice to see that the subject is smiling. You needed to get the exposure right to give the dof, the sky, stop the motion and retain info in the face.
The V shape of the chains, through to the feet suggests motion rather than being static.
A most effective capture.

You are right. I knew I had dust on the sensor and other shots I took around this time needed spotting. Being dark, I didn't look at this shot closely enough. If I do it as a print, it needs more editing.
I'll discuss a bit more of what I was doing here later in the week.

Lots of planes, angles and reflections to work with here. A magnet for a photographer.
First, my usual disclaimer about me and cropping. If these were mine, I'd use cropping to abstract the shapes a little more by cutting out the building edge details. See shot attached. Number one would then be more of a triptych with a simple comparison of the three areas side by side.Much the same with two to remove the edhe of the building on the right and I'd crop to match the proportions of 1 (if I was going to show them together.
3 is a bit more complex but again I'd change the proportions to match the other two and crop top, right hand side and bottom with just a slim shave off the left hand.

_Sapientiae > (Seat of Wisdom)
Dressed by the students of the University of Leuven.
Sometimes madness becomes a bit institutional before it leads to better "out-of-the-box thinking" 😇

_The Police taking a young barbarian into custody. Probably drank too much Affligem beer and now the Police also want to know 😎

_However, keep the whistleblower in mind, because he always seems to be around the corner somewhere 😈

A glorious colour combination. Rich dark blues make the apricot shades jump out and I like the left to right directional sweep. I'm undecided about the numbers though. They add a strong element of reality to an otherwise abstract composition. If, however, the numbers weren't there, the large blue central section might be a little overwhelming?

Parked bikes are loaded with symbolism and meaning. Rather like empty park benches, they have the makings of a genre of their own.
In a completely different image a few weeks ago, Roel used one for similar, telling effect.
Here we have something close to two images that combine to tell the story. On the left the bike is parked while pointing at open spaces. On the right, we have a more static image with lines enclosing the presumed rider. It feels quiet and still, especially with all the green.
Combine the two. A moment of rest and appreciation of the view with the promise of more to come. Because we can't see the view seen by the rider, our interpretation is on his feelings, not the view.
It's a particularly nice example of how a photograph can have more than one point of interest that work together rather than distracting from each other.

A wonderful in joke for participants here.

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Hi Pete,

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I read in the comments that one wants to see the stones and another tells about some small irregularities in the sky and the reflection.

I have to say that I think this is a fantastic photo with a spot on the lighting that gives the walls a fantastic look. As for some comments, the imperfections are easy to fix and the stones, well, with the right magnification you get to see plenty of them. Magical and beautiful.

As expected, the comments were easy to resolve, now see the photo here and look forward to your comments.
Oh Pete btw the top photo is the edited one
Lou

As others mentioned you have found a wonderful 100's of photo(s) opportunity here.

Just a quick one, when posting multiple pics it is better to insert a blank line in between them to give them some separation (as I have done above).

I am not a big fan of some modern architecture but I like your shots here. I love the pyramid protrusions amongst the other lines and the clouds add some nice detail to the reflections.
If you can ever go back there, the shot for me would an angled one, similar to the first two, of the longer wall. I say that because, even though the others are interesting, I feel the shorter edge of the building isn't quite 'long' enough. I would love to see the patterns vanishing into the distance.

Yes, well...

Chuckle

I hadn't properly taken in this picture until I read your comment Linda. Similarly now I imagine myself hanging out over the edge of some vast cliff, with attendant butterflies in stomach... Great capture.

The shapes are skeletal. I flash to whale strandings on beaches. The skeleton association is so strong that it is difficult not to think of them as having been alive.
I like the proportions used here. The height/width balance feels right to me. It makes the most of the supine positioning of the machinery plus the width of the sky, hills and cloud. There's enough depth on the foreground to give some lines in from the corners towards the background elements and tie them together.
Perhaps the largish front left object is a bit hard and the image would benefit from a little more shadow detail in that area?

Somewhere there's a tipping point but I never know where it is. Early in the process, I get saddened to see machinery abandoned in the country. If it is there long enough, it adds enjoyable history.