* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #861 / Revived #081 on 2024 10 16 *

Thanks for sharing this quirky Albanian tribute to George, an ex US president who receives few tributes even at home. I'd never have known! He's the only president I ever spent any significant time in conversation with, though I met a couple of others. Though I never voted for him and opposed most of his policies, I found him charming and relatable so I'm not entirely surprised that he made some friends when visiting there. Your pictures are nicely taken with good angles to show off the architecture as well as the subjects.

This is quite wonderful. My first reaction to it was "Fan Ho" which of course is a tremendous compliment. It's not as contrasty as most of his wonderful photographs, but it has something of his use of shape, figure, and scale.

The slight figure peeping from behind the off kilter opening is quite wonderful to discover, but even better when we find him (and you?) reflected in the metallic balls resting in the corner. The textures and toning are smoothe, subtle, and perfect for the image. The opening serves as a frame for these discoveries, and the light colored triangle that crowns it has an escape route for the elements to escape, or perhaps a funnel that delivered them there.

An image I am enjoying looking at again and again.

The illusion works. That gentle editing gives these beautiful images a painterly impact even though they clearly photographs. I love them. They remind me of Constable, Bierstadt, and others. They are delicate and magical rather than bold.

Dan's edits take those same captures and shape them into bolder versions, more like something I'd see on 500 px. Both are valid approaches, and neither is better or worse. Your version is more to my taste.

What a cool abstract architectural image! Kudos to you for spotting and capturing it. The colors grab my attention and push me to examine every line and square on this checkerboard. I love the twisted reflection of the windows, they make the image. Excellent!

Great colors and an interesting window into the kooky entertainment we see at Oceanside resorts, particularly in the Caribbean.

Lovely light that is almost palpable. This one needs to be looked at full size for the intricate detail in the grasses

For the sake of clarity, I edited only one of Fireplace's three images.

It's so typical of your modesty that you just casually mention having met several US Presidents and spoken at length with at least one of them..
I was also charmed by his presence here.
If you look again at the second image, you will notice that I tried not only to frame him within the natural frame of the building behind him, but that the flag and wording of the "advertisement" on that building are also an ironic footnote in the current climate.

"You won't believe it" travel discoveries. As photos, first and foremost these are considered angles from the photographer so we blink at the quirkiness. In shot 1, the accompanying text is needed for us to get the point. It prepares us for shot 2. Given the text on the buildings, I'd never have guessed who the genial waving fella might be without the lead-in. There isn't much a photographer can do with a subject like this. Shot 2 is probably positioned about as well as possible to include the nameplate, the text behind so we understand where the statue is and also to minimize the influence of lines behind. The positioning of the upraised hand against its backdrop is no accident.

I agree that photographers should study painting. Painting has multi hundreds of years of thought about how images work on the perception and interpretation of a viewer. There is no doubt that Dan's version has photographic impact and I'm not dissing it. Comparing his version and the original is the kind of exercise used in photography courses. By bringing the background forward, Dan's version flattens the image. That's fine but it is a completely different purpose to that of Fireplace who has shared with us what he was trying to do with these images and how he went about it.
The three of them have to be viewed at large size so the foreground foliage details can be appreciated. Seen at the small size there isn't much interest in the foreground and the eyes go straight to the mountains at the rear. This loses the movement from front to rear that is what these are about. Dan's version crops out much of the foreground and makes the falls the subject.

There's an attractive build up of layer overlaying layer here. The sky first, Then buildings then zebra like patterns over some of the buildings and finally the red moments of the flags. I've no idea what might be creating the zebra pattern but it's visually bold and jumps out from the other layers.
Chris's note about the convex surface is useful. It would have been difficult to make sense of the flag, its reflection and the position of the reflection otherwise.
Now I'm curious. I take it that the flags, foreground, are not reflections. That convex surface must be unusually large for a convex surface. What is it?

Not everyone sees the edit as flattening the image.

The foreground foliage in the edit still gives us a sense of depth with the waterfall a long way behind the "new" foreground.

Yes, making the falls stand out more is what I posted was the intention while maintaining a sense of depth with the falls still a long way behind the foreground foliage.

Thanks :-)
Here's a link to one of the many articles in internet showing how painters can use various methods to help create depth on a flat piece of paper.
The methods are also largely valid for photography as well.
zevendesign.com/creating-depth-art-photography/
I used the method described there called "Depth by colour" to gently add a bit of depth to these images, where, objects in the foreground were made warmer. Interestingly the link shows it can also work in the other direction too (in perhaps less common cases), E.g. if you are standing in a deeply shadowed area and looking out into a much brighter distant background , maybe with the setting sun also visible in the image, then objects in the distance will appear progessively warmer. And a white frame for the image would help to enhance the effect too in that case too

I agree, it looks flatter to me.

Also, if you are viewing the full res version, DPRevived will present the image on a black background, which (according the link posted here) also enhances the depth by colour effect I used :-)

To be honest, not quite sure what to make of this photo. It has a bit of a claustrophobic feel to it. It is all a bit "grey", with a little texture on the walls, and those shiny metal metal balls in the corner? The man is just about to appear from around the corner?
Perhaps it is part of some art exhibition, but I can't tell what that might be here ?

Nice bright colours and contrast. Those striking reflections make for a nice & interesting image

If I went for a swim in this beautiful area I wouldn't want to have to hear the sellers calling out and advertising how good their wares are.
I'd just want to relax a bit , but no peace for the wicked anywhere ;-)

That is a bit strange. He must have made a good impression on someone there.