* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #875 / Revived #095 on 2025 01 22*

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 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 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!

TWO ICONS OF LYON

With my sincerest apologies to those of us who do not consider using a smartphone as real photography, here is another image from our trip to Lyon.

On New Year's Eve we took a long bike ride south, past the Musée des Confluences, to go visit the Lyon Biennale for Contemporary Arts' main location at Les Grands Locos (I shared an image of that visit in a previous thread).
I had been hoping for glorious views of the Musée des Confluences, but was disappointed to see it drab and lifeless against a dull grey sky.
Not a photo opportunity by any means.

On New Year's Day the weather was much nicer: crisp and cold with blue skies. So we took our folding bikes again, visited the Zoo in Parc de la Tête d'Or, visited the MAC north of the park, crossed the Rhône and then struggled uphill onto the Croix Rousses quarter and descended back towards the Saône for lunch, and enjoyed an afternoon drink on the banks of the Saöne, on the one sun-lit kiosque terrace with a great view of the Basilique de Fourvière.

Els wanted to stay on that terrace to milk the last out of the sunlight, just basking and enjoying the day, but that is not my idea of a good time.

I figured that Musée des Confluences must also enjoy that gorgeous late sunlight, so I jumped onto my bike, rode/raced all the way south along the Saône and was indeed just in time to catch last light on the museum (and still full blast wintery sunlight onto the Fourvière Basilique that sits on top of the hill).

It's not easy compressing an image with the meagre telephoto capabilities of an older generation smartphone, but there you have it:

For good measure and to make the most of my high heartrate, I stuck around at the Musée for another half hour or so, to do my own last-sunlight-milking :

For those interested in sun orientation: the first image is a look north, showing the east side of the museum, and the second image is a look north, showing its west side.

What's so Funny?
I wanted to get the hilarity of the moment for the couple. All the clues as to why it is so funny for them are here. But it won't be obvious.
I did an edit and checked what showed up to see if I got the same too dark result as last week. A bit darker in the shadows, but close enough.

Well. it's a long story,.... the two younger ones laughing here had arranged to meet you and your wife at the chinese restauarant.
They were both on time and wondered why you were both so late. The young lady was about to phone you, but then realised she had lost her mobile phone :-(
The restaurant owner said "don't worry we have an old fashioned phone that you can't lose because it's tied to the wall". She used it and phoned her own phone to see if anyone had perhaps found it.
At that very moment, you and your wife both arrived, and the young lady's phone started to ring!. Her phone is being held up here in the picture by your wife and all laughed.
And because you had found her phone, she was so relieved that they both promised to forgive you for being so late and everyone laughed again.

It certainly captures the moment :-)

Full marks for inventiveness, but nope. Yes, it's my better half but she has nothing to do with why these two are so amused. I was amused because of what's amusing them. They are very young.

Maybe just the fact of using an oldfashioned landline telephone device (must be quite alien to the younger generations)?
Was this maybe a phone installed to handle with reservations or take-away orders?

In any case, it shows an outburst of joy and that is, in my book, enough to warrant a photo.

Just another frosty blue/grey winter's day

It's been cold here for a while and often foggy too. My solar panels aren't generating much in such weather :-(
It was anyway good to get out for a walk in the forest last weekend. Here's just a shot of the grey, slightly blue, scenery, before we entered into the forest

Red Calla

It's impossible to take a bad picture of a Calla Lily.

Rich

Dreary, dismal, dry. And cold! It'll wake you up!

You've captured it all.

I can feel the frosted ground crunching under my feet as I walk.

I hope there's a fireplace nearby, soon.

Rich

Who's At The Dam - 12F this week so the edges of the river have frozen, and the birds are swimming through the slush. The migrants have come here seeking a warmer winter than they have in their regular homes, but are probably arguing amongst themselves about whose bright idea this winter holiday was. The locals are used to surprises, grit their teeth (or beaks) and bear it grimly. Winter here is not a pretty season. We have the cold but not the beauty of snow.

Bonaparte's Gulls - migrating

Great White Egrets and Great Blue Herons - permanent residents

American White Pelican - migrating

I ike all those triangles!
The angles , shapes and surfaces in the first look quite impressive. The gentle colours are good too.

Well done ,You got it.
We were in a museum dedicated to Japan in the 1950s and 1960s. t took the girl a while to work out how to use a rotary dial and she and her partner found it hilariously funny. And we found it funny that they found it funny.
I will post some more from the same museum. It has reconstructed streets and shops from the period. Do these qualify as Street Photography?
I particularly liked the parents surfing on notalgia as they showed their kids how to play prehistoric electronic games.

Just spotted that Roel spotted the phone as well. I can't see who spotted it first so well done gentlemen.

In the Shopping Machine

Taken in a shopping mall and no, there are no mirrors involved, this is a straight view down through the building!

Just a big kitty, after all.

Sometimes it takes more than one photo to tell a story the way you want. I've been experimenting with this idea for several years, but this time I thought "maybe it would work to put all three of these into a single image." What do you think? Does the vertical format work here? Or should it be horizontal?

Individually, these images look fantastic on A3+ sized prints. (The white border on the original was intentional, but I don't know whether it will show up here.)

M. C. Escher would approve!

Geometrically fascinating and captivating. Although it does tug on my fear of heights.

Great shot!

Rich

This is the one!

Dam!

All full of mystery and foreboding with intimidating shapes, dark masses and brooding shadows. What lurks there?

And offset by the free-wheeling birds. Pure white and clean. Are they free and unaffected by the scene, or have they been frightened into flight?

Beautiful.

Rich

It is an impressive building, I wonder why you made your photos from only one angle.