* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #783 / Revived #004 on 2023 04 25 *

Thanks a lot for your creative and spot-on interpretations! These are indeed two (mannequin) heads. The red dot at the bottom is the last glowing heat from a burning wick. The item is therefore the upper part of a regular candle. Of course some incense device would work as well though. I tried to evoke the shape of smoke rising from the extinguished candle (there is some real smoke in there as well).

I love the bolded statement above by @minniev with 'the point' being, that I view the title as a well-trotten cliche. People say things like that and often mean the first stage of being in love, which is far from the only one. Therefore I also really enjoy what @MikeFewster mentioned (also bolded): '...love can grow as well.' Indeed, I believe it can change and grow and shift its shape over time and perhaps we shouldn't focus on the (inevitable) fading of the first stage, the 'falling in love' (the right mannequin head actually is upside down...) as something negative.

Thanks again for your feedback!

Ahh that's cool. The shiny molten wax and outer cone of the candle looked to me like a typical little metal dish used for burning dhoop like things.

From windy to...?

[edit] Sharpened a little

"One man's trash is another's treasure," is a saying I've found to be malleable when the concepts of art become a discussable point.

I find value in the discussion. I find value in the search for answers. It's a journey. I will never see with another person's perspective, and it's nice to get it when you're exploring art.

Also, what if the point isn't related to any of the discussions? Sometimes just the act itself is everything. If I'm being brutally honest with myself, posting here the last few days has been a helpful anchor in keeping my mind together while going through a very rough patch. Forcing myself to engage and not throwing the proverbial baby out with the bathwater, has been a light in a very dark tunnel I'm still not sure I'm fully out of.

Thanks for giving it a try. You got some improvement in the back gator, the one I processed separately in Topaz, so I'll follow your lead on that one. You're definitely right that they two gators are going to require separate editing, then I'll have to adjust the log so it doesn't look crazy. I've never caught two on the same log close enough to shore to get them in a single shot, so I'll keep wrangling with it.

And we welcome you to keep on discussing, because in that we totally agree. The value in posting to a forum or club is not always in the making or the showing but in the interaction with others around the images. After years posting on forums, I still mostly show the images I am undecided about rather than the ones I'm confident of. It can sometimes help focus the conversation if you ask a specific question or two. For example, this week I posted an image I have low confidence in. In addition to lighting problems, it has two subjects on slightly different planes and I needed feedback on managing the focus differential before tackling the lighting. So I asked that. It may help with some more experimental images to clarify what you want to know most of all. And it doesn't have to be a technical question, it can be a question about story or mood or whatever.

I had the opportunity last fall to spend a day with Freeman Patterson, a photographer I greatly admire, not only for his photography but for his writing. One of the concepts he teaches is that our photography is a reflection of our inner life - the ups and downs, the struggles, the wins, the losses. He says we can review our work over time and find a map of our lives. That's a pretty interesting concept to consider.

I always appreciate your play and learn from that. The lighting is going to be a challenge, especially with creatures who are so well camouflaged. You've demonstrated that the back gator is worth trying to save. the smaller one in front may be more of a challenge even though he is better focused.

Nikon S2, 5 cm f/2 lens, Tri-X.

California avenue, San Francisco. Hasselblad 501c, 150 mm lens, Tri-X.

Great shot - I really love the composition here and how the colder blue/white and warm orange/red tones interact. Seems very well balanced and provides many interesting details to look at, while still having that consistent element (the road) for your eyes to come back to after wandering around. I think I like the format of your crop even better btw.

Gosh, this is a fun creation! I feel I'm seeing four seasons all mixed up together - a visual feast. The man-made birdhouse is trying to bring me back to reality but I don't wanna go! 😁

I like that shot! I'm sure it can be interpreted in many ways, but here's how I see it:

The two entrances can be seen as one's birth (left) and death (right) - our life between those two events is short and partly cast in light, partly in shadow. It's usually an uphill battle, which makes us feel old already at the middle point... Additionally the doors we walk through are big enough to properly remind us of our insignificance.

Unless the surroundings are important to you in a way I can't envision at the moment, I would get rid of the fire hydrant and crop the image at the top, as I find the darker grey distracting:

I like the hydrant, and am of two minds about the gray at the top. But thanks.

I am thinking about making the image so that the hydrant is not so much of an eye magnet, though.

You got stuff out of that shot that never occurred to me. Thanks!

Not A Beach Day

(Also posted in Medium Format forum)

Open the photo and then view the photo in a 1:1 ratio
Thanks for looking
Lou

Gorgeous image.

Rich

I agree. The hairs / filaments are so well defined. And the dark background with browns accentuates the yellows and whites