* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #790 / Revived #010 on 2023 06 07 *

This image immediately attracts attention, and not just because of the large red square! It is not obviously a photograph, but the PP work truly enhances it and adds a layer of mystery.
My eyes are initially drawn to the red square, but quickly move on to the wrapped headless women, then take in the mysterious surroundings of the shop and the knees of the seller or the buyer. But what is being sold here? Women? Misogynistic women, headless and without thoughts of their own? Egyptian mummies? Evening dresses? The showroom mannequins themselves?
The textures are excellent, painterly and very well chosen. The strong reds and yellows and dark blue greens reminds me of one of your countrymen, whose first name was Vincent.

Thanks, I enjoyed this image very much.

Pete

You mentioned in another post, that these were quick, off the cuff portraits. They are my favourite type, as they usually reveal more about the people involved, and these are great examples.The first appears to have caught her pretty much off guard, before she can put on her preferred expression and has a charm of its own.
For the second, she has had a moment to compose herself and her expression, but it is such a warm, natural and affectionate smile, without a trace of of being posed, that it is a real winner.
The lighting is harsh and contrasty, but it doesn't matter, and is part of the package of not being posed. In the first it highlights the eyes, which may seem the better choice, but in the second it illuminates that winning smile, and although the eyes are in shadew, we still see the smiles there too.
In both photos we see the delightful fresshly washed curls, which are contrasted nicely against the dark background.
These are endearing portraits and must mean even more to you and her.

Pete

I much prefer the second photo you posted this week. The first attracts attention through the unnatural pink colours, but other than that the image quickly wears thin. There is a row of trees and their reflection, a cute family of geese and a rather obtrusive plant in the foreground.
Now the second is different. The colours still command attention, but they are a much more attractive orange and deep blue, but that is just the start.
The trees themselves are far more interesting, with more patterns and individual trees to look at, whereas the trees in the first were just a homogenous band without much visual interest.
The water, with its reflection, is almost eye-shaped, and the tall trees frame the sky into a similar shape, effectively mirroring the water, which is very cool.
The small trees in the foreground do not intrude rudely, but give an extra layer of depth to the scene and add greatly to the appeal.
I think these two illustrate the importance of having a good, well-composed subject, which is then changed with a fairly extreme PP, rather than an image relying to a great extent, or solely, on heavy PP.

Pete

Between you, you have made changes, which have definitely improved the image, even though it wasn't bad to start with.
Well done.

Pete

If this is autobiographical, then I think it is important to realise that it is being pointed at (by a white triangle) that is the main problem, and not because you are green. 😉 Maybe this is another case of trauma being a catalyst of creativity, because you have certainly made a very attractive photo out of very little, and the shallow plane of focus and the very attractive bokeh have been used extremely well. As for the triangular bokeh ball ..... Triangular??!!! I had no idea there was such a thing!

Pete

This is a neat little story showing the angler alone and at peace, gradually sinking into his surroundings, only to be disturbed by a motor boat. I wonder what annoyed him most, disturbing the peace, scaring the fish away, or possibly even snagging his line?

Pete

Thanks for the comments.
When I posted this, I was interested to know whether the woman modelling and the photographers in the background were obvious enough, as they show an important juxtaposition between women's jobs, and, judging by the comments, I think the answer is "not really".

Maybe I can rectify that with a bit of judicious PP. Maybe brighten the red lanterns and change contrast, brightness and maybe even the colours of the background figures to help them stand out a bit more.

Actually I have had to make the best of a poor job with this image, as I came around the corner of the alley and was confronted with the scene, which delighted me. However, my lens was wide open, giving me less depth of field than I thought I had, and also the AF focus area had been knocked to the bottom, and was focused on the pavement just in front of the women, which has actually been cropped off here. I wanted the model shoot to be very slightly out of focus to be a secondary, but recognisable, sub-scene, but not attract too much away from the hard-working main subjects, but it was far more blurred than I had planned, and had to be rescued a bit in post.

My first attempt was to take them whilst still much nearer the model shoot, but this did not work because the angle meant that the second and third women were hidden behind the first, and anyway, I later discovered my mangled AF point meant that nothing much was in focus. I then decided to shoot wide angle as they went past to accentuate the leading lines toward the model shoot. I didn't want to stand there, camera to eye, as they walked past, as a clown with a camera pointed at them as they toiled past with their load may have hurt their feelings, so I just dangled the camera from my hand and trusted to instinct, as this also gave the low angle I needed. So the clown still fired (silent) shots as they walked past, but I am sure they were unaware and didn't feel any anguish, which I think is most important, even if the result is the same.

Human failure on my part meant that the result was technically sub-optimal, and you can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear, but sometimes the purse you do get is still useful, especially if the subject and story is strong enough.

Pete

With Waterhouse stops, the point spread function for far out of focus lights can be whatever shape you want.

I honestly like all three of these! Great color-combinations and nice shots apart from that as well.

My only suggestion: perhaps there's a possibility to crop the first one without the thing on the left, which I find somewhat distracting.

Thank you very much @minniev, @PeteS, @MikeFewster, @LindaS, @RoelHendrickx, @LouHolland and @ChrisOly for your nice feedback and interesting interpretations. It's great to read about different views, particularly about the mood an image conveys - helps me a lot!

While that is absolutely true, there actually are a couple of lenses with triangular bokeh shapes created by three blades. This one is a modified lens though, where the (six) aperture blades were rearranged).

There are also lenses with slots for filters etc. which allow for experiments with aperture shapes:

M for mystery by simple.joy, on Flickr

And as mentioned before, if anyone is interested in some adapted lenses with different geometric aperture shapes I've created a thread here:
dprevived.com/t/adapted-lenses-with-interesting-bokeh-shapes/3094/

Please feel invited to add your bokeh experiments, if you've ever started some. While the thread was mainly about "adapted lenses" initially, I'm always curious about any creative approach, no matter the technique or tools behind it.👍

Thank you, Pete

Yes, these mean a lot to us. I have a 16 x 20 print of these in my office.

I had never heard the Verve song before. I like it.

I knew ELP's song well from the Viet Nam era. (I was in the Navy). I was neither a fan nor did I dislike their music or the song. It came on the radio frequently, and I listened when it played, but never really paid attention to it. It was very obviously meant to be a bitter condemnation of war and killing. I firmly agreed with the meaning.

But I listened to it today, and some of their other work, due to these messages. I must say, they were excellent musicians. That was lost on the younger me. I never knew they did a cover of Aaron Copeland's Fanfare for The Common Man. Copeland is one of my favorite composers. I could spend a solid 24 hours listening to his works. And have.

Like the work of so many great composers, I think their version is the definitive work and can't be improved by anyone, other than playing, exactly as intended by the master. Of course, we never have such access to Bach, Mozart and Beethoven (we can get close, I think), but with modern composers, we do have have their actual recordings.

I wouldn't listen to ELP's Fanfare more than once or twice. But the musicianship certainly is there.

Rich

Just making sure that the red lantern (ALWAYS full of symbolism in China!) is highlighted more, would be enough.
It would become a point of attention that draws the eye towards that second scene in the background.
But I am searching no excuses for my blatant failure to enlarge your image and explore it more thoroughly.

Interesting backstory of your process. Thanks.
Roel

Warhol would be proud, Bubblicious still mad about the nature of their product. 😜 I remain absolutely fascinated by how one image can be perceived so differently. Simply delightful.

PP?

A spoonful of bokeh! by simple.joy, on Flickr

I usually try to change lenses very often, which helps me not falling into a rut of creating the same things over and over... and of course also in order to give all of my experimental/enlarging/industrial lenses a fair shake! Sometimes it can be very nice to get back to one of my favorites. The image above was created with one of those for sure - an unnamed Agfa enlarging/macro prototype lens - in my opinion one of the finest triplets ever made.

Likewise. This is the case in all art., music, literature images...Every receiver brings their own experiences to the way they respond to the piece. The power of any piece, IMNHO, is in its capacity to provoke those responses. It's a two way process. It's why in this forum we encourage discussion of images rather than just "likes".

I really like this.
It gives me a sense of airy playfulness.
The creativity is crackling.
I'll have a spoonful of that: I'm sure it works in much the same way as magic mushrooms (not that I would know...)

Dear all,

As it is Tuesday and nearing the evening hours (in Belgium), we are slowly winding down after another succesful week.
The trend of enjoyable, creative images and productive discussion, continues. Very good.

Tuesday is often a slower day for comments and replies.
Everybody is gearing up of tomorrow's new edition.

Obviously, it is still allowed (and encouraged to continue commenting on photos, and replying to comments).

But please be advised that if you want to post another image, it is often better to wait until the new edition on Wednesday.
This is good for the poster in order to get more traffic. And also for the group, in order not to confuse the different sequential weekly threads

I will take care of starting the new edition tomorrow. Usually I manage to do that before 12.00 noon (Brussels time).
See you then.

A photograph that is a joke for photographers.
It's clever and a visual treat as well.
The close up makes a bowl of the spoon and the rounded shapes of both form repeating patterns.
Just great.

Hello PeteS

I read your comment with a smile and it ends with a reference to another Dutchman whose first name was Vincent.

Now a reference to a celebrity and whether in photography or painting the purpose of a compliment is something that happens quite often in threads like this and on one hand I'm happy about it and on the other hand my consciousness sees its relativity. Simply because it's my effort and no one else, like the spoonful of bokeh by simplejoy. His work is so unique that I enjoy it.

Anyway thanks again PeteS