* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #797 / Revived #017 on 2023 07 26 *

Pete's analysis of the positioning of the figures and the bench is right on. I didn't see this. Yet another example of the value in breaking the rules. This doesn't mean that the rules are wrong, they simply need to be understood and not applied or broken without purpose.
It's the kind of image that invites an "Add a caption" competition. There are many humorous possibilities.
Great capture Chris and congrats on the crop.

Linda, thanks for your response to my response (this could go on forever). Next week I'll post an impressionistic photo of mine. I'm not saying I'm right about this, it's a personal response in an unresolved playpen area of my head. If anyone else has views on this, I'd welcome them.

I see what Jim and Simplejoy are getting at. It doesn't bother me too much though and I don't mind the line it gives from the corner to the group of cows above it. I'm also happy to have the larger bit of cow which then tapers down to the smaller cows to the rear as this adds distance in a landscape where fore to distance is important.
SimpleJoy, I nearly fell off my chair laughing with you at your suggestion.

Gotta love Minniev's use of the word "palette" here. An artist's palette, complete with thumb through the traditional hole, is precisely what I thought when I saw it. An artist palette for a cubist? Now I can't scrub that idea from my head as I look again.
It's appealing in an unusual way. The photographer's selection draws our attention to an odd lot of angles that we might otherwise have driven past. I think I have said something like this before. A photo collection of roofs and bits of structures with odd angles could be good with a subject like this. I'd do them all the same size, frame them all the same way and hang them reasonably close together.

The reflection is ridiculously perfect. It may or may not be possible to add little more to the top so it includes the outline of the bank that shows in the reflection? I'm sure that you have considered this already before deciding on the final framing. There is a wealth of fine detail here to enjoy in the plumage, eye and along the bill. The enclosed bell shape made by the chest/beak/legs and beak is pleasing.
The lighting is effective. The light and dark areas retain detail. The stripes in the plumage running down from the back and again around the lower chest to the legs also get a repetition in the stripes on the beak and it all helps bring the image together.
I can only offer sympathy re the lenses. I'd like to do more bird photography too. I'm resigned to never having the lenses I might need for this and a deep suspicion that even if I had them I would never be satisfied.

It's such a massive thing and as it can be seen from almost anywhere, then a series is probably the best choice. A range of angles is what you have. Those with clouds that are big and bold enough to counter the presence of the Shard appeal to me. Probably that's because I don't like the thing.
Maybe that's why I like two the best. It has the clouds. It has something of old London (including low level, horizontal lines and arches that are totally opposite to the thing. We have few humans. Nice to see them in this context. Then we have reminders of the engineering required. Best of all, the Shard doesn't look real here. It resembles an artist's rendition for the planning stages. A warning of what is coming.
No3 baffles me. what is the tower to the left? I can't see it in the other pictures. Whatever it is, it must be hidden in those shots. Looking at the big glass face of the building on the right of 2, I think that the slim tower must be behind The Shard in 1??? Possibly it is the wa lens and low angle that make the column appear to be so tall?From the sky, I think 3 must have been taken on a different day.
Re 5. Could the clouds be darkened a little to match them to 1,2 and 4? The positioning of the Shard so it thrusts up through the rent in the roofline makes a statement. As do the railings that are more or less horizontal and their pedestrian connection to the lower level buildings.
Still, The Shard is a welcome relief from London Bridge and I note how careful you were to keep it out of the shots.

A pleasure. It's another of those Saturday Evening Post type scenes that gives a peep at the soul of the USA at it's best.
A folksy, woodsy comfortable room. The wine glasses say it has been a pleasant, low key meeting. An interaction between generations around something technical (and I noted the old bit of intergenerational technology through the window behind Dad's chair. Dad's concentration from the eyes to the poised arm is caught. The assumed son waits patiently, chair pulled back a little from the table. The empty chairs are a nice touch. This is about Dad and Son but there are other members in this family.
The charcoal drawing effect is a good choice. It's a statement about time as well.
Michael Moore?

Thanks for your interesting thoughts. Fascinating that you were a drum scan operator. We've had one in the company I was working years ago, but I wasn't interested in photography at the time... Now I would love to know more about them. Do they have lenses in them? And if so, do you know who manufactures them?

I'm glad you found a great lens in the 110/2 and am looking forward to more of your results with it. I agree that sharpness/detail can be lots of fun in and of itself. Which adapted Zeiss lenses do you mean btw.?

I also agree that sharpness isn't necessary for everything. For example: I tried to take this shot with one of the sharpest lenses (a scanner lens by Nikon) I own and then with a 90 year old uncoated Zeiss lens. I clearly preferred the look of the latter, despite the clear lack of sharpness:

Hard to be soft in a good way... by simple.joy, on Flickr

The magenta against the blue gives heaps of impact. After that, I'm at a loss. This image simply doesn't trigger responses from me or give me anything I can begin to analyze constructively.
Let's see what you conjure up next week.

Rolling back through the shots I came across the simplejoy version again and once more I was laughing.
Look at the number of live things in the photo that seem to be looking at the purple cow. Others seem to be deliberately distancing from it. This may be a photo of considerable value to sociologists.
Any chance that a purple cow might turn into a swan or butterfly?

The purple cows make the milk for delicious chocolate since 1972
Here's the full story,...
chocolatemarketaudit.wordpress.com/2018/10/26/the-story-of-a-purple-cow-milka/

Drum scanner optics were essentially microscope objectives. But not in necessarily recognizable "standard" mounts.

Adapted lenses on the GFX 100s - Zeiss Milvus 135/2, Nikkor 180/2.8, SMC Pentax-A 645 Macro 120/4 (at 1:1 for "scanning" transparencies and negatives).

Rich

Thank you all for your kind comments .... much appreciated ...

I enjoy doing "Street" but COVID and personal problems has me out of practice for the even small amount of practice I use to get. Also, not living in a large city where such photography is experienced more can also be a problem and limitation. ...

About the picture .. This is taken in a Tavern that has a beer garden seen in the background .. Beers from all over the world and a separate whiskey bar are found here .... Great Chicago Dogs and Kolsh at a table outside is often my lunch ...However, some recent problems with vertigo has my wife restricting me to water, as she thinks I have enough balance problems without adding to them with one beer!!! ....

Water comes in a regular glass so the one seen on the table is a beer glass .... There is a regular group that meets for lunch at that table so I assume these two are the last of the group to settle up and leave. Their relationship is unknown to me ...

The technique is left over from my childhood when my mother regularly got the Saturday Evening Post and I saw and admired many of Norman Rockwell's works .. A few years ago a Norman Rockwell exhibit was seen at the local Art Museum and I did a series of photographs there and developed this look emulating his for that series .. I like the results and think it gives my street people a bit of anonymity so I have kept it .....

More than you ever wanted to know!!! ..

WhyNot

No, not more than...I'm very interested to learn your personal story and the photo's story, and especially about Norman Rockwell being your influence. Thanks much!

From my personal perspective, the impact of each is lessened when shown together.

The pp on the first reminds me of the solarization filter in Nik Color Efex. I'm not in love with the clouds (if that is what we're seeing), but the rest is fascinating and attention grabbing for the light-dark, repeating patterns, and details.

The second composition overwhelms my aging brain. A photo of mostly the ceiling, and a separate photo of mostly the shadows and light of the walkway become two high-impact photos. The architecture of the ceiling is gorgeous and your position great for that feeling of its going on a long distance. The angled shadows on the floor are a pleasing ordered geometry, with the columns and a glimpse of ceiling leading us all the way in.

I just saw this photo op coming and having only few seconds, took aim, framed and pressed shutter.

Thanks! I appreciate your keen eye and instincts.

When I was regularly driving around the countryside in search of photo ops, especially raptors and other wildlife, I would get quite an adrenalin rush from "having only a few seconds" - 😁

Looking at the small version, I thought the filter was applied to the reflection of you, but not to Stella, the cat, or the window frame, which I thoiught was rather cool. On looking at the full size image, I was disappointed to find that was not so, but maybe that would be an idea to try?
In any case I think the filter works very well here and I like the resulting image very much. It shrouds you and the reflected world in mystery, but the cat is clear and straightforward, even with the filter, and her look underlines that feeling.
As to using filters or not, I am open to them. They are just another tool to change the original, like cloning, changing the lighting or colour, converting to B&W etc. etc. So like all PP, I can only judge the result, which can enhance or ruin an image.

Pete