* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #798 / Revived #018 on 2023 08 02 *

Formal wedding photos are just that, formal, and a lot of effort is spent defining the group, rounding up Auntie A and cousin B and tactfully telling Great Uncle C that he is not required in this one, and all that tension is often visible in the results. These photos are different and very relaxed. Maybe some or all of them are staged, but, if so, they have been done very well, and the wedding party are at ease and enjoying themselves. The formal photos are important, but it is these informal photos that the wedding party will like the most.
The dresses of the Bride and Bridesmaids are beautifully captured, showing details of their embroidery and lace, and the soft, flowing silk. The garden helps here too. It is beautiful, but is not overloaded with colourful flowers, allowing the dresses to be the centre of attention. The slight under exposure helps as well.
Excellent photos, Lou.

Pete

I found one that shows the pollution a bit more. I don't know what it is but I wouldn't swim in it. Quite liked the extra stripe for photo purposes though.

Hi Pete,
Thank you for a comment that was simultaneously thoughtful, pointed, poetic and funny.
(I have never realized that I was married to Frodo Baggins! Thanks for clearing that up for me.)
Roel

I love photos like this. Flat blocks of colour like the paintings I like of Mondrian. It's hard to explain why. I seem to soak them in rather than interpret them in any way.
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Thanks Mike.

I like geometric shapes, repeating patterns, color and juxtapositions.

Rich

We have similar weather here in Germany at the moment. It was roasting in Germany whilst I was shivering in the rain in England, but I stupidly brought the lousy weather back with me.

The bleak hills and especially the weather look threatening, but Portree looks snug behind its little hill and the harbour wall. The cottages and most of all the coloured ones make it seem even more welcoming, and placing it in the centre of the frame, gives it a further sense of peace and stability.
We catch a glimpse of this scene through the low point in the trees and bushes, and imagine ourselves on a walk, looking forward to its welcome. Or it could be a last wistful glimpse before braving the elements. The choice would be dependent on personality or mood, but either way it is a delightful image.

Pete

I hope your crisis has been soothed, and it is something which can be brought back to normal quickly. Any crisis is distressing, but family crises are the worst.

I think I have said before, that I enjoy photos of imperfect flowers. Is it something to do with aging, that I now find beauty in imperfection? I am not sure I would have done aged 20.
Both satisfy that liking, but I really like the first. The flower is past its best, but the unusual camera angle, for a flower shot, makes it stand above the leaves, still tall and proud. The insect is a welcome inclusion, and personifies the attacks the flower has so far withstood, although time is not its friend.

Pete

The large blocks and bands of saturated colour are very tasteful. They are satisfying as abstracts, and we see them that way for a while. Since they are appealing images, the photos invite the viewer to study them further. But why? What is there, apart from walls, a door and pipe-work? I think that is what makes the viewer want to study them, attracted by the colours and composition, we scour the frame to see if there is more, and find the fine detail. The texture of the wall, cracks and imperfections, details in the pipe-work, nuances in the colours, and, even though they are small enough things, we see them as rewards for looking. They are details we would normally never notice, and is a sign of these photos’ power and ability to lead the eyes , where they would normally never go.

Pete

That is a great idea to base the image around the dangling sign, and seeing the world from its point of view.
That looks like a thumb below the speed limit sign, so presumably the required speed is by rule of thumb too?

Pete

😂😳😬 I hadn’t thought about the all male Fellowship and the implication for you two when I made my analogy! The almost total absence of females in Lord of the Rings is definitely a blot on Tolkien, much as I enjoy his books. Apologies to Els and tell her I must have been thinking of Tolkien’s unfinished sequel, where the Followship is led by Eve, the brave artist against the orcs of convention and mediocrity 😊 It’s a long shot, but she might believe me. OK, so she didn’t.

Pete

The large blocks and bands of saturated colour are very tasteful. They are satisfying as abstracts, and we see them that way for a while. Since they are appealing images, the photos invite the viewer to study them further. But why? What is there, apart from walls, a door and pipe-work? I think that is what makes the viewer want to study them, attracted by the colours and composition, we scour the frame to see if there is more, and find the fine detail. The texture of the wall, cracks and imperfections, details in the pipe-work, nuances in the colours, and, even though they are small enough things, we see them as rewards for looking. They are details we would normally never notice, and is a sign of these photos’ power and ability to lead the eyes , where they would normally never go.

Pete
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Thanks Pete. Especially about noticing the detail in the fine structure of the images. If you look closely enough, you'll see the debris I couldn't get cleaned off the film when I mounted it on the scanner drum, and the bubbles in the mounting oil I didn't completely spot out in post!

Rich

The light was coming in through the window, although it was quite subdued, and the objects were well lit by the gallery's lights and the reflected light from its white walls. However, the walls were not really quite as bright as the image would suggest. I had opened the lens to f2 to leave the sculpture sharp and the window slightly blurred, which resulted in a high shutter speed. I didn't think of the lights emitting light in waves of 50 Hz, i.e. it takes a 1/50th of a second to light the entire scene, which meant my shutter speed (1/2000 sec!) resulted in beautiful dark stripes across the walls! To remove those I had to increase the exposure of the walls by a silly amount, whilst protecting the window and the sculpture. Hence the super-white background.

And SimpleJoy, I am afraid I still haven't found time to try your suggestion of a paler window.

Pete

I'll tell her.
She might be charmed.
She is easily charmed and pleased, I suppose.
After all, she is married to me.

Roel

Presumably a speed limit for low flying Mavericks.

6abc.com/top-gun-scene-photo-recreate-goose/1519645/

BTW, I really like this image.
The catch is good. The concept is excellent.
And it is especially great that the "upside down" Aha-Erlebnis is quite subtle. The trees and the pole don't give it away, and the row of houses is small and thin enough to make the viewer look twice. Showing the sign with much more background would not have been as effective.

Roel

I didn't see the Lord of the Rings link either. Now that it is pointed out, how could it be anything else?
Els? Elves? It's starting to add up. Check for pointed ears Roel.