* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #803 / Revived #023 on 2023 09 06 *

This time, I think the discussion is more interesting than the photos. Not that there is anything wrong with the photos. I love travel and I don't want a world where it all looks, sounds and tastes the same. Neither do I like what tourism can do to a country. What I really want is a world where I and a selected few others can travel. The rest of you can wait at home and be gobsmacked by the photos while all the places we visit while they continue doing photogenically quaint things. Possibly there are problems with this position but I'm working on it.

Number 2. The implausible headdresses are shown to advantage against the dark background, The facial expressions are a delight. The curve of silver water droplets complements the curves and colours of the headdresses.
Another name for the bucket list.

Italy reflected twice in a Fiat (windshield and hood)? The bright blue sky, the classic buildings in complementary yellow, with accents of teal. It is a fun puzzle image to unravel but encapsulates your summer visit with seasonal weather, distinctive architecture and vehicle, a street side creative portrait. Nice concept, well carried out.

This one is hard to respond to because there are so many elements to it, and the way you've put the elements together is creative but confusing. The resulting image gathers and holds our attention but it's morbid in a darkly comic way. We have an impressive rural backdrop presumably shaped with color shifts. We have a sky full of clouds that trigger our pareidolia and we see animals or demons in combat. We have this grim reaper type gunfighter figure who is either wearing a cape slung to the side or perhaps that is his folded wing, while holding the inevitable smoking gun (which might be something else altogether). We have a distorted body that is decomposing before our eyes leaving a trail of white ink dribbling down the surface of the artwork. I don't understand it, I don't want it on my wall. But I do appreciate the imagination that created it. This is one that I would love to see the creator critique, in detail - what you did, why, what you wanted to achieve, what you were happy with and what you were not, what you wanted to change. Etc.

Two exceptionally nice images that show the beauty and character of a China we seldom see - the mix of cultural history and with the imprint of modern times. The first image shows the breath-taking nature of the landscape behind those beautiful old buildings. If not for the young people in modern western style dress (and the inevitable wires) we could believe this was a window into a lost time. But the young people are there, and they are bringing change. I always hope old cultural ways can be preserved, because I have an anthropologist's heart, but change is unavoidable. It is the same with our native tribes in the US. Most work hard to hold onto language, art, craft, traditional dress, and all the trappings of their history, but they cannot avoid change and the intrusion of modern society. All any of us can do is take note, as you have here. Well done.

I love the light in this shot and the wonderful colors. I also see a person in the shadow, which adds an interesting layer to the whole thing. It could show someone waiting... so I'm starting to wonder, for whom or what? The narrow alley looks like it has seen a lot of change and not always for the better, looking at some of the paint. So perhaps the waiting person is just a stand-in for a dream in the past of a better future or brighter opportunities here, which didn't come true and ultimately are destined to remain there as ever-degrading layers of paint or the occasional flaring up of the sun on the wall...

It reminds me of one of my favorite songs of all time:

"St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church Blues" by La Dispute

Ten years now standing vacant
Ten years on empty, maybe more
Once held the faith of hundreds
Soon one more cell phone store
For years they gathered here
Inside the building sound and true
To sing their praises to a god that gave them hope
To carry on, to carry through
So, I've been thinking about that
Sometimes go slow when I drive by
How a home of stone and a house so holy
Grows so empty over time
What gave those people purpose
Past death approaching constantly
Now left to crumble slowly
Now left to wither with the weeds
Now left to ice and vandals
The advent candles long since gone
The old foundation shifting hard
The concrete overgrown, but
That stained-glass window sits untouched amongst the brickwork worn
A symbol of the beauty only perfect at that moment we were born
And just the other day I swear I saw a man there
Pulling weeds out of the concrete, sweeping up and patching cracks
I saw him lift a rag to wash the years of filth from off those windows
Made me wonder if there's anyone like that for you and me and
Anybody else who broke and lost hope

An excellent, thought-provoking and really well done image! 👍

I do little more than play around with what happens to be in hand from my creations and thanks to AI, it's a tad easier to turn that into an expression of the crazy rattling around upstairs, sometimes. I was just testing out a lens after a photoshoot...and those clouds were just so glorious and beautiful that day I needed to take a picture...so I pulled into a spot I've been at before and snapped a few shots. From there I sit in front of a screen and play around. I knew the shadow was there when shooting and I kinda half embraced it but looking at it up close,"Boy that shadow of me is ugly and long. What can I do with it?" and next thing I knew, I saw a gunfighter in that image and, thanks to AI, it's terribly too easy to make that happen. And then if you know anything about that tool, trying to get a gun turns into a 30-minute adventure in frustration and creativity. So now there's a cowboy with a gun, but what is he doing? Well, cowboys shoot people in the Westerns....so let's fix that background and make it a tad more representative of the time and place I'm envisioning. Now let's add a body 😅.

If you've played with those AI tools, you know making bodies is always a fun RNG game...and I've had success with skeletons before, so what if this was old....ok....and then what if the AI gave you a result that looked like a ink body...."Well that's a fun idea of ink fighting it out in the old West. Where can I go with this?" A little more detail here and there, a less than ideal but it's been 4 hours and I've got to move on ink spot to sell things a bit more and screw it, lets make things a tad more surreal and make that smoke not make complete sense because he's not supposed to be a shadow, he's an ink man. And then, "How does it look in black and white?" happens, and I can't decide which I like more. And then a title idea happens, and in this Mel Brooks sense of funny, I thought the idea of an ink war being colorized was a very odd and humorous thing, plus it gave me a reason to show both versions with cause. And we end up here now with me still wishing that ink trail was more drippy, assessing maybe the smoke weirdness doesn't really work the way I wanted it too.

"I know my demons by name and sometimes they let me take portraits."

thanks for humoring my request! It is always interesting to see the creative process behind an image. What you did is very familiar, and quite similar to the way I free-play with composite images, except that I'm less likely to use AI. (I've whined before here about the three eared rabbits and the 2 fingered ladies).

A lot of folks develop an idea fully in their head, shoot or otherwise acquire a set of images to complete the project, then assemble them. You (and I) seem to shoot the images then let them inform what else to add until they seem done. Very interesting!

This "workflow" explanation is incredibly entertaining, and like MinnieV, I can relate to a whole lot of it! Thank you for the gift of your time. It means a great deal to me to find others who create this way.

An unrepeatable moment in time you captured in amazing fashion! The evidence of activity in the snow adds to the interest. Oh - and the mountain backdrop? Too many riches!!

What I like most is the light and focus fading away at the top. The foreground is so real, and rich in details that the contrast as we look up is a delightful surprise.

Powerful environmental study and story of life along the Pearl.

Amazing image! Those faces, those expressions - equally poignant and humorous.

I spent time trying to understand the sharp piece (unsuccessfully), but then decided the impact is based on everything else. The soft colors make me feel optimistic about the future, and this papa's role in his children's lives. His body language says he is taking that role very seriously and it weighs on him. Your creativity is limitless and inspiring!

A highly enjoyable photo. The composition, exposure and processing feel very natural and very serene.

A beautiful result! Seems a perfect marriage of colors, subjects and technique.

After admiring this work - viewed as large as possible, of course 😀 - I feel the satisfaction that comes after a five-star, six-course meal. I'm full, and very very happy.

Mike, MinnieV and LindaS,

Thank you for the nice comments.

I took the image in 2004 with a 6 MP APS-C Fujifilm S2 Pro.

Several years ago, I decided to print it as large as possible to hang in our family room. I first printed a "small test print" at 13" x 30" (define "small!") to check color and detail. That went fine, and I printed the large image at 22" x 48" on my Epson 24" machine.

I didn't anticipate how hard it would be to mat the thing. Jumbo matting stock is hard to work with. So the large version is still in storage. The "small test print" is framed and hanging on the wall.

I'm refurbishing my large mat cutter and soon will be able to do the job. It's just as well I've waited this long, though. Technology marches on and I'm able to print the image at much higher quality now than even a few years ago.

Still it's almost unbelievable that such a huge print can be made from such a tiny sensor.

Rich