* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #808 / Revived #028 on 2023 10 11 *

Cropping closer and darkening the background make a huge difference. Before, a pretty group of flowers. After, a show stopper!

A truly wondrous photograph of what must have been a magical moment.

It's very eye-catching! I love the idea of you and the other locals watching the scene over time as nature reclaims what's hers.

I'm thinking that non-local people viewing for the first time might require an explanation, however, and that their response might include a little head-scratching 😀

After having re-viewed your image again a couple of times, I take back my recommendation of cropping it... I think it works very well as it is. Not every image has to scream "THIS IS THE MAIN THING, LOOK HERE!" and your composition works well with the colors being nicely balanced! 👍

An excellent example of how to balance large areas to one side with a longer horizontal line and small object to the other side. Archimedes' lever and fulcrum principles work visually as well.
The decreasing brightness in the buildings adds depth and interest.
All the fine edged detail really lifts against the black. Topaz Sharpen is great for subjects like this however I'm curious about your choice of Adobe de-noise instead of the Topaz equivalent. Whatever, it has done a fine job here. The clarity and sharpness of the image is a key part of its success.

A feast of rich colour. A number of lines in the background converge on the spectacular centre that also draws attention to itself with the transition tones from the darker reds to the brilliant yellow. The combination of movement with lines and tones is exceptionally well done.
Apart from the visual appeal, I'm intrigued by the flower variation from the same bush.

Hi Lou. As the poet said, "What's in a name?"
I like the subject and the possibilities of the various layers of translucency and fine lines. Ditto for the composition and lighting. However (and this may be my aging eyes) the focus looks a fraction off. This is an image where the contrast between the fine black lines and the translucent areas is all important. To me, those black lines need to be razor edged and possibly have a little more contrast ( I'm not talking about those further away.) I might be wrong, if the focus is off, it's only just off. Have a look at your original at full size and tell me what you think.

You might need to be Australian to appreciate this one from Bryan. "Appreciate" is the wrong word but I couldn't come up with a better.
I zoomed in as far as I could and "appreciated" the results rather more. This way the lines in the wings and a relationship to similar lines in the wood became more apparent. As did the incredible fly eyes. I'd like a little less shadow around the front end of the fly to bring out the head, front legs.
I'm at Yulara as I write this. We have a few more of these around here if you'd like to further these studies Bryan.

It was a lovely place to live Lou Perthshire is for me the loveliest part of Scotland , though my wife missed a bit more buzz we lived in Edinburgh for several years , hard to compete with that . We are now within a couple of miles of both kids and very near where I was born and grew up. On the upside my internet has went from 40-1130 Mbps wonderful for all the exciting online scrabble games I play 😀

Another gem from Gibbs Gardens. If they let me loose in there I reckon they would have to drag me out in a straight jacket. I never thought I would ever visit flower gardens but I think it's time...

The photo shows a possibly perilous, but I am sure safe, path to the summit. I assume the yellow patches are sulphur deposits? We visited Mt Bromo in Indonesia many, many years ago. It had vents spewing sulphur gas all over the place. Not the best stuff to breathe... None the less the local tribes-people harvested the rock sulphur to sell.

I am often bemused by the regalia some armies come up with for their uniforms. Initially I read the plaque as 1914 but it looks more like 1814 (Napolean era). Was chock chip gelato even a thing back then???

One has the tonal effects of an old Dutch master painting. Deep, rich colours lifted by golden light.
Magnificent country and captured to make the best of the scene. The wealth of detail says nature is abundant.

Two has more of the Dutch master painting touch. This time, we are more in still life territory with a composition along those lines -objects within a somewhat enclosed circular space. Again, we have large dark areas with pools of warmer tones. The result feels comfortable and homely. - and we haven't even begun to consider the main characters as yet.