* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #848 / Revived #068 on 2024 07 17 *

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Sagittarius
Members 727 posts

July 20, 2024, 6:12 p.m. July 20, 2024, 6:12 p.m.
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Girl and birds

PLEASE DO NOT EDIT THIS IMAGE

Girl and birds.jpg
JPG, 1.3 MB, uploaded by Sagittarius on July 20, 2024.

Preben and ArvoJ like this.

favorite 2
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AlanSh
Forum Admin 2965 posts

July 20, 2024, 7:22 p.m. July 20, 2024, 7:22 p.m.
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@PeteS has written:

That is quite a sculpture!
Others have already mentioned removing the blurry branch from the foreground, and I would agree. If there were more blurry branches spread around the main subject, they may give the impression of peering through the undergrowth, which may have been good, but just the one is simply distracting.
You could think about making it a touch darker, or maybe even more effective, a gentle vignette to subdue the brightness around the edges, which distract away from the main subject.

Thanks Pete (and others),

I am away on camp this weekend. I'll certainly have a play next week and see what I can do.

Cheers

Alan
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PeteS
Members 611 posts

July 20, 2024, 7:22 p.m. July 20, 2024, 7:22 p.m.
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@Sagittarius has written:

Girl and birds

PLEASE DO NOT EDIT THIS IMAGE

This is a nice peaceful image of the young girl smiling as the birds swirl around her. But… what on Earth is that Thing on the horizon, just to the right of the girl? You seem to have caught an alien starship or a dragon or a sea-monster or…!

Pete
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AlanSh
Forum Admin 2965 posts

July 20, 2024, 7:23 p.m. July 20, 2024, 7:23 p.m.
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Isn't it an oil rig?
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Rich42
Members 823 posts

July 20, 2024, 7:28 p.m. July 20, 2024, 7:28 p.m.
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@PeteS has written:

@minniev has written:

@Rich42 has written:

Blade

Rich

Beautiful image that's all about shape, color and light. The sinuous curve of that blade/leaf/frond displays an entire range of the greens on the color wheel. The directional lines are nicely juxtaposed so that the eye can follow the dark lines of the flooring (?) to the curved line of the plant. Nicely done.

It’s another nicely balanced graphical study, with attractive colours too. It is a well-chosen portion of a larger scene, which draws attention to its beauty. We can only guess what the larger scene would be, but that is unimportant anyway, as this excerpt is very satisfying.

Pete

Pete and Minnie,

Thanks for the comments. The blue panels in the background are gray clapboard wall siding, turned blue in the shadows.

Pete, this is the whole image.

Rich
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Kumsal
Members 425 posts

July 20, 2024, 7:30 p.m. July 20, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
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@PeteS has written:

Scars

Despite recent family commitments, I managed to sneak in a day of photography in Berlin, and rather than just walk aimlessly with a camera (which is great fun, by the way!) I decided to assign myself a project.

There are reminders of the turbulent history of Berlin everywhere, a history which is not always good, in fact great chunks of it are terrible. Often I look at a building and think "Surely those aren't ...?" But yes, they are. They are the scars left by machine gun fire, tanks, grenades, air-raid damage from World War II, especially the Battle of Berlin in April 1945, and I decided it was about time I photographed them.

Very good idea, you should continue with this project.
The photos are very interesting and I like them.
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Kumsal
Members 425 posts

July 20, 2024, 7:36 p.m. July 20, 2024, 7:36 p.m.
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@Sagittarius has written:

Girl and birds

PLEASE DO NOT EDIT THIS IMAGE

A good, interesting photo.
I would crop it in 16:9 format so the sky takes up less space.
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Rich42
Members 823 posts

July 20, 2024, 7:50 p.m. July 20, 2024, 7:50 p.m.
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@ChrisOly has written:

Approaching

I like the graphical elements here and the possibility for further development. I don't think I would have included the two figures. Not sure they add anything to the scene.

Rich.
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Rich42
Members 823 posts

July 20, 2024, 7:54 p.m. July 20, 2024, 7:54 p.m.
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@minniev has written:

Button Bush & Residents

Certainly an unusual "flower?," but then Nature has tricks we have yet to understand. The "astronaut" landing on this strange world seems perfectly at home.

And all in a pleasing composition and framing. I like the shallow DOF.

Rich
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Sagittarius
Members 727 posts

July 20, 2024, 7:54 p.m. July 20, 2024, 7:54 p.m.
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@PeteS has written:

@Sagittarius has written:

Alligator

PLEASE DO NOT EDIT THIS IMAGE

This is a superb image. The body of the alligator has been almost totally cloned away by the dark water, but it is even better for allowing vague hints of the body and fore-legs. The subtle reflections where the water catches the light are nice too. This leaves the head in all its shiny, textured glory. This is another image where the high contrast draws attention straight to the head, although in this case, I suppose there is not much to distract from the head! The colour palette of yellows, browns and black is attractive too.
Seeing the head from above and isolated from the body makes this an unusual and very strong image.

Pete

Thank you Pete.
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Rich42
Members 823 posts

July 20, 2024, 7:56 p.m. July 20, 2024, 7:56 p.m.
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@Sagittarius has written:

Alligator

PLEASE DO NOT EDIT THIS IMAGE

Danger!

Nice shot, if a bit scary - I assume you were safe enough from this vantage point?

Rich
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Sagittarius
Members 727 posts

July 20, 2024, 7:56 p.m. July 20, 2024, 7:56 p.m.
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@PeteS has written:

@Sagittarius has written:

Girl and birds

PLEASE DO NOT EDIT THIS IMAGE

This is a nice peaceful image of the young girl smiling as the birds swirl around her. But… what on Earth is that Thing on the horizon, just to the right of the girl? You seem to have caught an alien starship or a dragon or a sea-monster or…!

Pete

Thank you Pete. The thing on the horizon is just a sea ship, not a star ship.😁
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Rich42
Members 823 posts
July 20, 2024, 8 p.m. July 20, 2024, 8 p.m.
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@PeteS has written:

Scars

Despite recent family commitments, I managed to sneak in a day of photography in Berlin, and rather than just walk aimlessly with a camera (which is great fun, by the way!) I decided to assign myself a project.

There are reminders of the turbulent history of Berlin everywhere, a history which is not always good, in fact great chunks of it are terrible. Often I look at a building and think "Surely those aren't ...?" But yes, they are. They are the scars left by machine gun fire, tanks, grenades, air-raid damage from World War II, especially the Battle of Berlin in April 1945, and I decided it was about time I photographed them.
Since most of the buildings were destroyed or severly damaged by the end of the war, a few bullet-holes were not a reason to waste money and resources on a patch, and since then Berlin has always been chronically short of cash. But they have also been left as a sort of memorial too.
Now, the buildings are used normally, and the signs of life on their walls are normal, just like any other building in the city, but the scars are a thought-provoking juxtaposition of life and death, reminding us just how close tragedy and desaster are to the safety and comfort of our daily lives.

Pete

Pete,

That's quite a gripping documentary. One would think that we would learn. But violence continues and its perpetrators never seem to stop.

Rich
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Sagittarius
Members 727 posts

July 20, 2024, 8:06 p.m. July 20, 2024, 8:06 p.m.
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@Rich42 has written:

@Sagittarius has written:

Alligator

PLEASE DO NOT EDIT THIS IMAGE

Thank you Rich. I was about 5' - 6' above the water surface.

Danger!

Nice shot, if a bit scary - I assume you were safe enough from this vantage point?

Rich
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Sagittarius
Members 727 posts

July 20, 2024, 8:07 p.m. July 20, 2024, 8:07 p.m.
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@Kumsal has written:

@Sagittarius has written:

Girl and birds

PLEASE DO NOT EDIT THIS IMAGE

A good, interesting photo.
I would crop it in 16:9 format so the sky takes up less space.

Thank you Kumsal.
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DanHasLeftForum
Members 4254 posts

July 21, 2024, 12:06 a.m. July 21, 2024, 12:06 a.m.
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@ChrisOly has written:

@DanHasLeftForum has written:

Some more from the same day as the previous set.

FLYING UNDER THE RADAR

Superb, others are good too.

Thank you Chris.
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DanHasLeftForum
Members 4254 posts

July 21, 2024, 12:08 a.m. July 21, 2024, 12:08 a.m.
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@PeteS has written:

@DanHasLeftForum has written:

Some more from the same day as the previous set.

FLYING UNDER THE RADAR

TURF WAR

BATH TIME

Actually, I think these are even better than the three originally posted.
The first is an excellent bird in flight study. It is flying low, allowing the water to be an interesting background without being a distraction.
The second is my favourite. The inverted C composition of rocks and birds is quite dynamic, and the yellow sea-bed, showing through in the middle, is a neat highlight to draw attention to the birds themselves and to make the background even more attractive. The interaction between the birds is the key feature though, especially as one of them is making a real effort to make that line of sight with the other as it flies by. Nice one.
The third is less good, in my opinion. A dramatic moment has been caught, with water droplets frozen, but the posture of the bird is unattractive, and the head and beak barely visible. It is more of a puzzle to mentally turn the shape into a bird. Forcing the viewer to think about and interpret what they see can be beneficial and interesting, but not here, for some reason.

Pete

Thank you Pete. I'm glad you like them, at least the first two 🙂

In the second photo the seagull was flapping its wings "hovering" over the cormorant for a good minute or so. The two birds were squawking at each other and making a hell of a racket before the seagull gave up and flew off. I think the seagull wanted to perch on the rock the cormorant was on.
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RoelHendrickx
Members 893 posts

July 24, 2024, 4:59 a.m. July 24, 2024, 4:59 a.m.
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@PeteS has written:

@Sagittarius has written:

Alligator

PLEASE DO NOT EDIT THIS IMAGE

This is a superb image. The body of the alligator has been almost totally cloned away by the dark water, but it is even better for allowing vague hints of the body and fore-legs. The subtle reflections where the water catches the light are nice too. This leaves the head in all its shiny, textured glory. This is another image where the high contrast draws attention straight to the head, although in this case, I suppose there is not much to distract from the head! The colour palette of yellows, browns and black is attractive too.
Seeing the head from above and isolated from the body makes this an unusual and very strong image.

Pete

Agree on all counts.