* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #850 / Revived #070 on 2024 07 31 *

Red Fox

Recently we visited the south-western corner of Germany with friends. The vineyards were spectacular, with great views and banks of poppies and other wild flowers amongst the rows of vines, and, to my delight, we discovered Bee-eaters, which I had never seen before, as they are rare in Germany. However, hiking with friends did not really allow me to spend the time I would need to get some reasonable shots of those colourful birds, so I decided to make time before dinner on our last evening and spend an hour chasing bee-eaters. As I turned a corner in the path, I saw an ownerless dog blocking my way further on. Since ownerless dogs can be tricky, I froze and quickly realised that the dog was actually a fox. We stared at each other and I was able to slowly raise my camera and take a number of shots.

I never did get close enough to the Bee-Eaters, but on my way back to the hotel, the fox and I met again in almost the same place. This time we were even closer, but, although the fox was even bigger in the frame, it is the photo of that initial meeting, which still catches my breath, with the bank of poppies, the vines and, of course, the fox.

Pete

A couple of Pacific Black Ducks. The weather has been cool and the air quite dry. I am finding it makes the light quite harsh.

.

There is a real contrast in the subjects here! The second seems to show a hotel and a railway station, suggesting summer holidays and a warm welcome. The other two suggest a not so warm welcome ... or maybe an extremely hot welcome.
The format and also the colouring and contrast are reminiscent of old postcards, especially the second one, although postcards showing war scenes were common too. I have a collection of postcards from Belgium during the First World War showing artillery and other scenes on the topic of war, and they are from both sides of the trenches too, from both my English and German relatives.

Pete

The scene immediately commands attention, with the watery street in the city, and this is made even more seye-catching with the boat shining in bright yellow in the centre. The transition from the blue surroundíngs to the gold of the tourist boat is quite striking, and maybe the choice of gold is appropriate and deliberate for this subject.

Pete

A well-spotted subject and an interesting scene, with the person sitting alone in the middle of a flight of steps in a public thoroughfare.
The other two people could stand for the crowds the person is trying to take a break from, but since they are so far away and only two in number, they feel a bit random and you could consider cloning or cropping them out, as Dan has done here.
Again the golds and blues play well together.

Pete

Aah yes, I have just spotted the bird, so it is definitely a genuine Minnie!
The landscape itself is not spectacular, but the sky is, and so is the light. It seems a bit dull to me with dim highlights, so I would brighten it a bit. It is still early morning and the sunlight is still subdued, so increasing the exposure too much would probably destroy that dawn feeling. I would try to do it by increasing the white poit, which would brighten the image, but not introduce too much light to the shadows. You could also add a touch of vibrance or colour, as I think Dan has done here.
However, I would not crop the bottom. Although there is nothing much of interest there, it does provide a base and I feel it gives the image a balance, which I think is lacking in Dan's version. The lacklustre foreground also means there is no distraction, and that gorgeous sky becomes even more dominant.

I really should get out early with the camera more often - I love it when I do.

Pete

Beachwalk

Early evening light.

Rich

I think I don't belong in this forum anymore.
Because I don't want to make myself unpopular with my criticism every week.
Nevertheless:
- The front of the photo is in the evening mood, the building at the top left shows reddish tones on the right.
The light actually comes from the top right.
- The boat seems to have been photographed at midday, totally warm tones and no shadows. As if the light was coming from behind.
- The color tones of the walls on the right and left in the shadow (bluish) are in stark contrast to the boat.
I'm sorry, but such Photoshop editing errors immediately catch my eye.
The original is probably much better than the edited version.

In my opinion, you can do anything with a photo, but it has to be plausible.
You can't capture two times of day in one photo.
That's not possible and I can see that immediately.
He ruined a good photo, but others see it differently.
That's why I say I don't belong in this forum anymore.
The Photoshop artists should set the tone.

Are you his second voice?

Please look closer Allan.
Should the back of the boat be in shadow?
I mean, yes!
The angle of the light is very clear.
The whole back of the boat would be in shadow and should have bluish tones like the walls on the left.
Is the sun shining a spotlight on this boat?
I can't see any warm light on any buildings?
Why is that?

My problem is that many photographers think they can solve all their problems with given lighting conditions in Photoshop.
That only works to some extent if you know what you're doing in Photoshop.
In this regard, I only see amateurs here who try something and insist on their artistic freedom.
I'm not going to take part in that anymore!
This forum should be called the Photoshop Forum!

AllanSh,
you deleted my post in this regard.
Don’t you mean there is some connection?
ArvoJ knows exactly how Dan edits his Photos!
And, if I ask nicely…
What a bullshit!
Do you need more evidence?

Coexistence

Thank you for your opinions Kumsal 🙂

Part of the aim behind my images is to try to get people talking about them so it's "Mission accomplished !!"

I like the cropped panoramic aspect which takes away the potential for distracting elements and so highlights the lighting and mood of the scene.