* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #864 / Revived #084 on 2024 11 06 *

Yes, we were typing at the same time because the timestamps on your edit and my reply are within a minute of each other.

As I have mentioned in previous threads my workflow always includes first making a close as possible documentary version of the scene and then where I see some potential I experiment with various "artistic" versions until I get something I like.

I use color grading to highlight a specific element(s) to draw viewers' eyes to it/them and/or to enhance colours aiming for a different look and feel to the overall scene.

To color grade I use one or more colour gradients with various blend modes and layer masks and/or various other adjustment layers like Selective Color and Color Balance etc.

Thank you Roel.

In the documentary version the beetle didn't stand out as much as I would have liked.

Thanks

Because I am back to using FastStone which doesn't save an accompanying file with edits, and I like to know what I have done, I use the filename which may end up as P1322553USM20R08C30S20H-15Shd10Crp1.JPG

I don't want to post such a filename so I make a copy and label it with a and then b, c if I make other versions.

Adjusted is good...

Thanks minnie.

Yes it is one of many species of eucalyptus. Too many for me to know. There are many with similar thin bark with variations in colour. Ghost gums have a quite shiny light silver / grey. River red gums tend to red / orange and when they shed the outer layer the new one can be very distinct. The one here has a cousin that is a brighter green with less (but still some) grey. They can all look different depending on the ambient light - time of day.

I wouldn't normally crop so tight but there was some fringing along the edges of the tree - perhaps due to hazy bright light - and with only indistinct sky as a background there was no point in keeping it.

I will think about increasing dof in the future to see if I can get the bark more in focus...

I'm broadly in agreement with Arvo.
You recognized a promising location to go hunting for shots. The combination of flowers/foliage, the brick colors and textures and the swagged blinds all have possibilities. The light stone blocks at the bottom were always going to be a problem as they grab attention. It is more difficult because the main elements of both images run horizontally and this was always going to make linking them up tricky.
You did what any thoughtful street photographer would do and hung around for a while hoping that someone/something would turn up that you could use. Sometimes the photographic Gods smile on us and sometimes they don't.
An interesting subject in the doorway of 1. Maybe.
As Arvo has pointed out, the guy you got didn't do you any favours. You could raise the shadows in the doorway a little but I'd still keep it darkish to catch the depth and warmth. If I got frustrated with nobody cooperating for my stakeout, I might have tried something different and moved in a lot closer on the right hand side. There are some useful vertical on the window/and blinds and in the vertical positioning of the flowers and lamp. I might have held my camera in portrait mode, put those elements into one frame and waited hopefully for someone to walk across.
Shot 2. Again, I agree with Arvo. You have a couple of photos here. The horizontal positioning of the elements is making it difficult to assemble them in one shot. I'd have hunted for a series of closer in shots. Look at two large and check the window. I reckon there are several possibilities here.
Your camera is giving you plenty of small detail when the image is enlarged. Here's another crop idea. I like the "small elegant hotels" sign. You could use it to make a statement about the hotel with a glimpse of the place. Something like

minniev has said it. Yes, yes and yes.
I chatted about the importance of the hollows in Australian eucalyptus trees after Bryan's post last week. This week's post makes the point again.
Bryan, you don't have a caption on the last photo. "Smirk."

I like the second one more. I feel it needs some points of interest throughout the scene to help guide eyes around it.

Bringing out the detail behind and reflecting in the windows helps to add interest. Making the signs and figurines more visible also helps add points of interest.

I also added a bit of "punch" to the brick wall and foliage to help give the overall scene a little more "punch".

Finally cropped to a panoramic aspect to remove some of the less interesting elements for me.

Something like this works better for me.

I decided to leave it to everyone's imagination...

Same with this one imo.

It just needs some points of interest highlighted in the background by bringing out details in the shadows and behind the windows to help guide the eyes around the scene.

Also added some overall "punch" to the scene.

Something like this maybe?

Surprise. I would never have picked this as an RH photo. Not a person to be seen. Not a diagonal line in sight.
Looking at it large, several things get my interest. The long line of golden grass, the bank and their reflection. Then the reflection of the trees below the golden strip. Not the whole tree reflection, a strip a bit wider than the golden section. This area of tree reflection is luscious. Deep reds and greens have been turned into an impressionist study by the water ripples. I feel the reflection of the sky and treeline detracts from the reflection closer to the bank.
How would you feel about a wide, shallow image that emphasized the east/west line, and the richness in the reflection? What about cropping every scrap of sky out of the top and out of the reflection? Perhaps experiment with even more off the top?

Yes, that last photo could get the caption "Satisfaction".
Or maybe I am just projecting.
In any case, I agree with these above previous comments about this lovely sequence.

Good idea about getting rid of all sky and all reflected sky.

Sometimes it's a good idea to go back and look again before culling...

Great (hif) helicopter in flight shot.

Great reflection and colours.

Colours and sharpness are truly amazing.

Shot with flags is my fave. Great collection.

Very good experiment.