* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #898 / Revived #118 on 2025 07 02*

Extremely shallow DOF: it may often be a cliché and a gimmick and a trick up the photographer's sleeve, but it works!

Thanks, Minnie,

As always, it's the light that makes the image. The fact that these ridiculously tiny beach homes, built on the beach almost a hundred years ago, when this, often foggy, lonely stretch of California coastline was the end of the world ("who the hell would ever want to live there!?"), now are worth tens of millions of dollars didn't quite come through.

Rich

Thanks Roel,

The lights are probably on automatic control. It's just minutes before actual sunset. My favorite shooting time.

Rich

Thank you very much - I'm glad you found it interesting even though your personal lens choices are different. The images contained in the articles are a very important part to me personally.

I know about the lens baby lenses but I've never been interested enough to get one. I appreciate the concept however (moreso than the mere re-issues of old classic vintage lenses by some companies nowadays) and think they can open the door to think more creatively about photography.

I distinctly remember the point when I decided I would not avoid something on the basis of it possibly being judged as cliché or overused or even kitsch, if my own perception deems it necessary for what I'm trying to do or even just beautiful.

You're right - the shallow DOF is an important part of the image. I still feel the rendering is at least equally important and I wouldn't have created the same kind of images with a modern lens.

It can be used as a mere effect of course, which is fun as well:

But sometimes (at least that's my perception) you view things through a new (or in my case often old) lens and find a unique and/or new way to look at things. It's honestly one of the things I'm after in this whole thing...

I am totally on the same page with you.
About clichés: I agree.
Embrace the cliché. Flaunt the cliché. Make it your own, drive it to its extreme edge and make it new.

Also about how lenses influence viewing::
I have also found that very particular lenses open new windows on the world.
In my case, the most used "special" lens is not because of its aperture, but because of its focal length: extreme wide angle, and fisheye allow me to show views on reality that normal focal lengths are just not capable of. Walking around with one of my 7mm or fisheye lenses, I get this distinct eye for all-encompassing compositions that sometimes result in images worth keeping.

I'm happy you think this way! Particularly when it comes to making music I've time and time again been thinking that just because some people made something terrible (often for commercial reasons) we can't just stop using certain sounds, chord progressions melodies or words... there's no inherit fault in any of it. It's just been abused. But it can still be great in the right context, with the right nuance or even a healthy dose of fun and surprise mixed in.

And I feel the same way about photography. There are great opportunities for sometimes overused effects, inherit flaws or soft rendering of vintage lenses, but there are also great opportunities for the impressive sharpness and detail, the technical variety and unique options only modern optics can give you. While I'm more inspired by the first (often simpler) variety usually, there are lots of people out there who come up with new ideas or ways to capture stuff by using the complex designs of modern lenses to realize their vision. The wide angles you've mentioned are certainly among those - I've seen very impressive results made with those lenses and it takes some real skill to use them so effectively.

I just really love when something feels inspired.

The taller shape to the right of the building will hide it from view in a split second. The "glimpsed while traveling past" result of the blurred foreground creates a feeling of uncertainty about the castle. Add the darkness.
Our car has broken down and it's a dark and stormy night but I'm not going to knock on that door seeking assistance.

It's what I can't see that disturbs me. The image suggests, perhaps mistakenly, that we are looking at a section of a long row of similar boxes built to almost the beach edge. Sad.
When you say "public beach access isn't concerning," do you mean public access is still possible along the beach or that the laws about beach access are not enforced? Again, sad, either way.
Sad it may be, but it makes the image succesful.

Each shot is pleasant viewing. The fine details of fur and feather are impressive. The animals themselves are caught at moments of interesting behaviour. I led the shape of the squirrels and youe matching of the format to the shape.

It wasn't until I read thoughts that I looked again and realized what the photo is about. Based on last week, I assumed we were looking at another object being offered to us and that this time it was a coffee mug. Post minniev, I have nothing new to add but join those intrigued by these studies.

Mike,

The houses are on the beach, not at the edge.

My understanding of public beach access was that no individual property could not block access. With houses this close, obviously, there developed great friction between owners and the public whom they felt were trespassing interlopers and peeping toms.

Many places were built prior to current laws.

Municipalities eventually allowed access every so many properties as adequately satisfying the law.

To be fair, there is quite adequate access about every 15 or so properties in this area. Which is the subject of my next image.

And Carlsbad provides 2 very grand stairways at the beach "main entrance." There is no obstacle to people being able to use Carlsbad's gorgeous, crown jewel tourist attraction.

Rich

Good Grief Charlie Brown. It's worse than I feared. Still, it is one of the very few things to cheer me about Climate Change. As the oceans get deeper.....

Good Grief Charlie Brown. It's worse than I feared. Still, it is one of the very few things to cheer me about Climate Change. As the oceans get deeper.....
[/quote]

Mike,

Relax! It's Ok, mate. Really! This is a small stretch of the coastline! Carlsbad has miles of gorgeous open beachfront.

And this is just part of the pristine San Diego County coast!

If you want something to worry about, man, know that Southern California, from Santa Barbara in the north down to San Diego, and the whole attached peninsula of Baja California (which is now Mexico) is sliding northwest-ward along the San Andreas fault line by a few inches a year.

Why, in just a few million years, San Diego will be northwest of San Francisco! Santa Barbara will be north of Seattle, Washington!

Don't get me wrong, there's a silver lining in everything. I mean, the San Diego Padres baseball team will only have to make a hop, skip and a jump when they play the San Francisco Forty Niners. But, hey, if I want to go to Las Vegas, Nevada, instead of a day trip, it'll be a major journey! And they talk funny up there in the Pacific Northwest. I'll have to learn a bunch of new things to say! They wear lumberjack clothes, have funny haircuts and seem to do nothing but drink coffee all day.

We've asked the Mayor to look into this, and wonder if a few well-placed rivets, or maybe some stout ropes can anchor the place down and prevent this calamity!

Crikey!

Rich

You've used the fish-eye to good effect here (yet again!) to create something that would not not be possible with another lens. It is far more interesting than simply providing an unusual distortion of the scene, which would give an initial Wow! effect but be short lived. You had the vision and creativity to use the wall on the right hand side to complete the heart shape, which is filled with water of beautiful shades of blue and with an intricate, but soft, texture on its surface. This is surrounded by the rough and angular shapes of the rocks and buildings, forming a neat contrast in colour and texture. I agree it is a poster shot, even if that was not the intention.

I agree with Roel's comments, but see the "Disadvantage" slightly differently. Yes, the blue-shirted back is a barrier, but actually I find it appropriate. It suggests a certain amount of isolation and wish for privacy. The man facing the camera seems more open and this ambiguity adds a level of interest to think about and spend time with the photo. It suggests the group tolerates outsiders, but does not seek them. Whether that is true or not I don't know, of course, but it makes a good photo intriguing.

You did incredibly well on your first BIF session! It is almost sad that you've missed the days of blurred, tiny, or tail-feathers-only rubbish before that day of extreme joy, when you finally capture something worth showing, and have jumped straight in with the decent stuff.

I particularly liked these...

The first two show a good shape and stand out well against the greenery, although both could do with noise reduction. The third is an unusual pose, with its wings vertical and head horizontal and and then the vertical panorama format to set it off.(And noise reduction not required, or successfully done, as well)

Those were my three winners, but there is a fourth too, and that is the series as a whole. You have a good variety of head on, side view, against the sky and the countryside, catching food, dropping food and fighting for food. It is a good variety, which captures the attention. Well done.

There are so many things here, which go together and add up to a delightful photo. There are the subdued, but harmonious colours. The dappled sunlight picking out the details. The leafy trees through the windows giving a tranquil natural background. Lots of wood, allowing me to remember the smell of sheds and Summer houses. And best of all the stuff stored here is done so in a pictoresque almost stage-managed way. No piles on top of random piles here. No cascades of badly balanced junk. All very enjoyable.

It is a beautiful, serene scene. The early morning(?) mist helps that feeling and conceals details, which makes the viewer look longer to try to discover or imagine them. The blue, grey, green palette is also quiet and introverted. The lake is like a mirror, with hardly a ripple.
Then there is the boy. He too is quiet and concentrating on his fishing and with one trouser leg pushed up, hints at a quiet, care-free attitude. He is also simply adding to the scene, and even though he contributes greatly, he is not the main subject. I have added a cropped version, which is also a nice quiet photo and may have been a tempting alternative, but it is about the boy and does not have the tranquility of your original, and comparing the two proves what a good choice you made in your framing.