Wednesday C&C * Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #908 / Revived #128 on 2025 09 10*

Been a while since we were in Vienna. Nice city but we did not like very much that there are still so many smokers there (at least a few years ago). On every terrace there were still people blowing cigarette smoke in our direction. That was our main impression of the legendary "rudeness" of the viennese (and austrians more in general).
About your photo.
There is something to be said for both version.

The cropped version is of course graphically strong, with the off-centered layers of gold, creating a gateway in which you have perfectly framed the woman.
The man walking in the opposite direction creates extra tension and it helps that he is clad in black and white with a white stripe almost "camouflaging" him against the verticals of the elaborate door frame. Gives to me a kind of impression like he is stealthily swimming upstream to meet with the woman. The woman has the momentum (her pose with legs spread wider than the man, and the doorframe creates a sense of movement more from right to left than left to right, because the frame layers are spread wider there (at least visually from your vantage point: in reality that frame might be more symmetrical, but the position masks that, and that is good because like I already said : it creates a dynamic sense of movement and direction (for the woman).
So yes, the crop is nice and tight and retains the main attractions of the image.

But the wider version also has all of that (albeit less concentrated) and adds a layer: the third person, out of the golden frame but "caught" in the photo frame, makes this image feel almost like we are looking "behind the scenes" of a carefully staged theatre decor. And that has certainly merits too.

Hey! 😅

No insult intended. That is why I used the word "legendary" quite tongue-in-cheek.
The one and only Austrian we know personally is a delightful gentleman.

The whole post is a pleasure. The text ( including the recipe) puts everything into a context we then share.
The rocks themselves are people like. All the photos associate people in a landscape where the people have the strength of the rocks.

A fitting tribute and a bold piece of art.

How to break the Rule of thirds tyranny....
Repeating the pattern and colours, tablecloth, bowl and vitamin goodies adds the visual interest. Then, circular space around the bowl is repeated by the bowl. The overlap of the stalkedges from the rim of the bowl does a great job in linking to the stem shapes of the cloth and bowl.
You'd think still life and bowls of fruit couldn't still be done....
Delicious shot.

It was some tome before the penny dropped,so to speak, that those weren't leaves on the base. It's a photo that shares something that might be of interest to others and it succeeds. He's cute. Where is he and what'sthe story?

It was a good question and it took me a while to decide. I prefer 1.If either of the people on the left had show awareness of the other there would have been a suggestion of a story without the chap on the right. He'd have been a distraction. As it is we have a statement of disengagement. The figures have a pattern like repetition but a feeling of isolation predominates.

This stone figurine is in the Gibbs Gardens in GA, USA. There are quite a few scattered around Gardens. Somebody put a hat on this one, making it humorous.There is a tradition to leave a coin if you want to come back to the place where you left it. Thus pennies.

Funny little fella.
Great story to explain this phenomenon.
But is it just me and my slightly kinky imagination that sees not only an owl's face carved on that stone, but also a quick sketch like some people (allegedly) draw around naughty words in a naughty friend's 50th birthday album?

The sheen on the metal ornament is very nice.
The reflected colours of trees and buildings remind me of mother of pearl.

Composition-wise I would crop a bit tighter to get rid of the Fire Department notice bottom left.

Also, although I don't always think that perspective distortion correction is necessary, I would, in this case, correct the lean of the verticals.

Cropping tighter and making the verticals truly vertical would, IMHO, possible result in the open doorway resembling the sleeve of an oldfashioned vinyl LP, to go with the shiny metal disc.

What Mike said.
And let me add that oversaturation works here.

I like your pun and I do also like the oversaturation (and warm WB) of the scene.
But the shallow DOF and the bokeh are usually your main trump cards, and they leave less of an impression in this one than in your previous offerings.

Glad you are bringing forth these older images, which are quite fascinating. Most of us don't get to visit so many exotic places with such wonderful mixes of culture, history, architecture and geographical features. Love the last one for the heavily textured L shaped formation and the people moving within it in their cultural attire and nicely contrasting color palette.

Great shot! I always take photos of these when I find them, but they are getting rarer in the US. Yours is more well appointed than most any I've seen. And the late day golden light makes it downright attractive! Great textures, and very nice composition with the buildings it probably services set in a receding perspective with a subtle vanishing point.

Ours is now gone, taken over by the forest, but it was operative in my childhood for those emergency occasions of large family gatherings.

Excellent capture.I like the first version because, well, I almost always like extra stuff in the frame to make the story more complex.I don't like to be spoonfed story in pictures or in books. I'd rather weave my way through. The fact that the third guy is recessed more, is traveling in the same direction as the leftmost guy in front, is wearing a reverse of his clothing, and has a different backdrop makes me have to think more about him and plug him into the story. The left moving lady becomes a transition piece and separator. All the verticals and horizontals help lead us through the complexity.

Hats off to you for taking all 3 of them, I have never done that but only take on one or two at a time, I think 3 would be deadly.