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Wiki Science Competition 2021 has started

Logo for Wiki Science Competition

Dear uploader of European Science Photo Competition 2015, Wiki Science Competition 2017 and Wiki Science Competition 2019, we would like to remind you that Wiki Science Competition 2021 has started in the whole world. It is now completed in Russia (active in May), but it's still open in almost all the other countries.

If you want to take part in WSC2021, please consult this page. Only some national categories are associated to competitions with local prizes.

If you are an expert user, we remind you that images uploaded within the deadline can be included in any case in their national category even if not uploaded with the main interface.

Please keep in mind that there is a new category this year, that is "astronomy".

If you had already uploaded a file this year, please consider improving the description in English of your files (click on the edit button), since such description is what the international jury will use to evaluate them. World finalists will be finalized after March 2022.

Sorry for bothering you and have a nice wiki.

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Hashtag: #WSC2021 #WikiScience #WikiScience2021

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Alexmar983 (promotion team and academic committee) using MediaWiki message delivery--06:07, 23 November 2021 (UTC)

Happy holidays!

A naive, but nice nativity scene in Weil der Stadt, Germany

Dear Cart,

I would like to wish you a Merry Christmas, relaxing holidays, many wonderful moments and a Happy New Year!

Thank you very much for your invaluable contributions at Wikimedia Commons! Your photos are always inspiring; they show how many beautiful subjects we fail to see when we just look out for the standard motifs. Equally important is your “behind the scenes” work with improving and sorting photos and so many things more.

Let me take the opportunity to thank you especially for these two photos. They seem to illustrate a proverb which is common to several languages (but it is unknown in German; does it exist in Swedish?): “The smallest puddle reflects the whole sky”. Hélder Câmara has turned this into a very modest spiritual aphorism: “I just want to be a puddle that reflects the sky/heaven” (the original Portugese word, céu, means both “heaven” and “sky”, it’s one word, just like in most languages besides English ;–).

All the best, --Aristeas (talk) 17:35, 23 December 2021 (UTC)

Happy holidays 2021/2022!

		* Happy Holidays 2021/2022, W.carter! *
		Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! Joyeux Noël! Bonne année! Frohes Weihnachten! Frohes Neues Jahr! Счастливого Рождества! С Новым годом! ¡Feliz Navidad y próspero año nuevo! Щасливого Різдва! З Новим роком!    -- George Chernilevsky talk 19:25, 24 December 2021 (UTC)

Thanks!

Hi, sorry for being too quick with reverting your edit last night. After going back to the many images in this series and looking at them again closely, I can now confirm it's a Calfornia vole. Great job at identifying this species! I admit that I got this wrong – now, that's the beauty of open systems and the power of many people looking at things, that errors are found and corrected… All the best from Chico, --Frank Schulenburg (talk) 17:31, 27 December 2021 (UTC)

No problem Frank! Glad it worked out in the end. I thought it looked like a vole and did my usual poking around online to see what other sites said about herons in the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge and what they might catch and eat. I found that other photographers had photos of big birds with voles from that area like this one for example, so the species seemed plausible. Then when you reverted, I thought that you simply went with the American name for it, which is "California meadow mouse". :-) --Cart (talk) 17:51, 27 December 2021 (UTC)

Cleanup question

Hello Cart,

I have understood your comments on the Commonists cleanup in the way that you do not want any of your pictures to be promoted to FP ex post even when after removing C.’ vote a picture would have the necessary ratio of support/oppose votes. I hope I got this right. ;–) Please have a short look at this nomination:

Commons:Featured picture candidates/File:Front of Pontiac Bonneville 1965, XZZ700 in Vrångebäck.jpg

Have I handled this correctly and in accordance with your wishes? (Of course, if I did misunderstand you, I would be really happy to promote this photo as FP!) All the best, --Aristeas (talk) 10:50, 10 January 2022 (UTC)

Hi Aristeas, that looks fine. My old nominations are in the past and they can stay as they lay. Thank you for taking care of this! --Cart (talk) 11:25, 10 January 2022 (UTC)

Thank you! --Aristeas (talk) 11:39, 10 January 2022 (UTC)

Thank you for your words

Dear Ann-Sophie thank you a lot for your comment! In fact it was terrible, I'm still somewhat demotivated... At the moment I don't know exactly if ever I will be able to move on exactly the way I previously did, but at least I have numerous pictures already shot + to be uploaded, sooner or later I'll do for sure, we'll see.

It's not just a shock, an unimaginable shame about the country I was born in. Sadly, we all (including us in Europe, all the people around the world) have to expect that this will only get worse day by day, as it was all the time under Putin. It is highly likely that even if Putin resigns himself, he will install either Medvedev or even Kadirov as the new president. M. already was president from 2008-2012 and was considered relatively liberal, however as recently as yesterday he threatened Western countries with armed violence and announced return of the Death penalty. And for K. it's all self-evident and he has been sought a "final solution" for gays since years, just like the German Nazis did for the jews, you can hardly imagine how terrible this all sounds... And let us be honest, in the end the International community cannot do much about it. In ideal case they should put Russia on the list of terrorism supporting states, but they hesitate to do because of Russia's nuclear weapons, and they're actually right, Putin has gone so crazy and rogue that he would not anymore hesitate to apply them... So I have no doubts anymore there will be mass murders, genocide etc.pp. in Russia in the next years... But what this all has to do with my work here: to a significant extent this was based on patriotism of Russia I loved to travel there too and contribute pictures, this is all gone now, probably never again in my life going to cross the border of that country, and sincerely I don't understand how could anyone still be a patriot of Russia, given all the previous, and now this horrible war... That's sad, sorry for the many words and feel free to ignore them, thanks again for your warm reply anyway. Best regards! --A.Savin 22:50, 26 February 2022 (UTC)

Hi A.Savin, it’s ok with all the words, you simply need to unload. I’m not suggesting that you come back in full strength right now, just don’t think that we hate you. Your friends in this international community are still here. You are in shock right now, that is clear, and your brain is working overtime conjuring up all sorts of horrible extrapolations. It can be hard for you to think straight, and you are not the only Russian feeling like this; we see Russian soldiers crying when they realize what’s going on. Don’t lose hope yet. There is much that can be done and will be done.

I understand the shame you feel, I know a bit about being associated with the wrong side of international conflicts, and it will probably always be hurtful for you, but you don’t know the outcome yet.

For the time being you are a good example that there are honorable Russians. Focus on that.

You are always welcome here on my talk page, and if you like to be more private, we can establish an e-mail communication. Take good care of you and don’t despair, --Cart (talk) 23:55, 26 February 2022 (UTC)

Missed user entry

Hello Cart, I just happened to take a look at our “We miss you” page and noticed that there is no entry for Slaunger which stopped uploading files in 2017. I know that user only indirectly by their photos and by some important contributions, but these are enough to make me feel that Slaunger is one of the contributors whose departure has left an important gap and is a real loss for the community. Therefore I have added an entry to the “We miss you” page. I write this because IIRC you know Slaunger better; maybe you will want to second that entry … All the best, --Aristeas (talk) 11:18, 27 February 2022 (UTC)

Hi Aristeas! Of course we all miss Slaunger on Commons and would be delighted if he would come back and contribute, but I don't think he has time for that right now. He is in a very busy stage of his life now, with an extremely demanding job and lots of other things on his plate that he need to prioritize. He has not forgotten us and he is in contact with me and some other Commoners. If some day he feels like participating again, he will. I will not second that entry, as I don't want to put pressure on him in any way. All the best, --Cart (talk) 11:38, 27 February 2022 (UTC)

Hello Cart, thank you very much for your reply and the explanation! These are very understandable reasons! ;–) So I was probably hasty with my entry. But I will let it stand, not because I want to put Slaunger under pressure, but as a sign of appreciation. Best regards, --Aristeas (talk) 11:50, 27 February 2022 (UTC)

Crop question

Original (uncropped) version

Hello Cart,

I have a question and a request for you, because you are one of the few experts here on minimalist and “weird” photos ;–) and also on cropping. I have been sitting on this photo for over a year and wondering: is there a really good photo in there if I crop it just a bit? Or is it just boring? I have tried different crops: 1, 2, but I am still unsure. So maybe the photo is just boring after all. But if you have some time and feel like it, please just take a look at the original and the two crops and tell me (maybe via image note) how you would crop this image.

Thank you very much and all the best! --Aristeas (talk) 09:26, 18 April 2022 (UTC)

Hi Aristeas!

No problem, one weird crop suggestion coming up. :-) I was just about to upload a photo myself and was on the computer.

It's a great photo but it needs some balance. I have put a suggestion as a note on the file page. The main problem is the green band. If you end such a swat on one of the sides of the photo, the brain will interpret it as a "stop". If you end it at the bottom, it "goes on forever". In this case, such a crop will also mirror the end of the green under the tree and it makes the view more harmonious to me. There is also a bit of "dead landscape" on the right side. You have interesting furrows there, but the last part is just blank and steals interest away from the green that is sort of the subject in the photo. Cropping that will also position the tree a bit better in the image.

These are just my thoughts, and may not reflect what the Community sees. Hope they help anyway. ;-) All the best, --Cart (talk) 10:10, 18 April 2022 (UTC)

Aristeas, not sure what has happened, but I can't see my image note on the file. I've made a crop in my dropbox instead. --Cart (talk) 10:39, 18 April 2022 (UTC)

Wow, Cart, thank you so much! You have found exactly what I was looking for – cropping the green band in the other direction actually makes the photo much better! – I did not expect an answer so fast, so I went out for a very long walk and only came back a few minutes ago. I am too tired right now to understand the magic in the crop but (hopefully) I will do so tomorrow ;–). But even with my tired eyes I just see that you have solved the problem. So thank you very very much! :–) All the best, and more tomorrow, --Aristeas (talk) 19:44, 18 April 2022 (UTC)

Crop suggestion implemented

So, Cart, I have now implemented your suggestion in |a new variant of the file. This version is much more effective than the original and than my two attempts at cropping. The different cut of the green band really makes a huge difference. To understand this better, I played around a bit with similar photos today and am very impressed by the effect this rule has. So thank you very much for your suggestion! Not only did it make this photo much better, but I also learned something very important.

I am so enthusiastic about your suggestion that I will probably have the fun of nominating this photo as FP. Don’t worry, I’m aware that it will probably fail because many people just find such pictures boring. But maybe I should give it a try, since we very rarely get minimalist FP candidates at the moment.

Thanks again and all the best! --Aristeas (talk) 10:40, 19 April 2022 (UTC)

Glad I could help you. :-) What I wrote are not "rules" per se, just helpful pointers for how to frame compositions. There are, of course, also times when other solutions might be better. (Example: In this the road mirrors the water of the fjord and is better than this view from the same place. I should even had gone more left to take the shot, but the weather was miserable and the ground very wet and soggy.) I guess the best "rule" to remember, is that if you have a strong line ending somewhere in the vicinity of a corner, you should always explore where to end it.

The photo looks great and I wouldn't be quite so pessimistic about nominating it at FPC. I remember Commons:Featured picture candidates/File:Pine trees growing on the slope of Cinder Cone.jpg. Minimalistic photos are not frowned upon, but what little there is in the photo must be of excellent technical quality and perfectly balanced to pass inspection. I hope this will do well. Thanks for dropping by! --Cart (talk) 11:26, 19 April 2022 (UTC)

I understand, Cart. Your two road/fjord example photos are again very instructive. Yes, it seems best to think always about both ways to end strong lines which end in a corner. Actually this was the eye-opener for this image: I had tried many possible crops, but no one felt right because I did not even think about cropping the green band the other way around (at the bottom margin instead of at the left margin) … Thank you very much for your encouragement, too! I will try this photo on the FPC page soon. All the best, --Aristeas (talk) 19:49, 19 April 2022 (UTC)

Klaus Schulze

Hi Cart As you may be aware Klaus Schulze has passed away, who is an extremely important Electronic Music maker (Jean-Michel Jarre also expressed appreciation). Maybe this could be a fresh idea for you to draw his portrait, because unfortunately there is very poor supply of free photos... Best regards --A.Savin 18:58, 28 April 2022 (UTC)

Hi A.Savin, thanks for the idea. Might be something I would be inspired to do. I agree, the images don't do him credit. How did you know I'm a Jean-Michel Jarre fan? Might do something a bit more daring than just a pencil scetch. All the best, --Cart (talk) 19:05, 28 April 2022 (UTC)

OK Thank you Cart Take your time, whatever you may do it's a great addition to the category that's for sure... Many years ago I tried to contact KS's manager to convince him to release an official photo for Wikipedia, but the replies were very "Wikipedia-hostile" and in the end I had no success and nearly nothing new has been added to the category eversince... So I guess we have otherwise no chance to get any quality content.

I didn't know you're a Jarre fan, but I still remember your comment on my FPC of his picture, so I understand you like at least his old works ;-) Best regards --A.Savin 19:35, 28 April 2022 (UTC)

A.Savin, the internet has a long memory. ;-)

For now, I've tweaked the photo that is used in many of the articles. It looks slightly better than the very hard crop we had before. I'll let you know when/if I have something new. --Cart (talk) 19:42, 28 April 2022 (UTC)

A.Savin, here you go. No idea if you consider this good enough to be used anywhere, but its uploaded and ready. Almost all photos of him were top down with him looking down and working. He also had a rather bad posture, but I straightened him up a bit. Hope you have a nice weekend, --Cart (talk) 18:23, 29 April 2022 (UTC)

Hi Cart. Your work is so much appreciated, as always. Although I'm not an expert how KS should look like on portrait, because what I had seen were only some few official photos (unlike his face I know his music a little bit better, at least some "classic" old stuff, with the albums "Picture Music", "Timewind", and "Moondawn" IMO being his very best ever... FWIW...) Anyway I think on your portrait he looks maybe similar like on this one, so I guess we don't have to be worried whether this is really authentic, he looks younger than on the Commons crops yet older than the long-haired guy from some early album covers ;-) Anyway I'll try to put this in some articles in the next days, let's see, Thanks again and always happy to see more from you, Best regards, --A.Savin 03:09, 30 April 2022 (UTC)

Meanwhile the usage on several projects seems stable, congrats! Best regards --A.Savin 13:19, 2 May 2022 (UTC)

That's a big surprise, A.Savin. My experience with articles is that if there is a real photo available, people want to use it, no matter how crappy it is. This is especially so on en-wiki. However that article is so long, it can host two images: the crappy photo in the box and the drawing further down in the article. It's possible to do the same on other wikis. Glad to see that someone you enjoy listening to gets good articles. All the best, --Cart (talk) 14:48, 2 May 2022 (UTC)

Thanks and question

Hello Cart,

thank you again for your suggestions on that file. Before I thought that such images appeal only to myself, but your words of encouragement have helped me not only to nominate this one as FP, but also to estimate this group of my photos more. Maybe I will edit/develop and upload some more photos of that kind when I can get the energy …

For now, I have another question. Our youngest and sweetest cat, Nikita, has died yesterday without any warning. Probably a heart attack, the vet says. Nikita’s brother Mika is in mourning and so are we. I have only a few photos of Nikita (1, 2, 3) which do not show much of his character, it’s a pity. Probably the last photos: A, B are the best; they show how he used to sit near to us when we were reading in the evening. But these are ISO 6,400 photos and rather noisy. I will not nominate these photos for anything, of course, but I would like to edit these photos in the best and most tasteful way. Have you, as a person of excellent taste and experience, a suggestion what would be the best way to handle them? I have thought about buying Topaz DeNoise AI, but I am not sure whether I will like the results (they often look overprocessed). Maybe I should just not lift the shadows that much? But I like the soft gradation. Of course I can apply strong selective noise removal to the background. Or should I just be honest and keep the noise? If you have any suggestions – it’s not urgent —, I am very grateful.

In any case, all the best for you! --Aristeas (talk) 06:31, 12 May 2022 (UTC)

Hi Aristeas! So sorry to hear about you losing a cat so suddenly. I certainly know what that feels like. They leave little cat-shaped holes everywhere. I love cats even though I'm very allergic to them. I had cats when I lived in a house of my own, since they could live in their own areas of the house. This doesn't work now that I have an apartment. Instead I befriend cats in the neighborhood and they often don't mind being photographed.

I'm a bit busy today, so I'll get back to the photos later. I got some ideas right away looking at the photos. I wouldn't recommend Topaz, so far I haven't seen any high ISO denoising it has done that didn't look like plastic or have other unfortunate side effects. It is simply too aggressive; there are other ways of editing a photo. I'll get back to you soon. Best, --Cart (talk) 08:20, 12 May 2022 (UTC)

Thank you very much, Cart, for understanding my mourning and for your sympathy! Take all the time you need, it’s not urgent, I am just very thankful for any hints to improve these photos in a tasteful way. They are my last souvenir of the cat and at the same time I think they belong to the better available-light cat photos on Commons, so they deserve some work. All the best, --Aristeas (talk) 08:56, 12 May 2022 (UTC)

Ok then Aristeas, here are some thoughts and ideas. You might not agree at all with my edits, but perhaps they can give you some new ideas about how the photos can be edited. I have Lightroom and Photoshop and have used both, as I usually do. Since I've only had the jpegs to experiment on, things will obviously be different when you deal with the raw files. You asked for some suggestions, and I think it's easiest to do a bit of "show and tell". You'll find a whole bunch of photos in my Dropbox in a folder marked Nikita (hope the link works). I suggest you download it for easier access to go with my ramblings below.

She was a very lovely and beautiful cat, and it's always a pleasure to work with such good quality photos as yours. The main problem with indoors photos is always the light. You get it too evenly distributed around your scene, and you almost always get several light temperatures mixing with each other. I've had to explain to my neighbors why my kitchen always is totally lit up at night. I've selected all the light sources in there the same temperature, so I just wait until dark and then I have my own little studio. :-) And then there is the high ISO noise. You can leave the noise be and go authentic or do selective noise reduction. I usually go with two-step NR when needed; more about that on the "main" photo below. I only did it on one photo, since it is a bit of work.

The first three photos are very nice as cats-doing-what-cats-do. I especially like the one with the feather-cat-action-tool. :-) The two where she sits on a pile of books are the best portraits. "A" has the best posture while "B" has the best crop. I'll get to that. I have edited all the photos and then made screen shots of what I did, with some additional comments below. The screen shots are of the programs in Swedish, but I think you can figure out what the settings are. Just ask if something is unclear.

• Nikita-box is the result of my editing. In the screen shot Nikita-box-edits you can see what I did. The light is good so no need for any special gradients, just some light and color correction as it was a bit cold/green/blue IMO. I think the red at the bottom draws too much attention from the cat, so either crop or simply change the color to fit the color scheme in the photo as in Nikita-box-color. I also cropped it a bit to the right and top. It looks better when the light green border is equally wide on both sides.

• Nikita-feathers is my version. The light is good and only needs a few small fixes as seen in Nikita-feathers-edits. I've put an oval lifting of the exposure and highlights over the right eye to counter the sharp shadow there. Having very bright parts close to the borders is not so good here, so I toned down the exposure and highlights on the rope at the bottom and on the sunlit fur to the left. The feathers are a bit too bright and draws the focus away from the cat, so I put a desaturation gradient on them.

• Nikita-shelf is my suggestion of this. You got mixed light temperatures here plus a bit of shadow on the face. In Nikita-shelf-edits you can see how I try to sort this out. I evened out the overall exposure and then put a large oval of added exposure and some black on the face. The oval gradient on the belly is to correct some of the blue tint temperature from the light from the window. There is also a linear gradient in the lower left corner reducing the exposure and warming up the color temp a bit. I forgot to make a screen shot of the split tone setting, where I saturated the highlights by factor 5 and the nuance toggle firmly to the left.

• Nikita-books is a merge. :-) The original "A" is a bit close cropped. Some lead room in front of the cat is nicer, and elevating her on a couple of more books, makes her more majestic. So I simply borrowed a bit of extra border from photo "B", in the same way you do when you make panoramas. Hey presto: Best of both photos! :-) After that I sent the photo to Lightroom. The edits can be seen in Nikita-books-edits. The light was a bit too yellow/red/indorsy so I cooled it down a bit but trying to keep the warm light and not go full white balance. Getting rid of murky light also helps reducing noise a bit without using regular NR. After that I wanted to make the photo a little more three-dimensional. Cats look good emerging from darkness and shadows so I put two diagonal gradients for lower exposure, less highlights and more shadows on each side of the cat. The circular gradients are to tone down highlight in some places and lift exposure in other. These are very gentle touches, no more than plus or minus 0,24 EV. After this the photo went to Photoshop for some denoising. I usually don't use masks, they are too unwieldy. Instead I copy the photo into three layers, apply the different noise reductions on them and bring out the eraser to work on the layers. The background layer is the untouched photo from Lightroom. The first layer is where I've applied a good NR. You can see the settings for the different layers in Nikita-books-Photoshop-layers-noise. I make a hole for the face and use the rest. The second layer is for the background and need a bit more than just NR. I go for "Gaussian blur" and erase the rest of the cat and books in focus. Last the layers are just merged on top of each other and you get Nikita-books-Photoshop. Now, this is a trifle, but that red book in the lower right corner is distracting. It doesn't go with the color scheme of the rest of the scene. The book might be special to you, from the red cut I guess it's a Bible, but purely for the sake of the photo I experimented with changing it to brown as in Nikita-books-Photoshop-color.

• Nikita-book-look is just a quick paste of the Lightroom settings from Nikita-books to see what it would look like.

I hope you have not fallen asleep reading through all this, and that it might help you in some way when you edit the photos of your beautiful cat. At least I had a good time playing around with the photos. All the best, --Cart (talk) 20:40, 12 May 2022 (UTC)

Btw, my most beloved cat Mischan (after Misha) is well represented in one of my Flickr albums. --Cart (talk) 23:00, 12 May 2022 (UTC)

Hello Cart, I am absolutely flabbergasted – your response, your editing of the photos and all the hints and samples are much, much more than I had expected! Thank you so much! If I had know that you would do so much, I had given you the raw image files. Today I have tried to study your changes before answering you, but right now I have to realize that I am too exhausted and sorrowful at the moment for this high-level work (yesterday we have buried little Nikita). And I must do the houseworks now, and especially comfort Nikita’s brother. But I can say immediately that your edits of the photos are great, and I can learn very very much from your examples! So when I get some power back I will study every file in detail and try to repeat you changes on the base of the raw image files to learn from your great examples. For now, to order some photo prints for remembrance, I will use your edited versions of the photos, they are excellent. Therefore I do not even know how I can thank you for your kindness, for the work you have invested into these photos, for all the hints and ideas and for the great examples which will probably help me to improve my photo editing skills significantly! Just thank you so much!

The photos of Mischan (and also the other cat photos!) in that album are very beautiful and true-to-life. Your photos show that Mischan was a wonderful cat with great character. All the best to you, --Aristeas (talk) 10:24, 13 May 2022 (UTC)

No worries Aristeas, I had fun working with the photos and I feel greatly honored that you want to use my edits for the first prints. :-) As I've said before: Time is seldom an issue here. I edit and rant when I can, and you read when it is convenient to you. This page isn't going anywhere and the hints might be of use to more people than you. Take care of each other now, cats and humans. Best, --Cart (talk) 11:24, 13 May 2022 (UTC)

Just a note: It’s interesting how differently we deal with grief. (To avoid misunderstandings in the following: Nikita looked like a she-cat, but was actually a tomcat, just as his brother Mika. They were twins, but looked a bit differently.) Nikita’s brother, Mika, seems to cope with the disappearance of the brother outwardly quite well – he eats, wants to be petted by me and also plays a bit. But Mika has left his favorite places: he is now lying alternately in all the places where Nikita lay in the last time – surely he still smells him there; he also rubs himself against things his brother touched, as if he wants to absorb his scent. That is a big difference to us humans: I don’t smell anything on these things, I just feel a painful emptiness in my heart. I have loved Nikita much more than his brother, because Nikita looked cuter, behaved drolly, talked loudly to me and sometimes slept next to me after turning in a circle for a long time while I was petting him. But that was unfair, because Mika is just different, but a wonderful cat on his own. Now I hope that Mika and I will grow closer. – I hope it won’t be bad for Mika when his brother’s scent slowly disappears. We can look at photos, cats do not care about them. (You do not need to answer this! I just wanted to share the observation, as a greeting.) --Aristeas (talk) 09:01, 14 May 2022 (UTC)

Aristeas, thanks for sharing. :-) I only thought Nikita was was a "she" since I perceived that as a female name after the movie La Femme Nikita. Silly me. Then again, my female Mischan's name was derived from a male name, and animal names don't always correspond with their gender for various reasons. Hope you can enjoy the weekend and recuperate. --Cart (talk) 11:06, 14 May 2022 (UTC)

(talk page stalker) @Aristeas: I'm sorry to hear about your cat. Losing a family pet is losing part of the family, and I can empathize with the feeling of wanting to make sure photo-memories are as good as they can be. Cart has already provided more capable help than I could, but if you want to see how any of them look with Topaz Denoise, let me know and I can process them so you can make a decision. — Rhododendrites ^talk |  21:39, 12 May 2022 (UTC)

@Rhododendrites: Thank you very much for your sympathetic words and for your offer! Indeed it would be very interesting to compare the result of applying Topaz Denoise. I will probably come back to you when I have found the time and power to study Cart’s suggestions in detail and to repeat their editing on the base of my raw image files. Thank you very much and all the best, --Aristeas (talk) 13:06, 13 May 2022 (UTC)

Greetings apropos of hikinig path photos

Hello Cart,

just as a short greeting BTW: I like your two photos File:Dense vegetation on the shore of Brofjorden at Lahälla 1.jpg and File:Dense vegetation on the shore of Brofjorden at Lahälla 2.jpg very much. I have tried to take photos of such paths with “little tunnels of greenery” before, but most times my photos did not capture the sweet appeal of these places – often the photos show just a path with some random plants. Your photos are successful, they really show how restful it is to walk on such paths and how full of promise – every bend of the path may hide another nice view or another interesting plant. ;–) So congratulations! If I am allowed to say this here, really without any flattering: You are an excellent photographer of the “beauty of the simple things” – your pictures reveal how much grace, charm and enlivenment is there in the everyday environment, be it a residential area, a harbour or the landscape, be it in spring, summer, autumn or winter.

Best regards, --Aristeas (talk) 13:43, 21 June 2022 (UTC)

Hi Aristeas, that is very kind of you. I live a simple life in a simple part of Sweden, so I have to make the best of what I've got if I want to work with photography. You have no idea how much I long to live in a more civilized place where there are other options too. Hopefully one day. All the best, --Cart (talk) 18:20, 21 June 2022 (UTC)

Hi Cart, I really seem to have a great talent for putting my foot in my mouth ;–). Often, when I want to write something nice to someone, it happens that I behave very clumsily and irritate or even annoy the person instead. I want to apologise if I have offended you with my praise of photos of the ‘simple things’. Yes, you are right, I have no idea how much you long to live in a ‘more civilized place’. Yes, I am often very naïve and assume that most ’first-world’ people live more or less at the place they want to live, so I completely forget that talking about it in a naive way can hurt them … It seems to happen to me again and again; I try to learn from it, but (as you see) it does not work that well. Therefore, I would like to apologise and at least say that I am not doing this on purpose, but unfortunately seem to have little social competence.

Surely it would be better if I just kept my mouth shut and stopped my clumsy attempts at socialising. Why, you may ask, am I doing this at all? Well, time and again I get annoyed with the discussions on the QI page, the QI page etc. (I could stop reading them, but on the other hand I learn so much there and love to see all the photos, so I can’t stop.) We have a lot of nice people among us, but also some ‘top dogs’ who only want to see their own pictures and talk everything else down. And we have the effect that even otherwise often only the bad is emphasized instead of also praising what is good in a photo and helping others to take better pictures with constructive, friendly criticism. That is my dream: a friendly Wikimedia Commons where people help each other. Surely I am simply naïve in this respect as well. But because I’m naïve, I always try to write people something nice too, to encourage them to keep going, and to acknowledge their work. Unfortunately, I often choose the wrong words in doing so, as I said above. And I am very sorry for that. But I hope it’s still not completely wrong.

I wish you with all my heart that your wishes will be fulfilled, that you will soon be free to choose where you want to live and that you can lead the life that suits you best. You certainly deserve it, far more than the ‘top dogs’. All the best, --Aristeas (talk) 09:12, 22 June 2022 (UTC)

Oh dear Aristeas, Just a quick note to put you out of your misery: You have done nothing wrong and you have nothing to apologize for! Today, I'm totally exhausted after hard work over the weekend and a long trip yesterday. I'll get back to you with a more complete answer later. Suffice to say, you are one of the really 'good guys' here on Commons. Don't beat yourself up just because my answer was short and lacked explanation. Best, --Cart (talk) 11:36, 22 June 2022 (UTC)

Cart, no need for a long answer – I didn’t want to make you any extra work with my long words. That way I would be even more of a nuisance to you ;-). Now I know that is is OK, this is sufficient. Relax from your long day! All the best, --Aristeas (talk) 15:10, 22 June 2022 (UTC)

Hi Aristeas, I've more or less slept for two days now. Phew! Needed that.

I agree with you about editors who put their own glory before the wiki-project, I don't understand that attitude. They only bring toxicity to the site and serve as very bad examples to people who are thinking of joining. These days, I find camaraderie and good photo communities on other sites. On Twitter I have ended up in a group of (mostly) female photographers, professional and hobby. The difference between that group and FPC/QIC can be measured in light years!

Anyhow, it's no secret why I live where I do, only some bad turns in life. Some years ago, I needed a break from my old life. I was totally burned out, mentally and physically, the price of success. I sold my shop in Visby and went west. The plan was to live for a while in England. I have been in and out of the UK since before I could walk, and I lived in Cornwall for a while. I wanted a year to arrange things before taking the big step and Lysekil with its cheap housing suited me fine for that.

Then Brexit happened. Just as I was in the middle of booking B&Bs in Cornwall and Devon to go look for a place to live. Everything had to be cancelled. After that came other disasters, personal, national and international. Ok, with few people living here, it was not a bad place to be during the pandemic, but still.

I really don't like it here. There is no culture or art, history and nature are treated with disdain or simply ignored. People are generally unfriendly, uneducated, greedy and rude. This part of the country is about industry and some sports. Photography has kept me sane, and the Wiki-project plus social media have been life-lines to civilisation for me during these years. I am trying to get back to the east coast where I feel more at home, not Gotland though that's over, but for now, I'm marooned here.

Oh well, the years may have fine-tuned my sense of finding motifs even in the most ordinary things, and I will probably always photograph such things, but I long for more options. Just as I long to be able to continue with my other interests.

Enclosed is one of my latest simple ordinary minimalist photos, something I might not have seen if I had more interesting things to look at. ;-) Best, --Cart (talk) 18:22, 24 June 2022 (UTC)

Hello Cart, thank you very much for explaining to me how you have stranded in Lysekil! This is a sad story – and one of countless examples for the serious consequences of that stupid Brexit. I am really sorry for you!

I first wanted to comment on several points of the story, to show my interest and participation, but in the end that would be a bit importunate. So I just want to offer my sympathy to you and that I really regret your annyoing and oppressive situation.

Yesterday, while thinking about your message, I browsed some of your many photos taken around Lysekil. If one views the “Map of all coordinates” for your photos and zooms in to Lysekil, it is impressive how you have created a dense net of photo documentation for that region – hats off to you! And you really make that region shine (this may also explain why I could not imagine that you are living there involuntarily ;–). The varied shores, the harbours, the rocks and woods, the enchanting Gullmarsskogen nature reserve, but also simple hiking paths, agricultural scenes, remnants of old industry, even simple residential areas … and all the beauty of abstraction, of course. I think you have made (photographically) the best of your situation and you can really be proud of this wonderful mosaic of photos (the map shows it best), both in respect to documentary and to artistic photography.

And yes, the exile there may really have sharpened your view for minimalist photos. Your portfolio from Lysekil contains so many nice motifs (like your newest example) which I would not even have seen, to be honest.

I am glad that you have found a pleasant and helpful Twitter photographers group! (It’s also good to know that there is such a group at all. I had a Flickr account for some time, but in the end I have deleted it again because the Flickr world seemed even vainer and crazier than Commons.)

I hope you will soon find a way to go back to the east coast (or to another attractive part of the world), live among more friendly and educated people and enjoy the free choice of your activities, photo subjects and so on. If I can help you in any way (unlikely, but who knows?), just let me know. All the best, --Aristeas (talk) 09:22, 26 June 2022 (UTC)

Hello

Hello Cart, send me an email please for ask about postcrossing. With best regards, George George Chernilevsky ^talk 20:23, 21 June 2022 (UTC)

Done George Chernilevsky, --Cart (talk) 21:05, 21 June 2022 (UTC)

George Chernilevsky, you are welcome to write to me using my e-mail, but I do not whish to become part of any postcrossing chain. It is very similar to the games we played when I was a teenager, only we called them chain letters, but I have since lost interest in such things. Best, --Cart (talk) 21:24, 21 June 2022 (UTC)

Hög tid att ladda upp: Wiki Loves Earth 2022!

Förra årets vinnarbild i Wiki Loves Earth!

Hej,
(For information in English, see Wiki Loves Earth 2022 in Sweden or other participating countries.)

Du får det här meddelandet eftersom du tidigare har bidragit med bilder till de svenska deltävlingarna av Wiki Loves Earth eller Wiki Loves Monuments. Jag hoppas att du vill vara med i år också! Som vanligt ingår naturreservat och nationalparker, biosfärområden och naturminnen i tävlingen! Tävlingen började 1 maj, och pågår under hela maj månad. Om du har varit ute i världen och rest kan du även se om resorna sammanfaller med övriga internationella deltävlingar, och i så fall vara med och tävla även där. Även om fortsatt försiktighet är att rekommendera går det bra att ge sig ut på fotosafari och fotografera naturen i ditt närområde – eller varför inte damma av fotoalbumen och tävla med bilder du har tagit tidigare?

Välkommen till tävlingen, och lycka till! /Axel Pettersson (WMSE) (talk) 13:41, 17 May 2022 (UTC)

Answer

Hello Cart,

sorry for my answer being late – so I have added it right to the archive page. Best, --Aristeas (talk) 09:24, 26 June 2022 (UTC)

Aristeas, that's ok. I wasn't really expecting an answer. Thanks anyway. --Cart (talk) 10:46, 26 June 2022 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

	The Photographer's Barnstar
	Thank you W.carter for all these wonderful photos you make. Thank you very much Lotje (talk) 11:49, 26 June 2022 (UTC)

Oh! Very unexpected and very kind. Thanks Lotje. --Cart (talk) 11:55, 26 June 2022 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

		The Tireless Contributor Barnstar
		Your photos are wonderful and great, and has made my day too! Thanks so much for your contribution. Wish you good health and all the best. Arronwan (talk) 05:15, 14 August 2022 (UTC)

• Oh! Thank you Arronwan, for your very kind words! :-) I'm so glad you like them, and all the best to you too, --Cart (talk) 09:18, 14 August 2022 (UTC)