Discussion: Bridges of the World July 2026 (page 12 of 18)

Hello Isabelle, Your PRO photos are stunning. Your training really shows. But I stand by what I said: it’s discouraging to post mine. If this weren’t a contest, it wouldn’t matter, but when you see the level of the other competitors, you think twice before entering. Well, that’s just my opinion... And anyway... you’re not even in the contest... Otherwise, I definitely wouldn’t have posted mine.

Hello Jean Marie, No, go ahead and post your photos 😊 Actually, I’m not entering the contest, and like Muriel said, it’s just a game—isn’t the main thing to take part? 😉

Hello Isabelle, Of course I’ll participate—I already promised you I would. That doesn’t stop me from being realistic about my photos compared to yours. You’ve got to know when to recognize there’s someone better than you.

With the two weeks you have left to decide, you should be able to find 3 gems to show us for the contest 😉

I'm drawn to slightly moody photos, while others don’t like them at all 😅

Oh, I’m so happy to read this! I thought I was the only one with this quirk. ON—well, Jojoone—had criticized me for it because my photos are often intentionally a bit underexposed. Since his wife is a professional photographer and I have the bad habit of never being confident as an amateur photographer—as you’ve seen—and I let myself be influenced by those I think are better than me, in all my recent photos—and even the old ones I’ve edited—I’ve brightened them up, and ever since, I like them much less, if at all.

How do you all manage to connect? For weeks now, I've only been able to do it sporadically. I land on a discussion page—not necessarily the latest one—and when I try to "reply" to join in, I just get a spinning wheel. I couldn’t participate in last month’s contest, and it looks like the same thing might happen this month. I spend time searching for photos when the theme is announced, but I can’t chime in. I’d promised myself I’d stop following this contest, but today it’s working for me!

I was thinking of submitting photos of Venice, the city of 450 bridges. Not sure if anyone else had the same idea—I don’t dare check the entire thread for fear of getting stuck on a page like usual.

In Venice, the bridges didn’t have railings—they looked like the one that still exists on the island of Torcello: The 450 classic bridges in Venice are like this:







There’s only one ancient three-arched bridge in Venice, and it’s in the Cannaregio district:



Of course, there’s the famous Bridge of Sighs, with its sad history:



The Rialto Bridge was for a long time the only one spanning the Grand Canal:



The Accademia Bridge was meant to be temporary—it was built in wood last century to replace a bridge that had collapsed.



And finally, the newest bridge crosses the Grand Canal near the train station.

Try connecting in private browsing mode and don’t access VF through a link from an email you received. 🙂

You can also send an SOS to the VF team here.

Hi Noelle, your photos are really beautiful. It doesn’t matter if other people think of Venice’s bridges because everyone’s photo will be personal and different from another participant’s.

when I want to "reply" to join the conversation, I get a spinning wheel.

For me, it’s the private messages I receive that I can’t reply to. If I want to respond, I have to close everything, log out, and send a new message.

Publicly, I can’t edit a message I’ve written. I immediately get a message saying my message doesn’t exist, even though it’s clearly posted!

I know someone who must be having a good laugh about this.

To edit a post, I had the same issue. I followed Attila's advice: in private browsing mode, it worked!

To edit a message I had the same problem. I followed Attila's advice: in private browsing, it worked !

What do you mean?

Open a private browsing window in your browser (I use Firefox, but I assume all browsers have this feature).

Hi Noëlle, Those Venice bridges are stunning, I love them 😍... I was just thinking... and Venice??? Where are Venice’s bridges? Thanks for sticking with it and joining the monthly contest 😊.

Personally, I’m not having any issues with VF—whether checking the latest discussions or posting. Since VF came back, I no longer get email notifications, but honestly, I don’t really mind anymore. I’m not using private browsing.

You mean opening VF directly from your computer without clicking on a link from them? But that’s usually how I log in to VF.

Hello Noëlle, These Venice bridges are stunning, I love them 😍... I was thinking... and Venice??? Where are the Venice bridges? Thanks for persevering and taking part in the monthly contest 😊.

Personally, I’m not having any issues with VF, either for seeing the latest discussions or for posting. Since VF’s comeback, I no longer receive email notifications, but honestly, it doesn’t really bother me anymore. I’m not in private browsing.

Good evening Isabelle, Sorry, maybe I’m clueless, but I don’t understand. If you’re not in "private browsing" (Never heard that term in the 40 years I’ve been into the internet and computers ;)) and you’re not getting VF notifications, then how do you log into the forum?

Hello Noëlle, Those Venice bridges are stunning, I love them 😍... I was thinking... what about Venice??? Where are the Venice bridges? Thanks for persevering and taking part in the month’s contest 😊.

Personally, I’m not having any issues with VF—whether viewing the latest discussions or posting. Since VF came back, I no longer get email notifications, but honestly, I don’t really mind anymore. I’m not using private browsing.

Good evening Isabelle, Sorry, maybe I’m clueless, but I don’t understand. If you’re not in "private browsing" (Never heard that term in the 40 years I’ve been into the internet and computers 😉) and you’re not getting VF notifications, then how do you log into the forum?

Good evening Jean Marie, Private browsing is a system that lets you surf the web without cookies or browsing history being saved on your device. I’m not very tech-savvy, but my son set it up for me, and honestly, I never use it—I just browse the internet normally.

Good evening Jean Marie

On Chrome, you open Chrome, tap the three little dots, then open a new incognito tab. On Safari, you open Safari, tap the tab button (the two squares), select Private, then open a new private tab.

On my iPad, the recurring bugs persist, but I don’t have any issues with deleted messages or being unable to reply.

I don’t receive any VF notifications (and I’m totally fine with that!), I log in just like any other website. It’s quick since VF is in my favorites.

Hi Kate, Thanks Isabelle and Kate. I was like Monsieur Jourdain, who was writing prose without realizing it, so I’d occasionally use private browsing without giving it much thought—but rarely.

I log in just like any other website. It’s quick, since VF is in my favorites.

That’s exactly how I do it too.

Sorry, maybe I’m clueless, but I don’t get it. If you’re not in "private browsing" (never heard that term in 40 years of being into the internet and computers)

Thankfully, forty years of interest in photography have yielded better results. Not to mention that when it comes to selfies (or *egoportrait* in Canadian French), you’re a pro (fifty posts in this thread—now that’s a promising beginner).

A bad photo that tells a grim story: China’s soft power in Africa. Here, the construction of a bridge in Lesotho.

Really great series on Venice

Hello Isabelle, You have to know how to recognize and admit that there are those better than yourself.

Hello, Yesterday’s soccer match showed us that the best don’t always win ;)

I’ve often said in various competitions, there are the participants, and then there’s Isabelle—who doesn’t compete in the same category, thanks to her hard work (she really dug into the topic) and passion.

But photography is an art that’s open to everyone’s interpretation, so anyone can have their shot! Just gotta believe in it!

Hello

Yesterday’s soccer match proved that the best don’t always win

True! Except in this example, victory or failure depends only on the competitor themselves and (bad) luck—not on a public or jury judgment deciding who’s the best.

But photography is an art open to everyone’s interpretation, so anyone can have their shot! Just gotta believe in it!

Totally agree... Like all art forms. Someone here said, I think, that they didn’t like Picasso at all, even though he’s universally recognized as a genius.

Hello Isabelle, You have to know how to recognize and admit that there are those who are better than you.

Hello, Yesterday’s soccer match showed us that the best don’t always win ;)

I’ve often said in various competitions, there are the participants, and then there’s... Isabelle, who doesn’t compete in the same league—through hard work (because she’s really put in the effort) and passion.

But photography is an art that’s open to everyone’s interpretation, so anyone can have their shot! You just have to believe in it!

Thanks Bruno... my biggest fan from day one! 😊😂

Hello and thank you, Thanks to you, I discovered private browsing on Firefox! I used to use VF from the emails I received... but today, it still isn’t working🙁. This message to thank you is the first one I’m sending in private browsing 😉