Let the wind be your fuel!

[Nicola]

A couple of pics of what will be my sport when my arms will start to loose their strenght...
and the wallet will start to be heavier!!
thanks for viewing
and many thanks for commenting!

cheers
nicola

[Geoff F]

Excellent colourful action shots, Nicola.

It is difficult to be sure with this cheap monitor but I fear some of the white areas of surf may be slightly overexposed. Still good though.

[Nicola]

Excellent colourful action shots, Nicola.

It is difficult to be sure with this cheap monitor but I fear some of the white areas of surf may be slightly overexposed. Still good though.

many thanks Geoff for the feedback
you are right, I PPed with too light in the room and the monitor wasn't profiled...
I have to correct the exposure
luckly are raw pics!

[arith]

Overexposed, I do that on purpose.

wallet will start to be heavier!!

Crikes, you got a wallet Nicola. You could just pirateer a boat.

I like the colours but not too keen on the silhouette. Still good though.

[jiro]

I like the 2nd image a lot. You captured it nicely, Nicola. It looks like the wing of a butterfly to me.

[Shadowman]

Very nice, are these taken from the beach or the boardwalk?

[rpcrowe]

I like both shots but, just like Jiro, I like the second shot the best. I like the juxtaposition of the two windsurfers against the ocean...

[DTruex]

The second photo looks very good as it is. The first photo could be a bit more dramatic in the color depth. The white is fighting for attention with the subject. If you don't mind I adjusted the color balance a bit to make the blue and the surfer to stand out more.

[ucci]

Hi Nicola
I agree with Doug re picture #1. However I hope you don't take offence at me working on your picture but I tried for a slightly different approach in darkening the surfer. The original colour of the sea is the green I am used to seeing and which I feel is probably more in accord to what one would see on such a nice sunny day. So I tried to retain it during PP, which was basically layering; selecting and deleting the opaque panel of the surf sail and then a cut and paste of the surfboard to two new layers and then a bit of a play with multiply and the burn tool on the top layer to darken it, and then flattening the image. It was a quickie for demo only so there will be a few rough PP edges.
Please be advised that in these mattersI am a bit of a novice on a steep learning curve, hanging on grimly lest I slip backwards! I am no expert. So don't put too much credence on my advice. The others are far more qualified to comment than me. (The last time I tried to walk on water I damned near drowned! )
Cheers
Ken

[Nicola]

I like the 2nd image a lot. You captured it nicely, Nicola. It looks like the wing of a butterfly to me.

Thank you Willie!
The idea of butterfly is exactly what I have had in mind. Fortunately the surfers were crossing themselves quite often, so I have about 5 pictures like the 2nd one, which is the best of them, in my opinion

[Nicola]

Very nice, are these taken from the beach or the boardwalk?

thanks John!
from the beach, with a 70-300mm (on an APS-C dslr) zoom
they was close to the beach

[Nicola]

I like both shots but, just like Jiro, I like the second shot the best. I like the juxtaposition of the two windsurfers against the ocean...

Thank you Richard!
this is only a small sea (mediterranean sea), not an ocean...

[Nicola]

Many thanks to Doug and Ken!
your feedback is very much appreciated!
I will analize your thoughts later, at home, with my monitor!
Nicola

[Nicola]

You could just pirateer a boat.

it sounds interesting..
a good way to turn my life much more romantic and full of adventure!

[JohnC]

No. 2 for me also. Needs a lot of strength and energy, pretty exhilarating too I'd have thought.

[Nicola]

Hi Nicola
I agree with Doug re picture #1. However I hope you don't take offence at me working on your picture but I tried for a slightly different approach in darkening the surfer. The original colour of the sea is the green I am used to seeing and which I feel is probably more in accord to what one would see on such a nice sunny day. So I tried to retain it during PP, which was basically layering; selecting and deleting the opaque panel of the surf sail and then a cut and paste of the surfboard to two new layers and then a bit of a play with multiply and the burn tool on the top layer to darken it, and then flattening the image. It was a quickie for demo only so there will be a few rough PP edges.
Please be advised that in these mattersI am a bit of a novice on a steep learning curve, hanging on grimly lest I slip backwards! I am no expert. So don't put too much credence on my advice. The others are far more qualified to comment than me. (The last time I tried to walk on water I damned near drowned! )
Cheers
Ken

Ken, many thanks for your feedback!
I am going to try to replicate your workflow as the results are very interesting! But I'm not so sure to what I can do.. I'm using photoshop since the day I signed up here in CiC... and I've never walked on the water... I'm still using the boats to move on it!!
I agree about the colour of the sea: it was quite green in that area because there was wind and waves since the day before, and (above all) there is a river flowing in the sea. an hundred meter beyond the sea was a deep blue...
thanks again
Nicola

[ucci]

Ken, many thanks for your feedback!
I am going to try to replicate your workflow as the results are very interesting! But I'm not so sure to what I can do.. I'm using photoshop since the day I signed up here in CiC... and I've never walked on the water... I'm still using the boats to move on it!!
I agree about the colour of the sea: it was quite green in that area because there was wind and waves since the day before, and (above all) there is a river flowing in the sea. an hundred meter beyond the sea was a deep blue...
thanks again


No Problems Nicola. Have a bash at it. You will do just fine. Just a tip on what I did. I duplicated the original to a new layer to keep the background as a reference. On the copy layer I selected the surfer and board using the magic wand and then cut and pasted it to a new layer, keeping the transparency. I then used the wand to select the opaque panel on this third layer and used the delete key to remove the cenrtal opaque surfboard panel panel. This was done in sections panel by panel so as to retain the cross struts and the logo This was to retain the original background colour of the sea behind it when I finally flattened the image after pp of the surfboard. On the cut and pasted sailboard layer I gave the board a touch up with the burn tool to darken it, flattened the image and gave it a bit of smart sharpen filter to finish up. I hope this helps. Any problems just let me know and I will see if I can help. Good luck. It was a great shot which I really liked.
cheers
Ken
Nicola

[DTruex]

When "quoting" someone, please write your reply after the "[ /quote ]" text. That way we know what you are saying. Otherwise it looks like one big quote with no comment.

Thanks.

[paulwilbur]

Ah yes, the wind and a surfer LOVE-IT!!!

I can tell from the photo (1) that you posted that you were very excited to see and photograph this adventurous surfer.

Nice use of telephoto lens to compress the distance.

Nicely in focus and a surprising small amount of haze/water vapor in the picture, must have been right after a cold front that reduced the humidity.

Can we take this shot to a new level? Composition of the surfer being "bulls-eye" takes a lot of the drama away from a potentially exciting shot.

Try this: Ask yourself; "What is the subject and how can I show the emotion and strength of the event"

Possible answer (for me); widen out, place the subject in the lower 1/3 and on the right 1/3. This will improve the emotion(s) of the shot.

Take a few moments and review the Cambridge in Color Tutorials on Basic Composition.

All that aside, GLAD YOU WERE THERE!!!

paul

[ucci]

When "quoting" someone, please write your reply after the "[ /quote ]" text. That way we know what you are saying. Otherwise it looks like one big quote with no comment.

Thanks.

Hi Doug
You are quite correct. Mea culpa, ideo precor,,... etc, Sorry Doug. Will try to lift my game. Still not fully on top of this system yet. Poor excuse I know.
Cheers
Ken