Jump Rope Cowboy Styleby
dafletchrComment by Bear_Music: I have come back to this, and I am bumping it up two notches, to a 9. Let me explain why:
First and foremost, a second perusal showed me that the guy was actually in the act of passing THROUGH the bight in the lariat, and that just blew me away; now the quivering liveliness of the lariat itself, against everything else being frozen, takes on special meaning.
Now, beyond that, there's such a perfect slice-of-life going on here that I can't help but6 be drawn into it. Some might have been tempted to crop out the trailer, but *I'm* glad you didn't, because it connects me to this itinerant lifestyle of the American Southwest.
I do have a quibble, that in your search for shadow detail you have brought the shadows up a little too far, probably with shadow/highlight. By the same token, you've brought the bright part of the trailer down too far, so it looks muddy. I think I'd have rather seen it practically glowing, but I can't be sure without an original to look at.
I'd love to see the original on this, if you were interested in my take on the processing. Meanwhile, welcome to the 9's :-)
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