Ridergal
by Grandad

Comment by posthumous:
beautiful motion panning. you've elevated her. 9

Ridergal
by Grandad

Comment by jblaylockrayner:
Nice capture but the PP is a bit too much - Needs some noise reduction

Ridergal
by Grandad

Comment by DavidLopez:
Very nice...

in case of EMERGENCY
by Grandad

Comment by kteach:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

First impression: Wow, quite a red! A bit too centered, and I feel like the boat is getting lost in the background. And what is that person doing?

The photo: A bit centered for my taste. Centering the bright red life saver doesn't seem to be of any benefit to the composition. I might have tried a different angle or crop if possible. With this angle, the top of the boat also seems to get lost in the tree line. I also might have straightened out the shoreline, as it seems a bit tilted to the right.

Processing: I'm not sure I can quite follow your processing steps. It sounds like you opened two completely separate versions of this photo. I would suggest working with layers instead. You can choose a part of your photo with the lasso or wand (the life saver for example), then create a new layer which is just a copy of that. Go back to your first layer and desaturate the whole thing, and your red life saver will still be red in the other layer. There are some great PS learning threads going on right now... here is one started by Art Roflmao... PS101 Group A - Selection Tools and Masks, and another thread from a while back from Bear_Music... Photoshop Basics Mentorship Thread.

Anyway, I got a bit off topic there, but hopefully some of that is helpful. Good luck in future challenges!

Message edited by author 2007-05-28 20:38:18.

in case of EMERGENCY
by Grandad

Comment by bjoern:
I think the top of the boat and the background do not contrast against each other well enough. The same main subject against the open sea or with the lakeside or shore further away would look much better and also carry the concept of needing the lifesaver in an emergency much better.

in case of EMERGENCY
by Grandad

Comment by Tallbloke:
The interesting / problem with this shot is that the focus is very clearly the Buoy due to the selective desaturation. I'd try posting the colour version (or fully B&W) version and I'll bet it's a much better shot. I know it's the tile of your photo but it just seems a bit odd. IMHO of course.

Message edited by author 2007-05-28 07:26:14.

Ridergal
by Grandad

Comment by hotpasta:
great action blur...a nice image overall

Ridergal
by Grandad

Comment by brighteyes:
I like the pan action here. Really gives the picture a sense of movement.

Slipstream
by Grandad

Comment by dr rick:
Greetings from the Critique Club

The slipstream is indeed fascinating. The swirls and texture make a nice abstract design. The direction and quality of light aren't optimal to really show it off, but it's still very dynamic and exciting.

Unfortunately, despite the title, the slipstream isn't the real subject here; it's only a minor part of this photo. The powerful diagonal lines of the slipstream and banks lead the eye away from the slipstream and to, well I guess the focal point is the dark and fuzzy group of trees in the background. Which is a so-so example of a vanishing point, but really isn't that exciting. The horizontal format and overall peaceful, idyllic feeling of the photo also tends to downplay the excitement of the slipstream.

Two alternative shots would have made a more exciting photo. One is to ignore the slipstream, zoom in a bit, and point the camera up enough to make the sky take the upper 2/3 of the frame. That would emphasize the vanishing point aspect (so be better for the challenge) and make a more serene photo. The clouds are plenty interesting here, and a polarizer would darken the sky and bring them out. The other is to really emphasize the slipstream by turning the camera sideways and getting it as low (close to the water) as you safely can. Keep the vanishing point to provide context (and meet the challenge), but make it secondary to the dramatic slipstream. Including part of the boat or whatever is causing the slipstream might also add interest (it's hard to say without being there).

And some words of advice for future photos: When using JPEG, always use the highest quality available; some of the fuzziness around the trees and elsewhere in this photo looks like JPEG compression artifacts. And avoid oversharpening; I think that's what caused the light "halos" around the dark parts of the horizon.

Ridergal
by Grandad

Comment by galblue:
right hand side very messy but