My next Kiteworld Magazine ad picture - How is it?

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

09/25/2007 10:22:04 PM · #1

edit to add----> I did some extensive post processing in this image including something drastic. I wonder if it is obvious enough for anybody to figure it out.

Later, I will post some interesting details about the production of this shot. First, I want to get your unbiased opinions about the quality of this image and how effective you think it will be as the main image for an advertisement in a kiteboarding magazine.

This is an image that a Kiteboarding School is considering for an ad that will run in every issue of Kiteworld Magazine for a year. Some of you might remember my first ever published photo was for a story in that magazine several months ago.

Kiteworld is a British magazine with a world wide circulation. This ad will be directed towards kiteboarders around the world to convince them that their next vacation should be to Miami to learn to kiteboard and/or to improve their skills with SkyBanditz Kiteboarding School.

As I said above, I will post some interesting details about what went into making the image for this ad. I just don't want offer ANYTHING that might affect your unbiased critiques. Thanks.

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Update 9/26 Here are the original shots. Yes, the sky was replaced, but it took the hint about "something drastic" in post processing for anybody to pick up on it. That's what I was hoping for.

- - -

The day that we went to South Beach to shoot this it was gloomy and completely overcast. The sun is not in the east as

MelonMusketeer suggested, but directly overhead. Due to the overcast conditions there were no shadows evident. What took a long time was getting the main shot to look like it was taken in much better weather and then to match a sky to it. I burnt in some darker, shadow type areas in the lower part of the buildings since the sun was going to now be in the west instead of directly overhead.

The intent was to get a shot like this one - - -

which has a lot of compression bringing the background buildings closer to the subject. The kiteboarding school wanted a similiar effect with them in front of South Beach and the art deco style buildings that South Beach is known for as a major element of the photograph.

To get this angle meant that I had to be offshore, but with enough wind to kiteboard comes rough seas and shooting from a boat would have been impossible. Another option would have been to get a friend of mine to take me up in a helicopter but, again, the conditions were pretty rough and the budget didn't allow for it. What I did was to walk/jump down the jetty that extends out quite a way along Government Cut which is on the extreme end of the beach. Ken triangulated the distance and figured that he and the other rider were about 1.6 miles away from me. I was shooting with my D80 and the Nikon 80-400 VR. Even with VR it was rough to hold still in the wind.

This is a depiction of where we were - - -

When the wind really picked up the waves started crashing into the rocks of the jetty and started hitting me and it was all I could do to keep my equipment from getting soaked with salt water. Finally, I realized that I had better head back in before it got any worse. What took me ten minutes to get out to took me about 40 minutes to get back from. The moss and algae on the rocks were now wet and extremely slippery. I was carrying a large drybag with about 40 pounds of gear in one hand and my tripod in the other. I didn't want to put the tripod back into the drybag because it was wet with salt water. Twice I busted my a$$ and I thought that I might break my leg on those huge boulders. I got a nice gouge in my shin and I HAD to drop the tripod to save myself once. Luckily the tripod wedged between two boulders instead of continuing through to the ocean bottom. It ended up with a severe nick and a slight dent in one of the legs.

The subject of a recent thread was about what we do to get the shot. This is an example of what I'll do.

Thanks for all the feedback everybody.

Message edited by author 2007-09-26 12:27:27.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

09/25/2007 10:26:37 PM · #2

It seems to me that the figures are not a prominent enough part of the image for its intended use. Apart from that, it seems to me the image could be improved by burning the foreground corners to bring the eye in towards the figures.

It's otherwise a well-processed image.

R.

Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM

09/25/2007 10:34:01 PM · #3

Thanks for the quick response Bear. My heart skipped a beat when I saw your name on this thread becasue I knew that if anybody could find a flaw in this you would be able to.

I've got some fantastic close-up action shots of these two kiteboarders as well as others. But it was their idea not to focus on individual riders but instead to show the riders in front of the art deco styled South Beach. They wanted to "paint a picure" of a tropical paradise with sun, sand, palm trees and sunbathers, as well as the night life that South Beach offers.

Skip

Canon EOS-1D X

09/25/2007 10:44:41 PM · #4

it's a nice shot, yak, but dpc feedback probably isn't going to matter. this is an art director's call. all you can do is provide the shots; it's up to them as to how they get used (and what gets done to them). this can be a frustrating process, when they give you a basic idea, but aren't able to really solidify in their minds what they want until after they see what you do.

the more you do it, the more experience you get working with these types, the better you can anticipate what they're looking for (and the better you can guide them as to what is and what isn't possible). all the same, though, they are the ones responsible for putting it all together. all you/we can do is try to give them the best foundation images possible to work with.

good luck!

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro

09/25/2007 10:55:35 PM · #5

Thanks Skip. In this case I'm shooting for the kiteboarding school. They are going to be putting the ad together and paying the magazine for the ad space.

The owners of the school have had much discussion with the editors and feel like they might be able to get some of my shots published by the magazine itself for shots that relate to their articles. In that case I definitely agree that the art director will have high standards and specific types of shot that he will be looking for.

I guess I should have been a little more specific about what I am looking for from you guys. I did some very extensive post processing including something drastic. Without tipping anybody off, I wanted to see if anything amiss really stands out.

So far, so good. But now that you know that there is something related to post processing to look for, maybe somebody will be able to pick it out.

luvmyaussie

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

09/25/2007 11:09:37 PM · #6

Great shot, Yak, but was the sky added? The lighting looks slightly off with the buildings... Since you asked... LOL

Message edited by author 2007-09-25 23:13:20.

MelonMusketeer

Nikon D7000

Nikon MF 50mm f/1.4

09/25/2007 11:13:18 PM · #7

Hi Robert! I don't remember seeing all that bunch of woods along Miami Beach, but it has been a while since I boated along that shore. Did you bring in the sky from another shot? My shooting eyes seem to be telling me that the light on everything in the foreground is coming from the east.

WalesP

Nikon D700

Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8D IF-ED

09/25/2007 11:30:44 PM · #8

The sky keeps grabbing my attention and not in a good way. Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful sky but it detracts from this photo which should highlight the kite boarders. Relative to the sky everything else seems kind of flat. JMO...

petrakka

09/25/2007 11:31:23 PM · #9

i like where you are going with this image but I think it's too hard of a read (assuming it is running horizontally at 8 inches wide on an 8.5x11 vertical mag page.)
I think what would carry this photo is if one of these guys was in the air, if you added a good moment.
The sky does look a bit funky to me as well as the trees. I'm not sure if its too much shadow/highlight or it was super imposed or what. They get my attention, however.

This is a hard concept to bring together and for me it's an almost, but good luck in getting the photo to sell, I can see it running for sure, that's just my 2 cents in improving it.

Message edited by author 2007-09-25 23:33:10.

09/26/2007 07:11:11 AM · #10

I'll post the original later this morning.

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED

09/26/2007 11:49:04 AM · #11

The original shots are now posted in the initial post.

Yes, it was an added sky, but it took the hint "Somethig drastic in post processing" for anybody to suspect it. I was hoping that it wouldn't turn out to be an obvious composite.

Thanks everybody who commented.

MonicaJames

Nikon D200

09/26/2007 12:07:55 PM · #12

Having tried kiteskiing/boarding, I do love the photo.

However, having been to South Beach as well, somebody who is keen will know that the sunset (since South Beach faces the sunrise) on your photo is not how sunsets look like in that place... Or maybe I am wrong and it's just me.

It is still beautiful though.

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED

09/26/2007 12:20:30 PM · #13

Originally posted by MonicaJames:

somebody who is keen will know that the sunset (since South Beach faces the sunrise) on your photo is not how sunsets look like in that place... Or maybe I am wrong and it's just me.

Uhhh, yeah. South Beach faces east - - - therefore the camera is pointing west - - - the sun is setting beyond (behind) South Beach - - - equals exactly how the sun sets.

Message edited by author 2007-09-26 12:35:13.

MonicaJames

Nikon D200

09/26/2007 12:25:47 PM · #14

Originally posted by yakatme:

Originally posted by MonicaJames:
somebody who is keen will know that the sunset (since South Beach faces the sunrise) on your photo is not how sunsets look like in that place... Or maybe I am wrong and it's just me.

Uhhh, yeah. South Beach faces east - - - therefore the camera is pointing west - - - the sun is setting beyond (behind) South Beach - - - equals exactly how the sun sets.

I do know that. ^_^

I know that you are trying to depict sunsets but for the countless times that I have been there, I have never seen sunsets to look like what you have in your composite. But again, it's just me.

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D

09/26/2007 12:35:28 PM · #15

Originally posted by yakatme:

To be more accurate, the camera was pointing northwest and the sun appears to be setting to the left of that. I think the apparent direction of the sunset is just slighly north of west. Maybe somebody will notice that it is off a few degrees, but then again, it can't be determined exactly where it is setting because it is behind the buildings.

The goal was to replace an overcast and gloomy sky and to improve the original shot so that it doesn't look stormy like it was. When the ad is complete with text and in a magazine I don't think anybody will pick it apart, especially without the hint that "something drastic" was done in post processing.

The direction might be a little off (no more than 20 degrees), but the sunsets often look like this here. Actually, the sky part of this image was shot not too far from here.

option

Nikon D200

09/26/2007 01:02:16 PM · #16

Does Kiteworld know that the image is a composite?

09/26/2007 01:29:39 PM · #17

Originally posted by option:

Does Kiteworld know that the image is a composite?

They haven't seen it yet because they aren't the client. This is not for their content, it's for a kiteboarding school advertisement. The owners of the school know exactly what it is.

I hope to find myself selling some of my better shots to this, and other kiteboarding magazines soon. I certainly wouldn't jeopardize my credibility by trying to pass off a composite as a single shot. As far as advertiseing goes, the kiteboarding school draws the line at manipulating things like height of a rider's jump etc. That's definitely not anything that they want to be a part of and have told me that the magazine doesn't want that even in the advertisements.

petrakka

09/27/2007 01:00:47 AM · #18

www.kitepix.de ....this is good kiteboarding photography.