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Sacred Feather Hats
Sacred Feather Hats
giantmike


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Window Shopping II (Advanced Editing VII*)
Camera: Canon EOS-50D
Lens: Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Location: Madison, WI
Date: Dec 11, 2010
Aperture: 5.6
ISO: 320
Shutter: 1/25
Galleries: Humorous, Urban
Date Uploaded: Dec 11, 2010

 I really liked the idea behind this challenge. I'm not much for street shooting, as I'm naturally introverted and shy, so I don't like bringing out my camera around people. But this type of challenge forces me to shoot in an uncomfortable situation, which is very good for me.

On a sleeting Saturday morning, I took my camera with my brand new 15-85 lens to State Street, Madison. There were a number of good opportunities, but nothing great was coming up. That is, until I walked past this very quirky hat store called Sacred Feather. This particular head really stuck out at me, so I found a nice angle, and grabbed the shot. I really enjoyed how this turned out, especially with the reflection in his glasses. Then I ran it through Topaz adjust, and it turned into something very cool (in my opinion). I just hope I don't get too many low votes from the snow reflection across the face (it couldn't be helped).

Post Processing:
* Crop
* Increase Exposure
* Increase Black Point
* Topaz Adjust
* Increase Definition
* Increase Saturation with lower Vibrancy
* S-curve
* Burn and Polarize (multiply) the main reflections to reduce intensity slightly
* Export to Tiff
* Resize to 1600px
* Sharpen Edges
* Resize to 800px
* Sharpen Edges
* Save for Web

This is the first time I have tried the resize/sharpen/resize/sharpen technique. I'm not sure that I did it perfectly correct, but the end result was actually a lot cleaner than using Unsharp Mask just before saving for web, so I may try that more often.

Statistics
Place: 8 out of 52
Avg (all users): 6.0056
Avg (commenters): 7.2222
Avg (participants): 5.3846
Avg (non-participants): 6.1104
Views since voting: 1775
Views during voting: 347
Votes: 180
Comments: 14
Favorites: 0

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AuthorThread
 12/30/2010 12:58:25 PM
Great fun! Well spotted!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/22/2010 05:39:36 PM
Thanks to everyone for the very nice comments and votes. I was definitely hoping for a top 10 with this shot.
 12/22/2010 12:33:10 PM
Congrats on the front page finish! Great shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
12/21/2010 06:53:57 PM
Great shot...snowy reflection, christmas lights. V nice.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/21/2010 04:18:46 AM
Interesting and nice reflection in the glasses
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/19/2010 09:12:49 PM
I like this image, though I find it a bit confusing, a bit busy.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/19/2010 06:11:30 AM
Very sharp and special pic. howoever abit messy for me.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/17/2010 03:19:55 PM
There are many reflection shots in this challenge. But THIS is masterful. By far outperforms the others. I also love the editing you have chosen here. Topaz?
Really great shot, so very much to look at and to like. 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/16/2010 11:20:31 PM
I've given 3 10's in this challenge.. this is the 3rd one, what an awesome job you did here! the softness and blending of the hats and the stark sharpness of the reflection in his (lol his) glasses.. Just blows me away! 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/16/2010 05:03:32 PM
Nice composition, colour, processing, but it's the reflections in the glasses that really does it for me.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/16/2010 01:29:32 PM
Looks like Leo.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/16/2010 11:45:11 AM
One of my top picks in this challenge.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/16/2010 09:50:09 AM
The reflection in the glasses is great, but even better is his mustache.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/15/2010 01:42:09 PM
Cool! Especially the facial hair :-)
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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