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ctfchallenge | all galleries >> Challenge 39: Flight >> Challenge 39: Exhibition > Split Second
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September 1999 iso3200

Split Second

Taken at Biggin Hill, Kent, England. Spitfire 60th Anniversary Event. This challenge has made me dig at some old snaps that I had filed in the *cr@p* pile. Now I have the means to scan the negatives (Nikon Coolscan IV) it is obvious to me that prints I had done originally were complete rubbish. There is so much more detail in the negs that I had never seen before. From memory this was on a ISO400 or ISO800 film which gives the grain. I think it suits this image though. I do remember it being a grey overcast day, and this is one of the few shots that has some interesting detail in the sky.

Canon EOS 300 ,Sigma 100-300

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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iso320019-Sep-2003 10:44
Desktop wallpaper - I'm honoured! Pupil and master, oh please don't ;-) It's a classic photoshop argument. If you present a picture, square crop, no borders, then people just look at the pic, and that is what it is judged on. If you frame it, it's always personal taste. That can then have influence on the subject as a whole. Seems like another good reason to avoid photoshop ;-)
Guest 18-Sep-2003 21:24
You pay your money, you take your choice. I did download it to my PC and I like it even less with the black boarder beyond the white. I still really like this picture. I stripped off the black, widened the white by 4 pixels each, used the eyedropper to pick up some blue from the smoke and red from the planes, and filled the top with red and the bottom with blue. I like it that way a lot! Is this the pupil trying to tell the master how to do it? That's just my preference (Pot calling the kettle black)! In fact, with your permission, I'd like to add it to my wallpaper collection.
iso320016-Sep-2003 11:34
If you download the pic to your desktop, you'll find black borders beyond the white ones. They just don't show up here because of the black background. I think it looks better then! Picture is partly framed this way as there were some of the crowds heads at the bottom. I also think the grain (which is 100% natural here) adds - it gives it a painterly type feel. The only PS work (save for the framing) was tweaking the levels and dodging and burning the sky.
Guest 16-Sep-2003 11:29
I like the horizontal emphasis of this shot, but the pale border at top and bottom just don't do it for me. I think I would have tried the top border red and the bottom border blue to match the smoke trails. What do you think, ISO?
Gayle Knowles16-Sep-2003 10:59
Whoa! This is an AWESOME shot, iso!
Gayle