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The 22nd Mile
The 22nd Mile
Rebecca


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Selective Desaturation II (Advanced Editing V)
Camera: Nikon D80
Lens: Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5- 5.6G ED DX
Location: Lakewood, CO
Date: May 20, 2007
Aperture: 8
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/250
Galleries: Sports, Candid
Date Uploaded: May 20, 2007

 I awoke this morning to the sound of distant cheering and remembered that today was the Colorado Colfax Marathon. The cheering meant that the racers were already starting to pass through my neighborhood, so I threw on some clothes and wandered the two blocks down to Colfax for some shots. This spot is about four miles short of the finish line. I didn't see Rafael Ibarra (#17) coming, but I caught him as he passed, the biker next to him telling him the whole time how great he was doing. Whether on foot or on wheels, a marathon takes a lot of guts.

Rafael Ibarra's race results

As a side note, I was training for this race two years ago and had worked my way up to eight miles when I was sidelined by a running injury. It turns out that my right kneecap doesn't track properly when I run - it hops out of its groove and slams into the top of my tibia. By the time we figured this out, I had given myself a really nasty bone bruise, just a breath away from a stress fracture. Since it's largely a structural issue, it pretty much ended my marathon hopes. But I'm hoping that someday I can take up racewalking and do La Maratona della Citta di Roma, which allows racers an almost unheard of eight hours for completion. Most marathons give you six, which excludes walkers.

Background converted to b/w using gradient map. Selective desat done by lassoing the subject and copying to new layer, then using a soft eraser brush around the edges. Crop, flatten, resize, smart sharpen. Other than a slight exposure correction in RAW, there was no other editing.

Statistics
Place: 173 out of 556
Avg (all users): 5.6466
Avg (commenters): 7.7500
Avg (participants): 5.5924
Avg (non-participants): 5.8542
Views since voting: 963
Views during voting: 312
Votes: 232
Comments: 5
Favorites: 0

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AuthorThread
Canon PowerShot SX60 HS
 06/01/2007 02:59:07 PM
Greetings from the Critique Club

Oh, I'm so pleased to have the chance to look at this image again. I do remember it very well from the Challenge and marveled then (and now) at the perserverence of the cyclist.

You caught the moment well and used the 'desaturation' theme well when you laid all the emphasis of the image on the athlete. The encouragement of the bike rider beside him is well captured.

Why didn't it score higher? Who's to know. Sometimes these things just work out that way.

It's a good image that tells a good story.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
Canon EOS-5D Mark II
Canon EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM
 05/24/2007 01:14:04 PM
colfax marathon?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS R
Canon RF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS USM
05/22/2007 11:13:21 AM
sheer strength! love it
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-50D
Tamron AF 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di II for Canon
 05/22/2007 07:17:18 AM
why the 22nd mile? probably this is sport for disable. irony of the fate the 17 is the number of the misfortune.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D300
Nikon AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED
 05/21/2007 01:59:08 PM
very inspiring, full of life and determination. too bad can't see his face and his emotions. if not this would be a perfect shoot. but 9 for this shot anyway!!! well done.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
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