I took the cable car up to the top of the mountains on my recent visit to Albuqurque and took a short hike around the mountain, at least to where the ice on the trail got too dangerous. (Next time I go prepared for hiking!) When I returned to the area near the tram, there were 3 people preparing to paraglide off of the mountain. Naturally, a fantastic photo-op. I have quite a few shots that show a little more action, or showed the chutes in flight, but I really like this one the best. I don't think anyone will fail to understand that this man is preparing to leap off the mountaintop or realize how high this is.
False HDR from 3 RAW conversions, edited the sky/background and foreground on separate layers, a little bit of clarify, but not enough to give it the unrealistic cartoony look. Cloned out a small shrub that appeared to be coming out of the guy's back.
Pre-challenge notes:
Always hoping for a killer shot and a 6+, but considering how tough freestudies are voted, a high 5 will be good to get out of this.
I expect the some critiques relating to my choice of composition and crop. (An easy guess there, I almost always get a couple of those.) Not sure what else could be critiqued about this. Perhaps someone will suggest I should have entered an in-flight or takeoff shot.
It's got a great landscape, action, and communicates clearly what is happening. I'm pleased with this one.
Post-challenge notes:
Almost nailed a 6. It hovered back and forth across it for most of the week. Many of the late voters thought it was just ok, and some 5's pulled it down in the last couple of days. Freestudies are always tough, and this was a good score for one. Hitting the top 1/4 of the challenge was a strong showing for me. Looking over the challenge results, I see a lot of great shots, which I gave high votes to, that came in under mine. Freestudies are tough indeed.
Statistics
Place: 110 out of 475 Avg (all users): 5.9394 Avg (commenters): 6.5714 Avg (participants): 5.9307 Avg (non-participants): 5.9677 Views since voting: 2181 Views during voting: 248 Votes: 132 Comments: 14 Favorites: 1 (view)
There's a nice sense of calm in this person's posture. They're taking a moment to enjoy the view, to take a deep breath before the plunge. Nicely seen and presented.
I had no idea about the amount of baggage required for this type of flight! Wow - great shot! (When I saw the thumbnail I thought it was a dance costume :)
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