Taken after a fun surf session in Ribeira d'Ilhas in Ericeira, Portugal. Thanks to my great friend Art for playing along and generally being a good sport about it.
Hardly any work done on the photo - just bumped it a little using contrast and curves then sharpened before resizing.
Update: Well, my good friend sarampo just gave me a wonderful gift in the form of an account upgrade, so I'm able to edit this now and wish everyone here a magical Christmas and a very Happy New Year. Thanks again for all the votes and comments, it really means a lot to me.
Here are a couple of outtakes we took in the water:
Statistics
Place: 2 out of 43 Avg (all users): 6.9383 Avg (commenters): 8.2500 Avg (participants): 6.3810 Avg (non-participants): 6.9910 Views since voting: 4506 Views during voting: 404 Votes: 243 Comments: 23 Favorites: 2 (view)
It is often difficult to offer a critique when a score and a ribbon placement can say it all, not to mention the comments below.
Composition The single most striking aspect of this photo are the bold colors. The primary colors blue, red, and orange/yellow stand out quite well so the eye is naturally drawn to this photo in a very pleasing manner. The rule of thirds is often followed to closely when tends to ruin a composition. This is certainly not the case here. The head and feet fall into the top and bottom thirds well giving the body a vertically centered look. The inclusion of the sand on the right, rather than placing the body on the right third, adds a sense of perspective to the photo and adds to the exuberance of the subject. The angle of the photo also draws specific attention. First, the bottom up view gives a sense of openness and freedom (fitting the challenge well). Second, the angle is not flat and allows the viewer to understand that the subject is jumping from right to left and up.
Technical Excellent use of shutter speed to stop the action of the subject. There seems to be a little sand or water kicked up behind the subject and is stopped well also. You were fortunate with the lighting too as it has perfectly lit the subject. Kudos too for having a clean sensor (since blue sky often shows a dirty sensor), although at f/4.5 you are not as likely to pick up as much sensor dust. :)
Thanks for all the comments, votes and the the favourite guys! This is an excellent early Christmas present and totally unexpected. It's gonna take some hard work to beat this result!
Don't thank us. You deserved it! This one is up there with the best I've seen in stock sites.
Happy Season.
Thanks for all the comments, votes and the the favourite guys! This is an excellent early Christmas present and totally unexpected. It's gonna take some hard work to beat this result!
Just superb contrast, freeze action moment, and very spontaneous. I like the fact that you left a bit of floor below, it adds perspective. Seems cold outside though :-P
Ye-eah, surf's up dude!
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