Photo Fix Challenge No.7 - another close finish
Just like last time we had four clear contenders and it was a close finish, but this time there was no need for a tie-break.
Let's just remind ourselves of the original image provided for improvement:
Click image to see a larger view
It's a picture of the F1 BMW Sauber of Polish ace, Robert Kubica, taken during practice for the 2008 British Grand Prix, at Silverstone. For more information on the original image you can go to the original Photo Fix Challenge 7 page. To see the top entries see our Photo Fix Challenge voting page.
And here are the top four entries as voted by you:
1st, Entry No.4 From Brian Jackson. There is more from him further down the page. (Above, click to view or download the full size image)
2nd, No.8 from another Jackson, this time it's Geoff Jackson. He is a former winner and third last time out, so he's creeping back towards the top! (Above, click to view or download the full size image)
3rd, Entry No.1, from Andy Platt. (Above, click to view or download the full size image)
And finally, 4th, with dramatic slant, literally, No.7, from Devilgas (Above, click to view or download the full size image)
Brian Jackson, who is from Florida, was rather delighted with the news:
"Cowabunga! What a month it's been. I won the salon on FTU (another of our sites, which is dedicated to the Four Thirds system family), then DPNow, the Photo Fix challenge, AND got a picture of the day. So, thank you all, I have decided to retire from photography on a high note!"
I asked Brian to describe a little about himself:
"About me, well, let's see. I am 58, I have had photography as a passion since high school, where a friend of mine suggested that I join the yearbook staff as a photographer. As I did not know a thing about photography, I told him that didn't make sense. He was very skilled as his dad was a shooter, so he told me to tell them I knew everything and he would teach me over the summer break. The rest is history.
"My first camera was a Nikon F. I opted for the metered prism, as I had a mother who spoiled me and saw the passion for this in me. I owned and used every kind of camera, 35mm in different brands, Hasselblad, Sinar view, you name it, teaching myself over the years. My photographic heroes are Pete Turner, Ernst Haas, Henri Cartier Bresson, and two friends of mine that no one knows, Art Becker and Ed Bernik, who shoot every bit as good as the biggies but never got the big break. I developed a keen interest in the 'wet' side, and moved to bigger cities here in the U.S. so I could learn and work on a higher level. I became quite good at it, printing multi panel murals up to 8ft X 16ft, ran a Cibachrome (later Ilfochorme) line making museum prints to 30 X 40, was considered a master B&W printer, and when digital came along I was lucky enough to be at top end labs where I could be in on the fun. That led to working at Fitch, Inc., a global branding and design firm with offices all over the world as DIgital Imaging Manager. I was a one person dept. that pulled them kicking and screaming into the digital world, and it worked out well for all of us. Through the years I had my own business, worked as a studio manager for a firm that shot lots of catalog stuff, you name it, I've done it. I no longer shoot professionally (after a 25 year career), but photographically my life has been a ball."
And what did Brian do to our donor image to make it into a winner?:
"As for what I did to make the F1 shot (and the Latin bass player), because of my background in high end printing I have always seen beyond the original image to what it might be. I never have an image that just comes out of the camera. I guess it was all of that view camera time. In reality back in the day, NO image except chromes were 'out of the camera', and I can't tell you how many corrected dupes I made to fix those for pro shooters! I am skilled in PS, but have found that the intensely intuitive control of the Nik Software suite is more to my liking. In each case, after de-noise, I allowed myself to develop a concept in my head and then try various filters and selective controls to get there, For example, the F1 shot had no fewer than three separate filters applied in Color Efex Pro (polarization, color contrast range, and lighten/darken center), along with at least two dozen selective changes in Viveza 2. Sometimes I have it figured out, sometimes it surprises me and I go down THAT path instead. I'll 'finish' an image and then sit on it for at least 24 hours to, as my T'ai Chi teacher used to say, 'let it cook'. I almost always go back and change something else. I do not use PS (I only own CS) unless I need to do something that the Nik suite just cannot do. Basic stuff gets done in Aperture, including printing, as the profiles in AP 2 are great and easily modified to get dead on."
So well done Brian and well done to all the entrants! We'll be commencing our next Photo Fix Challenge soon.
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