Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Thrill Ride

Tonight was the Bay Area Photo Club's Honor's Night. I presented this photo for the Assignment which was "Children at Play". This was taken at an amusement park in Huntsville, Alabama which was one of our stops on the NY trip. I received a Silver Award from the judges.

Title: "Thril Ride"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing tools: Photoshop CS3 and the Topaz Adjust plugin

8 comments:

Larry said...

Great shot. I thought it should have won the night - oh wait a minute - it did! :)

Bob Dempsey said...

I also think this is a really great shot. Finding a scene like this is nearly impossible in these days of corporate mega amusement parks. The simple unassuming 'Roller Coaster' label is just too perfect. I would be interested in seeing a version without the Topaz adjustment.

Cindi said...

This image has a great composition and you caught a great moment with wonderful expressions on the girls' faces. I agree with Bob, the Topaz on the faces bothers me. It certainly meets the criteria for the assignment and deserved the high score of the night! I wonder if you cloned out the trees, powerlines and fence if that would give the viewer the feeling they were higher in the air than they actually were.

Steve Schuenke said...

Great photo, Barry. Personally I like the Topaz effect for the sky, but maybe a mask and taking it off the girls faces may be the best of both worlds.

Barry Armer said...

Thanks guys!

I did some work on the photo last night to try and eliminate the effect on the girls faces. So far I don't like the result because the unprocessed faces look flat compared to the rest of the final photo. Still working though to see what I can do!

Thanks for your comments!
Barry

Paul Cacciapaglia said...

Barry,
I really liked the photo as is. I like the illustrated affect of the Topaz plug in. It was very fitting with this subject. It should have recieved a GOLD for sure.

Paul Cacciapaglia

Larry J. Patrick said...

The composition and the expressions on the kids' faces is more than enough to carry this photo.

I would like to see a version where you only ran your Topaz filter on the roller coaster and the kids' clothing--thus leaving their skin and the sky unfiltered. I think the contrast of those elements within the photo with the sky and faces would really make for an interesting contrast within the image.

Good image.

Barry Armer said...

Thank you Paul and Patrick!

I'm still trying to find time to take a look at more variations on this one...but I have to admit I like it a awful lot just as is!

Cheers!
Barry