[astonm]

Thanks again for choosing me in the last round.


One of the other hobbies in this household is radio-controlled model airplanes. I get to see some pretty amazing stuff from some of the most talented r/c pilots around. I absolutely love the challenge of capturing a shot of things too far away, and moving too fast to realistically expect a decent photo. But... when it works, the rewards can be be awesome.

For #339 I'll leave you with a shot of a Supermarine Spitfire on a gloomy day out at our local flying field. At first look, it's a little dark and flat, but there's actually an amazing amount of textures to work with here - just need to get a little creative to turn this boring gray & green into something wonderful.

Have fun with this one, and as always, I really enjoy going the extra mile with a little creativity.

Let's keep this open until next Sunday evening Aug 2, with judging on Monday.

~~Laurie

*********************************
Link to DNG file PPChallenge #339 Spitfire

Link is to DNG file. Please don't bother with the low-res jpg preview. If you need a big jpg, let me know.

[IMG][/IMG]

*******************************
For the next host:
The mediafire website is: mediafire.com
The login name is: ppchallenge@tmphillips.com
The password is: postprocessing

[mariwalt]

Great photo.

[graeme83]

A fun image to work on, only one way to go with the Spitfire in my mind and that is giving it a vintage black and white treatment. Spent a bit of time adding a few subtle weathering and dirt patches to the airframe, especially around the exhaust and wings, a hint of selective highlight boosts and finally removed the control linkages from under the wing for a bit of extra realism.

[noelcmn]

---

Last edited by noelcmn; 07-27-2020 at 12:31 PM.

[Bunch]

i thought about b&w but the colors are nice

[Arjay Bee]

Half way sepia but coloured - old 1940s print look

[todd]

[tuggie76]

What's better than 1 Spitfire? 3 Spitfires!

[Tas]

Similar to some other versions created I was looking to get something more contemporary to Spitfires so went with a more distressed image like one you might find in a box in an attic that's been sitting for years without seeing the light of day. Until now.



Tas

[jmacias]

I made two versions this time. A BW version with a square crop and a color version.

[astonm]

Wow - quite the participation this time. Awsome! Shall we?..........



mariwalt: good crop, nice placement of the airplane in the frame. I always try to get my "moving opjects" a little off-of center like you did... implying they are going "into the frame." the placement really works. The cockpit area got a little muddled looking, though... maybe a little goofy on the sharpening? (wing area seems ok. )

graeme83: good catch on the control linkage! and anyone who has ever been around old airplanes knows not a one of them is clean if they actually fly. good framing, and the grain turned out great on this one too. with the exception on the on/off switch and the airline port for the retracts, this would easily pass as actual vintage shot of the real thing. Nice !

noelcmn: two nice versions. nice in clean for that super zoom in that you used. got the clouds to "pop" a bit without "overcooking" it too much. I most always prefer my sky on the soft side, anyway. both well done

Bunch: looks like we have a couple of new players in this round - Welcome! Always glad to have some new faces! I know that the gloomy sky that day can get a little weird with coloring - i like the "marine blue" tone you squeezed out of it. The angle also gives it an extra bit of motion too. Nice job.

Arjay Bee: and another welcome to you as well! Aha! - another detail-noticer. You ditched the control linkage also. Turned it into a nice clean vintage shot... the sepia makes it seen like I'm looking at an old yellowed newspaper from the era.

todd: not only airplane history, but camera history too. 1930's saw a LOT of folks with affordable, portable cameras in their hands for the first time. The cell phone camera of the day?!? (Yeah. I said 1930's - bigger concerns during the war than buying a new camera). that first one looks like a snap from an old bownie-ish box with those light leaks. And...your other version... the straight black and white. I swear you have made a deal with the devil or something... you are the consistent MASTER of absolutely CLEAN noise reduction and crisp sharpening - without ever buggering a shot up one bit. I am forever in awe of your mastery of the software.

tuggie76: you called up the squadron. Nice ! good job of smashing them together into a believable scene. Perspective and positioning work so well. It also serves as a good "spot the differences" in the different models of the plane. I'm really glad you took the time to do a little playing with it.... was hoping someone would go that route. Yours looks good - thank you!

Tas: dang! - this one turned out really cool - another great vintage version. Looks like it was kept near and dear for many years to someone important to the pilot. Squadron buddy, perhaps? It's the picture they pull out of the old guy's treasure box on his death-bed at the end of the movie. Very well done.

jmacias: two nice entries. the b&w shows off the use of different "color filters" than other entries. it lightens up the whole scene. the color is actually very nice too... the only wide/pano type crop in the bunch this time. keeping "just a touch" of the trees around, really opens things up, while still giving it more than just sky. color and clouds turned out really nice, as well.


Ok.... enough rambling.

For the winner I gotta bounce this one back to TAS. This one had the little extra "emotional response" for me.
Runner up tied at todd for the technical beauty, and tuggie76 for creativity.

Great job to all !! It really was a tough one this time.

~~Laurie

[jmacias]

Congrats Tas, that was a truly beautiful interpretation you came up with!
Thanks Laurie for your words and for hosting.

[tuggie76]

Well done Tas, and thanks to Astonm for a great picture to work with..

[Tas]

Thank you Laurie, I appreciate the nod and the awesome capture to work with.

Thanks to the challengers, I'm happy to take on the next challenge and will aim to get the next round stood up later today.

Tas

[lidy]

Unfortunately I missed this round. Nice pic, Laurie, and congrats, Tas!

BTW Tas has started #340 here.