Lance Armstrong Please give me your comments

This is one of my first scans, and yes there are a lot of scratches on the negative. I would appreciate some comments on my composition; this was a difficult shot considering that I had to pan with the cyclists. And as you can tell from the top left corner, some guys elbow got in the way. That will have to be cropped in the final image. Any/all comments would be appreciated!

Please give me your comments!!

Excellent picture, only bit cut from the left...

I would suggest this crop. Very nice picture. I took the liberty of burning in some of the background audience and adjusting the levels ever-so-slightly.

Hi Peter,

 

I like the crop, but then it seems that Lance is in first place! But it's also hard to crop the photo symmeterically. On another note, I was surprised by the low evaluations - a 4.4/7? This was actually a very difficult photograph to take - they're not exactly standing still !

 

Thanks,

 

Vishal

Nice work Vishal. You managed to catch Lance at a perfect time with a good expression on his face.

I think a crop with the foremost rider would also work if you're interested in showing that Lance wasn't in first place. I shied away from it because it didn't put Lance in as prominent a position as without that extra rider. Don't pay attention to ratings, especially on a picture like this where you haven't even cleaned up dust marks.

Vishal, there is no doubt you had great timing in getting this shot.

 

However, Peter's editing work enhanced it immensely in my opinion. I don't see how keeping in visible scratches and the far left side of the frame lends anything to the photo. The "rawness" in this image to me comes from the look of Lance's expression and the general moment. All the other distractions aren't necessary and therefore detract. So obvious are these distractions, that the 4/4's aren't surprising. With the suggested edits by Peter, you now how have a photo which would probably get the rating you thought should be commensurate with your original.

 

Obviously, Vishal you have a great eye and I look forward to more work in the future.

"I like the crop, but then it seems that Lance is in first place!"

 

...but then, he usually IS in first place, so it probably doesn't matter ;-)

 

Great capture, except the crop works it also removes the obstruction(?) from the top left of the frame. Otherwise the quality and sharpness of Armstrong (all things considered) is superb!