Tibetan Horseman

As I stated before, this is a straight scan. The "dust" you see is real, along with other flying debris. If you want cleanliness and tidiness,stay in the studio.

Easy, William. There are a lot of subtleties to this discussion. As for DOF, there is such a thing as fast film. If you know that you are going to be taking action shots, it might be a good idea to take a roll or two along.

Another fantastic shot attached. What a dramatic series of images! Look, I do landscapes, and occasionally some wildlife as well. So I really am not in any position to talk about this type of shooting you do with any real authority. On the other hand I am a human being and certainly more than qualified to comment on the emotional appeal which I must say is nothing short of MASTERFUL! One comment above put it best, the expressions of the horse in this image is something you only find in paintings. I cannot believe this is an unmanipulated photograph. Simply unreal! A Great series as well.

After seeing the last shot posted, William, I am inclined to think that you were right in saying that the PoW shot was "sharp as a tack." A couple of things made me think that it was not, once Marc raised the issue. One was the appearance of the eye of the horse, and the other was the apparently blurry bridle.

 

I assumed that the DOF was shallow, since the foreground dirt was very sharp. After seeing the last photo, however, as well as looking again at the PoW photo, it appears that there is greater depth of focus than I originally thought. This is obvious enough in the last shot. In the original, certain hairs in the tail of the horse in the first picture are in focus.

 

What is not in focus (if anything) is a result of motion: hooves and the tossing of the horse's head, not to mention the dust cloud. Such blurring of parts in extreme motion is to be expected in action shots, and can even lend a sense of motion. I thought that the original was soft, but now I am not so sure.

 

I do think that sharpness matters, unlike some uncritical admirers. I think that you got some sharp shots--perhaps not as sharp as possible, to be sure, but plenty sharp.

 

In any case, it looks like you have some real trophies from this trip, including the kids swimming with the buffalo and the boy in a wash basin. Those are priceless.

 

Congratulations on PoW and a very exciting and interesting portfolio.

 

I am delighted to be wrong (again).

Hey Bill, It's great, thanks, don't pay that much attention to the sharpness or not sh. discussion, look at it and if you feel that it should be sharper then go for it. I would have edited it a bit more before uploading it, it's too good to upload with dust marks and without croping out the black edge of the slide. But again... you look at it and do what you feel the picture needs. Thanks a lot for giving me a nice wallpaper for the next days,

This is a terrific photograph. I know very little about the technical aspects this kind of action photography, never having used such long lenses or indeed fast motor driven cameras, but the sense of moment, and the color make this a really good photograph. As for whether sharpness (or the lack of it) detracts from the aesthetic effect-my answer is, not one bit.

I'm glad to be proven wrong too, but I'd still like to see the chosen image properly presented as it is not given its due as currently posted. These outtakes seem to me well scanned. Can you post a better version of the chosen one, either as an attachment, or in place of your original? I'm as ready as the next skeptic to love this shot, but I need more than promises in the tech details.

I love the rider's facial expression in the second image, though prefer the composition of the first one. Thanks for the additional posting!

An award winning shot,but not an award winning scan. The dust (I don't mean flying dirt) is really distracting above and behind the rider. There is a dust thread which really ruins it for me.

 

The image scan is soft, but you know that already.

 

May I suggest getting an 8000 dpi scan (really not that expensive these days) with ICE or some manual dust removal? That will do your wonderful shot justice, IMO.

A truly stunning image. I love the the colors and the fantastic composition.

 

A real pleasure!

 

Ignore all the comments about "sharpening" etc. Thanks for sharing your picture.

New treatment with scan of duplicate slide

That ought to lay the sharpness issue to rest.

 

Prepare to be attacked for the crop on the left.

Vivek said: "Ignore all the comments about "sharpening" etc"

How is photo.net gonna be useful to anyone if they ignore a comment that came up by 15 different people? people here think this is a great shot (which by the way was SHARP TO BEGIN WITH) so why let a bad scan ruin such a shot?

sure we can all look beyond these "shallow" things such as presentation... ok whatever i'm done with this thread, this is never gonna end.

Again, i congratulate William on this awesome capture (and the great selective DOF ;) )

may this year be full of great photographic opportunities for us all.

I'm not going to worry about the crop on the left because I know

there's more there. (Yes, I'm assuming this latest version was not

made from a new scan of a newly mounted transparency.) I'm also one

who wasn't concerned about the guy in the hat or even the white area

on the left. It puts the rider in a real place. There are certainly

times and places where blurring out the background is acceptable and

others where it isn't. We've seen both and the efforts to help us

understand what the camera and photographer captured is much

appreciated

Listen to Lannie:-)

 

Crop tangents are no-no's:-) Give that nostril a tad more air:-)

Why did you remove the shadows at the bottom, and why was there a piece of tape on your slide (now gone)? I am confused...

Pardon...is it broken paper frame? Just curious.

Nathan- The dark area in foreground on original image is actually a shadow from a scarf blowing in the wind. The new version is the same scene shot on a different frame a milisecond apart. You have to remember also that the subject was coming straight ahead very fast and furious.

I'm not here to argue about the meaning of The Perfect Shot (doesn't exist anyway). Just a few thoughs:

 

THE MOOD:

- To me this photo has enough DOF, more would kill the feeling of speed

- Frankly, I like the original photo better than the sharper ones posted later. It's about the overall feel, again.

- Learning about the story of the day of shooting from William and seeing the result - to me this is what photography is all about.

 

ALSO:

I'm glad that a non-manipulated photo was chosen as POW that easily competes with any of last years's manipulated POWs as far as contrast and colors. Why would you ruin this achievement with PS?

William--

 

Got it.

 

I apologize for being obtuse. I want you to make sure that you have the very best physical copy of the the slide and have it scanned professionally at 8000 dpi. This is a real keeper:-)

Congratulations William, aside from all the tweaking suggestions (Healthy) this photo is of Nationational Geographic Magazine Quality, Intense, Vibrant, Action, as the Horseman concentrates on his objective. All the Best!

Wow! So, the posted version with the medical tape that turns out to be a scarf, and this one that you just loaded are separate exposures taken miliseconds apart?

I'll explain further. Yes the scarf was much like the sash around the riders waist and or like the "katas", or sacred scarves, he is picking up from the ground, and that you see blurred and blowing in the wind of the background. This is a riding competition where riders run a course at full gallop while reaching to the ground to retrieve the scarves that are placed every 5 or 10 feet along the course. Sometimes they get totally out of control, and more than once I ate dirt escaping their path.

Perhaps this image will help better illustrate the effort.

Sounds a little like Capture the Flag. Tibetan ponies are pretty small, I gather. Where there other photographers' there? You definitely chose a good location and I guess you prefocused, then waited for each rider to cross into the zone.

 

What was that you were saying about the milliseconds and the image you posted originally and the one you posted just above that confused Nathan regarding the shadows? I'm a bit bewildered, too. It seems you were saying they were two different pieces of film, two exposures, taken in the same burst, but that doesn't seem possible to me.