Clay: L: Not because
it's great,
not sure it's in focus, but it's an attempt at great to
feature
the spectators.. but they are posing for the photo rather than watching
the kayaker. I think it says a lot about our sport and the
attraction people have / don't have to it. M: The Gunnison
shot
is OK, but the gorge is the highlight not the falls so I wish the shot
were vertical with more crack in it.
Darin: L: Like Clay I don't think L is in focus, or the lens is stopped
down deep into diffraction territory. The idea for the shot is
interesting, but I don't like the execution. The choice of an UWA lens
is bad for people, there is too much distortion going on, giving the
photograph and awkward look. On top of that it's just straight up bad
lighting at mid day. When it comes to women in sports I'm a big fan of
them doing
the sport and excelling at it, rather than being cheerleaders. M: I really like the composition of this photo.
Excluding the sky keeps the eye focused on the paddler, I like the big
rocks in the foreground too. I dislike the fake tilt shift going on up
top though, not into that at all. I'd say it's a bit heavily processed
for my taste with the excess vignetting, but it does make me want to go
kayaking, I love the canyon.
VS
It's a split vote between the judges but M advances with the popular
vote.
Clay: The O shot is
just ho hum
chile maybe? Nice water but eh... P: The next shot is so much more
interesting with the various lines you could run and the mood and the
composition lines.
Darin: O: I like this shot a lot, it captures the
key moment of action where form is good but you don't yet know if he is
going to nail the boof, but you suspect it to be so. Kind of the
foreshadowing of sports photography. My dislike would be how hard the
shadows are crushed to absolute black, this looks like either Fuji
Velvia 50 or a Nikon camera shooting jpg in vivid mode (note, I was
wrong with either of those guesses). P: I'm a bit torn on this image. I
like the lines with the bridge and curving waterfall. Urban kayaking
doesn't have a draw to me but it's cool visually and nice to see
something different. The processing is a bit too much to my taste as
far as the super contrast on the paddler, but the top right 1/3 lacking
same contrast, showing that manipulation has been done to the image. A
slightly tighter crop removing the two paddlers on the left would
really help, especially the one half in the frame, they're distracting.
These two are a tough call, they are both some of the better images in
this round, but overall I end up spending more time looking at O
because the paddler is moving into empty space in the middle of the
frame.
VS
It's a split vote between the judges but
O advances with the popular vote.
Clay: Q is a standout
of the
comp… brilliant stars alone make a great backdrop but add in
the
glow-stick trail over Maruia (sp) falls done so well and it’s
a
show stopper. 4 boats with one glow
stick? One boat
with 4 glowsticks? Was the underwater red glow because they were upside
down or set in advance? A lot to think about while
watching
the stars… R is a fine
image! Kinda sad to discount it as the colors are
well-matched,
paddle placement perfect, the bow is riding up off that pillow / curl
so nice and there does seem to be some risk of hitting the bottom rock
at this angle. Q is the winner for originality and
the
challenge of the execution but this one is a great shot too.
Darin: Q: I'm a bit more
ambivalent about Q than Clay is. Over the last couple years we've seen
some pretty cool glow-stick and kayaking images from outlines
of paddlers to squirt boating to the anatomy
of a stroke.
Still it's cool to see the stars and something different. R: It has
nice exposure, good light and colors, but the kayaker is just too much
in the center of the frame with lots of dead space behind him. This one
could have really used a tighter crop.
VS
The public poll matches our optionions and Q advances.
