Please vote for me :)

MrSix · 29 Sep 2009 at 08:14

Hey guys, I know some of you don't perhaps frequent the photography forums but do have an interest in photography so I thought I'd post this up here.

I'm through to the final of a photography competition and today is the final day that people can cast their votes. The photograph above is the one I have submitted and is called "Secret Trails" and if you like it I'd be hugely grateful if you could pop over to http://www.photolegal.com/index.php/photo-competition-freedom-voting/ and vote for it. I'm not asking for mindless votes, only if you believe it deserves to win the competition.

Many thanks in advance to those of you who vote for me, fingers crossed I win this as it's my first ever photo competition entry.

MrSix · 29 Sep 2009 at 08:24

Thanks chaps

MrSix · 29 Sep 2009 at 08:27

I <3 chrisxuk

MrSix · 29 Sep 2009 at 08:48

Fingers crossed it stays that way

MrSix · 29 Sep 2009 at 08:56

It says that we're encouraged to ask family and friends to vote - I'm not asking you to vote blindly, simply encouraging more traffic to the site to vote for your fav image. All above board thanks

MrSix · 29 Sep 2009 at 09:03

richard104 said:
Voted, what technique did you use for that shot???

How do you mean exactly, when taking it or the post processing work?

Duff-Man said:
I don't normally vote for these things when people ask... but you were very polite about it

I like your photo too. Definitely one of my top three from that list, so what the hell.

Thank you

MrSix · 29 Sep 2009 at 09:27

No problem Fenris, the beauty of photography is that it is purely subjective

MrSix · 29 Sep 2009 at 09:41

Neil McCauley said:
A wonderfully evocative shot. Clearly you've got an eye for it.

Gets my vote too.

Glad I chose it as my career then! thanks for the comments

MrSix · 29 Sep 2009 at 10:29

Robbie G said:
'Secret Trails' - yeah so secret that lots of people have clearly been there creating v-mounds .

Great photo though, well done and good luck.

Secret in that only the locals who built them know they exist, they're not ridden by Joe public.

MrSix · 29 Sep 2009 at 10:33

Thanks Fox.

MrSix · 29 Sep 2009 at 10:33

And Kenny

MrSix · 29 Sep 2009 at 10:39

Thanks for the kind words guys - as I said I'm not trying to wrangle votes here, I'm just looking for more traffic to the competition. I only want people to vote if they actually think my shot is worth it!

MrSix · 29 Sep 2009 at 11:55

Sash said:
So why did you think of this particular shot?

For the topic "freedom"? Because it's the sense of freedom both the rider and viewer experience from this type of activity.

richard104 said:
Sorry, i was just wondering how you got the light how it is, it the cyclist is well lit up but thebackground is dark.

There's actually a strobe in there that I've cloned out which brought the riders exposure up half a stop brighter than the ambient giving the moody look to the background and making him "pop" from the frame.

MrSix · 29 Sep 2009 at 11:55

RadoX said:
OP that pic dosent happen to be around mansfield does it ?

Nope, Woburn.

MrSix · 29 Sep 2009 at 14:27

Tefal said:
Can i ask what sort of post processing you've done to it?

it looks awesome but not quite real, is that cause of effects added after or is it just he photo?

jamief said:
Voted.

I have an amateur interest in photography - any chance you've done a write up on how you took the photo / did post processing? Would be quite interesting!

Mr Doovde said:
You've go my vote. The only other photo that really took my eye was the one called 'Memorial'. However, your photo seemed to be more technical (have not got a clue how to explain why) and creative.

When I took the shot the ambient light was very diffuse and the mist in the background looked as you see it in the image. I placed a small strobe just to the left of the jump that Phil is going over and under exposed the ambient by half a stop. The strobe then brought Phil's exposure back up to the correct level which is what makes him appear so prominent in the frame. The photo was set up and shot in a matter of 15-20 seconds.

The processing was fairly minor, after processing the RAW file in Lightroom with some basic contrast, clarity and fill light / black adjustments I opened it up in Photoshop where I cloned out the light stand and the strobe and finally added the blue saturation layer which I played with the opacity of until I had a colour tone that I was happy with. Finally some minor dodging and burning of foreground and background elements to add three dimensionality to the image and it was complete. Post work took around 15 minutes.

MrSix · 29 Sep 2009 at 15:40

Thank you

MrSix · 29 Sep 2009 at 15:52

Glad to hear it!

MrSix · 29 Sep 2009 at 17:14

Thank you so much for the support guys, I really appreciate it

If any of you are on Twitter then you can follow me @adamswords - I post up new work quite regularly and that's probably the easiest way to keep in touch

MrSix · 29 Sep 2009 at 20:26

What's the Kinder thing?

MrSix · 29 Sep 2009 at 21:06

SkeeterPSA said:
Bout the vote, sry but liked the horses on easter island more.

Haha love it, lots of people have said it reminds them of that.

And no need to apologise about voting for another shot, that's what it's all about!