<<< o >>>age before beauty 33 comments + add yours
chromasia.com

Had I realised how complicated an editing job this one would turn out to be I'm not sure I would have bothered as it took ages to get right. The main reason I struggled with it is that I manually combined two hand-held exposures that weren't especially easy to align, but it also took ages to get the balance between the tractor and the rest of the image exactly how I wanted it.

Anyway, 21 adjustment layers later (it could probably have been far fewer), and about four hours longer than I expected, here it is: an old David Brown's tractor on Fleetwood beach.

captured
camera
lens
focal length
aperture
shutter speed
shooting mode
exposure bias
metering mode
ISO
flash
image quality
RAW converter
cropped?
11.55pm on 15/12/07
Canon 1Ds Mark II
EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM
24mm
f/8.0
1/125 and 1/400
aperture priority
n/a
evaluative
100
no
RAW
C1 Pro
minor rotation
 
3x2 + fylde coast [scenic]
comment by craig @ id7.co.uk at 08:08 PM (GMT) on 17 December, 2007

Why, How, was there an old tractor on the beach,,,,,, it just doesnt happen!!!, excellent lighting, well worth four hours to be honest. BUT SO UNFAIR!!!

comment by JVL at 08:16 PM (GMT) on 17 December, 2007

I'm not sure anything's worth 4 hours - I agree that this has turned out quite lovely - but I think your life away from the computer is valuable too.

comment by Justin at 08:26 PM (GMT) on 17 December, 2007

I think the results is really nice, and well worth the time. It's hard to tell, was this taken at night, or is that a result of the processing? Either way, I really like the lighting and tones. Very nice, as always.

comment by DedicatedRR at 08:36 PM (GMT) on 17 December, 2007

It's a great shot, the processing is very well done considering the time spent on it. ;) It's kind of nice to see you have that sort of dedication to producing such wonderful photos.

comment by Furanku at 08:39 PM (GMT) on 17 December, 2007

Beautiful processing. And appealing subject.... One cannot stop from thinking about why this tractor is here.... Just to let you make a nice pic??? ;-)

comment by Dave at 09:06 PM (GMT) on 17 December, 2007

Is there anything that hasn't appeared on that beach!? Great image!

comment by m at 11:34 PM (GMT) on 17 December, 2007

An original Aston Martin. Cool

comment by Kristen at 12:27 AM (GMT) on 18 December, 2007

SO good

comment by David/Mexipickle at 02:49 AM (GMT) on 18 December, 2007

reminds me of something out of the movie "Cars"! neat effect

comment by Rob at 05:24 AM (GMT) on 18 December, 2007

Very strong image. The balance between the tractor and the sky is perfect.

You never know what drifts up on the Fleetwood beach! Glad you were there to catch it.

comment by Michael George at 08:01 AM (GMT) on 18 December, 2007

Ah, very moody.

I find myself enraptured by that sky. It's beautifully dark.

comment by MarkDM at 08:01 AM (GMT) on 18 December, 2007

I've never thought of a picture of a tractor as unearthly before, but this one is. Gorgeous image.

comment by Jennifer at 08:30 AM (GMT) on 18 December, 2007

Great shot and fab processing. Four hours! - thought I arsed around ;-)

comment by birgit at 12:26 PM (GMT) on 18 December, 2007

it was worth all the time it took! it´s amazing!
I love the play with light.

comment by nicolas at 12:36 PM (GMT) on 18 December, 2007

i like this atmosphere, you have well worked. I understand why you have spent about 4 hours to obtain this result. very nice!!

comment by jelb at 01:50 PM (GMT) on 18 December, 2007

Bonjour,
Well done "4 hours working" shot..Great "atmosphere", details, tones..Bravo!

comment by John at 02:46 PM (GMT) on 18 December, 2007

Absolutely beautiful...well worth the effort IMO.

comment by si at 03:39 PM (GMT) on 18 December, 2007

so bummed that this took you so long to do. imagine how long it would take me now. probably about 3 years. lovely work.

comment by Alice at 06:28 PM (GMT) on 18 December, 2007

Very nice. This was worth the time processing. This turned out fantastic!

comment by vasa at 06:54 PM (GMT) on 18 December, 2007

looks great..at first i thought it was an HDR....so would this have been easier to process as an HDR - in order to achieve the same effect..

comment by chiara at 07:26 PM (GMT) on 18 December, 2007

Amazing. I think all your work was worth it.

comment by djn1 at 09:39 PM (GMT) on 18 December, 2007

Thanks all.

Craig: it's there to help with launching and winching boats out of the sea.

Jennifer: I never arse around ;-)

vasa: I did try an HDR, but didn't like the end result with this one.

comment by JM° at 10:29 PM (GMT) on 18 December, 2007

The work on colors and lighting is just amazing..
Magnifique - really like a beautiful painting !

comment by Tom K. at 05:59 AM (GMT) on 19 December, 2007

Well worth the effort. An image that stays with me.

comment by Alex at 08:16 AM (GMT) on 19 December, 2007

I absolutely love it.

comment by Ninu at 04:54 AM (GMT) on 20 December, 2007

Dave I am completely FLOORED! Absolutely unreal on this one around.

comment by Navin Harish at 09:53 AM (GMT) on 20 December, 2007

It looks great. If you aim for perfection, you can't crib that it is taking you too long. Should I say Rome was not built in a day

comment by N.Gifford at 06:48 PM (GMT) on 23 December, 2007

Awesome lighting - love the shadow under the tractor and the overall mood of the photo!

comment by mooch at 02:14 PM (GMT) on 24 December, 2007

I'm sure that you wouldn't agree but it's worth the effort. I particularly like the purple of the grill.

comment by Veerasundar at 03:00 AM (GMT) on 28 December, 2007

Awesome shot. Check this one.

comment by Alvaro at 10:26 AM (GMT) on 29 December, 2007

if I didn't read drescription, it seems like external bare strobe on camera left

great capture

comment by denis at 12:26 PM (GMT) on 30 December, 2007

Great... I wish I could be patient enough to stay 4 hours behind the computer... but even if so I would not know how to to... The rsult is great, you are a master !
Congrats

comment by tom at 04:58 PM (GMT) on 2 January, 2008

Fantastic light, tones and perspective!!!!