i think its great! i really like the capture of all the colors in contrast to the grey sky. its awesome!

WOW!

love it! great colors against the grey background.

As the crankies used to say FANDABIDOSI !!!

One of your best shots in my opinion.

Its' beautiful. Great colors, Good subject.

This is so pretty. Did you edit it at all?

This really is fantastic! Rightly deserves to be one of your favourites, I love it too. There is a certain something, beyond the colours and tones, that always appears in one of your shots, some deepening of shadows, or slight Gaussian blurring here and there. Maybe it's just me. Either way, I love the look. And nice Stargate reference. ;)

Stunning.

very clear and vivid colours against the dark and grey sky. david, did you use Colour Selector here...it would be very helpful if you could explain how did you achive such dark and contrasty sky, but still kept the colours so bright and correct.
great photo!

I love the colours... such a beautiful shot.

Love the shot- but that KITE IS AWESOME! I bet it pulls alot of force when you get it up too!

Great shot! how big was this kite, looks like its nearly in the clouds in the top right corner, yet about to collapse on the beach, great illusion of perspective.

Was he flying another kite too?

A fabulous and surreal shot that makes you look twice. I love the shadow for some reason, maybe because it gives the kite some solidity.

I look at this picture and think:

- Was a ND gradual filter used? Probably not, the kite does not have the ND effect...
- Was the sky made into B&W in Photoshop? Probably not, I think I see some hints of bluish on the top right corner...

So I am left with: "Holly schmolly, what a sky, and what a shot!!!!"

Thats awesome! A love both the colors and the contrast!

Blackpool always seems to have wonderful cloudy skies. The colors in this and the way they contrast with the background are fantastic.

What an amazine photo! I first thought it was photoshopped and had to look closely to see it was real.

Amazing!

Well done!! I love this, the colour is such a fantastic contrast with the landscape, outstanding.

Excellent colours/patterns/composition and a refreshing subject matter...

Woah! That is totally amazing! This is probably your best shot that I have seen. Great colors against the sky...

I have being following your photoblog for some time, and I think this is the one of the best photos I've seen.

The colors of the kite are wonderful over the gray sky, and the texture of the clouds it's amazing.

Really great shot!!!

Since the BBC featured you, i have visited every day. Once again i am stunned. This is a fantastic shot. The multi-coloured panels of the kite against the moody gray sky work perfectly together. Great work!!

Awesome. I'm loving the colours of the kite and that incredible sky.

Exceptional photo Dave. The wonderful sky and the sharpness of the kite! Brilliant :)

a fable..

Absolutely glorious!

i really like how the colors of the kite seem to glow but you're not really sure where all that light is coming from given the darkish greyish background. and the circular shape of the kite is not something i've seen before (at least i don't think i have), which makes the picture more interesting. really terrific.

Amazing pic!!! I cannot like it anymore! Dang, It's just the bright colours, the contrast of the sky and the novelty of the shape and size of the kite. I envy your artistic eye!!!

Great shot! Great kite! Excellent contrast between the bright colours of the kite & the dark, foreboding sky!

Great shot. Really nice contrast between the colours in the kite and the sky.

I agree with some of comments above - this is one of your best shots. Awesome contrast, composition, colour and clarity (sorry, didn't mean to make those descriptions all begin with 'c'!!!) What I love best is the perspective - the eye is led from the kite down the beach to the kite flyer who looks miles away!!!

great perspective... ;]

That's not a kite. It's a parachute with the middle cut out. :-)

Excellent picture. I think everything's already been said. Although, looking at the shadow under the kite, I'm guessing the sun was out somewhere.

Amazing. When it first appeared on my screen - for a split second I thought "urgh! what's that nasty computer graphic doing there?" It looks almost like a tv testcard. Stunning.

Wow! This is really inspiring. I'm a totally newbie. The colors against the grey sky just blew me away. Will you eloborate a little on how you got this result? Thanks.

I've been following chromasia for at least a year now and have seen a lot of great work from you. But this blew me away, I swear my heart stopped.

excellent

Fantastic shot! ; )

It's pretty well all been said - this is the kind of picture that pulls you in, right from the moment you see the thumbnail. It's beautifully controlled, and even if it deviates quite a bit from 'real' reality it's your reality, and that's what counts.

Another fantastic shot keep up the good work.

Looks surreal! very pleasing.

Perhaps you could post a link to the original. would be a delight to compare.

Speechless!

That's a great one!! Love it David!
just perfect!

Great shot! The perspective is the things that really grabs me.

What is your strategy for making masks? They're (always) so accurate—is it that old trick: time?

:)

Fab :-)
good luck for the next few days

I very much like this one, when I saw the thumbnail I first thought it was a mosaic sculpture!

AMAZING! STUNNING!

That is a lot of post-processing but it's stunningly gorgeous. I don't think the PP matters - I post what MY mind saw, not what my camera saw - which sometimes is and sometimes isn't the same thing.

Although when you describe the post-processing I don't even know what you are talking about (masked curves?) the shot is nice - particularly the sky.

I think the colours look a bit odd - that is, out of place considering the lighting of the shot. This is because of the post-processing. It makes it a more dramatic shot, but at the same time the retouch is fairly evident.

Whether you want to capture what the camera sees, or what your eyes saw, or wanted to see, comes down to you. A painter can go from a perfect photograph-like portrait to a few random lines, and representing different schools both paintings might be excellent.

What you should not fall in the trap of doing is accepting what other people say as a "great shot" to be so because they say it. I just told you that to me, this shot looks a bit surreal and I would prefer it not to - even though I accept it would look more dull. Most people will prefer the colours even though they were added with Photoshop. It comes down to personal taste, and you should let _your own_ personal taste have the final word...

Did you add the colours? Or did you just shift them from what they were using Hue? That's not as blatant as adding, in my opinion. Anyway... I personally have no problem with such processing. I do processing like that all the time :)

I like this surreal shot with the odd shifted colours....:)

Dave,
This IS a stunning image but from your comments I felt you were fishing for a bit of a discussion on post processing.

I am always torn between two points of view regarding post processing. On the one hand, manipulating the image is a form of "lying". On the other hand, as you intimate in your introduction, post processing to bring out what your eye "saw" surely is allowed.

The human brain appears to me to interpret an image. In this interpretation, it is performing a sort of "post processing" of its own. Colours, particularly man-made colours, on a dull rainy day can still appear to be vibrant and striking, whereas the camera captures them as dull and lifeless. Our brain "knows" what those colours normally look like and interprets the scene automatically, doing its own "curves" and "saturation" processing in real time. So it seems to me, anyway.

When an image is captured in these conditions, the colours often appear as they are in reality, dull and lifeless. Post-processing the image to bring the colours back to how they were perceived by the photographer at the moment the photo was taken surely must be allowed.

Now we come on to artistic license. If we take that same image and boost the colours and contrast etc etc until the image is way beyond what was originally perceived by the photographer... this is where we start to get controversy. One group of people starts to say "This is a lie. This is not the truth.", another group, probably of a more artistic bent say "That is a wondeful image!". Who is right here?

I maintain that neither is right. The image belongs to the photographer. He or she took the original image and then placed their interpretation on it. If they decide to morph that image into something it was not then this is their prerogative. As long as they are not passing the image off as the "truth", I see no problem in this.

Of course, this leaves the photographer who does pass the heavily modified image off as the truth. Why that photographer does that is subject to endless debate. Perhaps it is for the kudos they gain... "Look at my image, I am a wonderful photographer, I can produce beautiful images". Perhaps they even believe themselves to be a "better photographer" than they actually are, hiding their inadequacies behind an untruth.

A photograph, historically, has been considered to be a piece of true evidence. It was difficult to convincingly doctor an image to substantially improve it over the image taken by the camera. It Was possible but the skill involved in the darkroom was long and hard won. Now almost anyone can "lie" if they want to. Photoshop and its ilk are astoundingly powerful image manipulators. Perhaps due to the historical legacy of a photograph being "the truth" that people find so difficult to come to terms with the fact that what purports to be the truth so often, these days, is not.

Adrian

Sorry I should add - not nearly as competently! ;)

I think in this case, it's clear that post-processing is alright. The one part that bothers me is where the kite touches the ground, but it's not that important.

I agree - this is one of your better shots. There's so much candy for the eye to enjoy!

As far as post processing goes - as long as you're not adding major elements to the shot then everything is fair game.

Well done.

Okay... WHAT exactly IS this thing??

["A kite", you said; but alas, I'm not having any luck Googling it for more info.]

thanks,

Peter Cohen

fucking nuts

This one just stopped me in my tracks. I love the sky and how it works with the kite.

Awesome work Dave. I would really like to see the original, so as to clearly see what you have done in terms of post processing.

Wow. Just awesome!

I'm very impressed with the end results, post-processing or not. I appreciate you stating clearly that it was post-processed for a few reasons:

1) it stops me from wondering why I can never get raw results like that.
2) it does feel more honest in a world in which people still seem to assume that photos are undoctored, even though as Adrian rightly said this is something that's no longer hard to do.
3) as an inexperienced photographer myself, any technical information about a picture I like helps me learn the craft.

But having said all that, I think only the end product is really important,not how you get there. And this is a phenomenal end product.

What a fantastic pic. Art is art - I don't how you achieve it - the only person you need to please is yourself - if someone else appreciates it - all the better. Simply amazing work! I'm really starting to hate you :)

I check your site every day (since September 04) and have never commented before, but I have to say this photo left me speechless. The bright circular kite set against that ominous sky looks incredible.

Dave-
You have a great eye. Case closed.

This shot is absoluetly stunning/beautiful/fantastic. Way to go man!

You are a photographic god!

great shot, this is one of my favorite's as well, the color wheel against that stormy sky. Awesome shot!

Derek

that's breathtaking. i'm curious to see the original - to compare the post processing with what was captured.

I have to agree with all of the other comments here. Post processed or not, that is one of the most stunning photos I've ever seen, and would also like to see the original for comparative purposes.

Beautiful lines and colors, as always. Wow

This shot, like the vast majority of the stuff here rocks, man... been lurking a while (my first visit lasted two and a half hours - saw every picture here that night/morning, and been back almost daily since), thought I'd say something for once. Post processing doesn't bother me any. I don't know how much post-processing you do in general, but it seems like everything you shoot with the sky in the frame turns out surreal or supernatural. I shoot at the sky and get crap. Seeing your stuff here gives me a reason to keep shooting... if I can get just one of these before I'm done, I'll be counting myself blessed, for certain.

How do you get those colours!? Drool....

The colours are really good!

Stunning -- a physical blast to the eye that nearly brings tears!

As to the post-processing, I refer to the High Priest of Photography for guidance: Ansel Adams. His shots of nature are world renowned, yet he practiced photography much as you describe this shot. He invented the Zone System to match the print's contrast to the scene he wanted to capture. He talks of flashing the film to boost detail in the shadows, or using a particular developer for a particular affect or tone, using different films for different artistic goals, dodging or burning portions of the print to reduce or enhance detail. Post-processing a digital image to b&W is no different than choosing b&w film instead of color.

What is very similar to your work and Adams' is mastery of your medium to a degree that you can pre-visualize the picture and manipulate your tools to achieve the result you saw in your mind.

Oh, we mere mortals bow to you!

I agree with Adrian. In my opinion, Photoshop is to digital photography what the darkroom was to film photography, with more flexibility to enhance an image, of course. Ever since the dawn of photography, there has been post-processing. But only photoshop can give you a sky like that. Stunning.

wow. brilliant photo editing on this one, based on the details you provided. I imagine what the camera caught was still just as nice but this final product is definitely eye-catching. The sky gives me sort of a blah-ish type of feel - sort of like 'why would you bother going out' but the kite does the complete opposite.

Magic, it really shocked me when I first saw it!

the bright colours in contrast to the dark sky really captures the eye; this makes you want to soar up with the kite!

great shot. i love the contrast between sky and kite..word!

Spectacular! How this differs from the camera's output doesn't matter to me. The human eye can capture a much bigger dynamic range than your camera's sensor, so this probably more like what you saw than what the camera recorded - and that's just as valid.

nice..

Processing, shmocessing.
Yes, Photoshop allows for extremely artificial manipulation. I dont think that�s what you�ve done here: I think you�ve made technical adjustments, such that people have always done in the darkroom.

Its a great shot!
Only thing I�d say is, the clouds are maybe a little too dark in places, making them a grey smudge and losing definition. But it probably needs that depth of darkening, to bring out the definition in the lighter areas. In theory you could make selective adjustments of those areas, but in practice - in my experience - manipulations like that usually result in overall degradation.

hi,

i discovered your site a few days ago. great job ! i love your pictures.

i'm a webdesigner and an "amateur" in photo, and i actually have the same "questionning" (is that term correct???) about post processing. i think that pictures have to be the real image of your expression, so post processing might be one of the solution to fit it well.

(sorry for my bad english...)

What an excellant shot, I agree post processing is a good thing if you can get such stunning images out of your camera. Great work.

Wow, wow, wow. Well done.

I think we definitely need to see the original on this one. I'd love to be able to see the difference post-processing made. It is an amazing shot. I love that you caught the kite just as it barely touches the ground, so it is a circle and not flat on the bottom.

WOW again... I just love your pictures of grey sky's by the sea..guess were spoilet by too too much sun here in Karachi. I visit your site each day when for some relief and escape.

David,

You have presented the truth, as seen by you. Those purists who worry about a photo lying don't get the fact that their interpretation of what they see is their own reality. This is beautiful. That's an opinion. I like chocolate, you like vanilla. Should we fight to the death over it? Please continue your work.

Perception is reality.

One of the greatest pictures i've ever seen... Just perfect!.. The guru's hands.

Looks like Blackpool have another tourist attraction - Chromasia.com! Another great image btw.

Before I start ranting, I really like this photo. However, I am not a big fan of post processing. Not because the photo is "lying" but rather because it takes far greater skill, judgment and patience to produce such an effect as a straight shot.

Wholesale manipulation of images possible on software such as photo shop makes for lazy photography. We no longer have to wait for the right light conditions they can be artifically constructed. For me this deducts an important part of photography, the appreciation of your surroundings.

Once again absolutely stunning. Another example of why I come back here each and every day.

This is one of the best shots I have seen in quite a while. Simply Fantastic.

I always prefer your amazing portraits, compared with pictures of inanimate objects or landscapes, but this image does deserve special mention: It's fantastic!

Magnificent colours! Great capture

Second post I know, but I felt that this image is significant enough to warrant further comment. Jimmy feels that Photoshop makes for 'lazy photography'; not so in my book, as the skills needed to previsualise a shot such as this, and then post-process it to achieve that initial visualisation, are no different to the skills employed by, say, Ansel Adams (already used as an example in a previous comment) in knowing the mean brightness of the lunar surface one evening in Hernandez, New Mexico, knowing by how much to expose the 8x10 negative through a red filter, knowing what development to use to achieve that tonal range that would print on that certain paper.
Now I'm not saying this is another 'Moonrise', but it is a well-executed interpretation of one person's vision, and a damn fine image to look at as well.

my first comment, great work, i covet your skys, they bring so much drama to the experience... i hack around with photoshop elements to work on the pictures i take, primarily of my 3 young kids. i've been able to use some of your much appreciated detailed post processing guidance (gaussian blur for example) in my basic pp work. the positive feedback i consistently receive on the resulting images should (i help a little) in large part really flow back to you. thanks for sharing both your end result and the detailed steps taken to get there. one data point i've never seen you offer is the amount of TIME you spend pp a given image. i'm sure it varies, any chance you would share the time spent on this one?

wow, this a very nice image, nice bright colours against the dark moody sky. obviously put a lot of effort into the post processing!

oh yes....i'd be very interested to hear how much time you spend on post-processing as well, although i know that pp time does vary depending on experience. but it would still be a good gauge though, to see how much time someone with your skills spends on a pic.

also, do you use a pen tablet or a mouse to mask your images?

and finally, i agree with fraxinus regarding jimmy's post about lazy photography. i think it takes a significant amount of skill to be able to use a powerful software program like photoshop. and while i understand jimmy's point that being able to reconstruct certain lighting conditions on a computer takes away from actually waiting for those conditions to occur, i don't see how using a computer is really that much different from using lens filters for example. and not just those uv filters or even the contrast filters, but things like the cross filters or infrared filters. those types of filters clearly allow you to present an image different from what was actually present.

anyway, great work!

This shot is superb... nicely done!

Enough said by everybody. I really like it. It's a good photo, with great post-processing. Will I make the 100th comment?

Damn, just missed it.

so beautiful. my heart skipped a little beat when i saw this, its just so amazing. you have such a keen eye for the world.

This is a very nice shot. The colors are great.

GRAND!!!

Wow, I wasn't expecting anywhere near this many comments! :-)

Two quick points though as quite a few of you have asked. First: on this occasion I don't want to put up the original because I don't think it would add anything to the experience of this. I know it would provide a useful post-processing benchmark, but, in this case, it feels as though it would "spoil" this shot to do so (if that makes sense). Second: I spent about an hour, maybe an hour and a half, editing this shot. A couple of you have mentioned the masking, which in this case was very straightforward, particularly in terms of cutting round the edge of the kite. With shots of people's heads I wouldn't even try masking the sky as it never looks even vaguely realistic, but with something that has such a clearly defined edge it's much easier.

I'll read through all the comments again later and pick up on any of the points I've missed with this comment.

Thanks again :-)

wow.. it's great

sweet... I am again in love w chromasia ;]

Breathtaking ... you are the king of the camera.

Wonderful! I love the great contrast between the colors and the gray spooky clouds.

IMHO,

I really like this picture. I can only express how I feel about the image. Is it a lie? No. How could it be, the artist has not represented it as "fact", this is not a court of law where we are trying to determine that the colours are as they are seen here. (BTW, the colours are different on most people's monitors anyway)

I couldn't care less if Dave took 3 photos and put them together with glue (actual cut and past or PS), the image is what is being presented and that is what I am looking at.

Dave, keep the "original" to yourself, unless you want to teach people how you created this image. Otherwise, it would be like someone asking Picaso to show the model with both breasts on one side of her body.

-Pete

oh this is SPECTACULAR!

Oh goodness...this one made my heart jump a little. No words. Just happy to stare for a bit.:)

Great shot - The colors against the sky makes this image. The kite might be a bit tight in the frame though.

i do the same on my images - whenever i feel the need i adapt the curves, and the contrast/brightness, and what not, also for parts of the image if it suits me better.

what the camera sees is not holy. it's about what i see and want to convey.
or you, in your case.

and the results is fantastic, my compliments!

erik
photoblog http://eti-eti.blogspot.com
handcastle http://hand-eti.blogspot.com

maybe its just me.....your photos are not as inpiring anymore...it just minor varitions of a few themes...and personally I think the PP is different from photography...Its definitely an art on its own...but I think beauty is the ability to see something in nature and capture it in all its glory...I hope photography doesnt end up like what is happening to movies these days...there is so much special effects that it no longer wows you..however grand a vista is built using special effects, it never stuns you like the real thing. The first thing that came to mind on seeing this photo was this is not real...not how beatiful it is....I am getting less motivated to return to look at your photos...this could be even me...just voicing my 2cents.

wonderful!

OH GOD! After not checking your site for a week, I come back and what do I see? This beautiful striking image of a kite (one of which I've never seen before). I just can't describe how I feel about this photo.

But just you wait. When I get paid at the end of this month (for my first real degree related job), I'm gonna be purchasing this photo for my room. What a beauty. Great Job!

::sigh:: It seems whenever djn has a particularly beautiful photo, the "too much photoshop" argument kicks in. It is always the same thing said, "this isn't photography if post-processing is used." As a regular visitor, i'm tired of reading it and I'm sure djn is tired of responding to it.

Djn - perhaps you could a mini faq page and link it beneath your photo description so that first time visitors can go there and understand how you interpret your photography. Perhaps leave it open to comments so that this discussion isn't spread across your archives.

I guess the quantity of comments says all... this is, in my opinion, one of the best photos I've seen in your site.

Amazing, gorgeous, and... happy. Maybe most important that the first two, or anything in photograhpy for that matter, is the feeling or sensation that an image produces. And this one gives me hope. Don't know why, but that's the feeling. Being happy in a storm (not that I don't like rain, I like rain very much, but you get the idea)... don't know... maybe it's not what you intended when taking the picture, but that's my feeling.

I'm curious about what color shifting means in this case, or how is it done?

Don't know why, but everytime I focus on the photo, it seems to have a different saturation or vibrance... don't know how to explain... but that happens... like it's alive... maybe moving slightly with the wind, or something like that... Great image

Just amazing!......nuff said.....

i think this goes down as the most commented post.

The colours are simply amazing... i can use this to calibrate my monitor! haha lovely composition and you have a great overcast sky as ur background!!

jcyrhs: not quite. As I write this it's eight behind this entry that got 130 comments. It's doing a lot better than I thought it would though :-)

This is beautiful.

Why some people fail to see that the camera is just a tool with limitations is beyond me. What kind of photography (other than polaroid) has no post processing?

Hmmm. Sounds like you're interested in a comment beyond, "Gorgeous," though that's where I stand on this image. :-)

Photography itself could be considered manipulation/post processing, if you want to push the debate to the extreme. The only "reality" is the photographer, standing there, seeing the scene unfolding before the camera. The photographer chooses the settings on the camera, processes the film, and prints the image (whether in a trad. wet lab or through Photoshop). You could argue that all of that is "manipulation" and certainly that we introduce deviations from "reality" into an image through printing, perhaps without even thinking. (Darker highlights, lighter shadows, etc.)

I am still very surprised at folks' initial instincts these days; most non-photogs see an image that looks closer to "reality" than manipulation and assume that what they're looking at isn't retouched... Everything in the public sector is retouched--sometimes drastically. I realize that I'm in a bit of a microcosm (advertising) and that I'm cynical as well so maybe my perspective is skewed, to say the least. :-)

You've got a little bit of curves fall-off at the top of the parachute and just above the sandline... Intentional? Nice attention to translucence though, on the far edge of the chute where it curves over itself--it's lighter and darker where it would naturally be.

I'll repeat; gorgeous!

dave -- been a long time since I dropped you a comment, but this shot is so stunning every time I see it.

Re: processing--outside of photojournalism, I believe any kind of processing is fair game, right up to the point where an image looks like it's been processed. This shot is especially terrific because the processing is seamless. It's an image you could frame and slap on your wall. envy envy envy...

Just to add a(nother) view on the post-processing:

I work in classical music. We do an enormous amount of post-processing to recordings. There are those that argue this compromises the artistic goals of a performance, but I know how rewarding the post-processed end product is, and it is something quite different to a live performance, and I think confusing the two misses the point somewhat.

An archive of an event (such as a recording of a concert, or a photo of a kite on a beach!) cannot reproduce the event. The best that can be done is to give an enjoyable representation of something that happened. One cannot provide the full sensation of sitting in a packed concert hall on a CD, nor can one feel the wind and smell the salty sea air when looking at this photo, however both give an enjoyable account of what happened, with only the kind of visual or aural enhancement that the memory of an event might supply.

Still love the picture—great saturation and contrast!

Ironic that Joe Holmes stops by to give a rare comment, as it was his great photoblog that pointed me towards Chromasia.

Anyways, this picture is simply brilliant. The contrast, the colors, the mood - everything a picture should be.

second comment on this one as well.. after reading through the mass of comments on this one (my favorite of your work so far) i'll throw two cents in about photo-shopping.

i cant disagree more with 'lazy' or 'lie' comments when dealing with work such as this. i still spend a good portion of my time smelling like stop bath and fixer because of my fiddling around in the darkroom... this is no different. image manipulation is image manipulation... a large part of the art form that is photography, whether it be film, slide, b&w, or digital, is the ability to form the image into what we want AFTER we get it out of the camera and into the computer or the darkroom... it is after all "ART", which doesnt necessarily mean a representation of what is true....

now if you start moving pyramids around or adding politicians heads to other peoples bodies, thats another story ;-p

keep up the great work... i am truely green with envy over your editing skills....

off the soapbox and looking foward to the next shot :-D

Thanks everyone, I'm really pleased with the response to this one. As for the recurrent post-processing discussion: I'll mention my views when I put up my next entry.

The thing that strikes me about this is the 'gloominess' of the sky. I usually picture a warm, sunny day when I think about a shot like the one you have here...

Having said that, I think this is a lovely photo. :)

The light, coming through the kite, grabbed me immediately -- a beautiful reminder.

Every image lies, I don't think that's a question. Words as well... hugs and handshakes, they are only symbols pointing to a biased experience of reality. The question is how honestly we communicate our own experience.

Wow, wow, wow!

Great shot... and your post processing is as artistic as your original capture.

Amazing :-)

Well, everyone else posted a comment on this. Figured I'll up the tally by one more.

Great Picture.

Most of the people that think Post-Proscessing is bad or not real photography are those who either dont have photoshop or do have it but don't know how to use or they only shoot film and get it developed at walmart or the are a true film photographer who shoots and develop the film themselves and they have a hard time dealing with change.

Well those are my two cents .
ps about the picture I so want that Kite it's awesome.

also I love film and I still shoot it - but not as much as i shoot digital.

wow, this photo is so cool! ;)

Your artistic approach to this shot is incredible. This is one of my favorites of yours.

cool

This is unquestionably one of my favorite images that I've seen in any photoblog. To me, it wholly incoporates many of the themes that have been present in your earlier work. I've looked at this image many times now and my eyes continue to dart around and discover more intriguing elements. The composition, textures, and focal points are a feast for my eyes.

I love the post processing if it gives these results. Why would anyone think waiting around for a shot would necessarily produce a better image in your eyes? Both are tools with distinct advantages and disadvatages. The final output is all that matters to me in the end.

totally stunning dave. gobsmacked.

Well done! It very much pleases the eye.

Beautiful Image. I know Ansel Adams has been mentioned earlier but here are some of my favorite quotes from the master related to post-processing. I'm sure you've seen them but they seem to apply.

"The negative is comparable to the composer's score and the print to its performance. Each performance differs in subtle ways."
"There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs."
"Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships. "
"Photography is more than a medium for factual communication of ideas. It is a creative art."
"Some photographers take reality...and impose the domination of their own thought and spirit. Others come before reality more tenderly and a photograph to them is an instrument of love and revelation."
-Ansel Adams

You're not a photojournalist. You're an artist. Love your work.
Brian

I agree, there's is no photograph that hasn't been post processed, as the taking of any photograph is post processing "reality".

IMO it's about when photography becomes post processing -- when your pictures are not saying so much, but the processing does.

regarding this shot, i agree with many others that you are a master of your style and this shot a brilliant display of that. i would not even try this myself, i would feel like a cheater (and it would NOT be close to this). but to me, this is just too much. it's a great shot without the extreme PP, i'm sure, now it looks unreal and more of a photoshop display-of-talent than a photograph.

Excellent composition, both in the camera and in the post-production. The kite colours are perfect.

absolutely amazing.
and i didn't catch anyone make a comment about the title (i admit i merely skimmed the last... 80 comments) but i actually laughed out loud when i read it.
if i stare at this long enough, tilk will pop-up, right?

Great picture, the patchwork of vibrant colours against the grey etched sky is amazingly effective. Post processing is a fine art just as is the photography itself, and it seems you do amazing jobs in both, well done.

Love this shot. Saw you on the BBC website by the way - HUGE congrats :)
Planning to actually (shock horror) *phone* you people very soon xxx

Beautiful picture! !!!Hermos�sima!!!

Glorious. I have been viewing your work for sometime with admiration and have recommended your site to several people. This in my opinion is just heavenly. It left me in awe and I now have it as my wallpaper (am I allowed) where I can gaze at it endlessly. I adore the different aspects of the colours especially that moody sky. Well done.

nice one fella

Simply WOW!

Absolutely glorious and surreal - it's just beautiful. Fantastic work as usual!

This picture stopped me dead; my first thought was 'damn that is an awesome picture' followed with 'how did he do that?.' I love the otherwordliness of this picture. Thanks for telling us about your post processing because it really helps beginners understand that capturing the initial image is just the first step to a an amazing moment.

All that matters is the final product - I have never been and never will be a 'purist' when it comes to processing. Thanks very much for sharing your technique - this is a perfectly taken and processed image - and that is part of what makes it extremely interesting (and the big, strange kite helps a bit too). I agree with the comment prior by Kim - taking the picture is only the beginning. Great job.

I think the image is wonderful. In a moment of irony we've finally managed to spilt categories in our camera club further. Projected images was split into slide and computer images. The main instigator wanted the change because she felt her slides couldn't compete with "Manipulated Images". I wanted it change for another, more valid, reason. Our competitions had mono print, colour print and projected images with a normal entry of about 5:12:40. We needed them split for size and better fairness. Now a slide can certainly be much better than a manipulated image, or vice versa, depending on the skill of the photographer. Also Grad filters/polarizers/warming filters all present a form of manipulation before the shot is even taken so where is the line drawn? For me nowhere. The only place where we need the full truth unmodified is in our press. After that it's all art. Personally my photos are modified in Photoshop, usually levels/curves/sharpening and cropping. I can do these things in the darkroom through dodging/burning/flashing the paper. I can choose the developer for a certain look, I can choose high or low contrast by grading my paper, or I can even use a split grading method to get a certain tonal look. I can move my easel and get different crops & rotate my images in the process. Have I cheated? NO. If I do digital equivalents, am I no longer a photographer? NO. My viewfinder is a 90% view. Because of this I get more than I saw when I got my shot. I have no objection to cropping what I didn't see, because it wasn't in that shot I took.
I don't usually make an image out of more than one image (except montage) but I don't object to it (unless it's plain bad and then for artistic reasons). For film you can shoot double expose to get your 300mm big moon onto your 28mm landscape, yet others feel moving the moon is wrong in a digital image. Double exposure? More like double standard! Anyway. This image is proof that in ART the end justifies the means. Truth and Art are only distant cousins. Great work. I'm glad too we vote in the extra category. We get 4 images per competition.. I'll brush up my slide stuff now for entry!

too much photshopped... looks un-natural, but from a photoshop perspective, a really great work! :-)

a lot of people might not like to agree with me but i think post-processing is essential. i'd rather show people what i saw in my mind, rather than totally rely on the camera to capture a moment in time (because more often than not, the image caught by the camera is not what the photographer saw). all hail post-processing!

oh, and the shot... i love the composition!

djn, this is just about the most amazing picture I have *ever* seen! (And I have seen A LOT!) ;-) ... just can't stop looking at it!

This picture is okay� if you like that beautiful photography kind of thing. ~ Jay

David,

This is a stunning image of one of our kites. I belong to a group called Flying Circus ( http://www.flyingcircus.info ) who essentially manage kite displays at events. This was just one such event called the Monster Kite Festival as part of Blackpool "Life's a Beach" weekend". The "kite" in the picture is one of our Rotors and is pretty impressive. This one is probably about 12 feet in diameter and when windy can give one heck of a pull. It's not flown like a conventional kite but is usually staked to the ground and left to it's own devices to rotate.

For more photos from the event including ones from the top of the tower see http://www.peterbindon.com/Kites/KiteGallery/2005/Blackpool_2005a.htm - other than a small bit of manipulation there's nothing as extravagant done to my images as yours but I've got to say I'm impressed and have passed on the link to the rest of the Team.

Regards

Peter Bindon

http://www.peterbindon.com
http://www.flyingcircus.info

I'm a little late to the party (the 161st to arrive, yikes!) but WOW Dave. This one is probably one of, well okay I have LOTS of favorites but this one is right up there in the top 10. Well done!! :)

Just wanted to say that the photo is amazing! Excellent work ^_^

that's some good sh**

Phenomenal photo...the colors, the contrasts...everything! It's wonderful!

Amazing composition and vibrant colors. I think this is one of the best you've posted.

Thank you. I like it. It is a great pic. It is maybe what we all want to see...

"this is not the image that was recorded by the camera, at least not in some ways........ it�s roughly what I wanted to see, and for me that�s what counts"

I think with that statement you make the point better than I did on a post on the 'toast' shot (you know what I mean) - this image is not what was in front of the camera, it's been created afterwards. And everybody thinks it's fantastic, so you (and Adobe!!) are vindicated.

Am off to USM my latest 400 shots!

:-)

I find this a beautiful image, but I must admit that I think the colors are unnaturally bright. For me that detracts from the quality. But the flip side is that it wouldn't be as beautiful without that processing.

I love your work, though. And I don't object to post-processing. I just prefer the processing to result in a picture that is more 'natural' looking.

Especially I was riveted to this photograph!
thankｓ.

This is so amazing! wow!

This image is breathtaking, I can only wish to take photographs as good as this one day!

这个非常的漂亮

Not all images need a story, some are enough of their own. This is one.

Well this is a striking image, but I'll add to what others have said regarding your initial comment and what sounds like asking for apporbation for post processing technique. For me the post processing definitely takes it towards graphic art, and away from photography (whatever that is). I think the distinction is implicit in what you said about reproducing what your mind saw or thought it saw. This is the same thing that happens when a painter reproduces an actual scene - he interprets it according to his aim or his reaction, and is creative. A "photograph" records what is there. For me once the photographic medium is repurposed in some way it becomes creative art, along with a multitude of other techniques such as collage etc
My reaction to it as a photograph is that it's rather unnatural looking