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Chicago. Springtime. Cubs.
I took this image from the bleacher seats before the start of
a Saturday Cubs game at Wrigley Field. I was attracted to the way this
scene typifies the ballpark experience, and the nice gamut of colors. The
sky was overcast, which allowed for the great color saturation that simply
wouldn't exist in stronger sunlight.
This photo was taken with a used Canon S50 I bought about
four months ago. I wanted a compact companion to my Canon 10D SLR --
something easier to carry when out with friends, that didn't require a sacrifice
in image quality and advanced controls. I've been very happy. The
camera's color rendition is superb, as this image indicates.
This photo has undergone some changes in the
digital darkroom. I started with a minimal amount of color correction.
As I've come to expect from the S50, I found the levels to already be dead-on
accurate, but made a slight curves adjustment to make the whites true-er and
reduce some minimal glare. Next I used a USM polishing technique I picked
up from Melanie Kipp .
Finally, I realized that I needed to clone-out my hand from the frame. It
was distracting -- as body parts "cut" by the frame often are in photography --
and needed to go. I couldn't find a crop that I was happy with, so I
reconciled myself to "adulterating" the photo. As a general rule, I don't
like to use this type of heavy-handed manipulation unless it's something that I
already planned on doing when I took the photo. I should have composed the
frame properly to begin with. Using digital tools just feels like
cheating. For that reason, my heart wasn't really into it and I did a
quick hatchet job -- just enough to pass a first inspection.In the end, I'm
quite happy. Rather than simple snapshots from the day, I returned with
something a bit more enduring. So, this camera served it's purpose.
It allowed me to enjoy unencumbered time with my friends, yet still provide an
opportunity to exercise my artistic vision.
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