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Anatomy of a Cyclist
Anatomy of a Cyclist
Shmee

Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Fitness (Basic Editing)
Camera: Nikon D70s
Lens: Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED
Location: Moscow, Idaho
Date: Apr 2, 2007
Galleries: Still Life, Nude
Date Uploaded: Apr 3, 2007

 First off, I recenently changed my name from Ware3927 to shmee

Woohoow! A new personal best and a fifth place! The funny thing is that now all of my top four entries are black and white...and I've only entered 8 out of 31 entries in black and white. Hm...maybe I should start doing more black and white shots!

Thanks everyone for the constructive comments!

Anyway, the setup:
Black bed sheet as the background and one flood light on each side for side lighting. I messed around with the position to get the best muscle definition.

The man on the bike is my boyfriend :) He has very little body fat and huge leg muscles. He was very self conscious about doing this, and especially about seeing the finished product.

I agree with many of the comments about the cropping. I do like the photo without the head and hands cropped off better, but thought this crop still worked pretty well without ruining the shot. The photo is about the body, not the person. I tried cropping all of the head off, but then it was just this floating body with no head...it was really wierd to me. I think we're all just used to seeing the full head, and it seems odd to see a photo with part of the head cropped off.

Post processing: Very little.
RAW conversion in Photoshop, desaturate, curves, a tiny bit of neat image to get rid of the grain in the background, and sharpen.

Statistics
Place: 5 out of 91
Avg (all users): 6.6023
Avg (commenters): 7.4231
Avg (participants): 6.2162
Avg (non-participants): 6.6652
Views since voting: 7778
Views during voting: 708
Votes: 264
Comments: 30
Favorites: 2 (view)

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AuthorThread
 04/11/2007 06:08:14 AM
Hey way to go. Shmee!!! This is awesome! Yeah. . you definitley have the black and white magic touch! Congratulations!

  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/10/2007 08:18:25 PM
oops, accidentally wrote my "photographer comments" in the thread part

Message edited by author 2007-04-11 00:43:40.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
04/10/2007 09:04:29 AM
one fo the best in the challenge but the shadow across the chest does take a little awy from the picutre. regardless i still like this photo a lot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/10/2007 05:14:57 AM
nicely done
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/09/2007 04:30:24 PM
Great clarity, and just overall great photo.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/09/2007 04:04:32 PM
Superbe...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/09/2007 09:19:11 AM
Great shot! This should do well for you!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/08/2007 10:40:21 PM
watch out for speed bumps!! 7
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/08/2007 09:06:30 PM
dont like how part of his face is cut off. either all or none should be, IMO
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/07/2007 10:36:38 PM
I have a feeling you are getting seat comments. cool pic for me - definitly different than so many!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/07/2007 03:34:03 PM
Very nicely done !
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/07/2007 07:40:14 AM
The crop is distracting to me. I want to see his hands and the top of his head. I love the idea and the lighting choice.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/07/2007 06:27:04 AM
OWWWW! But a great shot and a helluva nicely cut model!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/07/2007 06:20:35 AM
Wow..I love the photo, would have been nice to have a bit more of the front wheel and full face/hands included. However, still really great!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/06/2007 03:16:17 PM
perfect lighting and composition..one of the best in this challenge. It should ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/06/2007 01:04:25 PM
I wish you hadn't cut his head off, i feel like he can't move anywhere with the frame cut. Very nice lighting though and great clarity.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/06/2007 05:57:24 AM
interesting and disturbing for the sheer fact that it looks like he's got a bike seat up his bum...still a great shot...10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/06/2007 02:37:57 AM
less is more
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/05/2007 03:25:34 PM
may be you should have lightened the bicycle as well? 7.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/05/2007 01:41:42 PM
ouch!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/05/2007 10:51:45 AM
hope you have one of those new prostate seats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/05/2007 09:44:33 AM
I gave this one a high score. Really says "fitness" to me. The b&w is very well done (so often it just seems like a ploy to rescue a bad photo, but not in this case).
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/05/2007 07:41:08 AM
why so cropped?? well lighted!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/05/2007 02:26:20 AM
Good picture, the fact that his half face and hands are out of the composition somehow attracts me. The only thing that I don't like is the shadow of the arm on the breast. 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/04/2007 05:22:26 PM
That does not look comfortable. Also - the crop of the head at the eyes looks awkward.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/04/2007 05:12:46 AM
Looks painful. Great lighting and composition.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/04/2007 03:03:30 AM
Nice idea and the light is very good - but I would have liked a less cropped version. IMO you've ruined a picture that could have been excellent.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/04/2007 02:39:06 AM
One of the best IMHO... good luck.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/03/2007 10:19:42 PM
Excellent Shot.
Good lighting on the rider, although I would like to see it with the bike a little more lit.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/03/2007 09:57:57 PM
I don't like the cropping of the face. Would have been a 10, but now it's a 9.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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