Submitter's name:	Olaf Greve
Title:	Surf's up!
Gear used:	Olympus E-500 + Zuiko 14-45mm F3.5-5.6 lens @ 42mm
Aperture used:	f7.1
Shutter speed used:	1/160th seconds
Media used:	Olympus XD card, set at ISO 100
Subject information:	There were several candidate shots I could work with, amogst which some shots of some nice and expensive houses, seen through a window during a tropical rainshower, causing a heavily blurred and washed out (on in-real-life very saturated) colours. However, I fear these shots to not be of equal appeal to everyone, particularly if they don't know what the scenery normally looks like. The other candidates all consisted of beach shots, amongst which of a dog (yes, a retriever) that was swimming, shaking off the water, etc. However, I opted for this funny shot. The dog was really keen on going on a surf ride, but also went out of its way to NOT get too wet, by making sure it didn't fall off the surfboard. Successfully so, at that! At no point in time did I see the dog in the sea. :) Taking the shot was slightly risky for the camera, there was a pretty strong wind, and lots of sand and water around; not the ideal surroundings for sensitive optical gear... Then, for this shot I had to walk well beyond waist deep into the sea, but fortunately nothing bad happened to the camera, and the shot was worth the effort.
Technical information:	Nothing of interest, just made sure to keep the horizon (sea) level.
Digital trickery:	The base shot was pretty o.k. to work with, though a bit dull for my likings. I applied the "one step photo fix" option of Paint Shop Pro X2, which much improved the contrast, at the cost of making some parts slightly too dark. The only part of the picture where I didn't like that, was the dog's eye, which was almost as dark as the surrounding parts of the dog's face. I 'freehand-selected' the eye, and tweaked the levels on it, so it became substantially lighter, and -IMO- much more pleasing. Finally, I applied an 'unsharp mask', to improve the sharpness of the shot somewhat.
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Comment left by: Wiliam (wiliam@orange.nl)

Surely a risky shot, but it paid off! Wet people and semi wet dog. Dry gear ;-)

Comment left by: Brian Swale (no e-mail specified)

What a character of a dog! I know one which loves to ride on a skate-board, similarly. Well captured.

Comment left by: Rick Beckrich (rick_beckrich@yahoo.com)

Love the dog, Olafo! Great capture.

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