Martin Newland, QPSA  


Four wheel drive by Martin Newland, QPSA

July 2021 - Four wheel drive

July 2021 - Martin Newland, QPSA

Original

About the Image(s)

While driving to Arkaroola in the far north of South Australia we stopped in the small township of Copley (Population: 72) for a rest break and a cup of coffee.
As I was getting out of the Toyota Land Cruiser, I saw this fellow driving up the main street in his "gopher". This was the last thing I expected to see in an environment reserved mainly for four wheel drive vehicles. I only had seconds to grab my camera and catch him in full flight. (Don't be alarmed, we drive on the left hand side of the road here).
I know he should be driving into the image with negative space on the left hand side, but there was little time to compose the shot and I wanted to include the road signs behind him and crop out the "Stobie pole" on camera left.
Although the original image was taken in RAW, the lighting was harsh and the final processed and cropped image is not the greatest quality.
I have included the original image as well as the cropped image.

Camera: Canon 5D Mkiii, 1/80sec, f/18, ISO 100
Lens: Canon EF24 - 105mm f/4L IS USM @ 88mm


This round’s discussion is now closed!
5 comments posted




Jaqueline Whalen   Jaqueline Whalen
Martin, I did not fully appreciate your cropping skills until looking at the original. Well done! I might think to play around with the cropping a bit and put him more to the center of the photo. Actually if you crop in just to the left of the Brown sign and crop in on the right to loose the green signs, it almost looks like he is driving right at you, the viewer. Makes it fun to see what can be done with a quick snap. I bet that guy is quite a character!   Posted: 07/02/2021 10:35:28



Shirley Pohlman   Shirley Pohlman
Phew, I'm glad I don't have to drive those streets because I would need an interpreter's book for the signs. I feel all those signs add to the story of his travels--wherever he may be going. I'm fascinated to see how your cropping seems to have brought him closer to the signs and the landscape. I am not bothered by your breaking the rules of where he should be positioned. I know he's coming right at me!   Posted: 07/02/2021 16:23:13



Piers Blackett   Piers Blackett
My initial impression is "grit" for this man to explore the outback like that. Great choice of f-stop for the story and subsequent cropping, but I think you could add some sky. There is a slight problem with image isolation between the man's orange flag and the road sign. The sign could be clipped but would break a PJ rule probably, so you could have looked for an earlier image if you had shot a burst. To me driving on the left is normal!   Posted: 07/04/2021 19:42:18



 
A nice street photo.It is sharp.Good composition.
  Posted: 07/14/2021 22:56:36



Jim Wulpi   Jim Wulpi
Martin,
This is another fun image, a grab-shot in the moment.
You did well to crop on the left to eliminate the major pole, while still capturing the essence of the road signage, which truly adds to the story. Keeping more sky might have made a slight difference, but the man on his "Gopher" is priceless.   Posted: 07/27/2021 15:22:29