Kathy Buckard  

BLUE MACHINE by Kathy Buckard

July 2025 - BLUE MACHINE

About the Image(s)

Every year in Naples, Florida during the winter months, they hold events called Swamp Buggy Races. After hearing about these events for several years, my husband and I finally got to attend one. What a terrific time we had. The bleachers were packed, the crowd cheered, the mud flew, and the water sprayed! The event only lasted about four hours, but it was certainly action packed. Many vehicles nose-dived, drivers had to push their way out, others spun their wheels in mud and ended up covered themselves in mud, however, the experienced ones flew around the course spraying water in all directions. A great photographic opportunity!
Nikon D500, Lens 70-300, Focal Length 260, Shutter Priority, Speed 2000, F/9. I use Photo Shop Elements to process images.

11 comments posted

Bob Legg   Bob Legg
Hi Kathy, Welcome to DD29. A beautiful image you have created here. The blue color was an ideal choice for this type of racing. Your composition is very good but maybe a tad shy of catching the rooster tail effect on the right side. Your shutter speed is perfect for stopping and displaying the spray. Spray job is fantastic. With nothing happening with the driver, the spray is next most important. (In my mind). I don't have any suggestions for improving your image. Very well done.   Posted: 07/06/2025 16:22:47
Kathy Buckard   Kathy Buckard
Thank you for your comments. It was just luck that the race car was blue! It really was a fun filled day.   Posted: 07/09/2025 00:44:04
Elaine Miller   Elaine Miller
Nice action shot! The blue stands out nicely against the water. I like that the machine is so large in the scene.   Posted: 07/07/2025 13:12:47
Kathy Buckard   Kathy Buckard
These machines were very powerful and fortunately our seats were quite close to the action. First time at this event so I wasn't quite sure what to expect but came away with a lot of action shots and a lot of deletes!   Posted: 07/09/2025 00:47:06
Karen Harris   Karen Harris
Welcome to the group. I love your image. I would not change a thing.   Posted: 07/07/2025 16:12:30
Kathy Buckard   Kathy Buckard
Thank you for your kind words, look forward to seeing more of everyone's work.   Posted: 07/09/2025 00:42:24
Tim Sanders   Tim Sanders
Welcome Kathy,
A super action shot, I have slightly cropped it and opened the shadows. See what you think.   Posted: 07/07/2025 17:50:59
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Kathy Buckard   Kathy Buckard
I like what you did with opening the shadows. Will have to remember that in the future. I use Photo Shop Elements and know that under Enhance I can adjust the shadows, so I will try it there, thank you.   Posted: 07/09/2025 00:40:58
Judy Burr   Judy Burr
Kathy, If you have NIK plugins, you can open shadows in Viveza which I think works better than enchance. Just MHO.   Posted: 07/09/2025 18:12:15
Judy Burr   Judy Burr
Welcome to the group, Kathy--especially nice to have a fellow PSElements user in the group. I love your shot, but wonder if you got soaked in the process. I never heard of this event but used to spend time in the Bradenton/Sarasota visiting photo buddies. This does look like a lot of fun and digital makes it more economic. I shot slides for years and am glad to do digital now. The spray is great and makes the picture.   Posted: 07/09/2025 17:53:34
Bob Wills   Bob Wills
Hi Kathy, I really like your action shot. I've never been to Naples, but I'm sure it was a fun trip. The diagonal adds to the action, and I think it is sharp and well exposed. I like Tim's version also, so I'll give you some more choices. I created a copy in LR, changed the WB and Profile to Auto, used a Lens Blur, and finally a light vignette. I also like it more contrasty like this too. I assume most of the LR features are available in Elements. Great start in DD29.   Posted: 07/10/2025 18:18:17
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