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Konica Minolta Users | all galleries >> KM Challenges >> C9: Touch of Colour - hosted by John down under >> #9: Touch of Colour - Competition > The Joy of Flight by Plamen Antonov
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28-MAY-2004

The Joy of Flight by Plamen Antonov

It's good to return from a holiday and see the next challenge open - especially with such a theme. Here is what I just captured at BIAF 2004.

Minolta DiMAGE 7Hi
1/1000s f/5.6 at 50.7mm iso100 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time28-May-2004 10:39:43
MakeMinolta
ModelDiMAGE 7Hi
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length50.7 mm
Exposure Time1/1000 sec
Aperturef/5.6
ISO Equivalent100
Exposure Bias
White Balance
Metering Modematrix (5)
JPEG Quality (6)
Exposure Programprogram (2)
Focus Distance

other sizes: small medium original auto
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Ingo Rautenberg 31-May-2004 15:11
Great composition and texture. I'd agree that selecting one or two colors to the exclusion of others in this image wouldn't work. Very nice.

Ingo
Guest 29-May-2004 17:08
I really like this one, and I'm glad you left it intact. The colour focus works well without resorting to 'selective colour for selective colour's sake'.

I'm surprised to read you had your feet firmly planted on the ground for this one. I would have believed you if you'd told me you were mid-air with your D7 strapped to your helmet with duct-tape!
Guest 29-May-2004 08:08
Thanks all for the comments!
I was thinking about removing the color from the BG, but decided not to do it - IMO the colourful chute and the guy are right on their place with the blue sky - the sky should be blue, not gray and it is an important part of the picture. Generally I'm almost always against BW.
The airfield environment is pretty good for me - it always carries some very special spirit. Unfortunately I've never jumped out of properly functioning aircraft :-)) - a lack of courage may be or a lack of that specific parachutist's "madness". Instead of that I made a short flight with Italian P-92S Echo plane (only 500kg take-off weight, 100hp engine (my car has 115hp)) - the feeling is great and makes me thinking seriously about taking a pilot's license - it's too bad that the BIG BOSS wont approve that... :-) at least not now...
I used the normal cotinuous advance mode as it gives a short display between the frames thus allowing you to follow your target - this picture is a part of 5 to 7 frames sequence. I was lucky enough to be close to the parachutists target point at front of the Pilatus' pavilion - I was just discussing the new PC-9M with their representative when the chute glided silently over us. I left the picture as is, just cropped about 10% from bottom right. The Raynox 1.54 lense also performed well despite of some vignetting that is easy to be cropped out. The biggest problem with the 7Hi (and the Raynox) is the lack of real infinity - autofocusing against the sky and a small target is always a problem and MF is preferable, but turning the ring to the end results in something farther than infinity, then you have to put the camera close to your ear, return the ring untill hearing 2 or 3 movements of the focusing motor (with jet engines and propellers roaring around) and then the focus should be OK untill the next occasional touch of the ring - then "goto begin". It's interesting what Minolta thinks about that.
Guest 29-May-2004 06:16
Hi Plamen,
It's great to have you back and it's great to see such a bold display of colour. Why am I not surprised that you have taken to the air with your first entry? ;o) I was wondering when the first rainbow effort would appear and you have delivered the goods nice and early. I like your composition here. The colours of the parachute canopy contrast nicely against the dark parachutist and the lighter sky so that we know it is the parachute itself and not the parachutist that is the subject. What I had in mind with C9 would lead me to desaturate everything except the colours of the parachute in your pic and this would make it even stronger in working with the C9 theme, at least IMHO.
Cheers, John
Claudio Gatti29-May-2004 02:44
Hi Plamen,

Very nice. The composition is great, and the colors contrast works great. Did you use the high speed mode of your 7Hi for this capture? Great timing!

Claudio
adrianox29-May-2004 01:19
g8 capture! - i suspect i'd be looking for a helmet just around now - u also skydive? - seems like u are pretty comfortable in the environment.
Bruce T Jones28-May-2004 22:19
Nice and bold! Very nice capture. The bright colors nicely contrast the parachutist.