Grand Prix: Thanks much! That magazine feel was exactly what I was going for - maybe an old Car & Driver or something. Glad you liked it.
andrea: Well, I won't tell the other sets you don't like 'em as much. What they don't know won't hurt 'em.
sems4arsenal: That shot was tricky - trying to bring in
any extra light via curves brought out heavy banding, so I had to really be subtle with it. Glad you enjoyed it!
sejtur: Thanks - will do!
grrlpurple: Glad you liked it, grrl.
boozybloke: Well, I don't know about
every week, but at least I'd stand a chance if HDR was allowed.
I swear, if I ever do win the 2.0 competition, my theme will be HDR - if ever I win. Ugh.
That first 'ring shot's grown on me since I created it - I almost went without the lens flare, but I worked on adjusting it (with a hue/sat and a curves layer clipped to it) to make it more subtle and real looking. It's gimmicky, I know, but you can get away with it now and then.
chromatic9: Thank you - seems that's the crowd favorite at the moment.
Cod_Father: You got
exactly the vibe I was going for; I'm glad it came across! Now, about that drool...
bmxmitch: Thanks! Well, I've been working on an HDR tutorial off and on for a bit now, and should have it up tomorrow or Sunday, so hopefully you can get some good tips from that. In the meantime, I'll be sure to pop into your gallery and see if I can provide any useful feedback.
SVX: Thanks, SVX! It's tough to get anything but good shots at the 'ring when the light's right. It's actually sun
rise - not that it matters, but if anyone's trying to recreate that light, it was set at around 6:00 a.m. if I recall correctly. That way, the sun is directly behind the car when you go down the long straight at the end - sunset doesn't work quite the same way... my
300SL was shot near sunset and, though it's still a good shot, the atmosphere is very different.
ALL: Well, it seems the 'ring has, once again, garnered fans. No love for Monza, huh?
It's a real shame we can't set time and weather conditions at
all tracks. I've been playing around a bit with the course creator and have a sunrise and sunset layout at Eifel that could prove useful, so I'll be sure to include one or two shots in my next set from there. (One of them runs right fairly close to the castle ruins - going to have to see how I can use them.)
Also, I am still finishing up that HDR tutorial I've been talking about forever. Should post it sometime tomorrow or Sunday - it won't be here in my gallery, but I'll post a link to it from here so it'll be easy to find.
Thanks again for all the comments - if you've just stopped by for the first time, feel free to jump into the conversation... I'm always happy to answer questions or take constructive suggestions.