London 2012 BMX Multi Jump Final

Yesterday 9 August I got to visit the Olympic Park. The UK allocation of tickets was vastly oversubscribed. The first and second rounds of tickets distributed in lotteries were vastly oversubscribed and my applications for the Velodrome got nowhere. However this year when extra tickets came up for some events I got a ticket for the BMX, men’s quarter finals.

This picture was taken when they were warming up and I liked it for the appearance it gives of them jumping over the Games Maker Volunteer who is actually on a nearer part of the track.

The picture was taken handheld with a Sony A700 with a Sigma 28-200 zoom at 180mm. The image was opened in Camera Raw and 3 additional images were created at +2EV and -2Ev for a “false HDR” with each image having Noiseware Pro applied.  A Photoshop action I had saved was used to create the extra images automatically. The images were saved as tiffs.  

The HDR was created using Photmatix using the Fusion method for a more realistic look.

Photomatix

Outputted in Photomatix to Fusion adjusted.

Photoshop

Topaz Adjust, Vibrance clarity preset.

The image took place on the opposite side of the arena from my seat so even at 180 mm there was a lot of cropping used to get the best composition. I used the patch and clone tools to remove distracting Officials and a speaker from the stands area above the riders.

Adjustment layers were used for Levels, curves, brightness and Vibrance to enhance. I used a black layer mask on the first adjustment and then a white brush to bring back the adjustment only for the riders and bikes. This layer mask was then copied to all the other adjustment layers to make the riders stand out from the image.

Layers flattened before going on to sharpening.

Duplicate layer Noiseware Pro and standard sharpening with Unsharp mask

BEFORE AND AFTER

Below are the Before and After images. First the original image. Then the fused image and then the final result after pan blur and adjustments.

Original at 0EV

London 2012 BMX Multi Jump Original

Tonemapped image Fusion Method

London 2012 BMX Multi Jump Fused

Final Image

London 2012 BMX Multi Jump Final

Note that as this image was taken on private property with strict restrictions on the professional use of images in the Ticket Conditions this image is not available for sale.

Edwin Jones