Picture of the day - April 6, 2009

"Competition"

Photo courtesy of Winston Rockwell.          (Click on the photo for a larger view) Master photographer Winston Rockwell has submitted some of the most stunning landscape images ever featured on TodaysPhoto.org, but today's offering is quite a departure from that genre of photography. The following is his story behind the image: "Competition is part of American life. We make everything into a contest to see who can go the fastest, who can score the most points, who can earn the most money. We elevate sports almost to an obsession, and spend hundreds of dollars to attend baseball or football games to watch athletes who make more in a month than most of us will earn in a lifetime. In many ways, it's a shame to see the concept of competition distorted beyond recognition by players' salaries that could pay for education or medicine or food for an entire town in many parts of the world. But we don't need to stretch our battered budgets to the breaking point by going to overpriced games between professionals playing in billion-dollar stadiums in order to enjoy the action. On any week- end, we can find sporting events to attend in almost any city or town that cost nothing to watch, yet let us experience the thrill of competition. I've always had a soft spot for the game of rugby. I played myself for five years in high school and college, and though my playing days are much farther behind me than I care to admit, I still enjoy watching a well-played match. This weekend was the last home game of the season for a local rugby club, and the weather promised to cooperate, so I thought I'd go stand on the sidelines with my cameras and see what I could get. I took a number of shots, but this one seemed to really capture the rush of action and the speed of the game."   --Winston Rockwell This photograph was taken with a Canon EOS 5D and Tamron SP24-135 lens at 135mm, 1/50 sec @ f/16. Visit www.northwestnaturalimagery.com where you can enjoy many more of Winston Rockwell's wonderful images.     Visitor Comments... Name: Edgar Watson Town: Amarillo, TX This is an outstanding action shot. The "panning" process was done to perfection, and it shows when carefully studying the image. Notice how the offensive player's body is in sharp focus while everything else is blurred? Great job on this one Mr. Rockwell. You're quite a photographer even when you step out of your "comfort zone".     Name: Audrey Slocumb Town: Sydney, Australia A wonderful piece of work to be sure. Technically perfect in every respect, not to mention the hunky guys featured within!     Name: Phyllis Helton Town: Bristol, VA Great photo and amen to the commentary!     Name: Ron Trees Town: Spokane, WA Great job on this one Rocky!! You nailed this action shot extremely well! As soon as I saw the pic was of Rugby, I was pretty sure it was one of yours. I always enjoy your photos!     Name: Gordon Brugman Town: Gatlinburg, TN Think about how lifeless and static this shot would be if all the motion was completely frozen by a high shutter speed. Great use of slow speed/panning on this image. Kudos!   Comment on today's picture  |  View previous "Pictures Of The Day"  |  Submit a photo Why I publish the "Picture Of The Day"