Running... Again?

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  If you know me you know there was a time about 10 years ago or so where I was running. A lot. At least 5 days a week and at least 5 miles a run. I wasn’t training, I wasn’t preparing for a race or a marathon. I just found myself enjoying the time spent running. I wasn’t obsessed with numbers, but I kept track of them all and liked seeing improvements in time and distances. It was good physical health and mental health. Then I tweaked my knee. Not bad enough that I couldn’t walk on it, just a tweak that told me I needed to back off of running for a little bit. So I decided on 2 weeks. At the end of 2 weeks I aborted a run very early as the pain was still there. 2 weeks became 3, became a month, became 5 years. 

Sunset Panorama

6 Shot Sunset Panorama
One heck of a sunset
This started off as one of those shots that I had high hopes for but realistically didn't think much would come of it. In fact when I first got the stitched together photo back into Aperture I was disappointed in the lack of foreground detail. I tried manipulating the RAWs to get some kind of psuedo-HDR going, but there was so little data in the dark foreground that all I got was a lot of artifacts. So I put it away for awhile I wrote it off as lost. When I pulled it up again I decided to embrace the darkness and let the sky have the stage, and I think that was the right way to go. I used a black and white version of this shot for my black and white project. I liked the outcome, but think this version of it works better. You can see that one here.

In terms of processing the shot I didn't do anything extraordinary. Using all Topaz Labs plugins, I adjusted the exposure and colors in Adjust, and played with contrast in the clouds in Clarity. Then, as an experiment, I thought I'd play with Star Effects which enhanced what I was wanting from the sun with some ray streaks. Overall I'm really happy with this shot. I highly suggest clicking on the photo to see it larger.

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