I recently was the official event photographer for a local biathlon. I love doing events like this. I walk around, absorb the energy of the event and get to take fun, fabulous, candid shots of people doing something they love and are driven to do. This particular event was an all ages event so there were lots of kids as well as adults. I got this pre-race shot of a heat of kids preparing for their swim.
Admittedly, this is not a great shot from a technical standpoint. But I like the scene: the one girl is poised and focused on the pool while everyone else is focused on something off camera. Who's ready for this race?
But the photographic qualities of the original image detract from the image's story. So, I tried a little
Lightroom magic and made the story a bit better.
I bumped up the light and colors making it just nicer overall. And then I removed a few things from the image that were distracting. Now I really see the girl set apart from her peers. Now I really wonder what they are looking at and what she is missing off camera. Now I really wonder who's ready for this race.
This is a bit like one of those "what's missing" visual puzzles. Can you tell what's missing from the second image?
