Describing powerkiting: Like holding the leashes of two big dogs who have just spotted a rabbit, only faster and more fun. Yesterday we had strong wind so I took out the kite for a ride. Today I feel my back and hands... Next time (after I fix a broken airframe) Ella's going for a shot of me in midair ;)

(close)

• he is doing well to hold on! looks like hard work indeed :)
  david kleinert @ 2006-October-25 11:53
• Nice caption! Really looks like a strong and rebellious kite...
  Patrick @ 2006-October-25 15:43
• Goodness! You say you've been in a slum?! This is great! The capture and composition are both perfect. The colour is wonderful. Fantastic!
  percy @ 2006-October-25 17:17
• Great toning of the image and the muscles . . and storming composition.
  AG @ 2006-October-25 17:45
• schöne Farben und ein Bild voller Dynamik, man kann die Brise förmlich spüren :)
  Karl @ 2006-October-25 19:47
• Awesome. The meaning is just so sweet. Also, I love the intensity of the image. The wrinkles in his clothing show the power of the wind, and the toning only enhances that. The composition stands out as well. Great shot.
  Gabriel Loeb @ 2006-October-26 03:39
• Thank you guys!
  I've been asked by mail about the postprocessing, so I'll just share it here:
  
  The image originally had extreme contrast i.e. the sky was too bright and the ground too dark, barely avoiding clipping at both the extremes. So I developed two neutral image from RAW 1EV apart (still in color), and put them through Photomatix to get an HDR with equalized brightness. In PS I used Selective Color to further adjust the brightness of grass and sky, then converting to B&W using the double hue and saturation layer method (google digidaan). Some curve adjustments for contrast and finally another curve for the grading. Oh, and resizing and sharpening of course!
  
  Take care.
  sknop @ 2006-October-26 08:46
• hey guys, nice to see a new post. It's definitely a cool shot with a great color tone! Hope to see more in the future!!
  Kris [PiXistenZ] @ 2006-October-26 11:47
• It's all about the wind at your back - the plastered and wind wrinkled appearance adds so much to the preceived energy of this shot.
  Turfdigger @ 2006-October-26 16:17
• Thanks a ton for the postprocessing information. I really dig the look of this image.
  Eric @ 2006-October-26 22:47
• I come to think about the struggle between david and goliat. love the processing and the angle of the shot.
  eterisk @ 2006-November-2 22:52
• funky processing! i like it and the perspective too!
  elaine @ 2007-February-14 13:44
• Cool. You can really see the struggle. Man vs. wind.
  sarala @ 2008-January-20 18:28