I meet these two truck drivers while hiking down a mountain near Lake George, NY. They were driving RC truck up the mountain path. The two fellows were preparing for competitions that they have nationwide that test their ability to "crawl" up mountain paths with RC trucks. I have heard of such competitions with real size trucks and Jeeps and other 4x4 vehicles but never with radio controlled models. They told me that they practice just about every weekend when they can get away. It looked difficult because every move had to be planned out in advanced. I was told that they grow through two batteries a trip up and down the mountain. I have to admit that the RC trucks looked like they were more apt at hiking the mountain than I was, in fact at one point i even took a tumble on a bunch of accorns that some messy squirrels left on the path as I was hiking down. Nothing was damaged including my camera but I do have a score to settle with some rascally squirrels!
Yeah Ted, I have to agree with you. Any suggestions in saving this? I had to make do with the 20 mm f2.8 on the camera at the time. The two fellows kind of surprised me and I didn't want to lose the opportunity for the shot. Maybe some dodging and burning to get them to stand out more? Appreciate any suggestion.
Frankly, I think if you just cropped it to a close up of the two with the RC truck in the foreground it would stand out much better. No filter or dodging needed, just more focus. The ruggedness of the background and the dress of the gentlemen – as well as the fact that its in B&W (this would NOT have worked in color) – convey the character of the story without all the filler of trees. I'm not sure how much you can enlarge it given the lens, it's hard to say from this online copy if the sharpness is there. I think it's a great image that conveys the story perfectly, there's just too much of it.