tournament play

[Dennis Bishop]

Shuffleboard can be enjoyed by young and old, and it can be played just for fun. Serious shuffleboard is a combination of strategy and athletic prowess. Watching a tournament or competing in one can be very exciting. This facility in Lakeside, Ohio, has hosted local, national, and international tournaments for all ages. What you see here is an early round in a national singles tournament that was held last July. It's early in the match, with the first series of shots from the other end giving black an 8 -7 lead over red. (The game is played to 75.) So far on this end, red has tallied 8. I can't remember the result of the shot you see here or the following ones from this end. However, I do know that, when they returned to the other end, black was leading 23 - 7. In my last series of shots, the scoreboard showed black 67, red 11.





Nikon D3s, ISO 2500, f/11, three-exposure HDR at 1 EV increments, zoom lens at 31mm for the primary part of the image
iPhone 5s, ISO 800, three-exposure HDR at 2 EV increments, PureShot camera app, iPro Super Wide auxiliary lens for the secondary part of the image

processing highlights

• The series of shots used for the secondary part weren't quite symmetrical, so I cropped away half and added a horizontal flip of the remainder. The final step on that part was a fairly light Field Blur following an application of a saved watercolor wash preset in Topaz Simplify.
• The primary part of the image had to endure a lot more processing: Topaz Simplify watercolor, Alien Skin Snap Art watercolor wash, three black-on-white Fractalius layers, black-on-white Simplify and Snap Art edges, and Exposure for the white vignette.
• About a zillion adjustment layers were sprinkled through both parts of the image.

I work on a dual-monitor system, and the image looks somewhat washed-out on this monitor compared to the other on which I can see the original. Hmmm, perhaps it's time to recalibrate. I hope you're seeing the better of the two.

[Diane Miller]

Cool!

How does the image look if you change skins here? That can make a big difference in tonal perception.

[Dennis Bishop]

, , , How does the image look if you change skins here? That can make a big difference in tonal perception.

You're absolutely right about that. In fact, I sometimes do the change in Photoshop just to see what will happen. Strange thing . . . When I wrote that comment about the image looking washed out, I was looking at it through Preview Post (or whatever the term is). Now -- when I look at it after it's posted -- it looks just like it was supposed to. Based on that, both monitors are showing the same thing (thank goodness), and the image undergoes some sort of transformation between when we post it and others see it.

[Anita Bower]

Do you play shuffleboard? It seems any game can be turned into something serious. The only shuffleboards I've encountered where on a ship as a child.
This image has your unique and appealing processing. I think the trees in the bg are a bit too pale or not contrasty enough. The outside border is a clever idea, but I find it quite distracting. I wish I could see the player actually shoving the puck. (I feel badly making these comments.)

[Cheryl Slechta]

Wonderfully creative, Dennis. I love the perspective and I like the way you've framed it.

[Dennis Bishop]

Do you play shuffleboard? It seems any game can be turned into something serious. The only shuffleboards I've encountered where on a ship as a child.
This image has your unique and appealing processing. I think the trees in the bg are a bit too pale or not contrasty enough. The outside border is a clever idea, but I find it quite distracting. I wish I could see the player actually shoving the puck. (I feel badly making these comments.)

Anita, I'm going to respond to your comments in reverse order. Please don't pull any punches when commenting on my images. Above anything else, the reason I'm here is to continue to learn and knowing how others react to my images is part of that.

I second-guessed myself about both the trees and the border. Finally, I decided to both lighten the trees and reduce their contrast (in addition to that of some other things back there) to better show depth and to focus on the players. The first version of this image didn't have a border of any kind. Blurring it a bit was one of the steps taken to render it less distracting. However, I liked its relevance and the curve of the lines.

My first introduction to shuffleboard was on a family vacation somewhere as a kid. As I remember, I wasn't all that taken with it and may not have even seen another court until thirteen years ago when these very courts beckoned to me. At first it was just the challenge of trying to make the discs get to the right place and stop there. Then, through observation and some free lessons, I learned about the offensive and defensive aspects of strategy, and I was hooked. I now have my own cue and competed a couple years ago in a day-long local doubles tournament in which I was a member of the team that won the consolation round.

[Nancy Bell]

Very creative approach of the rectangle image within the super wide angle curve of the shuffleboard floor! I like that you kept a small border of the wide angle lines at the very top to start you eye as it expands around the sides to encase the "normal" scene within the rectangle. I know a total nothing about shuffleboard and had no idea it requires athletic ability and a strategy. I must look it up.

[Anita Bower]

Anita, I'm going to respond to your comments in reverse order. Please don't pull any punches when commenting on my images. Above anything else, the reason I'm here is to continue to learn and knowing how others react to my images is part of that.

I second-guessed myself about both the trees and the border. Finally, I decided to both lighten the trees and reduce their contrast (in addition to that of some other things back there) to better show depth and to focus on the players. The first version of this image didn't have a border of any kind. Blurring it a bit was one of the steps taken to render it less distracting. However, I liked its relevance and the curve of the lines.

My first introduction to shuffleboard was on a family vacation somewhere as a kid. As I remember, I wasn't all that taken with it and may not have even seen another court until thirteen years ago when these very courts beckoned to me. At first it was just the challenge of trying to make the discs get to the right place and stop there. Then, through observation and some free lessons, I learned about the offensive and defensive aspects of strategy, and I was hooked. I now have my own cue and competed a couple years ago in a day-long local doubles tournament in which I was a member of the team that won the consolation round.

Thanks for the reassurance about comments. I, too, appreciate honest critiques. The people on this forum can give critical comments while being very nice about it. When I critique, my understanding is that the final arbiter is the photographer him/her self.

Shuffleboard aboard a small freighter with only 40 or so passengers, was enlivened by the sway of the boat!