I've had my eye on this tattered basketball net for almost a month, and with very little time today to grab a photo, I decided to go for it this morning. These sidewalk basketball hoops started to crop up all over the town about 10 years ago. At one point, the town passed an ordinance banning them, but I've never seen anyone actually try to enforce it. This hoop certainly saw a lot of action the last couple of summers, and I think we can safely say that it's time for a new net. Interestingly, the height of the hoop is adjustable, and it's been fascinating to watch this one get raised gradually over time as the kids using it grew up.
Post processing started with a classic filter in Topaz B&W FX. I was going for a very high contrast presentation, and I noticed that the more I boosted the black, the more the scene took on an artist's rendering style. I really liked the effect, so opted not to pull it back at all. I adjusted color sensitivity sliders, followed by adaptive exposure, regions, boost black, boost white, and contrast. A levels adjustment and a sepia photo filter were added in PSE.
A beautiful shot, with a bit of history, and a hint of the environment in which is exists. The pov is relevant, being what one would see looking up at the net ready to make the throw. Except we don't play this game in England.
