Every year, NASA holds a competition that, for 20 years, was called the "NASA Great Moonbuggy Race." For 2014, the race has been renamed to the "NASA Rover Challenge" and will be held in Huntsville, Alabama April 10-12,2014. The goal of the new challenge is to provide hands-on experience to students that will be instrumental in the design and management of NASA's future manned deep-space missions.
The Rhode Island School of Design typically participates in the challenge, and 2014 is no exception. Today's photo shows a RISD student testing the GPS system he is building for their entry. There are two components to the design, one of which uses GPS positioning, and the other detects atmospheric pressure to gauge elevation. While neither of those systems would be viable on a deep-space mission, naturally, the navigation systems being designed are critical for an earth-based robotic race. Interestingly, when we think of RISD, only the arts come to mind. Here, though, is a clear application of the school's creative processes in the scientific field through participation in a challenge that we'd normally associate with the engineering schools.
Once again for this photo, I equipped the 35mm f/1.4L. I'm still trying to learn the nuances of this lens, and that can only happen through immersion. In this case, I set the aperture to f/5.6 since I wanted some background blur to bring the subject into the forefront, but I wanted the distant skyline to be recognizable. In retrospect, I think I should have gone a bit wider - maybe f/4, but hey, that's what I mean about learning the lens! I really like how I was able to get within about three feet of the subject for this photo. For me, street photography works best when I can put the viewer right into the scene, so getting very close to the subject in this fashion is essential for the style I prefer.
Post processing started with a classic filter in Topaz B&W FX. I adjusted color sensitivity sliders (to improve the contrast), adaptive exposure, regions, boost black, contrast, and protect highlights. A levels adjustment was added in PSE.
Here's the high res version in Smugmug:
http://kannafoot.smugmug.com/Photo-Challenges/PAD2013/i-4cKGqLb/0/XL/2013%2011%2001_0026%20copy-XL.jpg
I enjoyed reading your musings on your new lens, and I would agree that more background blur might have made your subject stand out more. I really like how he is working on his computer while sitting on a sidewalk!
@carys Thank you, Carys!
@fadeaway Thanks, Doxa! Sometimes simplicity works so much better than a complex, busy photo.