Shot of the Olympics taken with a Nikon Z9

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I can’t understand why some people would even think that the photo of Gabriel Medina by Monsieur Brouillet could be fake, or manipulated, or even questionable.

The photo of Gabriel for me is perfectly fine, it’s not uncommon to get a rider flying through the air of a huge wave at the finish, as a passionate surfer myself its half the fun especially in big surf.

Monsieur Brouillet was in the right place at the right time, he knew his subject and sport, chose the perfect tools, he captured the moment really well, brilliant good on him, he is also honest and humble about it, for myself its defiantly a money shot moment as we call it.

Going Viral is fantastic and may encourage the young to the sport or even photography...........

A good photographer or craftsman can achieve great outcomes with almost any camera tools or brand.

I believe Monsieur Brouillet used for this application a Z9 100-400 ?? a perfect tool choice especially the 100-400 focal range, if you’re on a boat out there and with short quick subject runs in the barrel and on the wave, the zoom is a perfect choice as the 100-400 is very hand holdable. You have the crop ability from 45mp if needed for more reach or different composition, the camera focus attack speed, and the lens versatility to get the reach shots as well as any close in paparazzi moments, after all its about content in a photo or being different that matters most of all especially to the publishers.

How quick you get files onto the desk is also key. Canon is really been focusing on that.

Only an opinion
 
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fcotterill said:
It will be interesting to see how Deep-Learning AF modes develop over the next few years. True to tradition, Sports photography is a principal catalyst for the R&D camera engineers are investing into this technology. After first releases in flagships, it should be rolled out in more affordable cameras (if the Nikon strategy becomes standard ie Z9 >Z8>Zf>Z6 III).

Bird and Animal Subject Detection have become extremely useful - if not invaluable - for modern wildlife photography. In the pro sports arena, the latest Deep-Learning innovations and high fidelity for human face recognition (Canon R1) can even enable tracking an individual athlete within a team - as currently being showcased in Paris

blog.jeffcable.com

Capturing photos of the men from USA Gymnastics - Wow, this Canon R1 is AMAZING!

Jeff Cable Photography, USA, Gymnastics, Olympics, Paris 2024, Summer, Canon R1, Canon R5 II
blog.jeffcable.com blog.jeffcable.com
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Very posative feed back from the R1 user Jeff Cable, a signe of more things to come...........intresting times ahead..........great artical.

Only an opinion
 
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O said:
I can’t understand why some people would even think that the photo of Gabriel Medina by Monsieur Brouillet could be fake, or manipulated, or even questionable.
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It has been suggested, probably mistakenly IMO, the band of horizontal white sky under the surfer "proves" the image has been manipulated.

I doubt this does anything of the sort.

The white cloud area seems slightly more out of focus than the nearer possibly cumulus clouds.
On close examination the white cloud area does not seem to me to have a perfectly straight edge - previously suggested as part of the "proof" of manipulation.

If there was distant high cloud about 2 hours before the photo was taken it can form fairly though not precisely straight edges in the distant sky.
If cumulus clouds then formed underneath these would obscure some but not all the higher more distant clouds and being a little closer to the camera would be a little sharper - as they seem to be.

I was not there and so cannot provide further clarification, other than to say occasionally on a hot summer afternoon similar cloud effects occasionally occur in the UK.
 
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Len Shepherd said:
It has been suggested, probably mistakenly IMO, the band of horizontal white sky under the surfer "proves" the image has been manipulated.

I doubt this does anything of the sort.

The white cloud area seems slightly more out of focus than the nearer possibly cumulus clouds.
On close examination the white cloud area does not seem to me to have a perfectly straight edge - previously suggested as part of the "proof" of manipulation.

If there was distant high cloud about 2 hours before the photo was taken it can form fairly though not precisely straight edges in the distant sky.
If cumulus clouds then formed underneath these would obscure some but not all the higher more distant clouds and being a little closer to the camera would be a little sharper - as they seem to be.

I was not there and so cannot provide further clarification, other than to say occasionally on a hot summer afternoon similar cloud effects occasionally occur in the UK.
Click to expand...

Yep, Stratus/Cumulus/Strato-Cumulus can all have a fairly flat base, maybe the person(s) suggesting the photo has been manipulated wasn’t aware. As you have suggested, it possibly is Cloud (stratus) that have formed earlier and further back, a bit higher than the foreground low Cumulus clouds, partially obscured by them, giving that weird appearance of a flat base p-shopped in there.

Anyway, as mentioned earlier, a very nice photo, great timing, and a fair bit of luck.
 
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Len Shepherd said:
It has been suggested, probably mistakenly IMO, the band of horizontal white sky under the surfer "proves" the image has been manipulated.

I doubt this does anything of the sort.

The white cloud area seems slightly more out of focus than the nearer possibly cumulus clouds.
On close examination the white cloud area does not seem to me to have a perfectly straight edge - previously suggested as part of the "proof" of manipulation.

If there was distant high cloud about 2 hours before the photo was taken it can form fairly though not precisely straight edges in the distant sky.
If cumulus clouds then formed underneath these would obscure some but not all the higher more distant clouds and being a little closer to the camera would be a little sharper - as they seem to be.

I was not there and so cannot provide further clarification, other than to say occasionally on a hot summer afternoon similar cloud effects occasionally occur in the UK.
Click to expand...
When i have sent images into the desk taken of a major event, surfing world titles, national soccer matches, i have found the desk - publishes had through there system generically tweaked or effected the image, the core subject was ok but different parts were effected in some way sometimes more than others.

Could it be the original image is fine ? i even find editing an image on my PC with out PS, versus the Mac with PS, simply has a massive effect on the image outcome, only a consideration, the shot itself is simple and not unusual to capture just timed well.

Only an opinion
 
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beano said:
Yep, Stratus/Cumulus/Strato-Cumulus can all have a fairly flat base, maybe the person(s) suggesting the photo has been manipulated wasn’t aware. As you have suggested, it possibly is Cloud (stratus) that have formed earlier and further back, a bit higher than the foreground low Cumulus clouds, partially obscured by them, giving that weird appearance of a flat base p-shopped in there.

Anyway, as mentioned earlier, a very nice photo, great timing, and a fair bit of luck.
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I’ve been watching with some interesting. I opined that I felt there was potentially issues with the photo. There is no evidence of me using the word “proves”, that’s someone’s spin on it.
Out of all the comments only Beano has made some attempt to explain some of what I questioned. As for others, it was like I was slaughtering one of their sacred cows.
Statements like why some people would even think that the photo of Gabriel Medina by Monsieur Brouillet could be fake, or manipulated . I only have one comment at this point…. Lance Armstrong… enough said.

Why do people cheat? It’s a dog eat dog world. Some will do anything for an edge.
I offered an opinion which was open to logical, reasoned discussion. Apart from the aforementioned Beano, most commentary was dismissive or derisive.
It seems that many have opinions but theirs are not subject to the derision of Plato. Did someone say glass houses?

Anyway, back to our mate Beano, he makes some good points about cloud formation which has prompted me to view some of the various video footage more closely.

Despite the cameraman’s POV being rotated from where video was shot, there is indeed evidence of horizontal cloud formation in the background. I accept that my opinion was made without all facts.

As for the artifices I mention, I believe (oh damn, another opinion) that it is likely attributable to slightly heavy handed localised sharpening.
 
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Steve W said:
I’ve been watching with some interesting. I opined that I felt there was potentially issues with the photo. There is no evidence of me using the word “proves”, that’s someone’s spin on it.
Out of all the comments only Beano has made some attempt to explain some of what I questioned. As for others, it was like I was slaughtering one of their sacred cows.
Statements like why some people would even think that the photo of Gabriel Medina by Monsieur Brouillet could be fake, or manipulated . I only have one comment at this point…. Lance Armstrong… enough said.

Why do people cheat? It’s a dog eat dog world. Some will do anything for an edge.
I offered an opinion which was open to logical, reasoned discussion. Apart from the aforementioned Beano, most commentary was dismissive or derisive.
It seems that many have opinions but theirs are not subject to the derision of Plato. Did someone say glass houses?

Anyway, back to our mate Beano, he makes some good points about cloud formation which has prompted me to view some of the various video footage more closely.

Despite the cameraman’s POV being rotated from where video was shot, there is indeed evidence of horizontal cloud formation in the background. I accept that my opinion was made without all facts.

As for the artifices I mention, I believe (oh damn, another opinion) that it is likely attributable to slightly heavy handed localised sharpening.
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Ha, no worries, Steve, I had to dig rather deep into my geography lessons-memory from my school-days. Gosh, must have been 1983 or 1984 (at least somewhere in senior school) when my teacher tried to teach us about cloud-formations. Hopefully I got it close enough.
 
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Steve W said:
I’ve been watching with some interesting. I opined that I felt there was potentially issues with the photo. There is no evidence of me using the word “proves”, that’s someone’s spin on it.
Out of all the comments only Beano has made some attempt to explain some of what I questioned. As for others, it was like I was slaughtering one of their sacred cows.
Statements like why some people would even think that the photo of Gabriel Medina by Monsieur Brouillet could be fake, or manipulated . I only have one comment at this point…. Lance Armstrong… enough said.

Why do people cheat? It’s a dog eat dog world. Some will do anything for an edge.
I offered an opinion which was open to logical, reasoned discussion. Apart from the aforementioned Beano, most commentary was dismissive or derisive.
It seems that many have opinions but theirs are not subject to the derision of Plato. Did someone say glass houses?

Anyway, back to our mate Beano, he makes some good points about cloud formation which has prompted me to view some of the various video footage more closely.

Despite the cameraman’s POV being rotated from where video was shot, there is indeed evidence of horizontal cloud formation in the background. I accept that my opinion was made without all facts.

As for the artifices I mention, I believe (oh damn, another opinion) that it is likely attributable to slightly heavy handed localised sharpening.
Click to expand...
I have an open mind, that said i am not voting guilty on the suggestion regarding manipulation, i have no doubt the capture of Medina himself is real, i cant contest the cloud matter and unless convinced otherwise will treat the suggestions respectfully as supposition for now.

When i saw the ride on my TV recording Medina was going left to right, the photo published shows him going right to left, that and the angle of the water line is conducive to going the right direction for both Medina and the wave closing out and passing by the photographer, therefore it in my mind positions the photographer shooting in a on shore direction, or somewhat from behind the wave passing at the time, logically all elements fit in the right position to take the photo, based on that alone i stand on it being as taken.

I have had editors alter my image removing a post and billboard poster not conducive to the subject i photographed. I mean you can even do this in a heartbeat on your Google Phone, clone out or drop in a sky to enhance.

I have attached a photo which was a unintended split second grab shot, i was covering a rider, waiting for the aerial to start, he was riding towards me, then in the eye piece i saw WHAT THE !! a wave leaving the shore !! heading out to the ocean, YEP it happens, it was about 6 foot, the wave coming in with the rider was larger and faster, they both came to a standstill as they crashed - slapped together with a loud bang and shooting straight up in the air 20 plus feet on initial impact, tones and tones of water just stopped in each direction creating momentarily a pure vertical wall, it brought the rider on the incoming wave to a sudden stop then the rider fell out of the wave wall face like he was extruded and free falling straight down this massive wall face, it was like being thrown of a balcony landing in about 2 meters of water, the rider was around six foot tall and dazed, as he feel lower he extended his feet straight as he needed to land safely.

The photo was grab shot taken as a JPEG and while technically not to standard it reminds me of Medina flying through the air, his was by choice the rider in my photo just appeared in the air facing a shear vertical drop.

I was asked to provide exif data and it was suggested that it was possibly a manipulated image............i provided the exif data gladly.

Only an opinion

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You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.
 
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Jack Robinson took out Medina, its now on between Jack and the Local Tahitian favourite for gold and silver.

If all this wasn't being seen by the global Olympic audience it would just be another competition round on the circuit that we see so often.

Great for the sport, great for the gromits - (young coming through) here in OZ we have a super huge surfing culture............so much better news than the fill we suffer seeing each day.

Only an opinion
 
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