Probably not as much as you think. It looks like a bit of fill light has been added to the shadow areas in post, but other than that and a few other minor tweaks, this is just really, really good lighting.
i cant believe this lost too... IMO this shot shouldve won the whole competition... i mean, that shot of the dher riding through the fog is sick, but i dont think it compares to a backflip-tailwhip with this kind of lighting!! disappointed..
yea and Steve Lloyd got robbed even worse in my opinion. The whip pic that won over his is extremely common on pink bike, i see it everyday. Kinda disappointed with the way the whole contest is panning out. Not trying to bitch too much but its upsetting to see.
Camon guys, a really good camera helps a lot! I used to shoot with those point and shoot, and now I'm using a Canon 1100D, I know it's not a super camera, but it did stepped my pics up! Yeah, I'm studying quite a bit about photography now, and I know that a good photographer makes a good pic, with any camera, but a camera DOES help!
The compression in the sky is quite bad, look at how it forms into bands rather than a smooth gradient from blue to white. Also the grass looks like it has been run through a sharpening filter.
Of course a good camera helps, thats the whole point of it, isn't it? But remember the, the camera won't help you with the composition, timing and absolutely not the lightning. And what's all this bitching about post production for? A good photographer is often very good in post production also. Really guys, stop bitching an enjoy this beautiful picture instead.