Several years ago, I photographed this 1946 Beech D18S with twin 450 hp engines at Blakesburg, Iowa's annual fly-in known as the Historic Airfield Rally to Antique Airfield. Now, through the magic of Photoshop, the image comes alive as it races to take off. See the original unedited photo below.
Here's a list of what was done to the top image to give it a more dramatic feel:
1. Zoom in and crop
2. Straighten the ground perspective
3. Increase sharpening
Now the magic..
4. Select subject
5. Invert selection
6. With inversion fixed on the background, use the blur tool for the desired effect.
7. Export as a JPG, save PSD file
I'm sure there is fine tuning that could be applied, however this version turned out well. And, by the way, as a spectator on the field close to the grass runway, I can tell you that this plane books, as well as it should, with twin 450s delivering powerful thrust. It was quite the site with other spectators remarking that it resembled the body style of Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Model 10 E Electra.
I have written posts on the final resting place of Christian Brenner, a Union soldier from Iowa. My last visit to his Stone's River Battlefield National Cemetery grave in Murfreesboro, Tennessee was on Memorial Day 2019. To my surprise, every gravestone had a US flag in place for the holiday, which was once called Decoration Day, from Civil War era origins. During the Christmas season at the cemetery only the first third of gravesite rows have cedar wreaths placed on them. Those are part of the Wreaths Across America project. Christian's grave is further back from the main road so it doesn't receive a wreath along with hundreds of others. If present, a member of the 42N staff will make sure Christian's grave has some decoration placed on it for the season.
Last July 2018, an EF3 tornado ripped through Marshalltown, Iowa's Main Street. Despite causing unprecedented damage along the path, there were no casualties. At the former Woolworth building on Main Street there was considerable damage to the structure but the storm didn't knock it out. In the entry way, just off the sidewalk, the Woolworth symbol composed in a tile mosaic is still quit visible.
