The Andy Aupperlee Explosion 5000

Since we have officially closed the books on Summer 2009, here’s a little snapshot from the season that was. In July, Sharat graciously hosted Alex, Josh and me at his favorite country club municipal course, West Seattle Golf Club. Sharat, a course regular, guided us through 18 holes and more than a few dozen cold ones. This picture is from the tee on the 15th hole. The tee box is perched on a hill that features a grand view of downtown Seattle, the Puget Sound and Mount Baker.

The view here is basically north, which puts the setting sun behind Sharat. To offset the light coming from the west, Alex suggested that I add some fill from the east. I tossed him a SB-600 with a LumiQuest Softbox II and told him to stand facing Sharat, pointing the light at him. Alex “Hollywood” Chu dutifully obliged—not only a lighting genius, he also makes a great lighting stand (or VAL). I dialed in f/11 to get a generous depth of field and let Nikon’s TTL and Aperture Priority mode figure out the exposure. Later in Photoshop, I cranked the saturation a bit. I also juiced up the skyline and background with the incomparable Shadow/Highlights tool. Observant Explosionites will notice Mount Baker next to two cranes in the left center of the image. Click here for a larger view.

To give you an idea of what we were dealing with all day, pictured above is a silhouette of Sharat’s swing. Notice the nice, balanced finish. Now look at the image below. Mr. Chu’s technique, informed by a Tecate or two, is obviously a departure from Mr. Reddy’s.

I like this picture of Josh because it represents several things that are illegal to do in cars, yet still perfectly fine to do in golf carts. What a game.

Whether we were hitting the ball well or not (I happened to be putting like Ty Webb), nobody could complain about the gorgeous view of the Emerald City during twilight.

Check out a few more pictures on Flickr, or just watch the slideshow below.