Even though I am stuck in the city right now I find my bike takes me interesting places. Here are a couple snap shots from the last couple weeks:
 Night Speed |
 Freak Snow Storm |
 East Van Rain |
 Crazy Clouds |
Clockwise from the top left, the first picture is coming down Burnaby Mountain at night (Feb 27). In the second we had a freak snow storm a couple weeks ago and it goes without saying that I decided to still ride up the trails when that happened. We actually had a lot of snow and it just ended up being a hike a bike affair as I climbed up higher on Burnaby Mountain (Mar 10). The third is a flash rain storm during the sun set in East Van. The color is not an artificial sepia (i.e. photoshop) but a natural one (Mar 02). The final was a cool cloud formation over the downtown core of Vancouver, that I saw riding back from a race at UBC (Mar 14).
Come spring in the Wet West Coast, during any week, the only kind of weather you can be sure of is all types. In the mountains you can expect all types in a day.
Comments
Nice shots, Wease. I'm selling up the Kona soon which will give me enough money to buy a digital camera, so I'm gonna be riding and shooting more soon.
I haven't been able to afford film to feed my cameras for some time, so they're lying neglected in my drawer for the moment.
very nice! seems like an awesome commute.
courierman,
I personally ended up with two digital cameras, a cheap 2MP and a dSLR (6MP). For on the bike size matters, the smaller the better. Some of the best shots I have are from my small cheap one because I had it on me (i.e. all the shots above were from it). Actually, right now I am scheming to come up with a system to mount it to either my bag or the bike itself... hmmm
That said I would like to get into medium format. I have been shooting digital for over 5 years now and I have WAAAY too many digital files kicking about (the downside). When you first get it you will take too many photos because its "free." What they don't tell you is it becomes a nightmare to organize, backup and maintain your digital collection. Its getting better with things like flickr but who knows how that will change in a couple years. The last thing you want to do is rely on a service and have it go belly up.
Anyway I am looking to eventually get into Medium Format. A nice old Mamiya 645 1000s would be ideal!! Take my time shooting. Think about what I do, etc.
fstop
Yeah its not too bad as far as commutes go. I miss the old commute I used to do (80 km/day). For me the "ideal" commute would be a couple hours through pristine sunny single track every day. Birds chirping, deer munching, and I get to show up dusty, thirsty and tired. Basically, a mountain bike epic each day (something akin to Moab riding). I am still looking for that one, if it exists.
Then again I would probably get sick of that after a long enough period... or not!
wonder,
regarding your post to courier: get an old 'blad =). you wont ever regret the price you pay for one. i love my hasselblad (500c) so much. or if you really want to think about what you're doing, get a 4x5 view camera. i hope to start bringing that around in my new reload backpack!
hahaha, the same old thing does and always will get tiring. but yeah, im doing about twenty miles a day with this new job. i leave my apt at 4:30am, so come summer ill be out riidng just in time for the sun rise.
also, http://www.google.com/search?hs=ewY&hl=en&lr=&client=firefox-a&rls=org.m... look on there. there's a ton of bicycle mounting things. as well as bogen makes a clamp arm that my friend used to attach his camera to his bike with.
I got a cheap camera case that mounts to a strap, so that I can just carry my
camera mounted to my bag strap across my chest. Then I just loop the camera's carrying string through a ring on the camera case so its attached to the case; that way, I can pull
the camera out while I'm riding and easily take shots, but if I need to grab the bars in a hurry I can just drop the camera and it'll hang from the string instead of dropping to the ground. Worked pretty well for the rides I've used it on.
Hey Wease
No problems with the digital files/organisation/etc... I've done the all-digital thing before. I prefer to shoot film mostly because film cameras are nicer/older/metal/etc.
My own two cents worth on the medium format thing. If you're cycling then a 6x6 or even a 645 SLR is going to be a pretty big thing to carry, and you may find you end up carry only one body, one back and one lens. In that case you migth want to look at a TLR. I have a Rolleiflex which is pretty good in the courier bag because it's not really any bigger than a dslr. If you can get used to the one lens thing, the Tessar in a Rolleiflex is an awesome lens. Even the cheaper Rolleicord or Yashicamat will blow away anything in 35mm or digital, and can be had for under $100 US.
Fuji Provia in 6x6 is beautiful!
I can't believe how many ppl have rigged up some sort of camera mount to the bike itself! A 4x5 camera would be fun but WAYYY to big. Let see you mount that thing on your bike, or even Carry it on your back!
Hey ryan, I have done exactly what you described. But I wanted to do originally is attach the camera to my bag strap and have photos taken from the bag strap itself (i.e. funny angles etc) but I haven't found a case that will let the camera shoot while mounted inside the case. Taking the camera out of the case is too much hassle for me, plus I wanted to have it run on a timer taking random shots while I ride. I also wanted to have the option to quickly take photos of stupid drivers license plates. That way I could post them on a web site, but that is a whole different discussion.
Anyway, what I have envisioned creating is a case (weather proof) that would allow the camera to shoot from my bag strap! Maybe I will create one this summer, and of course document it in my "/how-to/" section.