Another shot from the tripod I took last night. I don’t know why but these all seemed to look better in B+W. Maybe it was the extra contrast.
More fun to be had taking night shots and a tripod. Got a lot of strange looks from passing cars.
After two hideously slow bus rides to Paddington I went to site today with the new tripod and a full bag of photography kit today to take some pictures on one of the projects I’m working on. A number of people said to me “…so are you the photographer then?” Which poses an interesting question really. My response was “…errr kind of”.
I’ve grown up with the idea that you can’t call yourself an Architect until you’re legally entitled to do so and I almost instinctively feel that it applies to photography in a way. I’d certainly not refer to myself as a photographer at all, I just take pictures and obviously enjoy it but I’m sure I’m a long way from the title Photographer. It’s fun working towards it though.
Great concise article on the benefits of different lenses and focal lengths. Not too technical, not too long and boring and illustrated with pictures.
Seb Rogers: mountain bike photography: Choosing the right lens.
From a day out to Oxford, mainly around Paddington Station. Always a good excuse to try and take a few photos.
View over the adjacent stairs on the way to catch the train.
Back at the end of 2008 I made a list of some of the things I wanted to ride in 2009. One of which was to ride a pump track.
A pump track is kind of like a mini 4x track which returns on itself in a loop. The idea is to keep speed and avoid pedalling over the obstacles and to perfect your technique until the whole track is dialled. It also helps to stay off the brakes to keep the speed up.
David heading in to the berm.
Dom has been building a secret spot since he took some time off work. Fortunately there’s plenty of free dirt nearby and is only a short walk from his house. I fancied a bit of a break from study so headed down there yesterday with Matt and Graham.
First few goes were great fun but it takes a while to get in to it. The XC knobbly tyres I had on made hard work of it all but by the end of the day I was starting to get the hang of it.
Graham hanging out in the berm.
Of course this was the perfect opportunity to take some pictures! I ended up taking the full camera bag just to play around. I ended up needing the flash in the woods as there was just not enough light to illuminate their faces. I popped a single flash in to most of the pics and also used the umbrella to diffuse the light a bit.
Matt over the first roller and heading towards the double.
Matt popping out of the berm on to the rollers.
So after a long day of ‘pumping’ all that was left to do was repair the berms and rollers and then do an obligatory group shot!
Group shot from a tree.
The following morning things feel pretty sore. It’s amazing how much it works your upper body and also how much you have to pump with your legs. The mosquitos in the woods are evil too!
We’ll be back though. Full set of pictures here.
Not had much practice at taking riding shots recently but was reasonably pleased with this one from last weekend. Manual focus and exposure and trying to get back into panning. Vaughan obliged by riding it “just one more time”.
