Bike Portraits

Shot some portraits for the upcoming Long Beach bicycle website of some Velo Allegro members. I wanted something that focused on the people on the bikes rather than just the bikes themselves. I feel too often that cyclists are lumped together as an "other" by motorists. So these portraits are meant to feel intimate and humanize them.

Family portrait on wheels!

My Bilenky was out of commission today. I broke ANOTHER spoke in the rear wheel, which pretty much means that the wheel is toast. That didn't stop me from working today though. I'm glad I have two capable cargo bikes, so in case something happens to one, I won't be out of commission.



Anyway, I shot a family portrait this afternoon and suggested to the family that we try it on a surrey. It's only fitting, considering I bike everywhere that I should shoot a family portrait on wheels.

It was great fun for everyone and I got a good workout out of it as well. I think the photos turned out great. Lots of action and the light in the afternoon was beautiful.

Another day at the office...

I had a rather full day today going to a shoot in Redondo Beach. The distance wasn't that far, but it took me through the rolling hills of Palos Verde, which on a road bike is moderately challenging and with a loaded cargo bike, is a real pain in the butt. It took me about 2 hours to travel 20 miles getting there.



Granted it wasn't all ride time. Just about when I was going to descend form PV to Redondo I heard the heart-sinking sound of a broken spoke! I looked down and the wheel was dancing side to side. I pulled over and sure enough, I had a spoke hanging out with nowhere to go. Problem was that I was nowhere near a bike shop. I had spare spokes, the tool to remove the lock ring from the cassette, but no chain whip.

My only choice was to tie off the loose spoke, and loosen the two opposite spokes so that the wheel would clear the brakes. I had never done this before but have read about people doing it. Well, it works. Not the most ideal circumstance, but it would have to hold until after the photo shoot (I was running a little behind at this point) and until I found a bike shop.





Fortunately it held. I completed my shoot and rolled down hill to eat at Joes, a local diner with some big plates! I stuffed myself on the John Wayne Special to refuel me for the ride back. Not too far away was a Tri-specific bike shop. All 700c wheels there, so it was good that I brought spokes for my 26 inch rear wheel. They were kind enough to let me use their chainwhip and truing stand.

After about 20 minutes, the bike was good to go and I hit the road and spun my way back to Long Beach.

Best Of....

Grab the District Weekly this week. Shot the cover and some of the interior photos...

Long Beach Bike Tour...

Some snaps from this morning at the Long Beach Marathon. For a few hours, some streets in Long Beach was blissfully carfree.

Motiion blurrrr....

I've had a few recent assignments that called for a real high-key, natural look that incorporates some motion blur. It's always a bit tricky to get that spontaneous look while at the same time staging the action.



I shot a few hundred images on this roller skating shoot too keep my percentage of keepers up. Some were too blurry or didn't look spontaneous enough. They were moving and I was moving along with them, composing and shooting on the fly trying to get good exposure, a good background and just enough movement in the photo.

It was nice to do something different from the real heavy ponderous portraits I've been doing of late and to do something fast moving and chaotic.

Fixed Portrait

Just a portrait from University by the Sea. It harkens back to the my Avedon/Arbus portrait days.

Goldsprints in LB

A quickie slideshow from University by the Sea. Click image for some bikey fun!

Artful healing....

I photographed local artist, Denise Clayton-Leonard, today. She works with terminally ill children at Miller's Hospital. She told me the heart-breaking story of the child who drew the smiley face picture and died 8 days later. She was fun to work with and you could tell each piece had its own moving story.