To make myself feel better, keeping in mind it’s been raining for like a month straight (or so it seems), I decided to finally scan some of the Polas I shot in San Diego in February. Yeah, I know, not a speedy turnaround. So what’s been happening? Oh, you know, doing a super cool all-film shoot, updating the iPhone, stretching, riding some, mowing the lawn between showers, selling bike stuff, watching my car rust out, going to NYC with K, cooking fish, and looking forward to vacation. We caught up now?

Awesome Euro style - helmet, gloves and arm warmers on, rolly suitcase, cell phone in hand. If you tried to stage that shot no one would believe it.

Finally, like two months on, I got my last roll from Belgium processed. It had been wandering in the wilderness of my office/camera cases, but with film processing not the easiest thing to get these days I figured I’d wait. Worth it, I think. When I was poking around the Roubaix Velodrome I was amazed at all the great colors and textures, none of which I’d ever seen documented before (I’m sure someone has but I’ve not seen it.) So I just hung out in the garage right behind the bar and grabbed a couple riders who’d been shelled earlier the race and were on their way to the showers - which were off-limits to shooting this year for some reason. At first I was just happy to shoot the garage itself, those cool windows, the great color, etc. - but then I realized there were going to be plenty of filthy, wasted riders coming through. Easy. Hope people like the new look to the web site, I’m really happy with how it turned out and the process of working with the hotshots at Weights&Pulleys was incredible.

Yeah, you shoot for days and days and then your favorite shot is one you grab on the side. Always works that way. And after a week this is it. This kid was so NorCal it hurt, just groovy and stoked to be out skating. How could I not take his photo? And he was not at all phased, all attitude and WTF. Love it.

That teensy bit of down time mentioned last post was indeed teensy. Spent the past week in California on a big honking shoot. Besides some decidedly unhelpful weather, the shoot progressed really well. We squeezed a LOT of shooting into the time we had and everyone hustled to make it happen. The best part, of course, was working with really interesting, entertaining, and creative people. That, and the Mexican food, for which I have a seemingly insatiable desire. I have some bike riding to do as penalty laps for the carnitas and cervezas. The thought of having an early-summer break remains immensely appealing, though the phone keeps on ringing and new opportunities seem abundant.

With a teensy bit of down time at home I decided to organize the office, which had degenerated into utter squalor over the past several months. I’m not the world’s greatest organizer, preferring the pile-it-up method of cataloging, but every now and again even I get the urge to put things in their useful place. So found this shot while I was moving piles around, not taken recently (obviously). I’ve always had issues scanning cross processed images, since there’s a significant amount of bleed from the edges of the film onto the image area, resulting in some discoloration around the image edge. Not good. But I found some tape that works well in masking the edges and that seems to have solved the problem. So here it is. Took this just up the road during the winter. Camera info: Pentax 67 with 105/2.4, Ektachrome EPP shot at ISO 50 cross processed and pushed 1.5 stops.

Looks like this shot of Basso will never see the light of day anywhere other than here. Not that it’s the greatest portrait I’ve ever taken, shot it last December at the Liquigas camp in Spain, but there’s a certain serenity and intensity in Basso’s eyes that I like. First shots with the 135/4 macro on the 67, which I got specifically for just such a shot, and I’m glad I did. BTW, check back on the main portfolio site in the coming days as there’s an exciting update in the works. I’ve been working with an extraordinarily talented design/branding crew to spiff things up and I couldn’t be more excited about the outcome. The new blog design is the first step and there are several more steps yet to fall.

A quick hit out to PDX for a little road shoot. And, damn, it was full-on summer out there. Forgot my sunscreen in the hotel room but luckily trusty Jeff T had some in his bag of assistant tricks. A winter in NH does not prepare one for the first blast of summer. I’d never shot much west of PDX proper and the countryside out there was nothing short of spectacular. No wonder there are so many cyclists in the area. The other thing about shooting in that region, this time of year the days are getting looooong. So it would be possible to shoot light-wise for 14 hrs in a single day. Clients love that long day, bringing bang to the buck. I get a whole 10 days home before yet another West Coast trip, that’s six since February for anyone keeping track. But during that time we have the Coyote Hill Classic, possibly the best MTB race in New England. Nice.

It’s great to be working a ton. But the images can start to pile up a bit, so weeks like this are good to dig through what I have and have not taken a good hard look at. I shot this at the Tour of Flanders and liked it then. But upon further examination I thought it would look better still with some specific post- work. So here it is. I’m interested to see what other people think. Generally the BW stuff I shoot I intend on giving a “filmy” (even choose lenses that will help with that) - this is assuming the client doesn’t want me actually shooting film. Anyway.

Oh boy. Another California trip (w/red eye return) in the books. Pretty good week shooting out of Santa Rosa, not a spot I’d spent a lot of time before. We headed up towards the coast on a couple days and I am definitely going to go back some time soon to ride the roads we shot on. Amazing. Mile after mile of demanding, beautiful, well-surfaced roads. The rain held off until the final part of the final day, you really do get lucky from time to time. Then had a good final shoot in SF, for another client, and there too we missed the heavier rains by a couple hours. It was great bombing around the city shooting a wide variety of locations, including some of the seedier sections. Always interesting.