Bike To Work Day

To recognize Bike to Work Day, here is a story unrelated to the image.

I was hammering home today on my bike. I mean I was really suffering coming up a local hill here in town. I felt lean, my legs felt great, and I was chasing a Tour title in my head. Suddenly, my dream was interrupted by the sound of a bicycle behind me. I thought to myself, ‘no way…no one could catch me at this speed’. Sure enough, this guy was gaining. To quote the Princess Bride, “Inconceivable”. I began to make excuses. He probably isn’t carrying a pack home from work, or maybe it is a local pro? Just as he catches me, I look over my shoulder, positive I was going to see George Hincapie, decked out in a National Champion jersey. Nope, no Hincapie! I see a guy in jeans and flip-flops. He even has enough breath to tell me I am riding really fast. What the heck was this? I know I’m no pro, but common, I can’t be that slow. Thankfully, upon closer inspection, he was riding an electric bike. My tour dreams are still intact! Anyways, I hope everyone here has the opportunity to participate in their local bike to work days. Once you do it, you will be hooked.

Craft & Vision: If you have ever wanted to start experimenting with the video capabilities of your DSLR (I know I have!) Trevor Meier just published a great new eBook titled Vision in Motion about the issues of motion storytelling. It is full of useful tips regarding composition, capture, and gear.

Craft & Vision Coupon Codes (expire June 27th):

• MOTION4 to receive the eBook for a mere $4.00.
• MOTION20 to receive 20(percent) off of the purchase of 5 or more eBooks.

Capture Notes:

Nikon D300
Nikkor 17-35 AFS
Gitzo Traveler

Exposure:0.001 sec (1/1000)
Aperture:f/4.0
Focal Length:17 mm
ISO Speed:200

Processing Notes:

Capture – 1 image
Photomatix – HDR/Tonemapping
NIK Silver Efex Pro – BnW conversion (Red filter for day to night trick)
Sized for web
LightAsMagic.com

Tip: What my man Rick calls the ‘Ole day to night trick’ is applying a red filter (either in post, or at the time of capture) to your image which will basically render a blue sky black. I use this technique when I have a big, uninteresting, blue sky. If you have a white or lightish foreground element, it seems to work pretty well.

p.s. This image of a booming metropolis was from the little town of Cisco, UT.