My wife and I have finished our bicycle tour of the west coast of the USA as mentioned previously. I apologize for not blogging en route, as I’d planned. I’m writing this while riding the Amtrak back home to Vancouver. I had reservations about lugging my dSLR on the bike before i’d started the trip, worried the weight may not be worth carrying. I fretted that I’d miss an artistic “money shot” without the dSLR. If I got one or two shots worth putting on our wall, I figured the weight would be worth it. Well, I took it anyway. The heavy gear saw limited opportunity for use and when it did get used there was no “money shot” captured in the end.

We found ourselves very busy during peddle days, which was most days. I’m guessing we spent  6-8 hours a day on the road. When we  camped, our days were extra long because of setting up/breaking down camp and cooking meals. The motel nights were easier having less to unpack with the added bonus of wifi, although most signals were weak. Meeting and socializing with so many people along our route also ate into my photography time. I was having so much fun enjoying the moment, I didn’t feel like breaking out the camera.

Lessons learned

• Ditch the dSLR on a bike. Use a smaller camera such as a Fuji x-pro. I don’t know a heck of a lot about this class of camera but I understand that the technology is getting really good. They have full manual control and good file quality.
• Use a small handle bar bag instead of a pannier for camera. When the camera is buried deep in a pannier, you tend to leave it there. Having a camera easily accessible will get you shooting more. I tended to use my iPhone that had a home in the back pocket of my cycling jersey. A micro 4/3 camera could have lived there as well, while having more features and better file quality.
• Create little stickers containing your contact information. Most long term cycle tourists we’d met used them. They basically had a mailing label sticker with their email and blog addresses on them. They’re lightweight compared to traditional business card and, unlike business cards, you can stick them in the back of your journal or even on your bike!  As you collect them, they won’t get lost or add up in weight.
• Take more pictures of the people you meet. They tend to be the highlight your cycle trip.

Anyway, I wouldn’t call this trip successful photographically, but it certainly was in other ways. We met many other cycle tourers including some who were on very long trips, including cycling around the world. We were also greeted with huge hospitality from the Americans. I was in awe at the amount of super friendly people we met. I would do it again in a heartbeat, even without a camera. We saw and experienced so much more than expected.

Finally, I have a special surprise in the next week or so. I have a wonderful guest writer who has agreed to blog a post here. I am tickled about it and you will surely enjoy the read. Stay tuned!

A few days ago I was in downtown Vancouver playing with a new travel tripod and a couple of new filters. A 6 stop neutral density and a circular polarizer to be precise. In preparation of our trip, I wanted to test out processing with Snapseed on the iPad since I will be leaving the MacBook Pro at home.

Anyways, the photo shown with the building in the foreground looks familiar to me. I don’t know if my eye had made this capture before or if I had seen somebody else version of the same image. A sort of dejavu. Regardless, the image in the frame looked familiar to me but I pressed the button anyways. I liked the metaphorical contrast between man-made in the foreground and nature in the background. I also like seeing the local ski hill, Grouse Mountain, in the background and their new wind mill.

Anyways, have you ever captured a scene which seemed like you’ve seen before but not sure where?

BTW. My first post with image edited, uploaded, and blog post with iPad.

My wife and hero, Trish, set a goal earlier this year in order to celebrate her 40th year on Earth. She is going to bicycle from our home in Surrey, BC to the Mexican border. It was a dream of her father’s when he was a young man but he never did get around to doing it.Trish does not want to have the regret that her father does for not attempting the goal. So, she IS going to do it. Her journey consists of approximately 2500km or 1615 miles. Trish has taken two months off of work to peddle the journey. Guide books have suggested that this trip can be done in 33 days but it’s not a race, it’s a journey to be enjoyed without strict deadlines. We need some days to to soak in the places we will see… and maybe rest the wet noodles(our legs).

Anyways, I will only participating on her part of the journey for one month. Two months is a long time for me to be without an income so I decided join Trish for her second month in San Francisco. My leg of the journey will be about 1050km or 650 miles. We don’t like to make rigid plans but we do want to head north a bit to Napa Valley to check out their beauty and wines. Then we will turn the bikes 180 degrees and head south towards San Diego. After we touch the Mexican border, we will peddle back to an AmTrack train station and take a scenic and leisurely trip back home.

Of course, being the photo geek that I am. I don’t dare think about NOT bringing my dSLR. This will be a challenge of course with extra weight and such but I love my Nikon D7000 and it will capture the beautiful scenes along the way.

One of the challenges of traveling with a dSLR is all the extra “stuff” that comes with the digital age. Batteries, file storage, security, weather proofing, vibration proofing, cords, cables, chargers, ect. ect. So, today in I bought a New iPad to help me. It’s smaller and lighter than my laptop and can keep me connected and store my photo’s. Of course, I did get a camera kit as well. Also, the iPad will be encased in a Griffin Survivor. The case will protect the iPad from weather, drops, and road vibration.

So there ya have it! I plan on blogging about the dSLR and bicycle touring experience. Maybe there are some other bicycle and camera freaks out there that can learn from my experience. Maybe they can give me some tips?

Anyways, I leave you with one of my favourite quotes by an unknown airline pilot.

“The lower and slower you go, the more you see”

The other evening, I was strolling False Creek in Vancouver. I had come for a scenic city shot that I had envisioned from a previous visit. The shot was not there at this time of year. The sunset was not reflecting on the buildings as it does in the summer. So now I know. I need to wait till summer to capture a gorgeous scene that I had witnessed last year.

All was not lost though, there is an area of the sea wall where a huge flock of crows always gather. My wife was with me and knows the area well. She explained how the crows seem to have a schedule and were likely to be sitting in certain trees. Anyways, it was kind of a creepy scene so I made some captures. I added some blue-ish split toning to give it a colder(which it was) creepy feeling.

Hope you enjoy.