Bikes of Cuba


Back from holidays which wasn’t cycling a month ago and just finished going through pics.

There are lot of pictures with bikes in so here are some to share. Al photo ©Richard Crawford but get in touch if you want to use any any release could be free or cheap.

bikosofcuba (1 of 21) bikosofcuba (2 of 21) bikosofcuba (3 of 21) bikosofcuba (4 of 21) bikosofcuba (5 of 21)

Some semi pro serious road bike race
Some semi pro serious road bike race

bikosofcuba (7 of 21) bikosofcuba (8 of 21)

start young
start young

bikosofcuba (10 of 21) bikosofcuba (11 of 21)

we rented some
we rented some

bikosofcuba (13 of 21) bikosofcuba (14 of 21) bikosofcuba (15 of 21) bikosofcuba (16 of 21) bikosofcuba (17 of 21) bikosofcuba (18 of 21) bikosofcuba (19 of 21) bikosofcuba (20 of 21) bikosofcuba (21 of 21)

Monday Bike Style: touring ‘tastic


Dave Lipps had his portrait taken in 2009 at Missoula, Mont., while cycling across the country. It was part of a special exhibit at Cascade Lock in May  2014
Dave Lipps had his portrait taken in 2009 at Missoula, Mont., while cycling across the country. It was part of a special exhibit at Cascade Lock in May 2014

Nice pic inspired by my jolly on the touring bike

Surf Photography at its best


Way back in 1960, Surfer Magazine founder John Severson ran a photo of a lone surfer paddling out, with these hopeful words: “”In this crowded world, the surfer can still seek and find the perfect day, the perfect wave, and be alone with the surf and his thoughts.” This world has increased in size from just over 3 billion people in 1960, to more than 7 billion. The world’s oceans and beaches are feeling the effects of that population, but it’s still possible to accomplish the solitude that Severson wrote about a half a century ago.

lucia in her element
lucia in her element
between times
between times
a great duck dive - winner of awards
a great duck dive – winner of awards
Doing whatever it takes to get over the top
Doing whatever it takes to get over the top

Here are images from the very talented multi-award winning photographer Lucia Griggi whose office is the ocean and who is one of the most respected surf photographers in a male dominated industry. www.luciagriggi.com

Photographing the Tour de France on an iPhone


Great article from Wired showing that it is the vision and photographer that make great images and not just the best gear junkie …..

 

Bernhard Eisel of team HTC

Bernhard Eisel of team HTC gives an interview at Stage 15 in Montpellier, France.

Mark Cavendish Fans at the 2011 Tour de France

Mark Cavendish fans watch during the Stage 20 Time Trial in Grenoble, France.

Tour de France Photographers in Grenoble, France.

A photographer kisses his camera for good luck before the finish-line money shot during the Stage 20 Time Trial in Grenoble, France.

Autograph Hunters at the Tour de France

Autograph hunters go to work at the Stage 20 Time Trial in Grenoble, France.

Fabian Cancellara at the 2011 Tour de France

A boy reaches for a high-five from Fabian Cancellara during the 2011 Tour de France Stage 20 Time Trial.

David Millar at the 2011 Tour de France

David Millar starts the 2011 Tour de France Stage 20 Time Trial.

Thor Hushovd at the 2011 Tour de France

Thor Hushovd starts the 2011 Tour de France Stage 20 Time Trial.

Tour de France 2011 Fans

Fans scramble on top of garbage cans to see Cadel Evans on the podium after the 2011 Tour de France.

Spectators at the 2011 Tour de France

Spectators reach for handouts at the 2011 Tour de France.

Spectators at the 2011 Tour de France

Spectators cheer at the 2011 Tour de France in Montpellier.

There’s no greater misconception in photography than that it’s the gear that makes the photographer (Just ask Damon Winter). In the hands of a skilled shooter, even the iPhone 4’s camera can make compelling images.

During this year’s Tour De France, an event silly with photo pros trying to make a living, photojournalist and documentarian Gregg Bleakney took the opportunity to experiment with using his iPhone to capture the experience as he saw it. No more following the herd trying to get the same shot that everyone else was getting.

Wired.com caught up by e-mail with Bleakney in China to find out why he pursued the project and what it was like working without his DSLR in tow.

Wired.com: So what gave you the idea for the project?

Gregg Bleakney: I’d just come off an assignment at the Giro d’Italia where I was able to negotiate great photographic access and was keen to do something similar at the Tour de France. But I quickly discovered that the media environment at the Tour was an entirely different animal than the Giro — there was almost always a massive scrum of photographers jostling to make pictures of the same “behind the scenes” moments in credentialed press and team areas.

As an emerging photographer, I feel like I should always push hard to separate my work from everyone else’s, and I started to look for another way to cover the event. I was really blown away by the energy and spectator culture outside of the restricted-entry press areas at the start and finish lines of the race; the occasional moments when athletes leave their security perimeter to interact with fans, the security perimeter itself, and with the spectators interacting with each other. So I decided to spend several stages working outside of credentialed areas without a press pass and jokingly dubbed this my “Totally Not Behind the Scenes at the Tour de France” project.

Wired.com: What, if any, obstacles were you faced with while working on it?

Bleakney: Many of the fans were making pictures at the Tour de France with their mobile phones, so I decided that I should do the same if I really wanted to embrace this “NOT behind the scenes” culture. I’d never used an iPhone camera seriously before, and it took some time to get used to both the shutter delay and composing without a viewfinder.

Also, when betting nearly a week of my time and money on a personal project at a major event like the Tour de France, I was constantly battling my herding instinct and internal monolog chatter like, “OK, so I’m NOT going to sprint into that privileged access area to photograph Cadel Evans, or the Schlecks, or some of the other key athletes involved in one of the most competitive Tour de France battles in history, like all of the other photographers — photos which I know that I could sell. Instead I’m going loiter in the spectators’ area to shoot some kids waiting for autographs that no editor will likely ever buy? Why am I doing this again?”

But I stuck with the project idea and used couch-surfing and other social-media travel tools that week to keep my costs down.

Wired.com: How do you feel about documentary work in today’s climate?

Bleakney: I find it absolutely thrilling to be a documentary photographer right now — there’s no better gig in the world for me. Potential outlets for thoughtful photo essays are nearly infinite, and there are incredible opportunities to distribute work that’s executed at a high level to a global audience.

Social media has allowed me to collectively learn and grow with other photographers who are sharing their work and ideas. With that being said, new (post-stock or traditional print media) revenue models are not fully established, and it can be more challenging than in the past to monetize good picture stories — but I have confidence that these things will work themselves out for photographers who really want it.

Wired.com: Where are you currently based and what are you working on?

Bleakney: I’m based in Seattle. I’m working on a long-term project about the sport of cycling’s new global frontiers and have spent time in Colombia, India and China this year, photographing several new events sponsored by the UCI (the sport’s governing body) to encourage growth of the sport outside of Europe and the West.

It’s been fascinating to witness how, for many Western cultures, it’s become so in-vogue to use the bicycle rather than a car as an urban commuting tool, while citizens of the growing economies in Asia and the developing world (who represent the majority of world’s cyclists) are abandoning bicycles in favor of combustion-fueled transportation. I’m also working on a story about a black market smuggling operation taking place in Olympic National Park.

All photos: Gregg Bleakney

Fixies in their natural element


We are off to London so here is a London theme – those mad (wo)and men on their flying machines ….

Photos by Geoff Waugh – connect to the man here

Fixies in their natural habitat; London and in particular east London. These portraits were shot by Geoff Waugh around the streets of Shoreditch, flitting from coffee bar to cafe and stepping out to ambush the unsuspecting riders and commit their image to pixels. This is an ongoing photoproject. Stay tuned for more images very soon.

HERE are some that stand out for me

russian girl with fixie
`low, pro and yellow
1949 BSA - the oldest fixie in town?
Black, green and gold
red or shred

working working working


Been non stop with filming, editing, photography shoots and now photoshop. ~Planning on a run – long in the morning despite the gales and rain …. must go out.

At least the work has been fun. Here is a chair by John Galvin as well as a new photo that I took on Saturday ….

Need to try this technique on some portraits in the bike scene ….