The Bicycle Photographer

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of working withHeather McGrath - a woman whose excellent photos have graced many a magazine page and gallery wall. Those who love bicycles might also recognise her work from framebuilders' websites and cycling blogs: In recent years Heather has made quite a name for herself as a bicycle photographer.




In the course of running this blog and plunging deeper into the bicycle industry, I have thought about the relationship between cycling and photography. Many seem to get into photography as a result of riding their bikes. Perhaps it starts with wanting to photograph the scenery they encounter on a ride, or the bike itself. Over time taking pictures becomes a hobby and the rider's photography skills improve, sometimes to the point where they turn professional. Another scenario is where an established professional photographer becomes a cyclist, thereafter focusing largely on bicycles and cycling. Either way, bicycle photographers are almost invariably cyclists themselves. They have to be, to truly understand how to capture the defining characteristics of our beloved two wheel machines, as well as of those who ride them and make them. And Heather - as a daily cyclist, friend to local framebuilders and owner of a handbuilt bike - certainly understands all this. Ever wonder what being a pro bicycle photographer entails? I post a brief conversation with Heather below.








You describe yourself as an editorial photographer. In your own words, what does that mean?


I get hired mostly by magazines. But ad agencies hire me as well.



Roughly what portion of your projects would you say are bike-related?



A good portion. I have been very fortunate in this. I always marketed work that was directly related to my life. I just kept shooting for myself and the things I loved, and assignments started following. The bike industry has responded very well to my eye.



Do you recall who was your first bicycle industry client, or what was your first bike-related photo shoot?



My first shoot that got me anywhere was just of my friends who lived in LA at the time. I came out with my Mamiya 67 and just hung out and shot a few frames. Some of the shots ended up on my first promo which lead to my first assignment withBicycling Magazinea couple years later.





Do you get to travel for work? What sort of places have you recently traveled to?



I do. I have been flown to California, DC, Oregon, Austin, etc., for clients. I also travel alot for myself in pursuit of more photos for my portfolio. I actually just came back from a 7 week backpacking trip to the Netherlands, Croatia, Sweden, Norway and Iceland. I am going to start marketing these photos to travel companies and hopefully get more work there.



You've mentioned that for years you did not have a car and carried your photo equipment by bike. Can you describe your setup?



Thank god I have a strong back! Usually I just have my Bailey Works bag with a little subdivider in it with the body and two lenses. I don't light usually so I can travel light. But one time before zipcar existed I had a big shoot about 8 miles from my house. It was a big magazine and I was super nervous and of course it was about to rain right before I was about to leave. So there was no time to take the bus or anything. I packed up my huge Lowepro Trekker 2 bag which is supposed to be waterproof. I overpacked with lights and stuff I really didn't need because I was nervous. I threw in an extra set of clothes. attached a stand to one side of the bag and tripod on the other. And of course the downpour starts while I was en route. Like completely soaked to the underwear. And when I got to the house It had just stopped and this poor family had to open their doors to a girl who looked like a drowned rat with about 20lbs of gear on her asking to use the bathroom before we shot...





You own a beautiful handbuilt bicycle by Geekhouse. What made you decide to get a custom bike? Did you give the builder criteria as far as what you wanted in a bike?



Geekhouse wanted to make me a bike that was going to be a part of their NAHBS show bikes that year. Together we brainstormed ideas and colors. We all wanted something really classic looking. And my most important request was no toe overlap. I love track frames but I was sick of the toe overlap. A lot of the details of the bike were a surprise from the boys. They wouldn't even let me see it until it was completely done. I was there first curved fork and Brad made me my own monogram on the handlebars. I honestly think about how much I love that bike every time I ride it. I would never buy another bike that is not fitted to me.



[Note: See studio shots of Heather's bike here. Also: The basket pictured here does not actually live on the bike, just a joke.]





Are there any special challenges for you in photographing bikes compared to other types of photo shoots?



The hardest thing I have faced is keeping my shot in focus. I have all manual focus Zeiss lenses usually kept at f2.8 or lower and I'm often shooting motion or riding with the subject and have to have both hands on the camera and just look through the eyepiece to even see where I am going! You have to be able to stay on your bike, not hit anything, keep a good frame, and keep the person sharp! But I like these challenges. So I see it more as fun than torture. Another good story was when I was shooting the Lucus Brunelle shot for Bicycling Magazine. I had my assistant riding me around the city on a moped. I had no feet pedals, and makeshift belt keeping me and brad back to back. I just held on with my thighs and kept my feet in the air! We did this for about 2 hours. and the whole time manual focusing everything while we zipped in-between lanes of traffic at full speed. Luckily I grew up riding dirt bikes so I had no fear in any of this. We got really lucky though at the last shot when we found the police car that Lucas could skitch on. The police never looked over and it was hands down the best shot of the day!



Any advice for amateur bicycle photographers considering venturing into paid work? Do you think a formal education in photography is essential?



You don't need a formal education. I almost dropped out of my own photo school. I had already been a professional retoucher and a graphic designer before I decided to be a photographer, so I came into the industry already knowing the back end. But because of those skills I was able to keep retouching for ad campaigns while I was working on my photography career. Eventually I didn't need to retouch anymore. My suggestion is to sacrifice your social life while you work on your skills. Assist as many other people as you can. And shoot what you love. That's how I got here and I am very grateful.





Having worked with Heather, I would describe her approach to photography as intuitive, fluid and thorough - focused on staging lively and realistic scenarios which can then be captured as still images. Heather uses both film and digital equipment. She prefers to ride fixed gear, and usually rides in her regular clothing and shoes, using pedals with toe straps. She commutes by bike around Boston, using her car when needed to transport props and large equipment. Whether working in her studio in Boston's South End or on location, Heather is good, really goodat what she does. And her taste in bikes is none too shabby either.

Haines Shoe House

As we were driving to the Harley Davidson factory, I saw a house shaped like a shoe. I hadn't heard anything about it so I had to look online when we got back home.



This is what I found: The Shoe House, built in 1948, was by far "Colonel" Mahlon N. Haines' most outlandish advertising gimmick. It is a wood frame structure covered with wire lath and coated with a cement stucco. It measures 48 ft. in length, 17 ft. in width at the widest part and 25 ft. in height. The interior consists of five different levels and contains three bedrooms, two baths, a kitchen and living room.



This giant structural advertisement was originally used as a guest house. In the first year after its completion, elderly couples were invited to stay for a weekend and live like "kings and queens" at Haines' expense.

Geneve at Night: Dinner at Le Lacustre

My first night in Geneve was quite uneventful except for the news that I received at the hotel reception: THEY FOUND MY BAG. I was ecstatic because I dreaded wearing the same clothes the next day. I already bought a few stuff at the nearby Coop store which I really regretted because it cost me a lot of money. Switzerland is not cheap. I do not like unnecessary spending.

Anyway, I was so tired. My body has taken its toll from waking up at 3AM that morning, the nightmares at the airport, the long sessions I had during the day—all I really wanted was to lay on my bed and sleep early. Had dinner at the hotel and went straight to bed. Boring? Heh.

So on the second evening I was a bit adventurous and joined a group of colleagues for dinner at Le Lacustre Restaurant in Geneve town center.

For dinner I had Risotto ai Frutti di Mari, 4 stars out of 5. The wines here though are 5 stars, superb! Service as well is very good, the waiters are nice, attentive and accommodating.


Le Lacustre Restaurant by day.

The Italian restaurant is located right on the banks of Lac Leman (Lake Geneva) which is near Place du Molard (just right across), a famous square in Geneva. The terrace is connected to the promenade that is jutting out of the lake. It’s one of the beautiful and perfectly located restaurants in town; on the lake and with a lovely outdoor terrace.

This restaurant also serves sexy wines so for this reason we stayed longer after dinner. The group, as part of the natural process of socialising, decided to move outside to the terrace to further chill out and enjoy the sexy wine. It was a nice evening; dry, not too cold, just fresh. A lovely night full of conversations and laughs.

After saying goodbyes we took the tram going back to our hotel, however, we picked the wrong one. Happens all the time. And the last tram to the direction of our hotel happened to just passed by. The guys blamed me because I was the one chasing the tram. Oh well, the cab it is! Its on my bill.

On the promenade outside Le Lacustre Restaurant with the swans on the lake. Companies must be paying a lot of money to advertise their logo on top of the buildings on the lake. I see the ABN-Amro logo.

Place du Molard at night. I love the lights on the cobble stones.

Cabs are as expensive as in the Netherlands.

Shell Creek Oak

Shell Creek Oak, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

The oaks are just starting to leaf out at Shell Creek Road. The wildflowers, however, are at peak bloom. Wildflowers in this view include tidy tips and goldfields.

Vienna's Bike Lanes in Winter

I am back in Vienna, this time for a month. The temperature here is about the same as in Boston, and it is snowing intermittently. I am feverishly preparing a talk for a big conference tomorrow, but in the meantime I give you a tour of the bike lanes near my new place:



This is a pretty typical bike lane in Vienna. The snow is mostly cleared, but this morning there were some patches of ice. Cycling on the road is prohibited in areas where bike lanes are provided.



Intersection: bicycles wait for green and ride parallel to the pedestrian crossing.



Bike lane ends: bicycles proceed on the road along designated bike route.



Continuation of bike route on the road. 30 km/h speed limit (though to my eye cars go faster). Notice the tram tracks.



Close-up of tram tracks - yikes! They criss-cross and there is basically no way to avoid them. The thought of cycling parallel to these for several blocks on an icy day fills me with dread (see this post about railroad tracks) and I did not see any cyclists on this street today, despite it being a designated bike route.



What do you think? This is a different neighborhood from where I used to live when I had my own apartment here last year, so I am still exploring it. Overall it looks like I can cycle here, and I do have access to a bike this time around. More on that later!

Southwick and surrounding woods

About 6 miles. 2 hrs 15 mins. A couple of showers but nothing really wet. As I got home the sun came out.





Lovely walk, with only likelihood of wandering off track right in the last half-mile or so.

Quite up and down. I parked by Southwick church and walked up to the water tower on the Glapthorn Road, but there's a fair sized lay-by at the top. Of course that puts the uphill road walk at the end.





The track starts about 100 yards past the water tower, to the right.

It runs through at least three fields of this crop - is it bamboo? Pandas next?





(I'm told this is a bio-fuel crop)





It was very windy up on the ridge, but the plants were some protection as they were taller than I am.





The hedges around had lots of blackberries.





For much of the way the path runs beside Short Wood Nature Reserve.









After about a mile or so the track comes to a metal gate leading into a large meadow, and today I was treated to the sight of these two little deer.





I was surprised when they came towards me at first, so I tried to get a shot - usual problem of the wrong lens for the job, and the splodges are raindrops! It was a joy to watch them leaping about. The wood behind the deer is part of Glapthorn Cow Pastures Nature Reserve, famous for nightingales in May, and black hairstreak butterflies in June.The cows were in the lower part of the field keeping themselves to themselves.





The track goes across to another gate, then right on a road leading to Provost Lodge. I followed the path between the two big barns and through a gate then downhill. According to my instructions it crosses a stream, but it looked as though there has been no water in the stream bed for some time. The path goes uphill to another gate, past a gap in the hedge. At the gate I went slightly diagonally left towards yet another gate. Then turn left towards an old farm building - this part of the walk is alongside a ploughed field. There is a bit of grass along the edge, but it's a bit rough in places.

At the old building (Tottenhoe Lodge) turn right and carry on going north, with a hedge on your right until you reach a wooden footbridge almost on the road.





There's a bridge which you have to cross - it brings back memories of cycling over to Suffolk almost twenty years ago, as I remember stopping here for a rest, and Harry drawing Crossway Hand Farm on the hill.





I followed the concrete track towards the farm, turning left just before it, and then along the track towards Boars Head Farm. There is woodland immediately on the right, but no public access as it's a conservation area. The track continues as a grassy path just past Boars Head Farm, going downhill and entering the wood, at its narrowest point. There is a clear path to left and right. We go to the right along a gravel track signed with a horseshoe. As I walked along here, I first heard, then saw a couple of jays - are they burying acorns already?

I followed the route straight through, past three paths to the right. The last one of these leads to Shire Hill Lodge, but the path becomes very narrow for a short distance before joining the track .

Soon there is a small plantation of fir trees on the left, and at the end a footpath cuts across the track. I turned right - it's clearly marked as a footpath, but not for horses. The path turns left after another young pine wood. When it joins a gravel track go straight on, not to the right. A little later turn right and follow this path directly to Southwick.





(If you come out of the wood and spot the Water Tower on your right, a little behind you . . . retrace your steps. If you're out of the wood you should have the trees on your right not your left!)

Spot the statue?

You arrive at the church after crossing a footbridge over a stream and following a small lane to the footpath signs and two benches.

No, it's not the leaning tower of Southwick.

Thanks to 20 Best Local Walks, by Nicholas Rudd-Jones, for this route.

Debasketification

We've all been caught off guard here by the wintry temperatures over the past few days. I was in disbelief at first, but gave in and got out the wool coats and boots again.Yesterday the sky was dark and the forecast promised continuous rain, and so when we needed to go on errands across town we took the Pashleys - after making some minor modifications.



When I was explaining to the Co-Habitant months ago that the Princess feels slow to accelerate from a stop compared to my other bicycles, he immediately suggested that the basket might be at fault - producing wind resistance at slow speeds with its dense wicker enormity. I dismissed this idea for a while, because the basket is just so nice. I did not want to believe it could have any significant role in slowing me down.



But after the de-basketification procedure (we finally got some wrenches that allowed us to remove the handlebars and take off the entire basket support system), I have to admit that he was right. Without the basket, the Princess is faster to accelerate from a stop, and it is also easier to maneuver. I guess I am just not a "front basket kind of girl" despite liking them aesthetically. I miss the basket being there, but the handling and speed of the bicycle are so improved by its absence that I just can't see myself willingly re-attaching it. Instead, I will get some roomy panniers for the rear rack to increase load capacity.



In addition to the de-basketification, we changed the angle and rise of the handlebars some more, so that they resemble a vintage roadster set-up and allow for a more aggressive - yet still upright and comfortable - posture. This has further improved things, and I prefer the look as well - reminds me of a path racer!



With these changes and the effects they've had, I think I will keep the bicycle and continue tinkering with it. I would like to replace the Marathon Plus tires with cream Delta Cruisers, and I think this will make the Princess zippier still. This bicycle may not be super fast or light, but it is undeniably safer and more comfortable in bad weather than any other bike I have been on, and that is no small thing.



The Co-Habitant's Roadster is happy that the Princess will be staying, and he assures her that she looks just as good without the basket as with. If anything, her graceful long neck is now more visible and all the better to admire. What a flatterer!