Musings of a Crotch Rocketeer: November 2019

I wouldn't be the first person to say that the only thing I enjoy as much as riding my bike is taking pictures of it and showing them. Well maybe not "as much", but its up there. In 2016 before my Laguna Seca trip I bought a DSLR (Canon Rebel, go ahead and laugh). Since then I've taken a handful of pictures that I really thought were "good", among thousands that were bad or just OK. In the last year I've started a more concerted effort to learn how to shoot and post process better. One of the biggest frustrations is realizing that the field of computational photography (my Pixel 3a for instance) often produces better photos than I can using a DSLR shooting in RAW and post processing. If only I could attach a 50mm prime lens to my Pixel 3a I'd have the best photos all the time.

There's limits to my gear for instance (Canon Rebel with kit lenses) and my software (Canon Digital Photography Pro) but also that I'm not that great at post-processing. Photography is a hobby like motorsports that can consume all available income if you let it. If I bought a better camera body I'd get a better image sensor that can do extremes of light better, and if I bought better lenses everything would be better. If I bought Lightroom and Photoshop I would have features that DPP doesn't have, but would I really make a better photo because of it?

Like my club racing I'm trying to keep it simple and not let it consume every dime possible.

Without further ado I present, Some of Tim's favorite motorcycle photos. Not necessarily the best and not necessarily all of them.

The classic "everything important has been moved into the new house". The quality of the photo isn't anything to write home about but all these years later I like the composition.

I don't remember if I took this with a smartphone or a point and shoot. My current Pixel 3a would have shot these colors and HDR lighting so much better, but I like the composition and the result nonetheless.

Top, CBR, bottom, VFR. I tried to recreate the oroginal photo several years later. The top is with a smartphone I believe. The bottom image was with my DSLR in automatic without thought of focal length or anything else, really just a high-res point and shot.

Racer at work on his bike. I kind of accidentally got this one right from a focal length/composition point of view. If I'd been shooting RAW back then I could have corrected for the highlights, but alas here we are.

I rushed this photo (and it was with a phone). But the composition could have been really great if I'd had my DSLR and taken my time.

Shot on an overcast day so the lighting was good. Composition wasn't fantastic because I didn't work on setting up the bike with a good background.

Action shots are tough. This one though was one of my better shots from the Alaska trip. If you look close though you can see the chromatic distortions from my crappy kit telephoto lens.

Victory lap at Laguna Seca 2019.

Fields run 2019, somewhere in Nevada.

On a ride recently I shot some action pictures. That's not me obviously. This was golden hour/behind a mountain so the light was failing but since I shot in RAW I could correct somewhat in post.

I liked this one as a candid more than the technical aspects of the shot. An OMRRA racer and his daughter.

Middle of the summer in the shade of very bright light. The light is just about as good as you can get. From this angle you can see the pretty tail, exhaust and the just slightly tinted windscreen.