As a photographer, I am only an amateur, but I have one BIG advantage over many of you with similar proficiency taking pictures, I ride my bike! Sound like a strange statement? It isn't! While most of you plan a photoshoot at home, and then drive to a location, I experience the world with all my equipment at 12 mph from the saddle of my road bike while taking 20 to 40 mile rides.
Whenever I mount up, I have the following equipment in addition to cycling gear: My Canon SX40 and a monopod. With these two items I am able to both get a nice workout, but also stop whenever a photo opportunity presents itself. The monopod is important because it allows me to zoom in on all kinds of items, without having to worry about holding a heavy camera motionless given the weight of gravity. All of this gear will be with me when I cycle the 2,000+ mile Grand Gaspe Tour later this Summer!
The Biking Photographer's Rolling Photoshoot! (click to expand images)
Yesterday evening was a good example of how I use these tools in conjunction with a bike ride. Two hours before sunset, I decided to ride down to the Duluth harbor entrance. While cycling towards canal park, from two miles away it became obvious to me that the setting sun on the ocean freighter anchored in the open lake, and the two lighthouses which sit upon the end of the canal piers would be aligned nicely and have the "golden hour" light upon them.
Once the decision was made to take this photo, it was just a matter of biking until I found the best angle. In fact, I jumped off my bike twice and took photos before I got the one shown below (my favorite ... click to view at full size).
Here is the monopod strapped on to my bike day bag which allowed me to both zoom in and hold my camera steady enough such that camera shake was eliminated (tired arms).
Here is one more example from ten days ago. While biking up the North Shore of Lake Superior near Split Rock Lighthouse, I spotted a small waterfall shooting out from a cliff into the lake. There was a rockly island in the distance, and given the deep blue sky, a perfect photo opportunity. However, the key fact is later in the day I discovered from a worker at the near bye state park that the small waterfall which I had photographed only appears a few times per year ... including during the snow runoff from the Spring melt (the day I was bicyling). From the highway at 60 mph one would never see the small waterfall, yet from the bikepath at 12 mph ...
Here is the scene in question. Click to view at full size.
Finally, the link to my Flickr photosteam!
