Focusing And Refocusing: Views From An Evolving Life

Silliness

This somewhat disturbing work has nothing to do with a commute but does have to do with learning to use a camera, plus it amuses me, so it gets to go in my blog.

After figuring out how to use the point-and-shoot's Fireworks scene along with its self-timer the other day, I wanted to "advance" to mastering its shutter speed settings (which are buried in layers of menus).

So during a spare moment at work today, I fiddled with it. Then just to see what would happen, I set the camera on my (messy) desk under full overhead lighting (as opposed to darkness, which is what the slow shutter speed is supposed to be for), turned on the self-timer, and pressed the shutter. I didn't aim at anything; just put it down randomly.

This is what it captured. My hair clip, partially obscured in the front by a Diet Pepsi cap; my Poynter coffee mug in the background, and a newspaper clipping of very cute pandas. It whited out everything else.

I kind of like this effect. I boosted the colors a bit in Photoshop and added some grain to make it look more like a painting, less like a photo. Next I plan to take it to MOMA and sell it off as modern art.

At least I learned how to use the point-and-shoot's shutter speed menu ...

Light Streaking on the BxM2

OK, we're just having too much fun now.

Couldn't ride today for an assortment of reasons. Took the "express" bus home. Usually an ordeal, but not when point-and-shooting out the bus window with the Gorillapod while using the point-and-shoot's slow shutter speed adjustments for the first time.

The bus had just started moving when I shot the above. A non-blurred version would have been nice, but really I kind of like the moody qualities of this one.

The rest are just fun with light streaks ...

 

 

Abstract Art and Broadway Bashing

None of what I tried to do today came remotely close to turning out, so how about this as abstract art. It's a version of the below -- before I fished out the remote from my bag. I have to say, this one's a lot more interesting with a little camera shake ...

And why was I taking a landscape photo from across the street and through a chain-link fence? Because that's the kind of day it's been.

THE PHOTO LEARNING PROCESS:

Getting acquainted with the tripod in 28 degree windchills, as I did this morning, is not a fun thing. Far too much time spent setting up, twisting, turning, tilting, tightening ... and then being unable to UNTIGHTEN because with part of the tripod, unbeknownst to me at the time, Lefty Loosey does not apply. How can that BE, when that's the only mechanical rule I ever learned?!  And during this ordeal I was afraid to twist to the Right, because I didn't want it any more Tighty.  So there I was, fingers completely numb from the cold, unable to twist the tripod all the way down and therefore unable to fit it in the pannier. So I had to stick it at medium length horizontally under my waist pack attached to my back, making me one wide and dangerous load as I rode along.

THE COMMUTE:

Very chilly and breezy this morning, made worse by time spent stopping and trying to do this photo thing. And I underdressed.

Then this evening. I'm going to have to do something about this upper Broadway matter. It's not going to be tolerable as an ongoing situtation.

It's my preference not to take the Greenway when it's dark. Because it's ... dark.  With no lighting at all in some stretches, including areas where you really don't want to be stuck in the dark, particularly if you happen to get a flat or some such.

So that leaves Broadway as pretty much the only alternative. There is one particularly miserable stretch of Broadway, just about a half mile but it seems like eternity, from 181st to around Nagle. A very busy commercial area, and one in which double parking is the norm. On a fairly steep downhill. With lots of pedestrians. And trucks and buses and car service cars and cabs. None of which move about in anything resembling an orderly fashion. So it's one long downhill of dodging and burning (ha, get it?) and braking and swerving and door-avoiding and ... just one big nightmare.

I just can't face this night after night. I might do the Greenway in the dark after all.  Or, um, Bennett. Yeah, the wrong way.  Hey, others do it. What's a girl to do??

On top of all of that, I rode with my left foot unclipped for much of the journey. Reasons having to do with different cleat placement and new Lake winter riding shoes. Details later. Enough is enough for tonight.

Here's what the above scene looked like with the remote and no camera shake.  Boring.

Nighttime Pointing and Shooting with Bike-Mounted Gorillapod

THE COMMUTE:

A relief to be back on the bike today, after spending yesterday's downpour on the subway to work and the "express" bus to home. Given the weather -- 41/Feels Like 33, with 15 mph winds gusting to 25mph -- I had to upgrade the clothing to a few more layers of just about everything; details below.

As for yesterday: One helpful thing about yesterday's sitting-still commute: It gave me a chance to thumb through one of my new books: Exposure Photo Workshop by Jeff Wignall.

THE PHOTOS:

The book is very instructive and a joy to read and I'm sure I'll get a lot from it. But one immediate benefit: I noted that several of the night shots in the opening chapters were taken with a point-n-shoot.

Hmm, I thought.

And thus, a compromise on today's photo-and-bike adventure. Given the chill and the wind -- especially the wind -- I really didn't want to deal with the big tripod and DSLR and having to spend excessive time fiddling with them. So I did a revolutionary thing: I actually looked at the manual for my point-n-shoot and figured out how to get to its non-automatic modes as well as how to use the self-timer.

Then I attached the camera to my  Gorillapod and stuck it in the rack trunk so I could just grab it when needed.

Midway through the commute, I found a spot with potential (good sky, cars going by), attached the Gorillapod to the handlebars, aimed the bike at the scene, set the camera to Fireworks Scene and 2-sec self-timer, and waited the action. Then pointed, and shot.

The one on the top is exactly as I took it.  The one on the bottom I played with a bit by darkening the shadows (the buildings) and brightening the sky. Was tempted to saturate it some more, but that seemed too over the top.

THE CLOTHES:

I always over-dress, but especially considering that I have to factor in stopping for photos, in the wind, it seems like not such a bad idea over the course of 12.5 windy miles.

So today: Icebreaker 150 baselayer, Ibex crew middle layer, Icebreaker 320 third layer (all of those wool), Brooks reflective windbreaker fourth (!!) layer; Sugoi skullcap; Gore full-finger gloves; bike shorts, tights, Cannondale wind pants; Smartwool kneehigh socks with Giordana lightweight wool socks on top; Grabber toe warmers.  I think that's it.  It really did the trick well ... I was a little warm going up Bennett, but it was manageable; and it was perfect for the really windy stretches along the river.

 

 

First Try at Using the Tripod in the Early Morning

So, this morning was my first try at using the tripod and the remote. It wasn't exactly a success -- this one's going to take as much practice in the logistics of the setup as in the technicalities of the camera before the muscle memory figures out what's going on and starts to help out.

But that's why I've (more or less) committed to keeping this going through the dark and cold ...
practice practice practice.

I got the tripod set up in reasonable time, but then had some trouble manipulating the camera once it was on the tripod. Plus I again couldn't see the settings in the dark -- and the fact that I'd bought a little flashlight didn't do me much good because I couldn't retrieve the flashlight quickly enough to suit my desires. Plus I when I wanted to swivel and tilt I had to stumble around with twisties and turnies until I found what I needed. Big waste of time.

PLUS I neglected to remember that I had to change the shooting mode to, well, remote ... which is why I couldn't get the remote to work for awhile.

There were other ordeals but not worth getting into at this point.  Clearly I need to refine a couple of things: For instance, I'll probably resume carrying the trunk rack so I can stash and retrieve needed items quickly. And put the flashlight around my neck before leaving home. And use the bigger pannier -- this one's really a little tight for the tripod.

As for the above, we'll call it art.

I chose this spot in advance, figuring that Central Park was a reasonable place to fiddle with the tripod unmolested, and knowing that there would be semi-fun stuff with the setup for the NYC Marathon. So, the bleachers set up for the marathon finishers, and some early-morning training with less than a week to go.

ISO 200, shade, 1/13, F1.4, 50mm fixed.  Tweaked a bit in Picasa.

A Shadowy George Washington Bridge

I've gotten really spoiled by commuting at 6 in the morning as the sun is rising. There have been so many fascinating colors and shadows at that time.

Today I got a late start (hey, it's Sunday) and didn't leave home until around 7:30a for my monthly on-duty day in the office. No sunrise, no clouds, no sky show -- and as a result, none of the usual spots that catch my eye were even remotely interesting. This is the closest I could come, but I got here just a few minutes too late. In fact, the scene got notably less good in the time it took to stop the bike, turn it around, put it down, get out a camera, and shoot a few shots in from a few feet down.

I should dig up a few of the scenes I shot from the same spot earlier this year, for comparison. But can't do that until I get home ....

The Glory of a Repaved Dyckman

Generally I aim to take pretty pictures on my commute, and generally pictures of streets aren't all that pretty. But in fact, this view of Dyckman is one of the prettiest sights there can possibly be.

Behold the blissfully smooth pavement. Almost like silk. (And only one car sort of in the bike lane, which for Dyckman is a miracle. And maybe he can't really be blamed, since they're not finished with repainting the lane markers yet ...)

But back to the blissfully smooth pavement. You had to have known the former version of Dyckman to truly appreciate the change. It was dreadful before. It's glorious now.

There's been similar repaving up on 230th and that, too, has made a dramatic improvement in my commute.

Now if only they could tackle Seaman _ a popular cyclists' alternative to Broadway, but one pockmarked and pitted particularly at the worst possible spots, like nearing the top of an incline at which you're bound to be boxed in by a couple of double-parked or madly careening cars anyway.  So you hit nirvana with Dyckman (who would have thought?) and then sink back to reality navigating up Seaman.

Still. Repaving of two key parts of my route PLUS the opening of the Harlem Piers part of the Greenway. Pretty good developments in the past month. Now if only they could do something about the wind ...

Hudson River Greenway at West Harlem Piers opens!

As I noted last night, it's a very exciting time on the Hudson River Greenway: the West Harlem Piers connector between around 125th and 135th streets is finally open.

This means no more detouring for 10 blocks to 12th Avenue and the often-crazy traffic around the Fairway -- though that stretch is certainly a whole lot less annoying and less treacherous than, say, the car wash area on Broadway between 218th and the Broadway Bridge. 

But it's delightful to stay on the bike path straight through. And they've done a lovely job with the park and pier area. Of course, all this comes at a time when I won't be on this stretch much -- will be taking the Riverside Drive route when it's dark -- but it's nice to get a week or two of it and it will be truly wonderful when light returns.

 

Hudson River has Structures; Subway Does Not

All sorts of excitement in tonight's bike commute on the West Side Greenway -- some structures gone, several new ones installed, AND the most exciting news of all ... well, I failed miserably in photographing it tonight, so I'll try again tomorrow morning.  For now, just a few more structures.

Speaking of failing miserably, I had absolutely zero success with the camera on Riverside Drive this morning. At least it gives me plenty of room for improvement.

Was talking with a co-worker today about how my enthusiasm for a bike commute had started to wane just a bit as winter approached -- until I thought about spending the same hour on a subway train. She noted that on her subway ride this morning, it seemed just about everyone was loudly, drippily, germily sick, all confined in that yucky little space. While I was out riding merrily along in nature, playing with my camera. It's an easy call.

Tour de Bronx!

Today was the Tour de Bronx, a celebration of bikes and my borough. The old and new Yankee stadiums are in the background of this photo before the start. Unfortunately I didn't get any along the way ... too hard when riding with friends and then when we got separated, I didn't want to further delay my arrival. In hindsight, of course, I wish I'd stopped a few times for photo opps. The shadows in Woodlawn Cemetery were especially interesting.

Here's sort of a version of the route -- it includes some random touring at the beginning and then ends way prematurely, without most of the Riverdale leg or any of the trip to the Botanical Garden. But, some decent stuff and especially fun in Google Earth.

Today was a low-level preview of the late fall and winter chill to come. Temp around 43 at the start but with fairly brisk winds all day. I'm not a fan of cold and wind. Why did I commit to trying to ride most of the winter??

Today's attire for the conditions: Icebreaker wool tank, Swobo LS wool jersey, GoLite jacket with detachable sleeves (which I didn't detach), Buff as head cover under the helmet, and Gore full-fingered gloves (I can't find these any more and they're the only full-fingered gloves I have that I like).  Oh, also one pair SmartWool knee-high socks, toe warmers, shorts and Icebreaker leggings.  All of that was just about perfect. A bit warm when the wind lessened but just right when it was blowing steadily.

The ride itself was fine but not as fun as last year. Lots of annoying standing around, at times for no apparent reason, and huge bathroom lines at the first rest stop. Also I was just plain tired and sore -- still having back issues partly from lugging the camera around and partly from wrenching it while bending over to change a flat with the camera still on my back (and lock still wrapped around my waist).

That said, it's great to see so many cool parts of a very cool and underappreciated borough. Tons of natural beauty, of course, and also lots of fascinating contrasts and spirit. I think I'll take a day sometime and retrace the route on my own, this time actually taking pictures along the way.