103. Human Powered - May 31-June 6, 2015
Byron-
Lately I've been intrigued by human powered lawn mowers. My interest started last Summer when Erleen brought home an old cast iron model from her Mom's house. It works but weighs a ton (not literally). Modern versions are much lighter and easier to push. Erl found this "Great States" unit at a garage sale in Osseo. It was $10 so I felt adventurous and bought it. In addition to cutting the grass the user gets a good workout. There are shortcomings. A twig caught in the blades can stop the entire process. If the grass gets too long it also becomes hard to push. Another reason I like this type of mower is because in the Season 5 Intro to "Leave it to Beaver" both Wally and Beaver are shown pushing reel type mowers. I feel that if Wally and Beaver can mow a lawn that way, so can I.
ISO 500, f/8, 1/125, I used my 55-200 lens set at 190mm
Lately I've been intrigued by human powered lawn mowers. My interest started last Summer when Erleen brought home an old cast iron model from her Mom's house. It works but weighs a ton (not literally). Modern versions are much lighter and easier to push. Erl found this "Great States" unit at a garage sale in Osseo. It was $10 so I felt adventurous and bought it. In addition to cutting the grass the user gets a good workout. There are shortcomings. A twig caught in the blades can stop the entire process. If the grass gets too long it also becomes hard to push. Another reason I like this type of mower is because in the Season 5 Intro to "Leave it to Beaver" both Wally and Beaver are shown pushing reel type mowers. I feel that if Wally and Beaver can mow a lawn that way, so can I.
ISO 500, f/8, 1/125, I used my 55-200 lens set at 190mm
Deron-
Working in the high desert town of Hesperia I ran into this typical Southern California 'skater kid'. Flat bill hat pulled down over his ears, floppy, overgrown hair and skate shoes, which seem to never be tied tight. Him, and his buddy, were nice enough to let the creepy guy with a camera take a few shots of them as they rolled by.
As you can see the light conditions were not optimal, as the sun was high in the clear, cloudless sky. I shot this on shutter priority to get his leg blurred, showing that he was doing all the work to get his Razor Scooter moving.
Working in the high desert town of Hesperia I ran into this typical Southern California 'skater kid'. Flat bill hat pulled down over his ears, floppy, overgrown hair and skate shoes, which seem to never be tied tight. Him, and his buddy, were nice enough to let the creepy guy with a camera take a few shots of them as they rolled by.
As you can see the light conditions were not optimal, as the sun was high in the clear, cloudless sky. I shot this on shutter priority to get his leg blurred, showing that he was doing all the work to get his Razor Scooter moving.
Kevin-
What could be better, faster or more powerful than a Human Powered human? This is Atticus. At age 5 he is already a fierce bicycle fiend. Deron had better be careful, as he approaches old age Atticus will probably be blowing past him on steep mountain roads. Or perhaps Atticus won’t bother with mountain roads and will simply figure out a way, with his scientific interest, to ride a bicycle to the moon?
For this shot I simply had Atticus over to the studio. There he could show off his bicycle ability and display his trademark tongue sticking out attitude (which was true in virtually every pass he made in front of the camera).
Nikon D4s, handheld, 24-70mm Nikkor set to 24mm, ISO 100, f/9 @ 1/250th of a second (flash sync). Looking back it might have been fun to experiment with a slow shutter speed to create a little motion blur in addition to the frozen flash image. But I didn’t want to wear Atticus out. He needs to save his strength to take on Deron.
What could be better, faster or more powerful than a Human Powered human? This is Atticus. At age 5 he is already a fierce bicycle fiend. Deron had better be careful, as he approaches old age Atticus will probably be blowing past him on steep mountain roads. Or perhaps Atticus won’t bother with mountain roads and will simply figure out a way, with his scientific interest, to ride a bicycle to the moon?
For this shot I simply had Atticus over to the studio. There he could show off his bicycle ability and display his trademark tongue sticking out attitude (which was true in virtually every pass he made in front of the camera).
Nikon D4s, handheld, 24-70mm Nikkor set to 24mm, ISO 100, f/9 @ 1/250th of a second (flash sync). Looking back it might have been fun to experiment with a slow shutter speed to create a little motion blur in addition to the frozen flash image. But I didn’t want to wear Atticus out. He needs to save his strength to take on Deron.
Paul-
I took this picture, and a few hundred more, at a two-day Tai Chi Retreat held at the Fremont State Recreational Area this past weekend. It is an expansive, verdant, and picturesque camping get-a-way spot which would normally be a pleasant thing if it weren’t for most of the people doing the camping there. People with 42’ Goliath-like RVs festooned with satellite dishes, draped with Husker flags, garlanded with LED lights, and all watched over by a sufficient number of huge dogs to make the Iditarod look like a regional poodle show.
Part of the Recreational Area is also bordered by heavily used train tracks—and that meant every 20-30 minutes large trains would go rumbling by and sound air horns, which shattered the relative peace created at our camping site. Even drowning out the family up the road who kept playing Lynyrd Skynyrd music from a large boom box. Awful.
Still, great weather, great food, great company, and a very large body liquid I am reliably told is called a “lake.”
I was able to see Byron’s choice for the WPOTM theme while in Fremont--so when I wasn’t being pummeled, eviscerated, trying out blindfolded Tai Chi, or playing home-made “taikos”—I decided to see if I could get my “Human Powered” picture from activity on the lake. (My initial submission was going to be my Tai Chi teacher demonstrating a martial arts form with a staff. In his hands definitely a human powered weapon. But he moved fairly fast and I couldn’t anticipate what moves I’d want to capture in advance. So I looked elsewhere.)
I was fortunate to see two kayakers paddling by at one point so I took a number of pictures of them. I thought the composition looked better with one of them cropped out, so…
Our story so far: Shot at 1/640 sec.; f/7.1; ISO 400; 55-200mm lens set at 175mm. As the photographer stood at the edge of the lake and pressed the shutter button, he dreamt of paddling the sleek Folbot he might one day own…and not of the poison ivy he was stepping in. So much for the lecture he had received from his instructor on mindfulness.
I took this picture, and a few hundred more, at a two-day Tai Chi Retreat held at the Fremont State Recreational Area this past weekend. It is an expansive, verdant, and picturesque camping get-a-way spot which would normally be a pleasant thing if it weren’t for most of the people doing the camping there. People with 42’ Goliath-like RVs festooned with satellite dishes, draped with Husker flags, garlanded with LED lights, and all watched over by a sufficient number of huge dogs to make the Iditarod look like a regional poodle show.
Part of the Recreational Area is also bordered by heavily used train tracks—and that meant every 20-30 minutes large trains would go rumbling by and sound air horns, which shattered the relative peace created at our camping site. Even drowning out the family up the road who kept playing Lynyrd Skynyrd music from a large boom box. Awful.
Still, great weather, great food, great company, and a very large body liquid I am reliably told is called a “lake.”
I was able to see Byron’s choice for the WPOTM theme while in Fremont--so when I wasn’t being pummeled, eviscerated, trying out blindfolded Tai Chi, or playing home-made “taikos”—I decided to see if I could get my “Human Powered” picture from activity on the lake. (My initial submission was going to be my Tai Chi teacher demonstrating a martial arts form with a staff. In his hands definitely a human powered weapon. But he moved fairly fast and I couldn’t anticipate what moves I’d want to capture in advance. So I looked elsewhere.)
I was fortunate to see two kayakers paddling by at one point so I took a number of pictures of them. I thought the composition looked better with one of them cropped out, so…
Our story so far: Shot at 1/640 sec.; f/7.1; ISO 400; 55-200mm lens set at 175mm. As the photographer stood at the edge of the lake and pressed the shutter button, he dreamt of paddling the sleek Folbot he might one day own…and not of the poison ivy he was stepping in. So much for the lecture he had received from his instructor on mindfulness.
Jerry-
Title: Human Powered Small Projectile Accelerator
Photographed in my exclusive garage studio with the South facing main door adjusted wide open. The early '90's background was utilized to add a zesty color scheme. The D5200 with its flip out lcd made this selfie possible. The 16-85 Nikon lens was zoomed to about 52mm. Color balance was set to "cloudy day". Exposure was 1/50 @ f6.3, ISO 800.
Title: Human Powered Small Projectile Accelerator
Photographed in my exclusive garage studio with the South facing main door adjusted wide open. The early '90's background was utilized to add a zesty color scheme. The D5200 with its flip out lcd made this selfie possible. The 16-85 Nikon lens was zoomed to about 52mm. Color balance was set to "cloudy day". Exposure was 1/50 @ f6.3, ISO 800.