Below are a small sample with hope fully more to come. Click on the images for a bigger size and caption.
Today's theme is a little different. After some inspiration from a video of a street photographer that Margaret,Barry's wife, sent us I realised how much I like B&W photography.Also photographs that include people.
Below are a small sample with hope fully more to come. Click on the images for a bigger size and caption. Over the last 3 years I have embraced the sport of Road Cycling. It started with spending around $100 to get my old Malvern Star which I bought new in the 80's in a condition where I could test the waters so to speak. After a couple of months I decided, yep this is a good way to get some fitness and I don't have to travel anywhere to a pool (I use to swim a little) just walk out the back door and your away.
When I started cycling there are 3 things I said I would never do. 1. Buy a flash expensive carbon fibre bike. 2. Wear colourful lycra. 3. Shave my legs. I have now broken 2 of these rules and I only have to shave my legs to complete the trifecta. And I wouldn't be surprised if the razor comes out at some stage and then I will be a serious cyclist I suppose or completely mad one of the two. I decided sometime last year that I wanted to get another bike to join my, flash expensive carbon fibre bike that I said I would never own, and my mountain bike that I fell of in the front yard and dislocated the a/c joint in my right shoulder which required reconstructive surgery to repair. What I really wanted to add was a bike I could ride almost anywhere on all sorts of roads from gravel to smooth bitumen and all others in between. Also another requirement was it had to be able to be taken overseas on some adventures whilst not costing me a fortune in excess baggage. So after some discussion with my friend and local bike shop owner ,Wes, from West End Bike Hub in Wangaratta I decided to give Ewen Gellie from Gellie Custom a call. Ewen builds light weight steel bike frames from his workshop which is on the outskirts of Melbourne.This is a little blurb from his website. " Handmade steel bike frames and complete bikes crafted one at a time, blending expertise in framebuilding, manufacturing and hard-core riding." Buying a custom made bike frame is a pretty unique experience compared with buying a mass produced bike from a large bike manufacturing company. For a start it is built from a design especially configured to suit the owner that in my case was done with the help of Steve Hogg from Pedal Pushers/Cyclefit centre with whom I had a bike fit last July and one of the things Steve does is draw up a design of a perfect frame that is just for you. We used this design as the base for my machine and a few phone calls and emails to Steve and Ewen and myself we had a design we were all happy with. I visited Ewen whilst on a trip to Melbourne to meet him and get a feel for the process. It's pretty cool when you see the tubes that will actually be used to manufacture your frame and then when the building begins Ewen sends photos of the frame in different stages of production. I wanted to be hands on with this new bike so I sourced all the parts and running gear myself and was very keen to assemble the bike once the frame was complete. Whilst I had never done this completely I had a fair idea of how to tackle most things from doing some part time work for Wes at his bike shop.One thing a little special about this new bike frame apart from the fact it is being hand built is that it has S&S couplings that allow the frame to be pulled apart so that it may be packed up into a decent size case for travelling. Below is gallery of photos of the frame in various stages of production and some of the complete bike. The photos of the frame being built are from Ewen and the finished bike photos I took in the shearing shed on my farm. The bike is an absolute pleasure to ride and the steel frame feels wonderful on the road soaking up the bumps whilst being responsive and handles perfectly.I got a really great sense of satisfaction from this project and feel the bike is very special and will never be last years model or mistaken for somebody else's as there is not another bike on the planet that looks like mine. ( Some of the frame photos have loaded with the wrong orientation. Will see if I can sort it out later.) Check out this place it's called Seal Rocks and it's beautiful. We camped on the other side of the point at a place called Treachery Cove. Lovely caravan park and an excellent beach and when we arrived there were dolphins frolicking in the surf. We had a good surf and just got our tucker cooked and it started to piss down rain and we had to finish eating in the front of the ute. The next day we headed for Crescent Head where I had been given a tip about a good long board wave that I was keen to check out. It turned out to be an excellent tip and I got some really nice waves and it was big enough for Tim to also have some fun. I got into trouble from an angry local who reckoned I had gotten in his way so had my first bit of surf rage. I guess no matter what you do there will always be a mix of personalities to contend with. I was a little put off after this but had already had a pretty good time and decided to call it quits. Met some other really nice locals and one guy who's name escapes me was a bit of a legend and I think the current Australian masters champion. That night we decide to head for a place called Hat Head as we felt the universe was calling us there to pay homage to one of the local farmers in my area who like a ample sized hat. Or it might have been to give Tim the chance to see how well he could slide on his back in the mud whilst in a hurry to check out the beach. Due to storms and pissing rain there was no surfing at Hat Head but it was a lovely spot and reasonably quiet although one guy I was talking to in the caravan park said only a week earlier it was packed. The next day we travelled to Angourie and Tim caught some really good wave whilst I decided to get behind the lens as conditions looked pretty challenging. Below is a couple of shots I took during his sessions. After Tim's surf we travelled north again looking for something for me to surf on and ended up at Byron Bay
where I had a play in the water but nothing to exciting before we headed further North to stay the night with Tim's sister Jess who made us a beautiful vegetarian lasagne for dinner. The next day and a couple more hours in the car and we arrived at Coolum Beach, just a short drive to Noosa where we spent the next week surfing in the National Park there. Lots of people around but luckily not to many where we surfed. I dont have any photos of me surfing so you will just have to take my word for it. I've just got back home from Queensland from a short 2 week Surfing and camping holiday. My nephew Tim flew down from Queensland for a few weeks and then we did a road trip up the East coast surfing at least once sometimes twice every day. After staying a night on my brother's farm near Humula NSW we headed out through Tumbarumba,through the Snowy mountains and some beautiful country winding up at Tathra on the South East coast of NSW. We were dreaming of a camp site close to the beach where we would be able to have a camp fire and the universe did not disappoint. The 2 photographs below are of the beach directly in front of our camp and also our camp site with fire still going the next morning and a couple of very contented travellers. We had Kangaroos and Wallabies hoping around the ute who were obviously used to having humans around. The only thing lacking were good waves but we still had a splash around with the boards. Mine hadn't been in the water for probably about a year. From here we drove North up the coast and Tim had a surf at Ulladulla around lunch time. It was right in front of a heap of rocks so I decided to take some photographs of him in action instead of braving it near the rocks.Below is one of the photos I took getting my eye back into surf photography. That afternoon we called in briefly on some good friends of mine who shared house with me a few years ago and I have a very fond memory of the time we spent together. That afternoon I had my first decent taste in the surf which was pretty nice and Tim helped me out getting onto a few waves. It was at a little place called Gerroa and we camped just a little to the South of town pretty close to the beach and had Kookaburras join us to see what we were having for breakfast. Below is the beach near our camp(Tim doing the dishes) as well as the boldest of the Kookaburras. The next day we did a big drive and after Tim surfed the Bone Yard at Kiama whilst I got behind the lens again and we met a crusty fisherman who kept talking to us even after we had gone,he could be still there talking as I type. We circumnavigated Sydney and headed North for Seal Rocks which will be included in the next instalment of "Surfing Safari Part 2"
A few night ago whilst sitting on the verandah we had the most unusual sunset. When I finally went and got my camera it had started to quiet down. I took this one of my nephew Tim who was busy taking photographs of his own.
I took this photograph for a friend. The original is in colour but I also like this b&w version.
My nephew Tim is the model. This time last year you could not get it to rain. What a difference 12 months makes. Now it seems to rain every week and when the rain falls it always seems like we get quite a bit. Where I live it is normally quite dry and hot in the summer but this year has been very mild and wet.
I am going to brag a little in this post so I will get it over with quickly. I recently won first prize in the Landscape section of the Yarrawonga/Mulwala Art show. Pictured is my mother with the winning photograph. I think she was more excited than me. It's a photograph of a storm with a lightning bolt over aLake Mulwala with dead trees and the town's light in the background.
I had a great time at the Tour of Bright where I took hundreds of photographs with my new Canon EOS 7D.
The weather had looked ominous but cleared just in time for the start and allowed for some great racing. I also stumbled across the race communication channel on the UHF in my Hilux and it was very entertaining. One breakaway of 2 riders I think from C grade missed the turn off at Ovens and had to be rescued after they had ridden the wrong way for a short distance,I only know about this from the UHF it was great. Wade Wallace (see pic below) who has a very interesting cycling website/blog called Cycling Tips has done a great article on the Tour of Bright and has used quite a few of my images along with other photographers. Today I finally picked up my 2011 Cycling Calendar. It is now officially for sale and you can pick up a copy at
West End Bike Hub in Wangaratta for $25. They look great and I have to thank my good friend Tim Bowtell for his excellent design skills that have made the Calendar look fantastic. I can also post them to anyone not in the local area just contact me using the contacts form on this website. |
Tony Reeckman
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