Photo-Moto Rides

BlackRapid Photo-Moto Ride 2024 – Part 3

Continuing with the BLACKRAPID Moto Ride for 2024. [Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3]

The next morning we took a nice ride up to Aspen, Colorado to stop for lunch and walk around.

After a while we got back on our bikes and headed up a beautiful, long, winding road to Leadville, Colorado to stay the night. As we rode, we continually dodged rain storms.

Eventually as the storm caught up with us and we got drenched us as we entered Leadville.

In Leadville, we got hotels and dinner. The next morning we walked around the tiny Main Street taking photos, when we stopped and talked to this man with a very interesting face. We asked if we could photograph him, and Ron, Mike, and I all took a few quick images. As a portrait photographer, I am always interested in people and love doing street portraits.

I also love taking iPhone closeups of abstracts as we walk around. Here’s a series of some of my favorites.

From Leadville we continued on to Golden, Craig, Steamboat, and other towns in Colorado for a few more days, weaving our way back to Utah. We got drenched for the next few days, continually driving through the rain.

We try to take the longest, curviest roads on our ride. While coming through Utah, we went up and over Guardsman Pass which was stunning.

Eventually we said our goodbyes as we each made our ways back home to our four different states. Thanks guys for another successful motorcycle/photo adventure.

And until next time, America.

BlackRapid Photo-Moto Ride 2024 – Part 2

Continuing with the BLACKRAPID Moto Ride for 2024. [Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3]

After leaving Durango, we took some winding mountain roads and ended up in a town called Silverton where we got some “old timey” cowboy photos.

But before arriving in town, we took a long and beautiful ride through some beautiful mountain roads. We stopped along at various overlooks to soak in the view and snap photos.

The windy road into Silverton makes for some beautiful mountain views.

The town of Silverton is an adorable old mining town with a lot of fun places to explore and photograph.

There’s an old train people can ride from Durango to Silverton. We saw it leave Durango as we were exploring the town in the morning, and it arrived shortly after we arrived in Silverton.

As we explored and photographed Silverton, we came across this old west photo studio. Being photographers, Ron suggested we all get suited up for a photo.

While getting ready, I used my iPhone to get this quick photo of Ron on the old west backdrop using an open door as a directional light source.

After a late lunch and nice rest, we loaded up and headed out towards the town of Montrose for the night. We continued to hit rain storms and dodge ominous clouds in the distance.

We hit rain at Ouray, so we continued on. When we passed that storm, we could see in the distance another rain storm in our distance so we pulled over at this awesome view to prep with rain gear.

From that point on, we had a rainy ride. I was able to snap a few of these images as we rode. As I mentioned in the last post, I shoot these photos one handed with a camera slung over one shoulder, using the BLACKRAPID Cross Shot strap. On a motorcycle I carry the camera on my left side so I can still steer and throttle the bike with my right hand. And I don’t look through the viewfinder. Instead, without looking I can reach down with my left hand, turn it on by feel, zoom the lens where I think it ought to be, aim it (again without looking through the viewfinder), and then snap a few photographs. Some of these photos of the guys behind me, are shot holding my camera over my shoulder.

Aside from the wet roads, you can see the heavy ran drops in some of these photos.

In the next post, I’ll share more from our adventure.

Until next time, America.

BlackRapid Photo-Moto Ride 2024 – Part 1

The BLACKRAPID Moto Ride for 2024. [Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3]

We just finished this year’s BLACKRAPID Moto Ride for 2024. Each year my photographer friends and I go on a multi-state ride, and this year we rode the backroads of Utah and Colorado. Ron Henry of BLACKRAPID puts on the event, and he rode in from Washington state, meeting up with Mike Ridinger from Lewiston Idaho. We met here at my place and rode down through Moab to Durango to meet our friend Angel Cordova from Phoenix, Arizona.

The weather started off really hot. When the outside temperature is in the 90’s, the wind chill reverses and it’s actually hotter when you’re moving. For the first part of the ride, the temperature was near 100º, so it was a HOT but a beautiful ride as we rode towards Moab, Utah.

I shoot these photos one handed with a camera slung over one shoulder, using the BLACKRAPID Cross Shot strap. Normally I carry a camera on my right side, but on a motorcycle I carry the camera on my left side. That way I can steer and throttle the bike with my right hand and shoot with my left hand.

Now I don’t look through the viewfinder or screen at all. I carry a small camera that I’m quite used to. So without looking I can reach down with my left hand, turn it on by feel, zoom the lens where I think it ought to be, aim it (again without looking through the viewfinder), and then snap a few photographs – hoping I got the shot. Later, I go through my images and see if I got what I wanted. I definitely miss some, but the ones that turn out look great. I’m always happy with the results.

Once we hit the red rocks approaching the town of Moab, there was a distinct change in weather. It was as if there was a “wall of hot.” I love how the red rocks contrast against the blue sky.

Once in Moab, the three of us stopped for a photo with the mural in town, gassed up, and ate some Mexican food for a late lunch. It was a chance to get some A/C for a bit and cool off.

Angel was meeting us in Durango, Colorado, so we continued on through Moab and headed towards our meeting spot. Along the way we kept our eye on many storms to the right and left of us. Taking small roads is always the goal. Avoid freeways, and choose the smallest, windiest roads that go through the old small towns. It makes for a more fulfilling adventure.

This storm on the left was a beautiful one, and got pretty close to us.

Once in Durango, we found Angel and got hotels for the night to rest from about 8 hours of riding.

The next morning, we headed out towards Silverton and then Montrose. Again, taking the small, curvy roads through mountains makes for a beautiful experience.

In the next post, I’ll share more from our adventure.

Until next time, America.

 

BlackRapid Photo-Moto Ride 2023 – Part 4

Once a year, some photographer friends of mine get together for a multi-state motorcycle ride. For the last few years, it’s been branded and put on by Ron Henry, the founder of BLACKRAPID. This is the last and 4th part in this series documenting this year’s ride. (See Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3.)

As everyone headed out from the Santa Barbara docs in their various directions, Mike Ridinger, his son Cade, and myself made a route home that would take us on backroads through Death Valley and the Utah Salt Flats.

Cade as the passenger on Mike’s bike would check routes and give us options as we rode. It allowed us to avoid all the LA traffic and large freeways clogged with cars, and instead take the most beautiful scenic side routes in California.

We slowly weaved our way northeast, spending hours curving through farm land and orchards. It was a completely different view of California than I’ve seen previously. It was a sea of orchards and farms, interspersed with little towns perfect for gas stops.

In one town, there was this building on the left with a series of colors. I stopped to photograph it while changing up clothing. We seemed to go through warm areas, then cold, then rain, then back to warm all along this route. We’d go up mountains and hills, down, and the weather would constantly change.

At one point we stopped along a roadside to change up our clothing and gear. Mike got this photo of me and Cade chatting and looking at the sunset.

It’s amazing how open and wide the country is when you get off the main roads. While stopped, I took a photo of my bike on the side of the road.

As we looked off at the sunset behind us, we were amazed by the colors and the layers of mountain peaks in the distance.

As we continued on into the twilight, we found a town with a suitable hotel and got some dinner for the night.

The next day we got up, packed our bikes, and headed for Death Valley. It started out as a hot morning, and as we rode through this area, we had no internet. But Mike’s thermometer consistently showed we were in the 100º-115º range depending on our elevation. At this temperature, the “wind-chill” that happens when you ride is actually makes the temperature feel even hotter. At a certain temperature point, the wind blowing past you as you ride isn’t cooler, but hotter.

Being this hot, this was a great place to stop to eat, cool down and gas up. I liked this old truck with the sign saying, “Last Gas for 45 minutes.” Gas out here is far and few between – as we find out later. But first, we absolutely enjoyed our time and Death Valley. My phone kept shutting down from the heat, even if I put it in my pocket out of the sun. At one point, we visited a gift shop, and I put my phone in the ice cream freezer to get it to start working again.

From Death Valley we headed to a town called Tonopah to fill up – it’s the last gas station for 170 miles on the way to Ely, Nevada. Mike’s gas tank is bigger than mine, but I had some spare gas on me too, just in case. My tank, with normal riding can go about 120-140 miles before I run out of gas and have to switch to my reserve tank, where I’ll get another 30 miles. It was cutting it close on making it the 170, but we were too far away from anything for another route, plus I did have extra gas on board.

So we gassed up and headed out to Ely. Along the way we’d talk and re-calculate, wondering how close to town I’d get. Eventually, my main tank gave out and I switched to reserve. Eventually, that gave out and I poured the rest of my gas I had with me in my tank and we continued on. When that puttered out, we were about 9 miles from town. Mike and Cade went ahead into town to get me gas, while I pulled over and watched the night and the empty road. Before long, they were back with extra gas for me and we went on into town, got a hotel, and talked about our day’s adventures over dinner.

The next day we headed to Wendover, Utah, dodging storm clouds and getting hit at one point with the edge of a wild rain storm. I shot this image at a Mexican restaurant were we cooled down and got some lunch.

With a new tank of gas, we went out to the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah.

We took some time to enjoy the flats and photograph our bikes on the stark, white salt. My blue bike really popped with the color scheme of the flats – blue sky and white clouds and salt.

Mike brought a small studio flash and we had some fun playing with lighting on the Salt Flats.

From here we headed home to my place in Utah, a few more hours to the east to relax, eat, and decompress. The next day Mike and Cade packed up and headed home to Lewiston, Idaho. It was the end of a great adventure. Over 2100 miles and friendship and adventure.

And on a portrait note, kids are back in school and fall weather is coming. It’s the perfect time to update family and kids’ portraits before the pretty green dies off. Give me a call at 801-728-3317 and let’s set something up.

And until next time, America.

BlackRapid Photo-Moto Ride 2023 – Part 3

Once a year, some photographer friends of mine get together for a multi-state motorcycle ride. For the last few years, it’s been branded and put on by Ron Henry, the founder of BLACKRAPID. This is part 3 of this year’s ride. (See Part 1 and Part 2.)

Waking up in Santa Barbara, we all hit the road looking for the curviest highways we could find. I took these images off-hand with an SLR camera slung on my shoulder, pointing backwards – using a BLACKRAPID sling (of course) to avoid dropping it on the pavement below. I love how these turned out. I love seeing the group hug the road on the curves, the gorgeous sky, and all the beautiful terrain we rode through.

Ron took us on a particular backroad that was mostly secluded. It was quite a pretty place to stop and take some photos.

I really like my pretty blue bike, and how the blue pops against different backgrounds. So at this stop I took a few angles of my ride. These kinds of images make great small prints for the house to look back on our adventures.

I always try to photographed the team now and then too. When the group would stop to talk for a minute, I’d swing my camera up and get these images.

At one point, I got out my drone for some group photos, but first took a test shot – a drone selfie (… a dronie perhaps?).

With the drone set up, I got some group shots with everyone standing by their bikes, and then looking down for the abstract angles on the bikes.

You can see Ron here looking up with his hands out.

We eventually hit a small town called Solvang. It’s a Danish inspired town with fun buildings and architecture. It’s a great place to stop, photograph, and perhaps stay a bit to enjoy the food and the ambiance. Everything about the town was quaint and lovely.

Our bikes looked especially good lined up in this cute town.



From there, we headed back to our hotels in Santa Barbara to eat, relax, and compare stories about the day. That night as we talked, we realized that various people needed to head in different directions, and this seemed to be the best place to split up.

So the next morning, before everyone took off, we went out to the Santa Barbara board walk. I got out my drone for an abstract shot looking down on us and our bikes. 



Ron was wearing his official BLACKRAPID Moto-Ride sweatshirt.

And of course one more shot with Ron before everyone headed out in their various directions.

And as different groups headed out, I got a shot of them each leaving, driving off down the boardwalk.


As Mike and I left, I got this image of him and Cade behind me. But before that, Mike, Cade, and I hung out a bit longer, figuring out a route home to Utah – avoiding freeways and focusing on curvy backroads. We found an outdoor breakfast place and ate as we planned and talked tings through. Then we headed out through some beautiful California country.

As we drove, Cade was our travel agent, checking routes, available gas stations and hotel options. Our route home through Death Valley and the Utah Salt Flats will be featured in the final Part 4 coming up.

In the meantime, it’s time to updated kids’ photos as well as your family portrait before the beautiful summer green dies off.

Give me a call at 801-728-3317 and let’s set something up.

And until next time, America.

BlackRapid Photo-Moto Ride 2023 – Part 2

Once a year, some photographer friends of mine get together for a multi-state motorcycle ride. For the last few years, it’s been branded and put on by Ron Henry, the founder of BLACKRAPID. This is part 2 of this year’s ride. (See Part 1 here.)

After waking up in California, we headed up the coast through various towns.

We picked up a new rider and photographer in California named Robyn Richardson. Being from the area, she led us on some curvy and beautiful roads as we moved through the state. We eventually stopped at a famous biker stop called the Rock Store on Mulholland Highway in the Santa Monica Mountains. The owner gave us a tour of his place, and we stayed for a bit to order food and eat outside.

From there we explored various roads and highways, hitting mist and fog, sunshine, and a bit of rain. Here’s some of the photographs I created as we rode.

There’s some famous biker stops along the way, and we stopped to see them all. Neptune’s Net is one, and it was set in a beautiful location.

Here’s a selfie of Ron Henry (founder of BLACKRAPID) and I.

From there we went up the road a bit to look off a cliff and hang out. I got out my small drone and created this fun group portrait overlooking the ocean.

We eventually landed in Santa Barbara, and got hotel rooms for the night, ate dinner and relaxed – talking about our adventures and planning out next day’s ride.

Coming up in Part 3, we explore the small roads and towns surrounding Santa Barbara. The creative side of my brain really loves to see the world as abstract squares, so I’m often running away from the group here and there to capture the square abstract in my mind. Here’s some of these from these two days in this area.

Coming up, I’ll share more images from our ride through California (part 3), then our ride home through Death Valley and the Utah Salt Flats (part 4).

In the meantime, it’s back to school week here in Utah. It’s time to updated kids’ photos as well as your family portrait before the beautiful summer green dies off.

Give me a call at 801-728-3317 and let’s set something up.

And until next time, America.

BlackRapid Photo-Moto Ride 2023 – Part 1

Once a year, some photographer friends of mine get together for a multi-state motorcycle ride. For the last few years, it’s been branded and put on by Ron Henry, the founder of BLACKRAPID. I do a lot of commercial work for BLACKRAPID and have long loved the brand. If you’re unfamiliar with the brand, they make the best camera straps in the industry and are the most comfortable and versatile strap I’ve used.

Ron has a place in California, so this year we did a ride down to his place and toured around California. It started with Mike Ridinger and his son Cade, driving from Lewiston Idaho down to my place in Utah. Then we took a couple days to ride out to California. Being photographers, we stop along the way to photograph anything that catches our eye.

From my place to Ron’s, then touring California and back, was over 2100 miles.

The rule of riding is to avoid freeways and straight roads. We prefer the curvy, less used highways that take a bit longer and cut through small, older towns. These places are passed over by all the travelers on faster roads, in a hurry to “make good time” and get somewhere fast. We may ride fast, but our emphasis is on “good,” not “time.” We stop to take pictures, backtrack to hit a curvier, prettier road, or search out the highly-recommended small town burger stop.

Heading south through the backroads of Utah, we were constantly avoiding rain clouds. At one point we were in the clear area between three different rain storms surrounding us.

This way of traveling meant we rarely saw anyone on these pretty Utah backroads. The wide-open country was just ours.

By nightfall we had hit St. George, Utah, and needed to reluctantly use the freeway to get to Mesquite, Nevada to stay for the night.

The next morning we gassed up in Vegas, and then headed south-west through the desert heat on more backroads.

My attention is always caught by abandoned signs. These old roads used to be the main roads before freeways, so they’re littered with the remnants of old signs from motels and gas stations. When I look back on my photographs from the trip, I have tons of images of old abandoned signs. This one was particularly pretty.

When we arrived in Palm Desert, California, we met up with Ron and our friend Angel who rode in from Arizona. Then we all went to eat in the swanky town.

Coming up, I’ll share images from our ride through California (parts 2 and 3), then our ride home through Death Valley and the Utah Salt Flats (part 4).

In the meantime, the summer heat here in Utah is dropping. It’s the perfect time for family portraits outdoors in my studio gardens or even inside in the studio.

Give me a call at 801-728-3317 and let’s set something up.

And until next time, America.

BlackRapid Motorcycle Tour of Utah (Part 2)

During the summer, I helped lead a motorcycle trip through Utah for BlackRapid. I posted a while back about our first day (Part 1), and wanted to share more of the images created along the way.

Continuing from where I left off in Moab, the next morning we took some long day rides around the area. First we drove down the windy Colorado River, stopping along the way to photograph various rock formations. I love this group portrait with the red rocks behind us.

Sometimes along the curvy roads, I’d grab some photographs with my free hand. I love the terrain of Utah, and the ride was amazing. The mix of deep blue skies from the 100º degree weather, mountainous terrain, and windy roads made for some unforgettable moments.

We stopped at the Sorrel River Ranch to rest and get some drinks in the shade. Frank Masi got this image of me in the parking lot there.

I saw Frank walking around and creating images, and at one point he was perfectly framed in this window overlooking the Colorado River.

After some time relaxing in the shade, we went back into the sun to make the ride up to Dead Horse Point.

There’s some amazing curves and turns on the ride to Dead Horse.

At the Dead Horse overlook, we setup our bikes for various photographs. Here’s Ron Henry and Frank Masi.

This wide panorama of the overlook does not do the area justice. The image is amazing up close, but the scene is overwhelming in person. It’s awesome to look over and see how big, vast, and inspiring this area is.

Frank stood up on his bike to get an even higher view of the overlook.

With my small packable tripod, I was able to get this group portrait of all of us at the overlook.

Here’s Mike Ridinger and his son, Cade with their bike at the overlook.

I got this image of Angel’s bike and I’m glad I did. This beautiful bike was later stolen from his home in Arizona.

Here’s my blue bike in the same location both alone and one with me on it.

Exploring more through the Dead Horse area, we checked out some other overlooks.

I almost died on this cliff. 😉

After a long day of riding, we headed back to Moab for some dinner and air conditioning.

I have much more to share, and will continue later in Part 3. In the meantime, if you’d like to see any of the iPhone images created along the tour on Instagram, just search the hashtag #BlackRapidMoto2020

And until next time, America.

BlackRapid Motorcycle Tour of Utah (part 1)

We recently had the BlackRapid Motorcycle Tour of Utah, and it started here at my home studio. Photographers from around the country came for a week of touring the backroads of Utah via motorcycles.

I do a lot of commercial work for BlackRapid, and have long loved the brand, and the camera straps the company makes. If you’re a photographer, make sure you check them out. They’re by far the most comfortable and versatile strap I’ve used.

Ron Henry, the founder of the company put on the event and I’m happy he did. I had gotten used to the Covid life and could feel the change and a feeling of relaxation when I saw all these cool bikes lined up in my driveway.

We headed out and met in Salt Lake to gather the rest of the group and begin our ride south through the 90-100º heat towards Moab in southern Utah.

Though some photographers cancelled due to Covid and some couldn’t make it across boarders, the photographers that came were a great group of guys. The size was perfect, and we took this group shot before heading out. The photographers are from left to right:

On the long ride to Moab through the heat, I took a few photos with my iPhone during some of the long stretches of highway.

Though we posted iPhone images along the way to social media, my favorite way to create images is with an actual camera. But for things like this, I don’t like taking my high-end professional gear. Though I’d get the best possible photographic images if I did, instead I take a small and compact camera with manual controls. It takes up less space, I’m not worried about it getting broken or lost, and I know the images I’m creating with it are going to work out and give me the highest resolution and bit-depth possible for it’s small size.

If I want to make prints large or small, or even crop, edit, or zoom into an image, I’ve got the quality to do so.

Once in Moab Utah, we got our hotels secured, unpacked our bikes and then headed out to ride through Arches National Park for the latter part of the day.

The sun low in the sky, made for some dramatic light and shadows on these gorgeous red rock formations. We’d ride a ways, stop, chat, and take photos, …then ride some more, just soaking everything in.

A motorcycle is a great way to be in this environment. In a car you can’t look up or around, nor can you feel the air change you pass different vegetation or go from sun to shade. On a motorcycle you’re in it all and you feel it.

As Robert Pirsig says in his great book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance:

“In a car you’re always in a compartment, and because you’re used to it you don’t realize that through that car window everything you see is just more TV. You’re a passive observer and it is all moving by you boringly in a frame.

On a cycle the frame is gone. You’re completely in contact with it all. You’re in the scene, not just watching it anymore, and the sense of presence is overwhelming.”

At one point we stopped to watch the sun go down behind a formation, but the setting sun created some beautiful light on us and the formation behind us.

The great thing about traveling with photographers is that we all are on the same artistic journey – we all want to stop and take photograph along the way. When we travel with other groups, we feel pulled to go in different directions or stop and take photos and enjoy some particular scenery, but no one else wants to. It means leaving the group, which is hard to do.

Here, if someone wanted to pull over to photograph something, we’d all pull over and just enjoy the moment and look to see what that particular photographer was seeing.

As the sun set below the horizon, we rode the curvy roads out of the park, through the dark and warm summer air, back to the small town of Moab for dinner. It was a great first day on the moto tour of Utah, and there’s much more I have to share coming up in part 2. The next day we did some awesome day rides and took some great photographs. That will all be coming soon in the next part of this series.

But in the meantime, if you’re on Instagram get a peak of our iPhone images by following the hashtag, #BlackRapidMoto2020.

And until next time, America.

Chasing the Total Elipse

The total eclipse was absolutely breathtaking and inspiring. Words really can’t describe the feeling and overwhelming awe of being there, feeling the air on your skin dramatically change, watching the sky all around you go dark, and then suddenly seeing the sun’s white rays burst out from behind the moon in the darkness in an angelic way… it was beautiful!

I’m glad I made the last minute decision to drive the 3 hour route north to see the eclipse in totality. Here at my place in Utah it was going to be 91% which sounded pretty good to me. I debated if that extra 9% would really make much difference. It did.

The local news made a big deal about all the traffic and congestion that would be heading north into Idaho, and their daily talk of armageddon (gas stations dry and store shelves bare) made me want to avoid the crowds and just watch the eclipse near my home.

But the night before, some friends called me to join them on their drive up. They said there wasn’t any traffic and that they had a spot for me in their camp. So excited about the adventure, I loaded up my motorcycle with my bare essentials and some items of preparedness and headed out at 1:00 am to drive through the night. As I got further north, the temperatures dropped to the 50’s, which when going 80 mpg makes it feel like 25º. Freezing. I arrived shortly after 4:00 am, found my friends sleeping under the stars in a farm plot turned makeshift RV park, and I got out my sleeping bag for a few hours of warmth and sleep.

The rising sun in our eyes woke us up and we all greeted each other, made some food, and began setting up to watch the eclipse. I had a sheet of solar film from my friends at Pictureline in Salt Lake, and it was awesome. I had enough film material to cover my camera lens, my binoculars (which were an amazing way to watch), with left over pieces to give to a few close friends for their cameras.

Here a drone shot of us hanging out at camp, watching the eclipse.

As the eclipse progressed, I created a series of photographs that I later combined into this one-piece collage. Since the moment of totality was such a wondrous experience, that image needed to be much larger. And as much as I like this collage, it is just a reminder of the experience. It doesn’t do the real thing justice.

Here are all of the images I did during that procession.

I only took a minimal setup because I was on a motorcycle and hoped to enjoy the event too, not wanting to get bogged down in technology during the wondrous moment. I’m happy with my results, but we met many people at the camp who’d planned for months and years, even coming from out of state for this event. This California man shown below spent years building this elaborate setup, which included multiple computers and analyzers to track the sun and adjust for micro movements. And with all that equipment, he forgot to remove his solar filter to get a photograph of totality because he was so engrossed and blown away by the experience as it was happening. Only afterwards did he realize he forgot to photograph it.

I flew my drone around the area during some down time, and shot the nearby country side and the snake river running right past us.

Then to avoid the horrible traffic being funneled down the only road south to Utah, we instead went bridge diving with some other friends we met up with.

Here’s a video clip of us jumping, shot by flying my drone out above the water.

As it got later, I thought the traffic would be clear enough to go. Plus I wanted to avoid another cold night’s ride home. I packed my bike and headed out an hour and a half ahead of my friends. …and I hit horrible traffic. It took me 7 hours to drive the normal 3 hour route. There were no alternate roads, no turnoffs. Just one long 200 mile road in gridlock. I even got a ticket for what I consider normal motorcycle driving (i.e. passing gridlocked cars).

Nevertheless, I am so happy that I made the drive north to see the eclipse in totality. It was worth the photographs, but more importantly it was worth the experience. The difference in the last few moments (95%) when it just felt dim outside and the sun was still pretty bright without the solar glasses, versus that moment of totality when the sun burst out in a bright angelic way from behind the moon was spectacular. It lasted only a few moments, but it was an incredible experiment that is hard to describe with words.

I’m grateful I’m a photographer and lived close enough to be able to experience such a wonderful moment with dear friends.

And until next time, America.

BlackRapid Motorcycle Ride 2015

For two weeks, BlackRapid (maker of the coolest and fastest camera straps) is on a motorcycle tour of the backcountry of Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and California as part of their #livethemoment mantra.

BlackRapidMotorcycle

The night before the ride, they used my place to setup and prep for the next morning. And I have to admit that I really liked having these cool bikes in my driveway and parked in my garage for the night.BryCox_BlackRapid_01

The next morning we had a 70% chance of rain so we trailered some bikes behind the BlackRapid support van while Mike Ridinger and I rode our bikes and we headed out to Pictureline in Salt Lake City for some strap giveaways. BryCox_BlackRapid_04

Here’s a closeup of BlackRapid founder and owner, Ron Henry, his wife Shawna, and my good friend Mike Ridinger, a serious and long-time biker.BryCox_BlackRapid_06

Here’s a shot I took of Mike as we rode into Salt Lake City that morning, with storm clouds looming around us, and a bit of light rain.© BryCox.com, Bry Cox

Once we arrived at Pictureline, the sky cleared up. Even the weather apps changed to show better weather. Here, the BlackRapid team set up and gave away straps for a few hours, answered questions, and let people try out the straps with their own cameras.BryCox_BlackRapid_08

Then by early afternoon we headed south towards Moab. I had to be back for appointments the next day, so I just rode for the day with the team. We had wet roads most of the way, got a little rain, but never anything too bad. In fact we watched heavy storms pass to the right, the left, in front and behind, but never right on us. Here is Ron on his Harley.

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Mike on his chopper. BryCox_BlackRapid_12

And yes, these were taken one-handed as I rode, using a BlackRapid strap. I didn’t look through the camera obviously, just held it out and shot guessing by instinct on the composition. I really like this one below with my handlebars and Mike and Ron in the distance.© BryCox.com, Bry Cox

Here’s Shawna on my bike during a gas break.BryCox_BlackRapid_09

Part of the fun of being on a bike is that you are out in the environment, you feel everything, smell everything, and you see the entire sky, and not just the frame of a sky through a car window. And the sky that day with the storm clouds was unbelievable. © BryCox.com, Bry Cox

We were always seeing storms to the side and behind us, smelling the rain, feeling the wind, but never a huge downpour on us. Here’s an iPhone pic I took of our bikes with the support van as we watched a storm to our left and one in front as well blow by.BryCox_BlackRapid_16

Here’s Mike with that storm in the distance, sporting a small BlackRapid strap for his point-and-shoot.BryCox_BlackRapid_17

Below is an image of another great storm to our side, and the clouds and light were perfect. Mike pulled over to shoot it and I had to do the same.

© BryCox.com, Bry Cox

I took one of it too with my iPhone so I’d have something to post to social media accounts that day as we were riding. This is one of my favorite iPhone images from the day.

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And this rainbow was to our left as we approached Moab.

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After reaching Moab, we ate dinner and I as they settled in to camp, I got back on my bike and headed home so I’d be back for my appointments the next day.

Well that is just DAY 1, and for me it was a 550 mile ride round-trip ride. But the BlackRapid team will be riding for two weeks and you can follow the trip on BlackRapid’s social media accounts, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, as well as Mike’s Instagram and Facebook account.

And if you’d like to see what I posted from my phone (besides this blog post) they’re on my iPhone Instagram account as well as to my personal Facebook page, using #BlackRapidMotorcycle2015.

Until next time, America.

Motorcycle Road Trip To and From Boise

I was asked to judge at the Idaho State Professional Photographers Convention, and because I didn’t need any equipment at this event or really anything other than a dress suit, I decided to ride my motorcycle. It was just shy of 800 miles round trip and I took some images along the way.

Due to safety, I couldn’t look through the viewfinder, and had to shoot one handed off the cuff, framing in my mind. I had slung my professional point-and-shoot camera over one shoulder so that I could grab it when I needed. I set the exposure manually (which is one of the things I love about that camera) and would swing it up when needed, and swing it back down after the shot, never looking through the viewfinder. Coincidentally, I have not cropped any of these images. I love how they came out exactly. Each is perfectly cropped as it is, and I love that about them.

I have not sharpened or blurred any of these images in post production. They are as I shot them. What is sharp and what is blurry is natural and only accentuates the images for me. The vibration of the bike in the image below works great, and even zoomed in the ground is crystal clear, and perfectly sharp, in a motion blur kind-of way. I love the sharp lines that the road creates, juxtaposed against the vibration of the bike.

I decided to process out these next two as black and white and really like them. In the first, I love the swoop of the clouds filling the negative space created by the mirror and handlebars. And the mirror just barely touches the side of the image.

And this broken sign was just standing like this with awesome cirrus clouds behind it, waiting for me to drive by and capture it. It’s the kind of thing you only see in small towns or off the beaten path.

There is a small grove of trees on the west side of the freeway, and I had one shot at getting it — no turning back. As you drive by, you see each perfect row flash light at you from the end – bam, bam, bam, bam, and then it’s past. This image showing one of those rows with the blurry foreground is one of my favorites from the ride.

When you’re on a bike, you’re IN the scenery. You’re not observing it from within the confines of a car, or looking at it through some frame. You instead are really in it. You see the road beneath you, you smell the fields that you pass, you feel the warm and cold air pockets, and you look around at great scenes like this that surround you.

As I got closer to returning home, the awesome skies made up for the colder and colder weather. I was trying to beat a storm at my back and didn’t want to ride in the rain. I was getting cold enough. But storms bring great, dramatic skies, and great skies make for a great ride.

I love the lines of these clouds. This was to my far right side, almost over my shoulder.

Getting closer now, crossing the border back to Utah. You can see I’m much colder as the temperature was now about 50º, which is especially cold with the wind chill of riding through the air.

And one last one getting closer to my town.

During my ride, I listened to one of my favorite books on audio, “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.” A book on neither Zen Buddhism nor on mechanics,   it’s a philosophical book on a man’s search for Quality, Purpose, and the search for Values. I tend to re-read it every few years or so, and this time opted for the audio version while riding. It was the perfect book for the ride to stir my thoughts during that long solitary time.

I wrote about the same book years ago after finishing it again, and I wrote this blog post (for those who follow me regularly, you may remember it). In any case, the ride was great and I’m especially excited about the images that came from it.

If you are need of great portraits for spring, something artistic and meaningful like some updated family portraits, let me know. It’s a great time to get in. 801-728-3317.