Riding Simcoe with Shackleton

Posted on by cecile

Today was all about meeting people and having fun while riding.

This is my friend Gary. He took  Melanie, Dave and myself out for an amazing ride through the Simcoe County Forest trails. He was riding a Hercules – a really cool bike with a very sticky and heavy clutch lever. But, man could he move that bike through the singletrack!!

I also got to meet my fellow contributor on Traction magazine – Melanie (column Northern Twist). She drove down from Sudbury to ride with us!! She’s one hard-core chick who doesn’t give up and can take a beating and still stand tall. Need more women like her on the trails! Living up in Sudbury she only rides on rock. I mean Sudbury’s just one gigantic rock, isn’t it? hehehehe…

And check out these custom design graphics from Tattz 4 Toys . While on a water break I met the local riders – The Dirty Onions – and noticed quite a few bikes with really cool graphics. Turns out the creator, Jen Cole, was on hand. I’m going to have to do an article for Traction on this business. Well…I’ll share the duties with Melanie – she can write and I’ll take the pictures 🙂

I also met Dave, Gary’s Friend. He reminded me of one of those guys who you want to have around. He just seemed very trustworthy and honorable! I didn’t get to talk to him too much as I was busy taking pictures and riding but he struck me as a solid guy!! Plus, his Yamaha looked great in the greenery!

So my goal today was to have fun, and take some pictures without killing my equipment. Especially since I was carrying my Nikon D90 in my cambelback along with one SB-800. I know…silly me. I noticed Gary was carrying what looked like am extra large sized soft toolbox around his waist so I decided he would have enough variety of tools to fix the Yamaha, and his Hercules. Melanie and I were both on KTM200’s and they RARELY need fixing. So I decided to leave my tools and take the camera instead. I must admit though I REALLY MISSED my Nikon 24-70mm AF-S lens. It’s super fast and sharp. Hurry up Nikon and fix it so I can put it back on my camera!

Thanks for the great day today and HUGE thank you again to my husband David for taking care of the kids!!

 

Trail Tours Photoshoot #2

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 I spent the day yesterday back at Trail Tours for part 2 of my photoshoot. I can’t thank Steve Weycamp and his staff enough for making my day succesful. Not only did I have TONS of fun shooting but I also got to hack around on my Gas Gas trials bike and on one of Steve’s Honda CRF 230. I know this is a photog blog but that little 230 rocks in the single track!! It’s very light, and nimble. It lacks in the HP and the suspension is definetly not for an advanced rider but the bike makes up for it in the single track with the trail gets tight!!

But besides me being able to have fun in the saddle I was most excited by the KILLER light that I found while on our way to ‘Lookout Point’. I hastily pulled over and lucky for me the rider behind me wasn’t too close, and gave quick instructions to my ‘models’ to stop, and start riding back and forth before the light disappeared. I couldn’t contain myself with excitement. A combo between the dust and the sun rays made for a strong, moody image. Sweet! Not sure if Steve will be able to use this on his website but for my own portfolio I was beyond myself. As for my Nikon D-90 and AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED lens … will lets just say that I will have to head into Nikon HQ for a good cleaning. The barrel of my lens is rather sticky right now. And if anybody from Nikon is reading this blog I’d really appreciate a fast turn around, and oh what the heck might as well ask…a deal on cleaning 🙂

 On Friday I dropped by Headshots to pick up an SB-900 and a DX 10.5 Fisheye. I’ve always wanted to try one and after seeing a few pics of my friends, and pro-sports photographer Marc Landry (his pictures are full of awesomeness) I decided to rent one.

For this picture I wanted to show motion as I had previously (photoshoot #1) taken pictures of bikes in motion freezing freshly roosted dirt, or sand. I stood on top of a trials structure and panned the camera using a slow shutter speed to blur the wheels. Mission accomplished after about 50 failed attempts. I also used a flash to fill in shadows as I was shooting into the sun. Thanks so much for this newbie rider. He just learned how to ride a bike earlier in the morning and look how fast and good he looks already!! Well not really…but there were some guys and gals that were starting to look the part!

 Warning Poison Ivy. If you’re just as sensitive to this as I am you’re probably already itching right now!! This picture is actually from the first photoshoot a few weeks ago. And, although I didn’t ride through this patch I’m quite sure it got all over my equipment, boots, bike and what not. I’ve been so busy dealing with this rash for the past two weeks that I haven’t had much time for processing!! Let’s just hope that I don’t get a new batch this time around. Ugh!

I wanted to showcase the beauty of the Ganaraska Forest and feature the various terrain that the Ganny has to offer. Sweet flowing single track, pine trees, double track, mixed tree forest, uphills, downhills and the list goes on. I used my Sigma 10-20mm for this picture. I wanted to show how big the Ganny is. And, believe me it’s huge at 10,000 acres! Craig and Dylan were my riders for part of the day and we hit that golden hour (well, a few hours before) when the light begins to shift from a harsh bright light to a softer glow casting longer shadows. This image is so typical of the Ganaraska. An endless canopy of green with trails roaming through left, right, and back around.

The BEST part of my day though was meeting Jacob and his mother Dee who is currently producing a documentary on Parenting. Jacob was a sweetheart and he was a perfect representation of what little boys like to do…play in the dirt! Jacob was here to learn how to ride a bike. Ty, only a few years older, was his instructor. In a matter of an hour and a bit Jacob had mastered 2nd gear and was confident in his newly found skills. I had the honour to take Jacob and Ty out of the Trail Tours compound after lunch and out into the Ganaraska where the real trails are. Jacob was wonderful! He listened to instructions and was so focussed that he didn’t even want to take a water break. He just wanted to keep going.

As many of you know I am a certified Ontario teacher and it was exciting to see two young people listen so well, and ride with maturity. Off-roading, like many sports, has its dangers and being able to follow instructions and NOT ‘goof’ around is paramount for success and, most of all, for safety. I am pretty sure Jacob enjoyed his day and I hope to see him back out on the trails in the near future. Riding bikes (whether pedal or gas powered) is a great way to channel energy and, my family and my husband know that is very true with me!

This was a great Saturday!! I still have tons of photos to process and am working on two articles for my new column ‘Wide Open’. Click on the link and subscribe to ‘Traction‘ – it’s FREE and it’s got some wicked off-road articles and pictures. Thanks to the Trail Tours staff: Steve, Alex, Ty, Paul, Mike, Jess, Allan, Jonathan, the engineer student, Dusan, Denis, Yoshi, Craig, Dylan and Rick for ALL your hard work and patience!! Your help was greatly appreciated and allowed me to nail some shots! BUT, the BIGGEST thank you goes to my husband for giving me the entire day off (from my motherly duties)!! He even made dinner for me but I was late getting home (21h00) because I was out taking pics. What a sweetheart!!

 

‘Mid-Summers Dream’ Report via eRag ‘Traction’ Off-road Magazine

Posted on by cecile

 

http://issuu.com/scotiadallas/docs/september_erag?viewMode=magazine&mode=embed

Traction is a superbly put-together magazine specialising in dirt and off-road bikes! I’m stoked to be able to contribute monthly with articles and pictures that I feel are interesting and relevant!! I invite you to subscribe (it’s FREE) and follow my colum ‘Wide Open’.

I do feel a bit sheepish though because I kinda neglected my photographic duties the day of the event as I was also riding. And I was having sooooo much fun that I didn’t bring all my camera gear with me. Probably just as well because I was riding hard and I did a stupid fall – never good for camera equipment no matter how good my backpack is (Lowepro DryZone). You have to understand it’s not often that I get the ENTIRE day off from being a full-time mom and I hadn’t ridden my KTM 200 in over a year!

So check out the magazine. Navigating is super easy. Just find the arrows on the side of the page to turn the pages!!  My article is on pages 53-54 and you’ll find my photos all across the magazine labeled ‘Mid-Summers Dream’.

I hope you’ll take the time and follow my column on a monthly basis. I’ll be writing about quite a few topics hence my title ‘Wide Open’.

Photoshoot at Trail Tours

Posted on by cecile

I love the Ganaraska Forest, or as it’s affectionately called the Ganny. It has the best sweet, fast-flowing singletrack and tons of it to boot!! The only drawback from the Ganny is all the poison ivy. And, everytime I go there to ride I take some home with me. This time though not only was I riding I was also taking pictures. So you can imagine the poison ivy patch that I have growing on the back side of my legs. Serves me right for getting off the beaten path to get that perfect picture. I’m sure I was standing right in it. There are so many 3-leaved plants out there I still can’t identify poison ivy. Ahhh…the perils of a photographer!

This past weekend I drove to the Ganny, under assignment, to visit my friend Steve from Trail Tours. My goal was to take some killer shots showcasing his business, and to get some images so he can use on his websites: http://www.trailtour.com/need_to_know.html and http://www.ontariooffroadadventures.com/ and other promotional material. I was also there because I will be writing a future article on Trail Tours for http://issuu.com/scotiadallas/docs/erag_july?viewMode=magazine&mode=embed so wanted to get some decent pictures.

It was a beautiful clear sunny day. PERFECT for riding, and perfect for showcasing blue skies. Difficult, however, in the forest for photographers! The shadows mid-morning were so harsh. It didn’t make it any easier that the trail that the instructors were using was a pine tree forest which let in lots of light and also blocked out lots of light. So the result was a very patchy lightshow. At least the clouds weren’t rolling in and out creating a whole different lightscene every few seconds. So I decided to skip taking trail pictures for a while and would go back later on in the afternoon when the sun lengthened its shadows and the light wasn’t as harsh.

I walked over to the open field where several groups all working hard were scattered about the 3 loops. I was having fun taking pictures making sure the peaks of their helmets didn’t create too much shade and create a faceless head and enjoyed wathcing them master their newly found skills. I used a variety of lenses – wide angle, telephoto to my beautiful Nikon 105mm prime lens. I also, finally, had a chance to use my Pocket Wizards (PW) and SU-800 units which I got for my birthday this year (thanks David!!). The PW worked flawlessly with the SU-800. Set up was so fast and easy. I can’t believe I was working without these two gems before. I was definetly not limited to what I could do – shooting from far, around trees, in direct sunlight. It handled them all!!

After a while of taking beginner pictures I called in the heavy machinery and Craig, Dylan, Jonathan and Yoshi (Trail Tour instructors) came out to play and give me some good poses. Now I was having fun!!! These guys railed the bermless berm, rode the same line over and over till I said ‘ok…let’s move on’, and jumped, wheelied, kicked up some dust (but there wasn’t much as it had rained a few days earlier) and just had fun! Their fun was infectious.

By the time mid-afternoon rolled around, I grabbed my KTM, while the guys were on Hondas. Loaded with a heavy back pack full of camera gear and tripods we rode some sweet single track until I found a suitable place for action pictures. I set up shop in a decidous area of the forest where the ambient light was perfect! Some sun filtered through and shadows were long but not harsh. The greens of the foliage were colourful and the trail was pristine as the path snaked it’s way through the forest.

Craig and Dylan eagerly rode the chosen line over and over again as I adjusted my flashes, changed my lens etc. I must comment at how super smooth they are in corners. Not only was I taking pictures of them I was also secretly looking at their body language so I could learn to keep up the speed like they did.

We moved to a few different locations after that and shot till late afternoon. By the time I packed up I had lost all ambient light and I was going to be really late for dinner with my family back home. I told my husband I was going to be back before dinner! I had lots of fun riding and taking pictures but must admit that it would have been more fun riding if it wasn’t for a heavy bag throwing me off balance and having my tripods whack me in the back of the helmet everytime I jumped some whoops! My Lowepro backpack did wonders staying on my back and I really appreciated the waterproofness of the bag. I didn’t have water to deal with but I did have lots of sand and dust!! All my gear was nice and clean at the end of the day 🙂

Overall a great day except for the poison ivy!!

Ojibway Art Show 2011

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Two weeks ago I participated in the Ojibways Annual artshow (Pointe-au-Baril) and by far it was my best year!

I decided to do something different over the previous years where I had been showing straight photography. My pictures were well received and were different than those of the other photographers out there in terms of content and style. Which is a good thing because who wants too many artists with the same style!! In any case, I still wasn’t satisfied. I wanted to show something really different and offer the cottagers in that area something unique. First, understand that this artshow caters to cottagers on Georgian Bay and what sells in Toronto doesn’t necessarily sell in cottage country. So this is really a different market and it is up to me to adapt to it.

Over the winter I decided to take some of my pictures of the Bay and try my hand at digital painting using Corel Painter software. I soon realized that this was what I was looking for. Something different, something real.

Through digital painting I am able to add movement and depth into my photographs thus moving my two dimensional photo into a more vivid and dynamic one. I begin by editing my picture and once I am happy with the results I prep the photograph for digital painting. This is where I choose my colour palette, paintbrushes and start with an underpainting. Once completed I begin the painting process.

What I found interesting though was what makes a great photograph doesn’t necessarily automatically translate into a great painting. Just like a great athlete doesn’t necessarily make a good coach! Some of the photos I used were really boring to look at, but when I painted them they came to life!

Take the above photo for example. It’s of the PaB Lighthouse. I took this on a very windy evening, a storm was approaching, the sun was beginning to set and the boat was rocking like crazy!!  We were out in the open and David was tyring to hold the boat steady for me.  So the original picture didn’t turn out all that well and I almost deleted it a while ago. It was out of focus, and really not that exciting to look at as it had no depth. Basically, it was ‘flat’. After bumping up the colours a bit, working on the clouds to bring out some definition and finally did some dodging and burning on the rocks and building I came out with a better picture. I gave the photo the digital treatment described above and voila!! So all in all, a LOT of work went into this. A lot of experimenting too. But with digital all I have to do is hit the ‘undo’ button to get back to the original photo. No messy paints, or brushes, turnpentine etc. Which is just as well with two little kids running around. It’s not like I have my own ‘art studio’ where kids aren’t allowed to roam free and not touch things 🙂

So over the past few weeks I’ve been busy taking pictures in all sorts of weather, and time of day so I can paint over the winter and prep for next years show!! My Photo Art now has that extra texture, creativity and look that I was after!!

Finally, thank you to those who purchased my images!! I still get that warm, fuzzy feeling everytime someone buys my art, as art really is an extension of who you are and you really are putting yourself out there for people to either like or hate!

 

 

Kelso

Posted on by cecile

Had good times riding my mountain bike with my friends Eaphan and Tammie. And, I cannot believe how much Kelso has grown up since I started riding there back in the early 90’s. so many more features and much more technical than previous. To top off this picture perfect day Tammie and Eaphan eagerly became my models for a picture session. Always good times when your models keep riding the same line over and over again for a retake! Thanks guys!! I’m still processing the rest and still have to pack for tomorrow’s 100 km in the Ganny and still have to rehydrate and, eat dinner for that matter!

Tammie’s picture in IMBA flyer

Posted on by cecile

Just opened up my annual donation form for IMBA (and yes…if you ride mtb’s you should be an IMBA member so trails can stay open!!) and found one of my photos that I donated to IMBA being used for the flyer. Very cool seeing one of my pics being used! Thanks to my friend Tammie for being such a great sport and riding that line over and over again until I could set up my lighting 🙂

Tammie, Natalie, my parents, my 2 kids and myself headed up to the trails last year. While I was busy taking pictures and setting up my SB-800’s my parents took care of my wee ones. Of course, my phone didn’t work in all areas, I got 2 flats while trying to get some riding in after the shooting sessions, and after a few hours Luc had had enough and started crying. But at least I was able to pull out a couple of decent pics.

Ahhh…the joys and perils of taking pictures while being a full-time mommy. Always an adventure. Have I told you about the time I went into the a poison ivy infested area …

Test Test TESTING

Posted on by cecile

Hello everybody,

I’m in the process of trying to link up my blog from my website (www.cecilegambin.com) to my Cecile Gambin Photography page (Facebook). So please bear with me as I send out test messages.

On the photographic side of things this past weekend I showed my Georgian Bay photographs at the Ojibway Club (3rd time showing here) and I was happy with my success having half of my work!! Looks like people received my new ‘style’ well. But more on that later. Let me get back to work tyring to make this importing blog entries into FB smooth and seamless!

Substance Projects Kingston Marathon Race 2011

Posted on by cecile

Log onto http://www.flickr.com/photos/cecilegambin/ to view pictures of both the full and half marathon. They are pretty much in order from start to finish for both the full and half marathon. I also reworked a few and went artsy fartsy on them (you can find those at the end of the file).

All my prints are available for purchase (please excuse the big bright watermark – this is currently my bread and butter and some people decide to lift them without permission and that’s just not cool!) Please email me either through this website or through Flickr with your plate number (or file number) should you wish to purchase. Purchased pictures will be high resolution, corrected for colour, exposure  and professionally printed on high glossy paper.

I had a blast taking pictures at this event!! I’m definetely coming back next year as I have so many more cool places to shoot from. I love how the trails allowed my artistic side  to prevail. In addition to pleasing my artistic side my goal was also to make you look good!! I hope you enjoy the pictures. Please contact me through this website or through Flickr should you wish to purchase or have any question.

Price List (payment can be made via PayPal using my email which I will give you when you contact me):

Downloads & Prints Print& Media  Cost ** Shipping & Handling
Download all your images (High Res. 3200 x 2300) $45.00 n/a
Download 1 image (3200 x 2100) $12.00 n/a
4×6 * $8.00 $5.00
5×7 * $10.00 “
8×10 * $15.00 “
8×12 * $20.00 $8.00
10×15 * $30.00 $10.00

Thank you,

Cecile

PS It was great meeting you before and after the race. Kudos on a job well done in that heat!!!