It’s not always about food when it comes to kids it’s also about the fun they can have on bikes.
Here are a few photos of these two young boys enjoying their time around bikes. Spending a day at Popkum MotorPark the boys thoroughly enjoyed learning how to ride on a 16″ OSET and a Honda 50cc. So much fun that I know the eldest wants a red bike for Christmas!
Meet Zayne Heyes. He’s just turned nineteen and his future is bright with cycling. Formerly a XC ski racer, Zayne turned his attention to cycling only a few months ago in October 2013. Pumped with passion and his dislike for waxing skis Zayne has found that both track and road cycling fuel his competitive spirit and need to excel.
Quickly working his way up the ranks at the Burnaby Velodrome Zayne spends time riding both his road and track bikes to push him ahead of his competitors. He is coached and races for TaG – former cycling Olympians Leslie Tomlinson and Gina Grain.
I was stoked to set up the studio for Zane because I had never shot a roadie before! Hahaha…spoken like a true mountain biker and a downhiller at that! Jokes aside though it was a treat to photograph Zayne – his enthusiasm and ability to listen to directions made my job easy. Plus, he’s got a wicked carbon fiber bike and matching weave on his TaG jersey. At first I had thought about doing some black & white work but after seeing the bike and jersey combo I knew instantly the look I was after. My goal for the photoshoot was to give Zayne ample photos to use for potential sponsors.
I am really happy with how the photo shoot turned out. Next up are a few action shots of Zayne in the velodrome. I will be honest though…being in a velodrome scares me because I know I will want to try riding a track bike and I know I will want to pursue it. Which scares me because then I will have to buy a bike and some how I know my husband will give me an evil look. But my answer to that is ‘what’s another bike in the mix…you can never have too many!’
Ride on!!!
This is my friend Gary. He’s the coolest guy I know – he rides all sorts of bikes from pushies to motorised. He also plays in a rock band, runs, skiis, snowboards and travels just to name a few. So I thought a digital painting of him and his very cool Hercules would be a good way of showing him off.
I took this picture of him last fall while he was showing Melanie and myself his backyard trails just outside Barrie, Ontario. I decided on this picture for some digital painting as I liked the colours, the leaves and the ‘low rider’ action. For a larger view of the painting…simply click on it.
Digital Painting is just what it sounds like. I move pixels around on the computer instead of using actual paints, brushes and various cleaners. I love how I can make a ‘virtual mess’ of a painting than hit the ‘back’ button or delete the painting entirely and start all over. Plus, there’s no mess – no sticky fingers, no turpentine, no oils, and no spills. However, my eyes eventually become strained from starting at the monitor for too long.
The process of taking a picture and transforming it into a painting is not that difficult. The trick is to start off with a good picture. And that itself can be challenging. What makes a good photograph does not necessarily translate into a good painting. I have also found that certain colours and backgrounds lend themselves better to being ‘digitised’. Once I have found a suitable photograph I play around with it in either Lightroom or Photoshop using levels, saturation, brightness, dodging and burning. Those are usually my main edits. Than I open up the picture in Corel Painter, choose my brushes, senstivity and a host of other things before I begin ‘painting’.
The next part is the hardest for me. I really should leave the painting alone for a few days…not to dry but to see whether or not I am pleased with the results. However, I am such an impatient person that sometimes I skip this last step. My impatience has sometimes gotten me in trouble. This is also another reason why I do not play golf. In fact I have only played twice in my life (not counting driving ranges and mini-golf). The last time I played I ran in between holes as I was getting ‘ancy’ and just had to ‘de-energise’ a bit. Ok…I am so off topic right now.
I hope you like the painting. Please feel free to send me your thoughts!
Cecile
Pictures for ‘The Cord’ are available for purchase and can be seen via my Flickr page. Click here to see and order them.
I cannot begin to tell you how excited I was before The Cord, during The Cord and after The Cord. I’m still giddy and super stoked at my pictures I took this past Sunday at the 58th Corduroy Enduro held in the Haliburtons.
Stoked because I just picked up my new camera – a Nikon D3S , rented two outstanding lenses from Headshots in Toronto and because I’ve ridden the Cord in the past and I know it’s a super hard event. Since my favourite lens is still in the shop (waiting for a part from Japan) I decided to rent a Nikon 70-200mm and a Nikon 14-24mm as my wide angle is no longer compatible with the full frame D3S. I also had my trusty D90 with me as a backup body and that’s about what it became…a backup body. To say the least…I cannot believe the D3S…and even though it broke the bank … I’m in love!! Combined with two top lenses the quality of the pictures are unreal!!! Yea…I know Nikon is supposed to come out with another announcement sometime in October but I got tired of waiting and this is prime enduro season!
My day started bright and early Sunday morning leaving my in-laws in Peterborough at 6AM. I got to Gooderham around 7:20, ate a BLT and saw some old friends and riders I haven’t seen in a while. It feels so good to catch up with everybody and LOVE at how tight and accepting the off-road community is. Friends for ever is an understatement!!
With the spectator sheet in hand I made my way over to the first special test and was treated with amazing light! Right place at the right time with a kickass camera and lens to boot. The light pouring onto the field, and trees in the distance was magical. Oh yes…I was salivating and I needed a rider as I saw a few really cool shots. That’s when I was introduced to the ‘Blues’ brothers, whom I haven’t seen in about 8 years! The last time I saw them was at The Algonquin 2 Day where I was the head honcho for the children’s ride and led a bunch of them through the Madawaska area on my Gas Gas TXT 200 while they ripped up the single track on PW50’s. Jack quickly suited up and we booted over to the hill while I explained what I wanted. I fired off about 15 pictures before the sun rose higher and lost the epic light. But before the light changed I knew I had nailed some killer pics! I was so excited!!
By now the top racers were starting to filter into the special test area and I spent the next 45 minutes shooting from one the various spots I had already staked out half an hour before. I loved the terrain here…I could have stayed here the entire day and not be bored. As it is I’ve got some cool ideas still in my head but need another weekend with pristine blue skies, some time off from ‘mommyhood’ and a few top notch riders. So if there are any riders out there (and babysitters) who are up for the challenge let me know. I would LOVE to take these pics!!
So back to the race…upon entering the special test the riders tackled about a 1.5 km of single track with lots of wet, slippery roots. I know because I ran the entire way with my backpack full of gear, 2 full sized tripods and 2 cameras fully loaded around my neck and the other around my waist which made the 1.5 km feel more like 5km. I was hoping the singletrack crossed the Burnt River but it didn’t and I ended up taking that trail for nothing. I took a few pictures here and there not really excited about the area. The light was patchy and I was running out of time as I also wanted to catch the riders in the next special test. It wasn’t until I got home that I came across this photo and screamed with joy! Best viewed at high resolution this picture is so tack sharp you could prick your finger on it! Combined with the fall colours, and the sun backlighting the pine trees and an aggressive rider this is easily one of my favourite pictures from my shoot!
By mid-morning the race here wrapped up as the last rider came through and I left for the next special test at ‘The Tunnel of Love’. That name still makes me giggle!
I set up shop on a quiet and cozy creek crossing and set up a flash. Lots of ambient light here and there but tricky shooting as the sun kept shifting so I had to continuously re-adjust my camera settings. I also met another photographer – Keith Hamilton – a very friendly fellow who held no reservations and keenly helped me with my new camera. I litterally bought it on Thursday and didn’t have a lot of time to play with it before hand! So to Keith a BIG thank you goes out to you!! I really appreciate your help! So while Keith was giving me pointers I took pictures and missed some pictures as I was also trying to figure things out. But, I did manage to get one of Chris Zanelli from ‘The Dirty Onions’ – a super cool group I just met 2 weeks ago while riding in Simcoe with my friends Gary, Mike and Melanie. And Chris I must say…your outfit is so camo. I think you’ve wearing every colour from the forest – bright greens to yellows to subdued blues. Very … uh… let’s just say colourful. Teeheehee.
All in all an epic weekend. The only thing I would have liked to change was to have been able to go up on Saturday to make it a 2 day photoshoot and get some different terrain which I know they hit Saturday. I really don’t like getting to an event the day of, let alone 2 hours before the start. I prefer to scout my locations ahead of time. However, having said that I’m really stoked at the pictures I got. I’m really happy with them and with my camera. I especially loved the 70-200mm lens and would love that for Christmas. Are you reading this David?? I’m sure you could predict this so probably decided to skip this last paragraph.
So ahhh…all you readers and racers, if you are interested in purchasing one of my pictures just know that your expense is helping me to get to the next event and to upgrade my camera equipment to make you look good. Email me with your plate number and a quick description of your bike (as not all plate numbers are visible). A single high quality digital upload of a picture is only $15.00. Thanks for not ‘lifting’ my pictures!!
I hope you’ll read my article on Traction magazine – where I’ll be putting up the rest of The Cord pictures. Till than keeping you in suspense…thanks for reading and don’t forget to log onto this blog or my Facebook Page (Cecile Gambin Photography) from time to time to see what’s new! And if there are ANY riders who want to do a photoshoot at the first MX test not far from Kinmount let me know – I’ve got some super cool ideas!!
Thanks to Blair Sharpless, Machine Racing, TekVest, Lachapelle Racing Products, Foran’s Roofing & Sheetmetal, Ross Rocher Sales, Cliffshore, Yamaha, KTM, Husqvarna and all the volunteers who made this years Cord a memorable event. It takes a LOT of passionate people to keep putting on a top notch event like this and without them there’d be no fun!