It's that time again

A well deserved pint at the end of a sponsored ride.

Paris

I have blogged about my cycling and why I do it…

To keep fit, unwind and burn off the stress from daily life. 

I have also raised a lot of money for the SCMSTC. My local Multiple Sclerosis therapy centre. My wife goes there and they are the reason I started cycling again.

Back in 2005 I read a leaflet about an event the centre was running to raise money. 

A cycle ride through the Surrey and Sussex countryside. I hadn't cycled since I was a kid, a long time ago.  I thought I could manage fifteen miles. Just the small matter of not having a bike and being unfit to overcome. 

I could borrow a bike to do the ride, an exercise bike would have to do for training.  

I must confess I didn’t do much training. The exercise bike was so boring. I put it in front of a tv and played on a playstation. That helped a little. I must have done enough, the fifteen mile ride went okay.

The next year I want to do the fifty mile ride. I indefinitely borrowed a bike from my brother. He rarely rode it. And started riding it at the weekends. But I still wasn’t doing many miles. Then a curry with a few friends involved a chat with one of them about his recent return to cycling. We both had trouble motivating ourselves to ride regularly. So we decided to team up. And so started what is now a decade of riding at the weekend. And more sponsored cycles.

It also led to some more memorable rides. Three of us cycling from London to Paris. Unassisted; we organised the route, ferries and accommodation. And we carried our own luggage. 

A group off us cycled the South Downs Way. Two days of thick mud.

And two RideLondon rides.

The longer rides also give me a great sense of achievement when completed. Something I don’t always get from everyday life. Once you get to a certain level of fitness the longer rides are achievable physically. But mentally it’s harder. Your mind tells you to stop way before your body needs to. Pushing past these imaginary barriers is what gets you to the end, and is very satisfying. 

Now after a break of two years I’m back to sponsored cycling.

I’m cycling from Caterham to Canterbury. Not a very long way, only 66 miles. But still a challenge over the rolling Surrey and Kent hills.

I've got a lot to thank the therapy centre for, easily enough to justify the exertion of the sponsored rides.

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Beauty and the sphinx

I had photographed Janayah for the clothing website a while ago. She didn't feel completely comfortable in the supplied clothing. And despite us chatting and quickly relaxing some of the pictures were okay for displaying the clothes, but they didn't complement Janayah. We agreed to a second shoot for her. In clothes she was happy with. A prom dress, a business style dress were two items she mentioned.

Now to find a location.

I approached a location that would have been perfect. But they counted my enquiry as a professional shoot and asked a fee to match.

So I needed to be a bit creative. Crystal Palace park is local to us both. And the sports centre would provide a place to change. 

Crystal Palace park use to have what must have been an amazing building. Originally built to house the Great Exhibition of 1851 in Hyde Park. When that closed the building was moved to Penge Park in 1854. Then in 1936 a fire destroyed the building.

Today all that remains are the terraces and staircases. And some sphinx. 

I knew they would be a varied background and prop.

Walking out of the sports centre with Janayah dressed in a bright red prom dress; she certainly drew some glances from the predominantly tracksuit wearing passersby.

A more business like dress was next. And a longer walk to sphinx.

Janayah had relaxed further and the shoot become more of a collaboration. Her ideas contributing to a successful couple of hours.

Finally a brightly coloured one piece outfit was chosen. Dark foliage with a speedlight lit Janayah did it justice.

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Life is like...

 Newly cut lawn. Glad I did this on Saturday.

As a philosopher once said. Life is like a box of chocolates. But it struck me this weekend you could also say it was like your garden lawn. Every day. No matter what happens to you it does what it did yesterday; in the lawn's case it grows. Every so often you need to do something to it. Weed it, feed it or just cut it. You can put off these tasks for a while. But eventually you have to go out there and get on with it.

I have found that the longer you put something off the harder it becomes to do. If I cut the grass every weekend during the summer it only takes twenty minutes. The lawn mower doesn't get clogged up so quickly and there are less trips to the compost heap to empty the grass hopper.

There is always the temptation to say I'll do it Sunday, instead of Saturday. So although I can then take it easy Saturday afternoon. I'll be thinking, I should have cut the grass, while I'm relaxing, I could have it done in twenty minutes. To compound my error Sunday will be wet. So I can't cut the grass. A whole weeks worth of growing will happen before I get the chance again. During the week I just don't have the time in the evening. So the weekend comes around. It's busy as usual but cutting the grass will now take longer. And what happens if it rains again?

I guess what I'm saying is.

Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today. Yeah I know you will have heard that one a lot.

And secondly don't take for granted there will be another chance. Sorry that ones a bit dark.

Don't get to the Sunday evening of your life and realise it's too late.

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Busiest weekend

Before the day began.

I started planning this shoot at the beginning of the year. The plan had been for two models in two different areas of London, but close to the Thames. Somehow it became three models, with an hour between each. 

I wanted to see how hard I could push myself. Effectively three clients in one day. Was I up to it? 

The Sunday started at 10 am, finishing at 6 pm. My intention was three different looks. The first was a long dress with plenty of movement in it. The second more urban.

And then the last one was more a fashion shoot. With the light summer look of a fashion magazine.

I met Chiara at Blackfriars station. I have worked with her before. So I knew she would be well prepared. And we quickly discussed where to start. This part of the Thames has a beach when the tide goes out. I said I wanted to shoot there and the millennium bridge. "Better shoot on the beach first then. Looks like the tide is coming in, and it moves fast." said Chiara. I was glad I heeded her advice. Being in the shade of the path above us meant no harsh light from a clear blue sky. The way the sun reflected off the sand and river, gave us undeliverable soft light. I could have stayed there the whole time.

This shot looks like it was lit by two lights. It wasn't. The sun gave the stronger shadow, but reflected light gave the second shadow behind Chiara. 

Moving around the beach changed the strength and quality of the light.

But the rising water and other possibilities meant we moved on.

The bridge was busy now so picking our moment was difficult. And no soft reflected light.

Then on to a jetty.

It's was funny, when we walked onto the structure there was just one person on it. They quickly moved off. Then three families came along. Luckily they didn't stay long, I think it was our business like manor and big camera that may have intimidated them. We were happy to work around them. They had just as much right to be there as us. But once the jetty was ours, things really flowed. And before I knew it my time was up.

Once I had said good bye it was a short walk to London Bridge. For the next shoot. I had some lunch and a wander around to see what was available as I had done at Blackfriars. 

Jodie arrived. I had worked with her twice before. Each time the initial plan had changed due to changes outside of our control. I asked Jodie if it was me or was this normal. She said it must be me. That's what I like about Jodie. She gives it to you straight.

I thought I would try some black and white.

There followed two hours of chat, picture taking and quick changes. And getting moved on by a security guard. It seems tourists with camera phones can take all the pictures they want. But no photo shoots. It didn't stop the flow, we just strolled on taking more great pictures.

Then it was time for the last shoot of the day with Marilyn.

Marilyn doing what she does best, improvising 

London Bridge was the venue again so I knew where we needed to go. But this time there were more outfit changes. Marilyn was so matter of fact about it all. She needed to change, find a corner away from the crowds, and CCTV. Done in no time. I made a suggestion for a pose, can you stand or sit on that? Of course came the reply. How about I climb on that? It will be great. And it was.

Marilyn doing her thing again

Working with experienced, professional models like the three today is worth the cost. They know what looks good, can interpret my ideas and have pretty much done it all. 

As I got home I remembered the fitness app on my phone. It records steps taken, distance covered and stairs climbed. Over 26,000 steps, 8.6 miles walked and curiously 23 flights of stairs. I slept well that night. 

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Sporty fashion

This was my third shoot for Caroline to produce pictures for her website. This time there was s sporty style to the clothing. A local park has a tennis court. It would be ideal for all the pictures I needed.

I meet Janayah and we talked through the clothing list and suggestions Caroline supplied.

The weather was great, unless you have to shoot in the strong early afternoon sunshine with little shade.

So I decided to make that a part of the style. Don't fight it, work with it.

The trees gave some shade but also added a green tint to the shots. A preset run on the pictures as a last processing step cured that.

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It's nearly that time again

Just back from my morning ride. As I left the house I thought about putting on my shorts. I'm glad I didn't. It's just a little too cold. Hats off to anyone who cycles all year round in shorts. Maybe another week of long trousers, then hopefully it's t-shirts and shorts. For a few months.

I can start planning longer rides. Ones that include a pub stop. And time to chill out and relax. I know it sounds strange that exerting yourself can be relaxing, but it can. I can forget that to-do list. All I need to think about is the next hill to climb or slope to roll down. And then a beer and something to eat, sat in a garden outside a pub. happy days.

The start of the year was chilly but not too cold.

Misty mornings.

Then snow at the end of January.

February was still chilly and misty

But at last spring had arrived in March

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