GS Weekend Part 2

Here is the second installment of the images from my BMW adventure to Lake Placid and back from New York City. To give a little bit more context about the ride, Saturday we started off taking the Sawmill Parkway to it’s northern extreme before passing through Vermont, then jogging west parallel to the Canadian border until we arrived in Lake Placid NY. The weather for most of the day on Saturday was basically perfect until we started into the last 30 miles, climbing the canyon to Lake Placid. As we gained elevation, I could see where the cloud line was on the mountain. We ended the day riding in cold, wet and dark mountainous conditions.

When we woke up the next day, the clouds still hadn’t dispersed and there was still light precipitation. But as we wound our way through the Adironacks, the clouds gave way to more beautiful weather for the balance of the ride back to NYC. One of the highlights of the ride home was a series of twisties along the Delaware River. We ended up going back and forth through that section 5 or 6 times.

 

GS Weekend Part 1

Weekend before last, some friends of mine arranged to borrow some bikes from BMW and take a ride upstate. I was lucky enough to be included in the activities. We were all riding various iterations of the GS model. I had a 2014 R1200GS. This is probably the biggest motorcycle that I have ever ridden. For its size and weight, the bike is surprisingly fast and nimble. We left the island of Manhattan around noon on Saturday and rode just under 400 miles to Lake Placid. We left Lake Placid early Sunday AM and returned to NYC by a different and slightly longer route. We came back covered in insect carnage and bearing CF cards full of images from the adventure. I took a Canon 5d Mk III with a 50MM f 1/1.2L and the Fujifilm X100 S. Since I snapped so many photos over the two day ride, I’m going to break them up into a few different posts in chronological order.

Museum of Natural History

Reconnected with some old friends over the weekend, and was able to meet two of their kids for the first time. It all happened at the Museum of Natural History. Here are some snaps from along the way.

The Wild West

I took a trip to Utah with some of my NY friends to take advantage of the waning snow pack on the Wasatch range. After a couple of days of riding, we headed into the desert for target shooting. This photo was actually snapped by my old man, who is an incredible marksman. This was my friend Jeff’s first time shooting a high-powered rifle. He was a regular deadeye by the time we finished up. I was acting as spotter when this was snapped. I’m not sure why I like this image so much. But I really do. It was a great way to cap off the weekend.

Paris

I took advantage of the long President’s Day weekend and made my way across the pond. This was only my second time in Paris, and I have to say that I enjoyed it considerably more than the first time I visited. I didn’t really shoot that much while I was there. But here are the few that I did get when I brought my camera out with me.

winter solstice

I took a evening jaunt on the high line Saturday, when it was unseasonably warm. It also happened to be Winter Solstice. Even though I know that the worst of winter is yet to come, I take some comfort in the fact that the days will now be getting longer instead of shorter. There is something utterly depressing about having sunset at 4:30 PM.

I brought my Polaroid with me Saturday evening, and snapped the images below with it. The image at the top, is of the same view from the iPhone. Not the most spectacular sunset. But I did like the way that the light was coming through the cotton-like plants in the foreground.

first snowfall

Over the weekend New York City had its first snow storm that actually left behind any accumulation. I’m not sure what it is about this event that makes it so great. The fact that it happened on a weekend made it extra nice. It is kind of like a magical slap in the face driving home the fact that winter is here.

It literally snowed all day on Saturday. I took the opportunity for a quick walk in the park first thing in the morning. Most of the photos that I took were mental images. But these are a couple of images that I took with a camera. Also saw this today and found it amusing.

fuji x100s rangefinder

Just a fair warning that this is going to be a very photo-heavy post. I recently was visiting my family in Salt Lake City and needed to purchase some medium format film for a Polaroid camera that I brought along. I discovered that a family friend from my parents’ old neighborhood had recently opened a camera store (Acme Camera Rental) that was basically right up the block from my sister’s house. When I dropped by to pick up the film, I was able to checkout the space and some of the cameras that were available for rental. I have been wanting a rangefinder camera for a long time. I love the portability and simplicity of design. They are especially appealing these days, since the image quality rivals that of pro-sumer level SLRs. I was especially perving on the Fuji X100 S (above). Jacob, the owner/operator of the shop was gracious enough to let me take it and test it out. It took most of the afternoon for me to get used to the controls. Once I got a handle on it, I basically didn’t put the camera down. I brought it along with me the next day to my granny’s house, as well as on a hike with my sister’s family. Below I have posted some of the snaps that I was able to get with the rangefinder. As a side note: If you are in the Salt Lake valley and have any camera needs, I would definitely recommend stopping through Acme. In addition to having a gangster selection of cameras and lenses for rent, they sell a wide variety of accessories from film to seamless backgrounds. Plus, they are cool.

this

is from Yelawolf’s performance at the G-Shock “Shock the World” event Wednesday. It was decent. Good weekend, to all.

Some clouds and stuff

I have made it a point, for the past several weekends to get out of the city. I haven’t been to the Hamptons, or anything like that. But I have been able to turn my usual weekend trips to Yonkers into adventures farther up-state. These trips have been very pleasant for several reasons. For one, the temperature seems to magically drop by 10 degrees once I cross the county line into Westchester. Additionally, the scenery in up-state New York can be quite nice.

This snap is from Saturday. It could be from anywhere that has skies and bird(s). But this image is from the top of (the East Coast version of) a mountain on the bank of the Hudson, moments before those clouds let loose with torrential rain. So that is my story from the weekend. Happy Monday.

Snaps from the armory

Ann Hamliton’s exhibit “The Event of a Thread” opened over the weekend at the Park Avenue Armory. The installation is an interactive one. The main drill hall in the armory is bifurcated by giant white sheet. On either side of the sheet are scores of swings suspended from the armory rafters. Each of the swings has cords connecting them to the sheet, so that the motion of the swings animate the sheet. It was quite an interesting spectacle. These are a couple of the images that I grabbed while I was at the exhibit.

weekend recap

Yeah, this one is coming in a little bit late (for a monday). But, hey I flew in on a redeye, have spent several hours sifting through 1000’s of frames and still managed to eat, take a nap and do laundry. So the untimeliness of this post has nothing to do with laziness. Or reverse that. Or whatever. Anyway, I had a fantastic time in CA. Another huge thanks to Converse. It didn’t even really feel like work. I was able to hang out with some of my pre-existing friends, and make several new ones. There was quite literally never a dull moment (except for when I was asleep [which was not very many moments]).

In addition to the surfing, there was plenty of skateboarding to be seen. Converse built a huge bowl on the beach. I had a blast all week watching the likes of Pedro Barros (above) hucking themselves around the bowl and into the air. Here are a few more pics from the weekend–

Above: Pupo. Below: Slater in the Men’s quarters.

Above: Lance Mountain, huge frontside indy. Below: Omar Hassan, air to fakie.

Below: Slater performing his traditional pre-surfing ritual.

uso sat

Slater above. Didn’t have an awesome heat Saturday morn. But he was still in good form. I really liked that Image that I snapped of him getting in the water. Also had a lot of fun watching Medina [I think] (below). The dude was shredding. Headed out in 10 to watch the men’s quarters.

uso update

This comp is so good. I actually shot mostly skateboarding yesterday. But I threw in a snap above from the women’s quarter-finals. I’m seriously vibing southern California this time around. Headed out to shoot the men’s final, right now.

happy friday (huntington beach edtn.)

Dudes, currently banging this out from Huntington Beach. Arrived late last night. So stoked to shoot some surfing this weekend. Actually about to make my way over to the beach in a few to get the lay of the land. Honestly though, I could be content just chilling on the lenai all weekend, given the view, haha. Have a great weekend!

weekend recap

I had a pretty low key weekend with plenty of family and friend time. Saturday, I blew off running altogether (which tends to be very easy to do during rain storms). But I did bang out thirteen miles on Sunday night. It was a beautiful night, temp-wise. Also, it reminded me how enjoyable it can be to run after the sun goes down.

Next weekend I will be in Huntington Beach. I have a 14mi. run scheduled on Sunday. For some reason it is always a challenge for me to put in long miles when I’m traveling. I’m not saying it won’t happen. I’m just saying it might be tricky. Have a great week!

[photo: Trix doing her thing in SoHo]