"I'll miss ya, Old Blue"

I was out riding the mountain bikes with friends and I tossed the LX-5 in the CamelBak figuring I might capture some cool shots at Rattling Creek Single Trackers amazing trail network up in Weiser State Forest in South Central PA. The ride did not turn out so well. I started off with a nasty "ting" sound and finally diagnosed a busted frame. Sadly, it was terminal. I'll miss that old bike.

I did manage to capture a few shots in one of the tougher boulder fields though. I hope that GnatLikes.com enjoys one of the bikes featured here ;-)

Bicycling Photography

Got out for the first mountain bike ride of the year now that the weather is turning. Been working on the bikes and tweaking and just hoping that things will be rolling smooth. I've also been cross training pretty heavily and I'd have to say, the first ride of the year was better then any ride last year (fitness wise). So, I'm feeling good that this is the "starting point" for the year. That's exciting!

My riding buddy Jon wanted a new fb photo rocking his new gear and ride so I threw the LX-5 for a quick short photo loop before we were done for the day. 

In the vein of the previous post about finding your creative inspiration... I started reading a new e-Book on my kindle this weekend and in the introduction alone, I've already seen a couple videos in my head that I'd like to produce. Along the lines of today's photoshoot, it really gets me thinking about some photoshoots that I just HAVE to do this "outdoor season".

LX-5 With Off Camera Flash

I was playing around with the new portable camera and I'm really loving having something portable with me at all times. Playing is fun. I got the idea to stick my Radio Poppers on the hot shoe and see what it can do and I learned something really interesting that bears more testing. I started cranking down the shutter speed and I learned that the flash was syncing with the exposure. The power was dropping, but I need to try boosting the flash output. But, I'm finding... that because the LX-5 lacks a physical shutter (much like the micro 4/3rds cameras like the GF-1) that you don't get the half exposed image. Looking forward to playing more with this effect in more situations, but if anyone has experience with this or if I'm completely off base, drop me a comment.

In the meantime, here's a playing around pic.