Istanbul

IMG_7237, originally uploaded by Andy Waterman.

I'm in Turkey at the moment with Laura. Pretty special place although I can't quite get my head around the hard sell. Visited the Aya Sofia today, ate fish sandwiches and walked around the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar. Which is why I'm in bed blogging - my feet hurt!

Seat mounted off camera flash

Seat mounted off camera flash, originally uploaded by Andy Waterman.

Today - yesterday infact, it's got late - I was out shooting covers for Cycling Weekly and Cycling Active Magazines with Claire Beaumont and Ben Spurrier from Condor Cycles. I wanted to get some panning shots, but without harsh shadows on the riders faces, so I came up with this solution.
The idea was to put a flash underneath the front rider's saddle, then get them both to sprint, one in front of the other rider, opening up the possibility of multiple strobed panning shots. The results were ok but the problem was distance - getting the front rider out of the shot - and recylcing - by the time the flash had recycled at 1/2 power (sunny day) they'd gone through my shooting zone. Still, I'll persevere with this, it's got legs.
As it was a paid gig I haven't really got any outtakes to show you - yet - but I'm pretty happy with them. The weather plaid a big part though - you don't get many days like this in February: Spring is very much on its way!

Rollapaluza — Herne Hill

Scan 1, originally uploaded by Andy Waterman.

Scan 4, originally uploaded by Andy Waterman.

Mark Cavendish turned up and didn't ride. Booooo! Results and all that here
I was shooting with the Bronica again, and I had a go at cross processing, using Provia 400x. The results weren't as wacky as I hoped for. Next attempt will be outside. Maybe more light will make a difference

Scan 6, originally uploaded by Andy Waterman.

Bronica

I need to find some real people to take photos of. Statues are great and everything but they don't make much converstaion. Taken with the new Bronica and Provia 400x slide film — my first attempt with transparency.

Headless, originally uploaded by Andy Waterman.

Hands, originally uploaded by Andy Waterman.

Beards in cycling

lx18, originally uploaded by LondonCycleSport.

The beard is not a popular facial accoutrement in the world in cycling, which in my mind is a shame and something I am attempting to at least partially rectify with my own attempt at hirsuitedness. Being fair it's only now, after six weeks of avoiding the Gillette Mach 3 that it's beginning to show up on the photographic radar. I've got a long way to go, but if I can get something like Sean Eadie, Belov from American Flyers or even the late, great Sheldon Brown going by the summer I would be a happy man.
The photo above id from yesterday's cross race at Wilmington School in Kent. I did ok, not great. Ninth place is my worst result of the season, but it was a good field so not unexpected.

Photo ©: Mike Gladu/www.velodrome.com

Rutland Vs Roubaix

While the world's best cyclocrossers were racing at the World Cup in Roubaix, the best of rest were racing at the Rutalnd Water National Trophy. And so was I.
I had visions of getting lapped after 25 minutes, but a long lap and heavy conditions conspired to keep me in the race till 53mins in. Not bad when the guy that lapped me was Rob Peeters who seven days previous was racing to fourth place in the Belgian National Championships. For some reason he hadn't been given a ride at Roubaix so he came to England for what was apparently the only UCI level race in northern Europe this weekend. Crazy. I didn't have a bad race by my standards and beat two of the people who beat me two weekends ago in Colchester, so I was quite happy. It was also, in my humble and inexperienced opinion, one of the best courses we've raced on this year. Certainly more palatble than Roubaix — how much running????

Cwm Rhaeadr

Sweeeeeettt Berm!, originally uploaded by TomSimpsonPhoto.

If you've got the current issue of MBR (the one with me on the cover) you'll have read about the Cwm Rhaeder trail in Wales. Despite a horrific hungover after going to the Rouleur photo exhibition the previous evening it was one of the best rides I had in 2009.
The photos were all run in black and white in the mag, but our snapper Tom Simpson has just posted some of the unused colour shots on his blog and they look great. Go and check out his BLOG!