# Denver Cruise



## lonefrontranger (Feb 5, 2004)

bunch of shots from last night's fun in Downtown Denvah. 

the kid in the first sepia shot has some mad trackskid skilz. apparently it was his method of choice to get everyone's attention when it was time to leave: by skidding the entire length of the block in front of Paris Wine bar.

I tried to get some good shots of him skidding but b0rked the focal plane every single time, so the only one that even looked interesting became a subject for a photoshop experiment (last shot). sigh. it was overcast and getting dark so I had to shoot wide open to have even a slight hope of getting enough shutterspeed out of it. Must. Learn. Trap. Focus. Technique!!!

I have some vids shot with the stylus too but dunno how to link 'em here. _c'est la vie._


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## bigrider (Jun 27, 2002)

Nice collections of shots LFR.

Love the first shot.

There is something terribly wrong with a pretty girl wearing a Shlitz hat.


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

*I know I have said it before......*

....but WOW!:thumbsup: 

Great images.

Great photography.

Great post.


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## lonefrontranger (Feb 5, 2004)

*thank you!*

I appreciate it, seriously.

ugh, how could I forget... the group shot, a link to the Denver Cruisers website and some bar footage...


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## KenB (Jul 28, 2004)

Very nice!


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## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

the pix look better larger than on your 'puter...nice stuff. Those Denver Cruisers need to learn how to wear more interesting costumes though. There's nobody in that group that looks like they'd even remotely freak the squares and we all know that the squares need freaking. Final rant--a fixie is NOT a cruiser!


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## lonefrontranger (Feb 5, 2004)

*sure...*



Bocephus Jones II said:


> Those Denver Cruisers need to learn how to wear more interesting costumes though.


dude it was a thousand freaking degrees on wed. night. oh and it was threatening to rain, too. no way was anyone going to dress up when it's that hot.

there's much more of a courier / alleycat feel to the denver cruise for sure. frankly I prefer it, it's a real ride as opposed to a 2mph parade. and they're pretty good about behaving in traffic, amazingly enough. you wouldn't believe the ground they cover; we've been all over Denver. it reminds me much more of the pub cruises we did in Europe when I lived there.


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## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

lonefrontranger said:


> dude it was a thousand freaking degrees on wed. night. oh and it was threatening to rain, too. no way was anyone going to dress up when it's that hot.
> 
> there's much more of a courier / alleycat feel to the denver cruise for sure. frankly I prefer it, it's a real ride as opposed to a 2mph parade. and they're pretty good about behaving in traffic, amazingly enough. you wouldn't believe the ground they cover; we've been all over Denver. it reminds me much more of the pub cruises we did in Europe when I lived there.


Yeah I hear ya...to each his/her own, but I like the circus atmosphere of the Boulder cruise. If I want a real ride I'll put on the spandex and hop on the Colnago. 

//FWIW...it's a LOT easier to behave in traffic when you have 50-60 people than 400 like we had on the Boulder ride last night...totally different ride when it gets above 100. I prefer the smaller rides myself. Once the weather cools down the Boulder cruiser becomes a totally different animal.


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## Mapei (Feb 3, 2004)

*Great night shots.*

Do you use a monopod or tripod? Or do you just have the steadiest hand in creation?


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## CFBlue (Jun 28, 1999)

Muy bien!
Muito bem!
Zer gut!

Very nice photos indeed!


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## lonefrontranger (Feb 5, 2004)

*I'm just that good!*



Mapei Roida said:


> Do you use a monopod or tripod? Or do you just have the steadiest hand in creation?


har har...

I have both a mono and tripod, but didn't take either down with me. its too much hassle to deal with either when you're both on a bike and attempting to capture moving subjects like the cruisers. I was taught marksmanship and archery as a kid by a WWII marksman, and I've since discovered that firing a camera in low light uses the same techniques as firing a rifle or bow.

many (most) of those were shot handheld but I've got mad hax0r skilz with the impromptu tripod too. in the bars / restaurants I was setting the camera on tables, chairs, railings, the ground, my hat, my bag, gloves, whatever would work to frame the shot, then using the timer.

the shot of the statue was done by 1) using manual focus 2) resting the front of the lens on my u-lock and using the timer.

one of the few complaints on the D70 body shooting in low light is the heavily sprung mirror release (causes camera shake in certain length exposures due to 'mirror slap' even on a tripod) tho I think this only causes problems with certain shutterspeeds, or maybe it's just geeks shooting astronomy shots with like 5000mm telephoto.

I can shoot handheld in low light and get decent (enough) results with that 50mm f/1.8 cos it's a very fast lens. I get 3 to 4 more stops out of it than I do my craptastic Sigma wideangle, tho I was using the wideangle (obviously) to shoot the group shots, etc. I shot a TON of stuff in the dark handheld with like quarter second exposures that really came out shockingly clear - the pic of the Circle O Death (streaky shot of the ampitheatre with riders swirling round it) was a handheld shot, AND I was standing up on a statue with nothing to really steady myself on. I shot a bunch of those; maybe six or seven came out clear enough. yea you can see some camera shake on them but it's not horrible enough to ditch the shot. 

another trick is to use the multi-shutter release (auto-advance) - most people tense up / flinch or jerk as they fire the shutter, so this will circumvent that issue. usually the second or third frame comes out way clearer and then since its a digicam, you then just delete the messy one(s).

the shot of the Pista looking straight down was handheld in near full darkness. I did cheat and rest the body on the base of the statue I had climbed up on, but I couldn't use the timer, there was nowhere safe to rest the camera and let go that it'd stay, and I wasn't about to try drop-testing the D70 8 foot down onto granite pavers.

the beauty of digital is you can take your time to learn this stuff without costing you anything but the effort to hit the trashcan icon.


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## lonefrontranger (Feb 5, 2004)

Enviro Mental said:


> Muy bien!
> Muito bem!
> Zer gut!
> 
> Very nice photos indeed!


thanks dude!! hey i've been meaning to call you but I'm in the middle of moving (AGAIN) and the job and my students have kept me hopping.

pm me so's I can give you a better email addy.


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

*Good stuff at night.*



lonefrontranger said:


> one of the few complaints on the D70 body shooting in low light is the heavily sprung mirror release (causes camera shake in certain length exposures due to 'mirror slap' even on a tripod)


For low light shots my Hassleblad has a mirror up function that I use with the self timer set to 1 second. That kills all the camera induced movement (of course the thing weighs several pounds so I usually try to lean against something too) you should be able to program your Nikon to do the same thing.

I've got a nice camera backpack from LowPro that has just enough room for the Hassle or lots of room for my Canon and a couple of lenses. It also has a nice strap setup for a tripod although I only use the tripod for my monument photography.


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## lonefrontranger (Feb 5, 2004)

*yea*

the D70 has a mirror lockup feature, buried somewhere deep in the onboard menus. lotsa geeks complain about that cos they can never find it when they want. eh if you're shooting tripod setup shots that are that sensitive you have the time to go figure it out, I say.

me, I can't bring myself to care that much. besides I'm getting good 'enough' results as is. I shot both the sunset shots at wahoo's handheld. if the originals came out blurry, I'd have figured out a tripod hack. the shot on 16th street of the couple from the back? that was handheld ON THE BIKE dude. 

this is why I'm saying I just don't have the time or patience to hassle with any kind of pods. I have to be able to get the camera out/up fast. heck for most of the 4 hour cruise the Nikon didn't even go back into the messenger bag, I just slung it over one shoulder, meaning I could shoot off the bike if I wanted to (and I did, the Ogden theatre sign as an example).

on a ride one doesn't have the luxury of time to setup shots. you see it = you shoot it, and move on.


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## lonefrontranger (Feb 5, 2004)

lonefrontranger said:


> the D70 has a mirror lockup feature, buried somewhere deep in the onboard menus. lotsa geeks complain about that cos they can never find it when they want. eh if you're shooting tripod setup shots that are that sensitive you have the time to go figure it out, I say.
> 
> me, I can't bring myself to care that much. besides I'm getting good 'enough' results as is. theyre not tack sharp to 100% crops, but at the size / resolution I'm posting its not a big issue; no one on these boards goes pixel peeping. I shot both the sunset shots at wahoo's handheld. if the originals came out blurry, I'd have figured out a tripod hack. the shot on 16th street of the couple from the back? that was handheld ON THE BIKE dude.
> 
> ...


o and those aren't 'hot' / dead pixels in the statue shot - those are stars, dude. its why I did NOT convert that shot to b&w, cos on the original file you can see all the different colours of stars. this is one of the reasons I love Denver so much; you can see a full night sky of stars even downtown, the air is just that clear.


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## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

lonefrontranger said:


> this is one of the reasons I love Denver so much; you can see a full night sky of stars even downtown, the air is just that clear.


sez you....wait till we get another temperature inversion and the brown cloud comes out in full force. 

<img src=https://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1218/csmimg/p3a.jpg>


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## lonefrontranger (Feb 5, 2004)

Bocephus Jones II said:


> sez you....wait till we get another temperature inversion and the brown cloud comes out in full force.


ok fair enough but this happens what? ten times a year maybe?

... as opposed to El Lay or even Cincinnasty where its like 24/7/365


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## zeytin (May 15, 2004)

LFR that's nice stuff. You have some great photo's and some great opportunities. There is a night cruise here tomorrow but I'll be bbsittting at my brother's grrr. 
Nice to see the product of your photo and editing skills.
Cheers,
S


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