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Old-style pano shot of modern motorcyclists....


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Hi all,

 

Had some friends over for lunch at the Michigan Cafe in the Henry Ford Museum

in Dearborn MI on Saturday afternoon.

 

Before leaving, I asked if they'd mind if I took their photo. Explained quick

how my Widelux worked, that we'd put the bikes in a 120 degree arc with the

camera at the center, take the shot, and in the pic they'd all be nose-to-tail

in a straight line.

 

Tried to arrange them from the most-sophisticated to the least, ie, the late

model BMW first, then the Yamaha, then a slightly older Suzuki, then my 1992

BMW, and finally a little 50cc Honda, whose rider had come north from Windsor,

Ontario aboard it.

 

Two pics below. The first, taken by my g/f Sharon Suhrie with a modern

digital point-n-shoot, shows us getting the bikes in position, ie, placing

them in an arc.

 

Second shot shows the result.

 

In keeping with the spirit of the old-tyme group pano photogs, I wrote in the

names of each rider below their bike, and wrote in the name of the event in

the upper LH corner as well.

 

Enjoy!<div>00PES6-43039084.jpg.ad3bea616530c2e9cd3170a0c1fed0a5.jpg</div>

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Cliff, not yet on Cirkut contact print frames.

 

But I have found a #10 Cirkut. Owner has agreed to sell, and I've agreed to buy. We've settled on a price. And I've bought an owners manual reprint from Craig Camera, and been reading it.

 

Will likely have to make something of my own to contact print my stuff. But first I've got to get the Cirkut, get it running nicely, create a good neg (after figuring out the processing), and then after all that I can build a contact printing frame.

 

This project will push a bunch of my skills to the limit, and foster some new skills as well I think....

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Cliff: Two sources.... 10" aerial film, at $900 for a 250' roll of b/w, or $3500 for a 250' roll of color. Looks like b/w is going to be just fine... Or horse-trading with other Cirkut owners.

 

Patrick: I had my g/f push the button. On a sunny day outside, the lens goes way too fast for a person to just jump in. Now, indoors, set at 1/15s and a father-son portrait in an old tavern in ambient light, my chair only about 6' away, I could (and have) done it. But it's really tight, time-wise, and in the pics my hands are clenched on the chair becuase I *just* sat down when the lens came round. Finally just had the waitress push the button, gently. Twice, so that the second time she used just the right amount of effort. That was best.

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Very nice, Doug; I especially like the writing on the image -- it really does make it look like one of those old-timey group photos!

 

There's been such an explosion in digital stitchery of late, that I admit I had forgotten there were other ways to play the panoramic game.

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Alex,

 

<< Very nice, Doug; I especially like the writing on the image -- it really does make it look like one of those old-timey group photos! >>

 

Thank you! I used to just cringe at the thought of writing on a picture, but got over it when I realized some things: one, it was an advert. Two, most people, whether buying or viewing, tell me they like the lettering. Three, it really does prevent a viewer from wondering where and when.

 

I actually write the writing on a piece of paper, scan it in, put it on a layer and erase the part that's not letters, and then paste it in in Photoshop. I don't think I'd have the nerve to risk damage to a negative, the way the old photogs did on large format gear.

 

There is one other Photoshop bit in there.... I took two scans, identical except for exposure, and put one over the other, to get more exposure on the faces of those who were wearing hats. But that's it. No stiching on this image, but there is cropping at top and bottom.

 

<<<< There's been such an explosion in digital stitchery of late, that I admit I had forgotten there were other ways to play the panoramic game. >>>>>

 

When digital people ask what the Widelux is, and I explain about it being a swing-lens pano camera, the arrogant ones say they can do that on the computer. I say that's amazing, but how long does it take? I can do it in 1/250 of a second. ;);)

 

Doug

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Doug,<p> Great shot. I love that style for event pictures.<p>Being a biker as well as a photog, I just gotta ask... I recognize the bikes as follows (LtoR): BMW R1200RT, Yamaha FJR1300, Suzuki V-Strom 1100, an old BMW Oilhead, ...but what in the world is that red one on the right??? Any idea?<p>Here's a my "biker event shot"... Not my pic though it's me and my bike. Photo credit goes to Zee Steinberg of zeefoto.com, and I added the text.<p>Eric<p>

<center><image src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/6202600-lg.jpg"></center>

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Thanks! Hoping to attend a "Blessing of the Bikes" tomorrow in Michigan, arrive early with some panos in hand, explain that I'd like to photograph the event, and get permission to:

 

1. Have attendees park in ar arc.

 

2. Photograph it. Probably 2 Widelux shots merged, for a 180d or so, depending.

 

Would give the Harley dealer a deal on a pic for them, and offer the pic to others. If nobody buys, that's OK - I'll add the photo to my pano portfolio. If some do buy, that's fine too.

 

Yup, you got all the bikes right except for that one on the RH end. That little bike has generated quite a few questions, and was the bike we all fussed over and looked at.

 

It's a Canadian bike, a heavily-modified Honda NR-50 2-stroke. I don't think the fairing is stock, I'm certain the lighting isn't, and the engine has been altered quite a bit with a different pipe, carb, and some internal mods as well. Oh, and I don't think drum brakes were stock either. He said he was using drum on the front so that when the brake is off, there's no dragging resistance as there can be with a disc. I'd guess the bike's weight is under 200 lbs. I rode it in an empty part of the parking lot, and it's soooooooooo light. I got it up to about 10,000 RPM in 3rd gear, but with the speedo being in Km and me not paying much attention to it anyway, I don't know the actual speed. If I had to guess, I'd say 30 MPH, and I could be off by 10 MPH in either direction. The engine is quite smooth, BTW.

 

He told us Honda makes an all-out roadrace machine using that basic motor, so there's lots of go-fast knowledge out there on it. And that it will run 65-70 MPH, as it is, but that it's not quite dialed in when wide-open yet. Above 10,000 RPM, it misses a bit, like a rev-limiter kicking in. He said when running right, it should be able to pull 14,500 RPM.

 

Related - as far as I know, all the riders in the pic are in the Ironbutt Association (documented 1,000 miles on a motorcycle in 24 hours), and Bob would like to ride that Honda NR-50 in some 1,000-mile day events. But to do that, it needs power. When it makes lots of power, getting it to hold together is a challenge.

 

Very nice pic at Deal's Gap! Fun place to ride. First several times I was there I rode it in the rain, which is like foreplay with a supermodel that goes nowhere.

 

Related to your pic - I'd like to find a hand-printing font for Photoshop, so I wouldn't have to print stuff out myself and then scan in and clean up those hand-written text scans....

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