Go Figure (The Continuing Adventures of the Nikon V1)

Nikon's been in the news a bit lately, primarily because of it's reduced forecasts and admission that their 1 Series cameras aren't doing as well as they had hoped. That's really a shame, because I'm really warming up to the V1. Go figure.

I'll be at Javits on Saturday.

I'll be at the Progressive International Motorcycle Show at the Jacob Javits Center in NYC this Saturday. I'll be at the RoadRUNNER Magazine booth speaking with subscribers. This is a yearly tradition for many motorcyclists in the New York area. Even if the weather outside is frightful, we gather, bump into friends, and ogle the hardware. A story about going to the show was one of my first published pieces.

Hope to see you there!

Pentax cameras (K-5, K-01, and Q) used for RoadRUNNER Story

A bit of shameless self promotion here...actually it's as much about Pentax cameras as it is about me, because Pentax has a lineup of cameras that fits my needs to a T. The Feb 2013 issue of RoadRUNNER Magazine is out, and the cover features a photo that I took with a Pentax K-5 with the DA70mm F2.4 Limited lens.

Deadlines

There's nothing like a deadline to focus the mind. I've got one looming, so I better step away from the blog. But before I go, some picture for an upcoming story - a motorcycle trip from Las Vegas to Sturgis SD. These are from Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado:

Pentax K-01 with DA 10-17 Fisheye Zoom

Pentax K-5 with DA 70mm F2.4 Limited

On the way to Sturgis

We cross an ocean of grain in the mid-summer heat of one of the hottest years on record. In other words, it’s hot and there’s no place to hide. The road is a thick rubber band stretching from horizon to horizon and we’re in the company of other pilgrims on their way to Sturgis. Wyoming and Nebraska pass beneath our floorboards without incident, fields the color of straw set against a pale blue sky.

Sturgis

Winter is the time to hole up inside, go through the 35,000+ photos taken in the last 12 months, and find the ones worth salvaging... This one is in Sturgis SD during their big summer rally. Bikers come from all across the country to celebrate the biker lifestyle. We were a couple hundred miles away in Fort Collins CO when we started seeing bikes making their way to Sturgis. It's quite a spectacle. Not for sportbikes, that's for sure.

Shot with the Pentax K-5 paired with the DA70mm F2.4. Almost directly into the sun - just look at the long shador of the first bike. The camera and lens handled this perfectly. No flare, no loss of contrast, sharp focus. It's shots like this that make me happy that I chose Pentax and make me think that I don't need full-frame after all. Then of course I come across another shot that makes me think otherwise and sends me scurrying off into the Internet for more time-wasting "gear research" but that's another story altogether...

On top of Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

On top of Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, a photo by john m flores on Flickr.

That's a 2012 Victory Cory Ness Cross Country Tour. That color is "Gold Digger Pearl." No joke. And that's a 5 frame HDR. The side of the bike facing the camera was in shadow - as you can see by the shadow on the ground - and it took a lot of pixel pushing to get it here. Prior attempts looked really plastic, so I had to try try again. I'm not 100% happy about this one either, so I may try once again. The bike and the park deserve it.

A motorcycle, a grandma, and a lighthouse

And so we're at Pemaquid Point in Maine. We've received permission to park the BMW R 1200 RT up on the grass so that we can get our shot. It's about lunchtime so the sun is high in the sky - not the best conditions. But we take our photos anyway. Then a group of women comes and parks grandma right near the bike as they go and explore the lighthouse. I go over and make small talk.

"Beautiful day", I say.
"Oh yes it is!" she replies. "I'm really enjoying watching the birds and the ships out on the ocean."
"Yes, it really is pretty. There's just one thing that would make this day better."
"What's that?" she says.
"A lobster roll." I reply.
"Well I'll just wait here while you go fetch us some."

Perfect. She didn't miss a beat. And as sharp as that pointy thing on top of the light house. I love chance encounters like this.

Riding in Acadia National Park, Schoodic Peninsula, ME

This is a lesser known part of the park but still quite beautiful. Here, the Pentax Q with the 03 Fish Eye is mounted to the windshield of the BMW R 1200 RT with a RAM suction cup. The result is quite nice and eminently publishable.

This is another example of the right tool for the job. Here, the fisheye and the deep DOF of the small sensor helps get the shot. I actually brought three sensor sizes (1/2.7", 1", and APS-C) on this trip and chose which camera to use based on DOF and reach and camera form factor, with IQ usually a secondary consideration.

Descending the Mount Washington Auto Road on The Tomato

2012 Ducati Multistrada 1200 S Touring

Pentax Q with 01 Standard Prime

On the Million Dollar Highway with a Victory Cory Ness Cross CountryTour

This is a photo of a motorcycle, because I've been blogging and posting about tennis and lions and birds (oh my!) that my blog is like, "WTF man? Where are the motorbikes?!"

Rider is Joe Gresh of Motorcyclist Magazine. Camera is Pentax Q with 01 Standard Prime @ 1/640s, f/3.2, ISO160.

I'll probably submit this with my story. We'll see if it gets published...

Dale Walksler's 1915 Harley Davidson

If you ever get down to Maggie Valley, NC, be sure to visit Dale Walksler's Wheels Through Time Museum. It's like nothing you've ever seen - a large space filled with vintage motorcycles and cars (mostly American origin). They're not pristine restorations but rather working machines. Dale's not a stickler for cosmetics and is more interested in getting them and keeping them running. Like this 1915 Harley Davidson, which Dale rode cross country as part of the 2010 Cannonball. That's right - he rode a 1915 Harley Davidson over 3,000 miles cross country. Heck, I know some modern bikes that don't get that much exercise in a year!

Learn more about the journey here - http://www.wheelsthroughtime.com/dales-blog/the-2010-cannonball-run.html

In the meantime, enjoy these few photos. I've got some video too, but I gotta find time to put it together...









And here's a video of it being kick-started:

Photographically-speaking, these are some quick snapshots taken with the Pentax K-01 with the DA21mm f/3.2 Limited pancake prime. After spending the last several days/weeks with the Nikon 1 V1 and Pentax Q, these pics from the K-01 blow me away. You may not like the way it looks, but it's a mighty fine camera...

This is What Riding in the US Desert Southwest is Like

Big land. Even bigger sky. A horizon that stretches for miles. Mountains in the distance that seem so far away, but eventually you get there and you find yourself riding in a chromatic alien landscape of rock and sandstone and scrub and things that are hard to put into words to tell your friends back home.

This photo taken while astride a Victory Cory Ness Cross Country Tour, a great vantage point from which to take in the scenery. Photo taken with the tiny Pentax Q with the 03 Fish Eye lens. Frankly, I've struggled to come to grips with this lens. But I've struggled with all fish eyes, so I shouldn't be surprised. But I think it works well here. In Lightroom, I used the lens correction for the 01 Prime, as there is no 03 Fish-Eye in their database. It's taken some of the fish out, as well as brightened the edges a smidge. Still, even as "big" this photo seems, the real place is much much bigger. Go.

Glen Canyon National Recreational Area, UT

Taken with the Pentax K-5 with the DA 70mm F2.4 Limited @ 1/350s, f/8.0, ISO80.

The Angry Birds

Two angry Italian birds (a 2012 Ducati Multistrada 1200S Touring and a 2012 Moto Guzzi Stelvio NTX) sit in the tall grass on the Kancamangus highway and stalk their prey.

I'm going a little Snapseed crazy. I just love the simplicity of the interface; it's such a refreshing break from complexity. This was originally shot with the Pentax K-01 in HDR mode. I took several shots; some focused on the bike and some focused on the grass. I like the grass shots better - they are more different - but I suspect that others will like to see the bikes in focus.

2012 Moto Guzzi Stelvio NTX

This is a two-wheeled SUV. But unlike the porcine four wheeled rigs driven by soccer moms, this thing really hauls. It puts the Sport back into SUV. For reals.

Taken with the Pentax Q with the 01 Prime, my current go-to motocam. I hang it around my neck and ride.

This motorcycle journalism gig isn't all sunshine and rainbows...

Taken with the Pentax Q and 03 Fish Eye

...and this is why I bought the Pentax Q...

Via Flickr:
The rugged construction, small form factor, buit-in intervalometer, and interchangeable lenses is what ultimately swayed me to give the Q a chance. The deeply discounted price sealed the deal...

It's In the Bag, Western States Edition

Via Flickr:
Las Vegas NV - Escalante UT - Durango CO - Glenwood Springs CO - Fort Collins CO - Rapid City SD. With Victory Motorcycles.

This is turning into a bit of a tradition - packing the night before a motorcycle touring assignment for RoadRUNNER Magazine, fretting that I'm taking too much gear followed quickly by fretting that I'm not taking enough. Debating whether I should take the primes or the zooms this time; the primes won because I've got a good set of 49mm NDs and CPL. I do have the DA10-17 fisheye zoom, just in case. Putting all of it on my iPad2 and snapping a shot.

The big change from the last trip is the Pentax Q, of course. It gives me a three of a kind Pentax kit and now I'm just one body (645D) of a royal flush. The Q takes surprising nice images, particularly in good light with the 01 Prime. I'm less confident about the 03 Fish Eye, and I don't have the zoom. Had those two pieces been around, I would have felt ok leaving the K-01 at home and using the little Q as the backup. Alas, I'm not quite there with that camera, so the K-01 with the DA40 get the nod.

One change that's hard to see here is that I'm ditching the cool but fussy lens hood and caps of the DA21 and DA70, replacing them with screw-on metal hoods and caps. I'm tired of fussing with the fancy hoods while using NDs and CPLs. I'm also tired of losing them - they are expensive to replace.

Rounding out the kit is the Contour ROAM. So the K-5 and K-01 will be primarily for stills and the ROAM and Q primarily for video/time lapse. Wish me luck!

Skyline Drive

Skyline Drive, originally uploaded by john m flores.

Via Flickr:
Ken Engelman and I were riding down to Maggie Valley for RoadRUNNER's Touring Weekend, so we took a trip along Skyline Drive. Along the way, Ken asked if I could get some photos of him. I said sure, and then remembered that I had only brought the Pentax K-01, not exactly a sports-shooting camera. Actually, it's the opposite of one, with leisurely AF, slow FPS, and a rear LCD that blacked out while taking the shot, making tracking shots a true spray and pray affair.

Despite all of the challenges, we got some decent photos.