Ben Slavin of MotorcycleMexico.com caught-up with me for an interview a while back.
Ben's been all the way to the southern tip of Argentina on his ol' KLR and he's back on the road again in Mexico right now!
I've got to get a helmet-cam for the next big ride...
He's got some great videos that bring back the memories of the trip, go check em out on MotorcycleMexico.com!
I mentioned in Motojournalism Book Two that having quick access to your camera gear is key. You're gonna miss a ton of great photos if it's a hassle to get your camera out.
Gus from Florida sent me a few shots of his tankbag setup. He's found a great way of keeping things safe and organized using the padded dividers of an old camera bag:
"I bought a wolfman tank bag, gutted one of my lowepro camera bags and used it's dividers to turn the wolfman bag into a motorcycle-camera-bag. The bottom is padded the same as a typical camera bag is, so all I needed was the padded dividers. It worked great during our last trip where we rode from Miami to West Virginia."
Looks like it works great! One more thing you can do is attach the shoulder strap from the camera bag onto the D rings of the tankbag to make it easier to carry when you're walking around.
Here's a shot of my setup on the road: Same Wolfman Explorer bag, works perfectly on the KLR650.
I keep a sweater or scarf underneath the camera and lenses. I have the Nikkor 28mm 2.8 on the Nikon body, and the 85mm 1.8 Nikkor and 11-16 2.8 Tokina are kept in the LowePro slip-lock cases.
Cameras have a light meter that measures the amount of light coming into the camera. When you’re shooting in aperture mode you decide how wide the lens opens and by using the light meter, the camera automatically determines how long the exposure needs to be. Similarly in shutter speed mode you choose how long the exposure time is and the camera automatically determines how wide the lens needs to be open.
Light meters are very sophisticated today, and most of the time they’ll get you a good exposure. Essentially, the meter will average the brightness of all the objects it sees, so that the bright tones will be captured and the dark tones will be captured and all the other tones will be in the middle.
But the light meter can’t know what you are taking a photo of. When we come across a photo situation that’s supposed to be very bright or very dark, the meter will look at the scene and try to average the exposure to give to a medium grey tone. Blech...
When this happens, we have to wrestle control away from the camera and show it who’s boss!
I don't believe it, but Motojournalism Book Two is ready!
This new book is stuffed to the gills with information on how to choose your camera equipment for your motorcycle travel, how to pack it, and how to use it all. Manual mode, aperture, shutter-speed, ISO, exposure compensation the histogram, and heaps more. All told with the unique twist that motorcycle travel entails. There's nothing quite like this out there. Enjoy!
49 hi-res information packed pages $15.
Finally threw on some new rubber today, Both Continental TKC80 tires were far beyond the land of the wear bar and definitely not safe to be riding on! The rear TKC80 lasted from Tucson to Panama, and the front TKC broke trail all the way from Prince George. I've put an additional 2000km since I've been back in Canada as well. Grand total
TKC80 rear: 16000km
TKC80 front: 23000km
Don't try this at home kids...
I've replaced the rear with a Michelin T-63 that looks promising. Due to a port strike I couldn't get the matching T-63 front, so I'm making-do with a Kenda K270, quite possibly the ugliest tire in the history of motorcycling. But it's black and it's round and will be OK until I can order the matching front.
I bought them from dualsportplus.com, based out of Ontario. Check em out, I'm pretty happy with their service.
In other news, I've got a new toy to play with, though it's not mine. A reader of my ride report may have some work for me shooting video for a TV program, and he's loaned a bit of equipment for me to try...
The people we meet on our rides are a huge part of the experience. But photographing the folks we come across seems to cause more anxiety to the photographer than the subject!
Photographing people is one of the most difficult, yet rewarding aspects of the art.
I want to give you some quick tips that you can work with right away. Let’s take a look at the basics here.
Several of the techniques covered in Motojournalism - Book One apply here: Get close to your subject, keep the photo simple, look for a good background and arrange the photo with the rule of thirds in mind.
Like many things you’ve just got to get out there and practice. You will feel more comfortable with each press of the shutter. But the excitement never really goes away. This is a good thing.
Give your subject a space to look into. Coco’s Corner, Baja Mexico
Posing people in front of the camera is the easy way out, but it doesn’t always capture the personality of our subjects. You know how you stiffen-up when the camera is pointed at you. Say cheese! You will find that people are most comfortable and “themselves” when they are involved in some sort of activity. Get them talking and laughing, have them explain what they are doing or where they are going.
Motorcycle Travel Photography.
Motojournalism book one is about taking better photos of your adventures with the camera you have now. Written from a motorcycle travel perspective, but applicable to all overlanders, Book One teaches the foundational photographic techniques you'll need to come home with great photos of your travels.
Book One 41 pages - Just $10!
Motojournalism book Two is about how to choose camera equipment for your overland travel, how to pack it, and how to operate it. Manual mode, aperture, shutter-speed, ISO, exposure compensation, histogram, and heaps more.
Book Two 49 pages $15.
Read about the trip
Read about the last trip - Montreal to Panama - with plenty of words and photos.
not safe to be riding on! The rear TKC80 lasted from Tucson to Panama, and the front TKC broke trail all the way from Prince George. I've put an additional 2000km since I've been back in Canada as well.
that looks promising. Due to a port strike I couldn't get the matching T-63 front, so I'm making-do with a 
, quite possibly the ugliest tire in the history of motorcycling. But it's black and it's round and will be OK until I can order the matching front.
