PROLLY IS NOT PROBABLY

Recent Roll: Bush Bash!

The word "epic" gets used a lot these days but this embodied it.

It’s the sort of tale that is the segue into a horror movie. A few mates take to the ‘Strayan wood to celebrate one of them turning forty years young. They don’t have a support car, one (ok two) of them has a camera and all hell breaks loose. Right? Well, not hardly. No hell broke loose, no hillbillies made us squeal like pigs and no thirty foot crock ate our tour guide.

In fact, we all made it out unscathed, including my film…

Tools of the trade:
Yashica T4
Fuji Neopan 400

Previously:
MelburnOut: Shifter Dan’s 40th Birthday Bush Bash Day 02
MelburnOut: Shifter Dan’s 40th Birthday Bush Bash Day 01

Lauren’s New Icarus

Icarus_Porteur_Laurens

Being the girlfriend of a “bike blogger” has as many ups as it has downs. The obvious down being that I’m on the road a lot but one of the ups is, well, this… Lauren loved her Tokyo Fixed Dream Machine porteur but wanted something more suited for front-loading and longer rides in the hilly landscape that is Austin. Maybe, just maybe, some camping, too.

I chatted with her a lot about what she wanted and we came up with this “sportif porteur”. Mid trail for front-loading, fender / rack mounts, long-range gearing and an upright riding position. She didn’t want big touring tires, so its designed to fit a 28c with fenders or a 32c without. The build is quite reasonable, with higher-end components where they count.

Once we resolve which basket or rack we’re gong to use on the front, I’ll shoot more photos, highlighting Ian at Icarus‘ handywork. For now, this is all you get…

Recent Roll: Shifter Bikes

There's no secret, no short cut to craftsmanship.

It’s hard to be around Shifter Bikes and not want to document what Dan does each day. Over the years, he’s become not only a mechanic for many of his customers, but a consultant. There’s only one way to gain knowledge and that’s through experience, something few people have the time for. While many people have naive opinions, Dan has callouses…

Tools of the trade:
Leica M7
Leica Summicron f2 50mm / Zeiss f2.8 28mm
Fuji Neopan 400

Recent Roll: SxSW the Lost Roll

I’m even surprised I had the time to walk around SxSW for an afternoon but I did anyway. Something about the shitshow that descends upon this sleepy little town is very alluring for a person who likes shooting photos. The freaks mix in with the locals and the homeless cope with it the best way they know how. I lost one roll of exposed film somehow, so you’ll have to make due with these…

Tools of the trade:
Mamiya 7ii / f4 80mm
Kodak Portra 400

Merckx Mondays

Merckx_Before_655

Merckx_Respray_655

Sun Graphics does a hell of a lot of resprays, oops, pardon me, I meant “restorations”… Shit. Let me start over. In Australia, if you need a place to get a classic Eddy Merckx restored to (or above and beyond) its original condition, the place to go is Sun Graphics.

Andy at FYXO works exclusively with Sun and Shifter to deliver pristine complete future Eddy Merckx classics. Above is one of my favorite Merckx liveries, team Stuttgart. This one’s heading off to Sun for a little TLC and below is a classic Eddy Merckx famed for polished Campagnolo.

I can’t wait to see how both of these turn out. Maybe they’ll be a future Merckx Mondays?

Recent Roll: Melbourne Commutes

It's funny how dodging trees and cars in the morning are just about the same.

Commuting, for most anyway, can be a fairly boring and mundane experience, even on a bike. But for those who grew old in the wood, taking the “long way” into work as important as a cup of coffee. My Melbourne mornings usually began slightly hungover, no coffee or breakfast (sorry, brekkie) and immediately hopping onto the bike to ride into the city with Dan from Shifter Bikes. We’d always end up in the same place, but we never took the same route. The Yarra Trails quickly became my new favorite locale in Melbourne.

Check out more narrated photos in the Gallery!

Tools of the trade:
Yashica T4
Fuji Neopan 400

Take a Load Off

MEL_35mm-feet

It’s been a long weekend, readjusting to life in Austin after being on the road for over a month: household duties, errands and trying to get back in the swing of things. Hopefully you got to ride more than I did…

Rest up.

Seek Me

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Yesterday I was in bed, with food poisoning all day (funny how I didn’t get sick at all in China) and so I didn’t get to post any weekend stokedness. It’s not too late. Get out and seek this.

Recent Roll: MelburnOut Randomness

When I’m in Melbourne, it’s always a pleasure to meet new people and see some incredible bikes. This go round, I walked almost everywhere with my Mamiya, shooting portraits and other bits of randomness. I finally got all my negatives scanned and they came out great. So let’s waste away the lazy Thursday afternoon with a full-loaded Gallery… Also, a lot of these are sitting in print form at Shifter Bikes, so if you’re in there, swing through a pick up your print.

Check out some narrated photos in the Gallery!

Recent Roll: One of My Favorite Portraits

Shifter_Bikes_Wheel_Building

I don’t think I’ve shot a better photo of Dan from Shifter Bikes before. Out of all my Mamiya 7ii photos from Australia, this might just be my favorite. There’s a full set coming soon, once I finish scanning…

Regular scanning will commence today. I’m trying to wrap my head around jetlag and emails.