Boulder Cruisers for Bicycling Magazine

Publish PostI just got this issue of Bicycling Magazine in the mail yesterday.  The shot was for the back "Finish" page.  Highlighted here are participants in a cycling group called the Boulder Cruiser Ride.  These guys are awesome.  They organize fun Thursday night costume bike rides through Boulder. They often have themes, like robots, nerds, and super heros.  Next weeks theme: Red, White, and Cruise.  
When we go there, I was joking about it being a windy day.  We used so many sand bags on the background and scrim that I took a risk and left one head with a 20" beauty dish "un-bagged." 

Sure enough, near the end of a shoot, a front moved in, ripped the 12' white seemless off the stands, and blew over my soft dish light.  Gotta hand it to Dynalite, they make a good product.  Even though the handle was bent into the head, the fan and head still work fine.
My assistant Randall shot this picture (above) right when I was shooting the image that ran.
What a great assignment and what great people.  I love shoots for Bicycling.  Thanks Stacey and Kaitlin!  And thank you Randall for the production stills!

Dave Kingsbury for Bicycling Magazine

Dave Kingsbury is one of my new heros. He exemplifies the dream to live life in a way that is fun and fit. Besides working for Crispin Porter + Bogusky in Boulder, he has a skateboard park in his back yard and he had just returned from a surfing trip to Panama the night before the shoot! How cool is that? Bicycling Magazine did a story on him because he has been commuting to work without a car (whenever possible) for 15 years or something like that. His current commute is something like a triathlon- by bike, boat, and skateboard from Nederland all the way to Boulder. For those of you not from these parts... that's not an easy accomplishment.

His job title at CPB is "Sr. Cognitive Anthropologist." What the....?

I can't post the images until they go to print, but they are cool. Here are some options the magazine didn't choose:

Charles Carlson for Bicycling Magazine

Stacey from Bicycling Magazine has been so kind to me... You rock Stacey! Here's another fun assignment. Charles Carlson rides 500 miles a week... often from Boulder to Rocky Mountain National Park (and back)- a 100 mile solo ride with 10,000 ft. of elevation gain in 5 hours. The guy is FAST. In fact, he could be one of the best racers in the country, but he says he loves cycling too much. He does it just for the love of it.

I was asked to photograph Charles riding and looking fast, combined with a portrait. Right up my alley. I love assignments like this. I spent part of an afternoon dangling out the back of a truck photographing a really cool guy getting his workout. Of all the celebrity athletes I shoot, I have to say cyclists are the nicest. Thanks Charles for a great day and some dynamic images!

Here are some production stills compliments of my assistant Randall

Andy Hampsten for Bicycling

I photographed American Andy Hampsten for Bicycling Magazine near his home in Boulder, Co. Andy is best known for his historic win of a stage in the Italian Giro in 1985, 26 years ago. Despite freezing temps and 2 feet of snow, Andy rose to the top and his victory made him a national hero in Italy.

Here is our set. My assistant, Caleb, and I had to lug all the gear down a short but steep path to this nice rock on Flagstaff Mountain. I was just getting over a terrible fight with the flu and my throat felt like razors were ripping up and down inside as I breathed in the dry high altitude air. (Enter violins and cello music) HAHA... well, we did get the shot. We were perched with all kinds of lights, battery packs and heads hanging over the edge of a cliff. Thank God for sandbags!