I would like to introduce the Dead Seagulls Motorbike Club. We started the club in September 2008 because out of the blue a lot of my friends started riding or pulled out their old bikes. So I thought it would be clever and funny to be a Dead Seagull for Halloween. More pictures and info on D.S.M.C. to come!
Last November (2008) Steve Olpin and Tim Irwin (Solpin Films) and myself went on a week long road trip all over southern Utah and then up to Northern California. The purpose? Filming a commercial for fuel TV. Awesome. I was way stoked to go and had an amazing time. Steve and Tim rule, they taught me so much on that trip, especially about photography. It was work though, seriously. They had me pushing uphill on the chunkiest ground you've ever rode on... -over and over and over again to get the right shot. Haha it was awesome, I got to skate through the most epic scenery in the west, 4 or 5 national parks in Southern Utah, dense fog in the hills above San Francisco (Muir Forest), all over the Pacific Coast Highway (Big Sur, Pt Reyes), the salt flats, and tons of other amazing places like Battle Mountain NV (hahaha). Steve sent me link to the final cut of the commercial So I'm posting it. I don't know the real legit way of posting stuff I'm still learning...
Here are some highlights from the trip. Steve can ride in a headstand better than anyone I've ever seen. The b&w shots are scanned negatives and the color ones Steve shot. The scans are super low res because I didn't know how at the time.
Hung out by the ocean and learned about camera stuff.
Checked out some salt.
Got some awesome street tacos in Wendover.
And these are some of the first prints I ever made. And they are terrible. I made a darkroom, poured some chemicals and started playing around. I eventually called Sam Milianta for advice because the stop bath was hissing at me and all my prints were yellow. Yeah... Apparently you are supposed to dilute the chemicals... Haha lesson learned. I'm still bad in the darkroom but I know basics at least. This isn't my finest work. Except the shot of the skateboard in the road. I'm especially proud of it because i learned how to burn and dodge from this negative. Thanks to everyone who has helped me learn. Still have far to go.
Tim takes photos of bugs. And he's good at it. He wins awards and stuff. I think Steve took this one though. We saw it walking across some highway so we had to turn around and chase it. Just another one of the fun adventures we had on this trip.
I shot most of these photos about six months ago and forgot about them. I finally shot the remaining frames and developed the film and was pleasantly surprised. Tell me what you think.
Here are a couple before shots of the Yamaha Maxim XJ650 that i'm about to chop up. It looked pretty ok before. Let's hope I don't eff it up too much.
This is my 450 stripped down a bit. Notice my ghetto center stand. Someone apparently took the original off... No worries, anyway i have a few plans for this one. Cosmetically it needs new paint of the tank and air filter covers... OR pod filters instead of the old ones. I'm also planning on putting different handlebars on it. Something low and more or less straight... Also, the seat needs a new cover or a little repair. It's ripping at the very back. Oh and smaller, sleaker blinkers and taillights. Any suggestions?
I just picked up this 1973 Honda Cl450. After a bunch of cleanup and going through the carbs she's running pretty well. It may be love.
After this photo I had stripped it down pretty far and then I made the wise choice to ride it until winter really sets in and then I'll have a better idea of what she needs to be perfect next spring. So i put the air cover (not pictured) back on and it looks great.
This is my current project. To turn this Yamaha XJ650 Maxim into a hardtail bobber. For as little of the green stuff as possible. Currently looking at pod filters, seat, and possibly a rear fender as main expenses. Shouldn't be more than a couple hundred to get it all done. Hopefully...
