Marcus Dairy Prints

Since moving to Fairfield County, I've heard a lot about Marcus Dairy, a local diner which is something of a biker Mecca. "Will you be at the Dairy Sunday?" is the local motorcyclists' version of "See ya later." I hadn't really gotten a chance to go, until Oct. 12, which just happened to be the last "Bike Show" there. No scooters in attendance, but there was plenty of target practice for shooting with my new camera.

Something about the heavily customized Bonneville above, just begged for the Sepia treatment.
I don't know that I'd ever really want a Harley, (though the Nightster is a very attractive bike) but man all that chrome really photographs nicely.

Though there were some other brands presents, Harley Davidsons dominated the landscape.

I am really loving my new camera. It has really opened up a whole new of photography for me. Having studied photography and digital imaging in college, I know my way around an SLR and Photoshop. But having all the control of an SLR without having the hassle and expense of developing film is very liberating. And even though I have a decent amount of experience in a color darkroom, I've always preferred making prints digitally. Using RAW files, as well as some of the tools which have been added to Photoshop in the few years since I graduated, makes the whole experience much more rewarding. Though it still lacks the tactile sensuality, working on these images gave me much of the joy of manipulating values which I get from drawing, and the intoxicating play of color I find in painting.

I may eventually use some of these images as the basis for paintings, but many of them, like this bagger above, feel like solid works on their own. Strangely, I don't have much inclination to drawing and painting images of motorcycles or scooters. If I pick up a pencil or brush, I usually want to paint people. It just feels natural to me. But using a camera and computer feels natural for this subject matter. By the time I was in the final stages of editing these images, I almost felt like I was painting.

Prints in a variety of sizes are available of all these images in my Imagekind Gallery.