Great Victorian Bike Ride D/U Warning

[blinkblink]

I completed the GVBR last and can report that the whole of Victoria is uphill.

I brought my camera along but actually found it hard to take pictures. We'd get up at the sparrows fart, have breakfast and then pack up and get on our bikes. I packed my camera very snuggly on the bike. So much so that it was a pain to get out on the ride. Too buggered to go take photos after dinner.

Ah well, I did get a few shots on the rest day.

Comments welcome.

Chris

Mmmm beer.


Bikes


Breakfast with 4500 people.


Camping


A young friend


Another young friend


Tents


Monument

[Pauld]

Some nice shots there blinkblink, I like the monument one the best.

Did you ride the whole distance?

I know there were some flat roads around Swan Hill and Echuca as I manage some of the main roads the event is held on up there

[Steffen]

Comments welcome.

Ok, since you've asked...

I like the idea in #1, but I think the composition is still a bit random. A bit more hovering around may have given you an arrangement that "clicks".

Number 2 needs straightening. Easily done. Maybe it would have been stronger if the focus extended all the way from the bike in front to the ones at the far end?

Number 3 is great. Full of m&m colour, and reminds me of those half or full page big scenes in Herge's Tintin books. I never got tired staring at them. Nothing to focus on, really, just lots to explore. Might benefit from a bit more sharpness.

There is great potential for a moody shot in #4. Cutting down on the grass in the foreground by moving the camera more to the left (and maybe finding a higher vantage point) would have improved it by emphasising the line formed by the edge of the camp, and showing more detail of the campers.

Numbers 5 and 6: who can argue with cute kids?

Number 7 is my favourite. Great orange-blue contrast, always a winner. Again, a higher vantage point might have brought out the geometric arrangement of the tent rows a bit better.

Dunno about #8, it doesn't quite talk to me. I suppose it needs to be perfectly centered to be effective?

If anyone needs a good topic for a photography thesis, here is one: Why is it always so much easier to dissect other peoples' photographs while being completely blind to the faults in one's own?

Cheers
Steffen.

[hangdog]

I like the repetitive elements in 1 and 7. 7 could possibly have been composed without the drab ground on the left, but nice photo nonetheless.

Just a guess for No. 8, did you lie on your back with the top of your head against the base of the monument in order to get that perspective?

--Chuan

[blinkblink]

Some nice shots there blinkblink, I like the monument one the best.

Did you ride the whole distance?

I know there were some flat roads around Swan Hill and Echuca as I manage some of the main roads the event is held on up there

I didn't do the last 100 Ks. The ride went past my house and just too tempting to climb into a warm DRY bed.

THe first 200ks of the ride were flat as a tack. Should have been a cake walk except there was a 25kph head wind. Oh thank you for maintaining the roads. They were very nice.

Thanks for the comments everyone. Normally when I take 100 photographs I get at least one that I'm delighted with. I like these but they are not outstanding.

The beer shot, I tried about 8 pics. This was the best. They were a little repetative. I'll have to start trying more angles and dofs. I had the same problem with another set that didn't make it here.

I think when it is your work it is easier to be blind to its faults. I knew these were far from perfect. It's good that someone can point at flaws and suggest improvements.

Just a guess for No. 8, did you lie on your back with the top of your head against the base of the monument in order to get that perspective?

No, I'm just very short.