Photograghy on a bike

[Cormanus]

I have a Nikon Coolpix but frankly, the iPhone 6+ does such a good job that unless I need the resolution of my Pentax DSLR I just use the phone. It's crazy how good phone cameras have become. I did not see that coming.

They are good, aren't they? Except I can't hang mine on a lanyard round my neck and take photos while I'm riding.

 

[Krupator_imp]

If there was a way to program a drone with a camera to follow you and take photos...

People that are into skiing and snowboarding use them coupled with a GPS to follow them down the slopes and a gopro records them from the air. You wear something it tracks and it follows you. It will try to maintain a specified elevation above you and it will attempt to point at you as it follows. However, it won't avoid things such as power lines and tree branches. It would definitely catch some awesome footage in an open area though!

I would imagine my local police station's phone would be ringing off the hook if people saw one chasing a bike.

 

[Lord Popgun]

We talked about a drone like that a year or so ago. The problem was the max speed was only 35 or 45 MPH. May be different now.

 

[Krupator_imp]

Mine can go over 50mph and I personally saw my friend's go 62mph. That's an expensive setup, but they are getting faster.

 

[husky385_imp]

I have been taking riding shots for almost 40 years, hundreds of thousands of them, the oldest riding shot I know I have is a pic of my brother on the way to Florida on our bikes in 1977.Think I have it down to a science now. Couple of things... point and shoot cameras are great these days, simple and nearly idiot proof..and cheap. My camera cost maybe $50 and I have been using it for years. Hard to take a bad pic with one. But like ride4now said they are digital now so if you missed the subject, it's blurry, or you just don't like it, just delete it after it's down loaded. I have done both aa battery models and rechargable battery models. I currently use a rechargable with a spare battery. Always have a charged battery ready to go in when you get the low battery symbol. I would suggest getting a camera that's waterproof to a certain degree and with the lens in the middle of the camera body and the on off and shutter button on top. My current camera (a gift from my wife) has the lens up in one of the corners (see sellfie pic) and I keep getting my gloved baby finger in the pic. Delete!.

Hang the camera on a lanyard in front of your stomach, but not long enough to ding your tank. I run a tank bag nearly every ride and often lay my camera on my tank bag. With a point and shoot all you have to do is turn it on with one finger, point it toward the subject and hit the shutter button with another finger. You can then either turn it off or drop it and let the lanyard catch it and the camera will shut itself off after a bit. as far as keeping both hands on the bars, it's no biggie I ride a lot with one hand. Sometimes it's lifting or shutting my helmet visor, or removing a dead bug that just smashed in my field of view on my face shield, sometimes it's just resting on my thigh, sometimes I am pointing at something for my wife or a riding companions to see, and sometimes I am waving at a fellow biker as he passes. There are all kinds of reasons for taking a hand off the handlebars and taking pics is one of them for me. I have never had a scary moment from taking a pic while riding. I ride every day and I take pics every day. You will not see me without my camera hanging around my neck. Having a camera around the neck also means it's there for those shots when you are stopped.

If you want to try it, practice turning on and off the camera and hitting the shutter button at home. It is second nature for me, like hitting the horn or cancelling the turn signals or hitting the high beam switch. And practice your first shots out in the country on a straight road with nothing around. Don't take your first pics while lane splitting in Cali lol.

Blue camera hanging on lanyard around my neck



taking a pic on the fly

[url=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/theferret111/media/image_zpsbjz6agnk.jpeg.html]

taking a pic of oncoming riders and my riding companions in front of me

[url=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/theferret111/media/Mens%20Fall%20Trip%20N.C.%202015%20068_zpsrbu5mjry.jpg.html]

my riding companions taken over the shoulder

[url=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/theferret111/media/Mens%20Fall%20Trip%20N.C.%202015%20089_zpsp6obfpnq.jpg.html]

portraits of riding companions (this one my son)

[url=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/theferret111/media/DSCF2465_zpsa0j87rst.jpg.html]

Cool scenery

[url=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/theferret111/media/Mens%20Fall%20Trip%20N.C.%202015%20108_zpsmbyqmwr3.jpg.html]

left mirror shot of companions following

[url=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/theferret111/media/Mens%20Fall%20Trip%20N.C.%202015%20215_zpsqpdgvreo.jpg.html]

right mirror shot of same

[url=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/theferret111/media/DSCF2458_zpsf8ah5rzw.jpg.html]

cool atmospheric conditions seen while riding

[url=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/theferret111/media/ST%20ride%20March%201%202016%20001_zpsb7e0ptte.jpg.html]

artistic kind of shots

[url=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/theferret111/media/CBride%20Feb%2029%202016%20003_zps9ipjllpk.jpg.html]

[url=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/theferret111/media/Christmas%20eve%202015%20CB%20and%20ST%20rides%20017_zps7m82ld5e.jpg.html]

unusual angles (I think it was Cormanus or Empty Sea that showed me this technique?)

[url=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/theferret111/media/CB%20ride%20Feb%203%202016%20032_zps8hki0uch.jpg.html]

a selfie

[url=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/theferret111/media/CB%20ride%20Feb%203%202016%20012_zpswdjsvwo9.jpg.html]

Candid shot at a stop while putting on rain gear

[url=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/theferret111/media/Mens%20Fall%20Trip%20N.C.%202015%20409_zpse89xijof.jpg.html]



Documenting rides is not only fun, but I love going back thru albums and looking at all the pics, places I've been, people I've been with, meals I've eaten, conditions I have ridden in. 600 pics in a week of riding vacation is not unusual for me. 1,000 a week when I went to Europe or out west.

Thank you Ferret for taking the time to do this excellent write up on this subject. You have provided me and others lots of good advice, not to mention great pictures.
I have tried your suggestion to practice. So far not much to show for it. One of these days I'll have some pictures Of this beautiful part of the US to share with everyone.
Thanks again
Kevin

 

[rotor]

If one picture is worth thousand words:

How it rides on a motorcycle

How it is used

The details of execution will depend on the available materials and camera model, but are unlikely to be much different from the example on the pictures. It makes sense to do this with a moderately priced "submersible"; in this case Fujifilm XP 80. All three critical commands must be easy to reach with the left thumb and operate with the glove on and while in motion: on/off button, change of focal length (field of view), and exposure button. The image quality of most such cameras will be nothing to write home about, but it will be considerably better than freeze-frame of the video cameras and entirely adequate for the screen display and for the prints up to 18x24 cm in size.

 

[Cormanus]

Is that your work, rotor?

 

[rotor]

Is that your work, rotor?

Yes. IIRC, the project took 2-3 hours. Used tools were a good drill press, hack-saw and M3 thread taps.

 

[curlyjoe]

Sorry to be a PIA, but I'm trying to visualize what would happen to that if you had to do some emergency braking.

 

[rotor]

Sorry to be a PIA, but I'm trying to visualize what would happen to that if you had to do some emergency braking.

The whole contraption swings foreward, but it stayes on the strap around the neck; or at least it did so in all previous instances. I wouldn't do this with a heavier camera though. (Or a more expensive one

 

[emptysea]

Maybe this was stated in an early post and I just missed it, but what is the purpose of the handle and bracket? Don't get me wrong, it looks cool and very well made, but I'm not sure of its functionality.

 

[rotor]

Maybe this was stated in an early post and I just missed it, but what is the purpose of the handle and bracket? Don't get me wrong, it looks cool and very well made, but I'm not sure of its functionality.

So one can take a picture while riding, and with the glove on. Left hand is free unless one operates the clutch to shift the gears. The whole operation is no more involved than flipping the visor up to scratch one's nose and flipping it back down; a very common left-hand operation while riding.

 

[redbirds_imp]

That is a clever setup rotor. I have the same camera but do not have the dexterity to use it as ferret does so well. I've got some small aluminum stock that will work.

 

[rotor]

That is a clever setup rotor. I have the same camera but do not have the dexterity to use it as ferret does so well. I've got some small aluminum stock that will work.

Don't worry, I wouldn't even try. Take the right-hand glove off and shove it under your rear end? And then put it back on after you've taken the photo?? While in motion? All I would end up with is a whole lot of left-hand gloves missing their sisters...

 

[the Ferret]

what? I take all pics with my left hand (only I never take my gloves off). Same as your set up only without the tube thingy.

Camera hanging around neck on lanyard



Grabbed, raised and pointed for picture taking

[url=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/theferret111/media/image_zpsbjz6agnk.jpeg.html]

 

[emptysea]

I don't take my glove off to take pictures. The only difficulty I have is powering on the camera, but that's a function of the size of that particular button on my particular camera. I suppose that the extra hardware with the handle would make it easier to locate the camera and may help steady it, though.

 

[kvdv_imp]

what? I take all pics with my left hand (only I never take my gloves off). Same as your set up only without the tube thingy.

Camera hanging around neck on lanyard



Grabbed, raised and pointed for picture taking

[url=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/theferret111/media/image_zpsbjz6agnk.jpeg.html]

Which, by the way, looks like an impalement hazard just waiting to happen. Anybody else dangle a section of metal tubing from a lanyard around their neck while they ride? Holy smokes...

 

[the Ferret]

right hand on throttle, left hand on camera, gloves on and taking pic (from the recent CB rally in Va)

 

[redbirds_imp]

Rotor, I liked your idea so much that I made my own copy this afternoon. I used some parts off an old flash holder and a piece of aluminum stock I had in the workshop. I bent the aluminum with the help of a propane torch and mounted the plastic handle from the flash mount. Works perfect. Thanks much for posting.



[url=http://s1259.photobucket.com/user/stumpshooter/media/20160816_9_zps2vulgta7.jpg.html]

[url=http://s1259.photobucket.com/user/stumpshooter/media/20160816_2_zpsazi9qpj6.jpg.html]

[url=http://s1259.photobucket.com/user/stumpshooter/media/20160816_1_zps9mkuwd6u.jpg.html]

 

[Cormanus]

You see what having Australian members on the forum does? Now you all want to look at upside down pictures!