Great week attending database conference in Seattle. Well-focused sessions and, a good benchmark for any conference, developed more than ten ideas for things to consider back at work. My agency is merging with a larger agency (good news), so it's a good time to reflect.
Professional matters aside, I very much like Seattle, a town of interesting architecture, culture, waterfronts, and restaurants. I brought my mountain bike in a travel bag, so I could take in pre- and post-conference rides. Logged about 75 miles, sometimes rising before dawn to hit the mountain bike park or ride around Lake Washington. After the conference, I took the ferry to the Olympic Peninsula where I grabbed more rides and walkabouts. The trip also afforded the opportunity to break in my new pocket camera, a Leica D-Lux 5. While the camera is more fragile than my Canon G10 (which I sold), the Leica image quality is very, very good.
Had a little difficulty on Miller Peninsula, off Sequim Bay / Puget Sound (bottom picture). Got lost and spent a couple hours re-tracing my path, without much success. Finally bushwhacked over towards the bay as dark approached, and made my way back to car. A bit of adventure, lucky no harm ...
Additional pictures here.
I haven't blogged for a while, except the Dillard/Wilson book preso. I did a lot of connecting when I was in Africa, writing about the poor women and children, AIDS patients, suffering -- a reach across a large ocean, to stay in touch, proportion emotions, and float some pics (Aduare slideshow). That went pretty well; we're helping a few hundred indigent children each month. Now, I'm looking to do a non-profit survey in Haiti this fall, maybe Darfur in spring.
I used to write compulsively about photo technique, learning and stuff (e.g., '1/1250 @ F8 x ISO 400' ...). Now I am in Philadelphia, to cover the International Cycling Championship, gather material (I hope) for our book. Let me start by saying a number of things: Philadelphia is an awesome city, great architecture and public art. DC, where I was born, is nice, but my informal measure puts Philly over the top. My good friend, JudyB, a child of Philadelphia, should know, she wins! What a beautiful city. My ancestor, James Wilson, sits perpetually on a podium at UPenn, and I collect shallow heriditary remittances. But look at this art and architecture (front of museum, 'Rocky's steps' ...), awesome!
I'm shooting tomorrow's bike race with a high end portrait lens, a 135 mm F2L atop my full-frame Canon 5D. Not a sport lens, my zoom. Why? Well, to me it's about the people, yes the cyclists are awesome, churning massive watts up Manayunk Wall (a horrendous pitch), but it's getting the people that marks me as worthwhile. Look at this fellow, sitting in Love Park. Says a lot to me about the world and society.
Alas, we will see. Oh another thing to say, I'm so proud of my cycling family. All raced today at Church Creek time trial (near Cambridge, MD). Ave pulled down a silver for Juniors, and Care (W4) and Nathan (Cat 1) hit personal marks for their distances. I ride recreationally, but am off the back compared to these horses (challenges!). Anyway, Venga to team W! We're off to Bend in a couple weeks for national road championships and healthful riding for the rec-level rents.
More later.
May 18, 2010, Washington, DC – Kevin Dillard and Jim Wilson today announced their partnership to produce an exceptional book and photography products portraying urban cycling, focused on athletes and people of all backgrounds. "We love cycling, the dynamism of riders in competition but also, more importantly, the people, the pathos, inner beauty and passion we see at bike races."
Wilson and Dillard are well-regarded local cycling photographers, fans and hobbyists – with some professional credits, published by PBS, Washington Post, DCist and national and regional cycling mags. Proceeds from this year's collaboration will be donated to charity, one yet to be determined, but one that "makes the world a better place for kids in our area." (Suggestions welcome.) At minimum, products will be self-published, though Wilson who has published under Prentice-Hall hopes to land a larger press.
Dillard and Wilson's current plans for venues to cover are:
- Wilmington Grand Prix (NRC), May 22, Wilmington, DE
- BikeJam, May 23, Baltimore, MD
- Philadelphia International, June 6, Philadelphia, PA
- Clarendon Cup, June 12, Arlington, VA
- Skyscraper Harlem Cycling Classic, June 20, New York City, NY
- Capital Criterium, July 11, Washington, DC
Dillard will have an ‘against the wall’ studio set at this weekend’s BikeJam in Baltimore, while Wilson will mix it up about the course and crowds.
For information or suggestions, please feel free to drop Jim and Kevin a note at mercImage@gmail.com.
Dillard and Wilson are working under the brand mercImage -- a conjugation of merc (speed), merci (thank you), mercy (care), Image and mage (magician). Look forward to an opening of the http://mercImage.com web site in the near future. Jim and Kevin’s individual web sites are http://images.jamesrwilson.com and http://www.demoncats.com.
