It's been a while...

 It's been a while since I have posted something to my blogsite, 738 days if you are wondering,  but I have been making some Holga photographs, it's just a little easier to do some with my phone and post them to my Instagram account @harleys_and_holgas_forever or on Flickr, where I go by "Red Holga Man" a nickname given to me after attending the Maine Photographic Workshops.. 

I have used both my regular Holga and my 6x12 PanHolga, but have had mixed results over the past while, so I thought I'd post a few of the best photographs I have made recently..

This first one is from a vintage motorcycle show, as I recall, these two guys were wondering how the builder had routed and configured the front brake. 

This is from the same bike show, you can even see this vintage Harley in the background of this first photograph. I used my square Holga and did a "Holgarama" with this one, where I made an exposure of the first half of the bike, then advanced the frame "17 clicks" and panned to the right for the second exposure. 

This next one is also from my 6x12 PanHolga, it's my wife on her bike, riding along the Bonneville Salt Flats.

This last one is from a ride I participated in earlier in the summer, at the Brian Head Ski Resort, that I did with my 6x12 PanHolga as well..

That's all for now, I hope to have more photographs before the end of 2022 and will post them as soon as I can.

Thanks for taking a look!

Brian

Ride On!

A few new photographs...

If your 2020 has been anything like mine, it has been filled with lots of unexpected adventures, head scratching moments, and other moments that have probably left you with a certain level of disbelief. Despite all of this, I have been doing my best to keep making new photographs that I have had on my Flickr stream, but I thought I'd post here as well.  

This first one is a portrait that I did of a good friend/Brother, that goes by the name of "Tripod".  He's a good guy, that has an interesting motorcycle story, I am grateful for his friendship and for the miles that we have ridden together so far.

If you have followed my photography for a while, and I know that you have, you'll know that I also have a 6x12 Pan Holga camera, that I love to use.  Over the summer, I met some of my Brothers for lunch before going on a nice ride through the mountains of Northern Utah and I was able to make this photograph with my Pan Holga. 

I like taking portraits, at least that's what I call them, so I will end this with another portrait of my favorite person to ride with, my wife...

Until next time, stay safe, and ride often.

Brian

Film v Digital

If you have followed my photography for a long time, you may remember several years ago, I started photographing these "inflatable characters", that you mostly see at used car dealership, then all of the sudden, I stopped seeing them.   Recently though, through a post that a friend made on Facebook of a picture of an inflatable duck that was at a car wash, I was fortunate enough find it there and went to photograph it.

I am not exactly trying to compare film and digital, because at this point, having the need to scan the film for this photograph, it's all digital anyway, but since I was able to make a photograph of the scene with both my Holga camera, using Fujichrome Provia 400 and the camera on my phone, using Pixlr to process the file, I thought I'd put them here together.

The first photograph is the one I made with my Holga:

If you have been following my photography, you'll know that I prefer to have a boarder of some kind  and in the case of my Holga photographs, the boarder looks something like this.

The camera phone image on the other hand, looks like this:

As I mentioned above, I use the Pixlr app, for my post processing and the camera on my phone shoots the RAW format, which is what I use for my more creative photographs.  My process is quick and easy, I crop the file to square, select the "sloppy" boarder, and use the app's "Sophia" effect, that's all. 

You can see my Holga photographs and other film based photographs on my Flickr stream, where I go by "Red Holga Man" or if you'd rather, you can check out my Instagram page, where I have my motorcycle photographs, which is a mix of digital and film photographs @harleys_and_holgas_forever

I like both methods, but ultimately my heart belongs to film. 

Brian

Goals, My next book

Winter is the worst time for motorcycle riders, because you can't ride; so the other morning I woke needing to hop on my motorcycle, but I was unable to do so, because snow had fallen the night before.  

Needless to say, I had a little pent up energy, that I was able to overcome, slightly anyway, through a creative type of outlet. So with a cup of coffee in my hand, I went to my computer, pulled up the BookWright software from Blurb.com and created what I am calling a very preliminary and potential cover for a photo book about my motorcycle photography, that I am thinking of calling, Harleys and Holgas Forever, after my Instagram handle.  

If you are fan of my photography, and I know that there at least 10 of you out there, you may remember my first photo book, Trout Dreams; I know that there are at least 10 of you out there, because 14 copies of it were bought, and I bought four copies myself.

I learned a lot doing the first book and hope to make this better.  It took me about six years to have enough photographs that I felt were worthy to be in the book and by the looks of my Flickr photstream, I posted my first motorcycle photographs in 2016, so it could be at least two years before I get to that point. 

So here's to more photographs and to more riding of course.  

If you are in the greater Wasatch Front area, in Northern Utah, and want to be a part of the book or at least photograph you and your bike, look for me out on the open road, contact me through here, or on Instagram: Harleys_and_Holgas_Forever. 

Let's Ride

Brian 

Rider and Bike

I like meeting people, I like seeing cool motorcycles, so naturally when I saw this cool "76" Harley Shovelhead ride in at an event a while ago, I knew that I had talk to it's owner and make a few photographs of it.

I usually like to get an over all portrait of a bike, but I think in this case the other two photographs that I made

I always like making a portrait of the rider and his or her bike, and I really think that this one turned out well. I'll say something like, "Give me your best, Yeah, I ride a Harley pose", which always tends to lighten the mood and enables me to get a good portrait.

I like to get a detail photograph of a bike a lot too, and this left side of this Shovelhead, with it's "suicide shift" and skull picture on the tank did not disappoint.

It's coming up on the end of 2019, so this will probably be my last group of photographs that I will post for a while. I am not sure what 2020 will bring, but I will always bring my Holgas with me, and even if I don't make any photographs with my Holgas, I am sure that I will at least make some pictures that you will probably see on my Instagram account, Harleys_and_Holgas_Forever. So check me out there if you already don't.

Here's to many more miles and smiles in the coming year and decade!
Let's Ride!
Brian

Veteran suicide

November 10, 2018 the day before Veteran's Day, an organization in Tooele, Utah, the Life's Worth Living Foundation, unveiled what is being heralded as a first of its kind monument to dedicated to the issue of Veteran suicide.
Being a Veteran, I am horribly concerned about this issue, so naturally I went and took a few friends, both Veteran and non-Veteran alike
 

The numbers vary over the past few years, but it is estimated that 20-22 of my fellow Veterans take their own lives each, which averages to be about one suicide every 65 minutes.  I personally believe that this epidemic is preventable, by doing a very simple thing, something that we are trained to do and is a part of the culture of the military, and that is look out for one another. I realize that this isn't a be all solution, and I am not even sure that there is such a thing for this epidemic, but I know that it is something that can prevent someone from taking their life.

Even if you are not a Veteran, you can help with this epidemic, you can reach out to a Veteran that you may know,  especially if you know that he or she is in crisis.

As I have often said, I am grateful for our nation and the Veteran community, in particular Viet Nam Veterans, because there are many organizations that have been created by Viet Nam Veterans to help Veterans, in particular  my generation to deal with all of the crazy stuff that Veterans deal with.  I could easily name countless organizations like that help teach Veterans an activity or skill, but I will list the following:
Project Healing Waters
Guitars for Vets
Veterans Charity Ride

There are also other organizations like The National Center for Veterans Studies, that are studying this epidemic and making a huge difference.

If you are a Veteran and are in crisis, please call the VA Veterans Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255 and Press 1 to talk to someone, or if you prefer, send  a text message to 838255 to connect with a VA responder, and they also offer a confidential online chat session at  VeteransCrisisLine.net/Chat.

You can also go to a VA facility near you, or even a medical facility of your choosing in your area.

In closing, I want to you to recite in someway and  remember the words of the Spartan Pledge,
"I will not take my own life by my own hand until I talk to my battle buddy first. 

My mission is to find a mission to help my warfighter family."

Life is worth living, so please choose to live.   

Brian

Somewhere on a desert highway...

Somewhere on  a desert highway, she rides a motorcycle...

I know that Neil's lyrics mention Harley-Davidson, but motorcycle at least fits the meter!

From a recent moto road trip that my wife and I took where we rode about 1200 miles in the Southern Utah area.   This particular photograph was on the La Sal Mountain Road, a little side trip we took that day.  The further along we got, the more technical it got, especially for a couple of cruisers, I am sure the couple of adventure bikers we saw that day were wondering what we were doing there.  Ththe road was paved and in good shape the entire way, although there were several cut offs that diverted off into the Moab desert. The road peaks at a summit that is somewhere around 8000', if you follow me on Instagram @ harleys_and_holgas_forever,  you can see a picture I posted of my  Harley in the view area parking lot with the Castle Valley in the background.  

Summer is basically here, which means that I will be riding more, so watch for more moto photos!

Ride safe!

Brian