My Autobiography

 

    I did it, I published my autobiography, The Life of Brian; The photographic autobiography of yours truly. You'll notice the semicolon, because it is only meant to be a  fairly comprehensive account of my photographic life over the past 40 years and ends with To be continued..

    It's meant to be legacy of sorts for my photography and covers from when I was in high school, on through my experiences in college, to the mountain bike photography I did, all of the Holga photography I have done so far, including my fly fishing photography and of course my motorcycle photography and towards the end of the book talks about  my future plans for other projects.  

     Unlike my previous books, I only made one version of it, the Large Format Landscape version that measures 13"x11", it  has 212 pages, and contains 171 photographs and images, 97 black and white  photographs, 73 color photographs, one pen and ink drawing I made many years ago and has a word count of more than 6000 words, which doesn't include the photograph info and acknowledgements at the end of the book.  

 

 

    I did this mostly for myself, but if anyone out there purchases a copy, I'd pretty happy with that.

 

 

     To be continued...

 Brian 

 

Panheads and Panoramas and the occasional Polaroid...

     In 2024, I bought two new cameras, a Malefic M612 and a Polaroid Now camera (both with red accenting) and since I have finished my last photography book, Harleys and Holgas Forever, I thought I would start another project, using my Malefic camera and PanHolga primarily and the occasional Polaroid thrown in for fun and have the work center around the Harley-Davidson Panhead engine on its motorcycles that were manufactured from 1948 to 1965. Not all of the photographs will be of Panheads, but they will all be panoramas and or Polaroids.

    So far, I have been fortunate to have met another Harley rider through the local Harley dealer, Intermountain or Salt Lake Harley, that happens to one of their mechanics and is a bit of a Panhead expert and owns a beautiful 1965 Electra Glide that I have made a few photographs of with two of my cameras, the Malefic Panorama and the Polaroid.

      

    Through my new friend, I have been afforded an opportunity to be introduced to a few other Panheads.

     The project is still in the beginning stages, but I feel that I am off to a good start.

 

So we'll see where this takes me, I have a lot photographs that are rummaging around in my head just waiting for the right moment to be made.

  

In other news, I am just about done with my autobiography, I have all of the photographs scanned, the pages laid out and all of information about each photograph written up; I also have the text written, I am just waiting to have it looked at from an Army buddy that is an excellent writer and editor. 

Let's Ride!

Brian 

 

The Life of Brian

    If you have ever Googled, "The Life of Brian" you'll find stuff largely about the hilarious  Monty Python movie and if you look at the blurb.com bookstore, you'll find more than one book of the same name that are books of some sort or another done by a fellow Brian or about a Brian. So for my next book, which I am calling a photographic autobiography, guess what I aiming to call it.  You guessed it, The Life of Brian.

    As I get older, I often think about what will happen to the 40 years and counting worth of the negatives and slides I have made from my photography, it's not like I am a well known, iconic photographer or even the Messiah, I am just some guy that thinks of himself as a photographer, so who would want to archive my photography. Maybe what I should do, is keep making photographs, and not process my film and maybe years after I am dead, in the same vain as Vivian Maier  someone would find those unprocessed rolls and the rest of my negatives and slides which could create a huge interest in my photography then. It could happen, right?!

   

    The best way I can have some sort of lasting archive of my photography is create a book, according to the Help Center on blurb.com, once a single copy of a book has been purchased the book or books will stay on their servers until the account owner deletes it. 

    So while it's still in development, I have come up with the following possible cover for the book and despite the movie and all of the other Brian's who have lives too, none of them have had the life I have had, so it's this Brian's life,and like "The Chairman of the Board" sang, I am doing it my, because it's my life and my photography. 

So just remember, "When you're chewing on life's gristle, don't grumble; give a whistle, and this'll help things turn out for the best. And... always look on the bright side of life.."

My Second photography book - Harleys and Holgas Forever - GIVEAWAY

WIN A COPY OF THIS PHOTOGRAPHY  BOOK!

 

    If you have followed my photography since at least 2013, when I did my first book Trout Dreams, you'll remember that I did a giveaway of a copy of the book to celebrate the 10th anniversary of my website.

So 11 years later, I thought I'd do a giveaway of my second book. 

The prize will one signed copy of the 10"x8" Standard Landscape edition of my book Harleys and Holgas Forever.

As with any giveaway there are a few rules, and they are as follows:

To enter, leave a comment on this post, let me know if you ride a motorcycle or not, what you ride, and if and how you know me.

Make sure you leave you leave your name, email, Instagram handle, or some other way to contact you, so I can contact you if you are the winner.

The giveaway is open to US residents only whether you ride a motorcycle or not, mailing stuff abroad it getting too expensive and is limited to one entry per person. 

That doesn't mean that you can't share this post, so please do!

The giveaway will run from 1200 AM (midnight, 0000HRS, etc,) September 23, 2024 until 

October 6, 2024 1158 PM (2358 HRS, Two Minutes to Midnight, etc) 

Shortly after October 6, 2024, I will randomly choose a winner, using the random number generator from the fine website www.random.org  and contact the randomly chosen winner for his or her mailing address and I will randomly send the random winner the prize.

All decisions will be made by yours truly and will be final.

If you don't win a copy from this giveaway, you can always search for it on blurb.com and purchase one, you can also check the My Photography Books, listed at the top of the page, for information on how to do so and how to get the best price.  

If you live in the SLC, UT area I will also have some signed copies available to purchase directly from me.

Good Luck and Let's Ride!

Brian

100th Post, Book Update, New Work

 Do you remember what you did 14 years ago, more precisely on  Apr 24, 2010?  I don't, but I can tell you that the was the day I made my first post here, it marked a new format of mtbbrian.com the website I created in 2003.  

This post marks the 100th post I have made on my blogsite as I call it so I thought I'd give a little update on my second photo book and post a new photograph or two that you just might see in the book.

 While I have a lot of photographs to choose from going back to 2016, I'd have to say that this has been one of the most active periods in my photography in a long time, if not ever, because I brought at least 12 rolls of film to Essential Photography Supply for processing this past two months or so; on one occasion I brought six rolls that I had shot over the course of two days at the King Rally, in Sigurd Utah, and came away with enough good photographs from it, that I may have a section of the book dedicated to the rally.

 

I also have some new photographs from the time I recently rode the route for 2024 Ride To Zero route that takes place from September 6-8, 2024.  The route runs through the town of Hanna, Utah and I made this photograph while on a brief stop.

  Like my first book, Trout Dreams,  I am doing it on blurb.com and am planning on doing two hard cover sizes, the Standard Landscape, which is 10"x8"and their Large Format Landscape which is 13"x11". I am really trying to keep the cost down, but the thing to keep in mind when purchasing a book through Blurb, is that the different paper choices are what cost you the most.  For example, the "Standard Landscape" book and selecting their "standard paper" will run you $54 dollars, compared to $90 by selecting their "Mohawk Pro Pearl" paper.  I also had a softcover version of my first book, which lowered the price even, so I'll check that out as an option for my second.  I am hoping to have some available for purchase from me personally or from a local photography shop, so if you are in the greater Salt Lake City, Utah area keep that in mind.

 In other news last month I was involved in  my first motorcycle related photography exhibit when I had one of my photographs as part of a photography contest/exhibit at the Two-Bit Moto Show, put on by a local motorcycle shop Tucker Speed in Ogden.  They had a great variety of motorcycle related photographs and a lot of cool looking bikes and other related stuff.  

I am really excited about my book and hope to have it published later this year.  If you'd like to see and guess what photographs will be in the book, check out and follow me on Instagram @harleys_and_holgas_forever or if you are Flickr I go by "Red Holga Man" where you can see my pano photographs as well as my square format photographs.

Thanks for checking out this 100th post and if you have been with me since 2003 when I first created a website, thanks for accompanying me on this journey.  

Brian

Let's Ride!

Welcome Home...

March 29, is National Viet Nam Veterans Day, it was first commemorated in 2012, and would eventually become an annual occurrence in 2017 when the Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act of 2017 was signed and became law.

In Layton, Utah there is an 80% scale of the Viet Nam Memorial in Washington DC and this year I went to make some photographs of the wall and of the event happening that day.

 It was a great event, complete with color guard.

All sorts of speakers, from Viet Nam Veterans, to politicians were at the event.

As the events wound down, I went over to the wall to find my uncle's name James F. Schiele, who was killed during the war and happened upon another Veteran who was standing in front of a nearby panel for several minutes. I waited and watched him more after I made a photograph of him and then I approached him,to let him know that I had made a photograph of him and asked if he knew anyone listed on the wall.  He knew a couple of names and was looking for them, but was unable to find them, then I pulled out my phone and pulled one of the many locators, but between the two of us, I wasn't able to find any of his buddies.

At the Layton City wall, there are eight benches placed along and facing the wall that honor the eight women all of which were Army nurses, that were killed in action and whose names are also listed on the wall.  

Largely because of my work life, I have had the opportunity to speak to several thousand Viet Nam Veterans and when our conversations were over I would always thank for what they endured after they got home, because it was not in vain, because it also made things better for my generation of Veterans; I always end the conversation by saying, "Welcome Home".

New photo book (in the works)

 For the dozen or so of you that have been following my photography for the past 11 years or so, you may remember my first photo book, Trout Dreams.   I have decided to do another book, that is very early stages for my motorcycle work that I am calling Harleys and Holgas Forever, which is what I go by on Instagram and also expresses my feelings toward both things. 

 If you follow me on Instagram, you may remember the January 25, 2020 post I made where I first mentioned publishing my second book, a book of my motorcycle photography. At the time, I had what I felt were just a few photographs that I thought would be worthy of a book and I while I don't exactly have enough for a book right now, I definitely  have more.

I have learned a lot about creating and publishing your own book, since Trout Dreams, so I am confident that my next book will be better in terms of layout and design.

When I did Trout Dreams I would regularly post screenshots of the book as I figured out what fonts I wanted to use and page layout, I don't think that I'll do that this time, but I thought I would at least post a couple of screenshots to give you an idea of what the book will look like.

On this format the book is a hardcover with a dust cover, the dark section on the right,which would be the back side of the front,  I plan on having some sort of text an artist statement and probably a picture of me.  On the left, section, I plan on creating some sort of collage of some of my Instagram photos of my own Harley, I may even create larger collage of them too for one of the last pages in the book.  

As with Trout Dreams, I will have a foreword written by someone that knows my work, and while I have a short list of people that I would like to do that, I am not ready for that just yet.

That's all for now, I don't know if I will post as much as I did about the book as did with Trout Dreams as I was working on it, but when it is complete, you will certainly see it here.

 Brian 

 Let's Ride!