One of my favorite non-cycling blogs is Nikon Sniper. In it, photographer Stephen Baird showcases his beautiful and, at times, touching photographs.
Apart from the visual lushness (Is that a word?) of his images, I find myself drawn to his blog, in part, because it is so different from my own. His posts consist almost entirely of his photos with occasional brief comments; mine are lots of words (I'm a writer, after all) interspersed with images that are nowhere near the quality of his.
When I fist started following Nikon Sniper, most of Stehen's photos seemed to be of natural settings: sunsets on bodies of water and in canyons, flora and fauna (although, thankfully, they didn't fall into the sentimentality that is a peril of such photos), mountains and the like. That makes sense, as Steve is obviously an outdoorsman.
However, lately, Steve seems to have branched off into "slice of life" and shots that are the still-photo equivalents of cinema verite. Or, perhaps, he'd been making such photos all along, and simply decided to start sharing them.
In any event, I decided to post a photo he posted today. Not only does its content appeal to me, but also the feelings it evokes in me. It reminds me that, in at least one way, a bike is a metaphor for life: It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful and useful, and to make its owner happy.
Plus, as wedded as I am (for now, anyway) to city life, I'd love to be able to park my bike with such a thin cable lock!
Apart from the visual lushness (Is that a word?) of his images, I find myself drawn to his blog, in part, because it is so different from my own. His posts consist almost entirely of his photos with occasional brief comments; mine are lots of words (I'm a writer, after all) interspersed with images that are nowhere near the quality of his.
When I fist started following Nikon Sniper, most of Stehen's photos seemed to be of natural settings: sunsets on bodies of water and in canyons, flora and fauna (although, thankfully, they didn't fall into the sentimentality that is a peril of such photos), mountains and the like. That makes sense, as Steve is obviously an outdoorsman.
However, lately, Steve seems to have branched off into "slice of life" and shots that are the still-photo equivalents of cinema verite. Or, perhaps, he'd been making such photos all along, and simply decided to start sharing them.
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| "Hitched And Kickstanded" by Stephen Baird, In Nikon Sniper |
In any event, I decided to post a photo he posted today. Not only does its content appeal to me, but also the feelings it evokes in me. It reminds me that, in at least one way, a bike is a metaphor for life: It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful and useful, and to make its owner happy.
Plus, as wedded as I am (for now, anyway) to city life, I'd love to be able to park my bike with such a thin cable lock!
