Methyl Chloride to Modelling

I had been keen to undertake some fine art nude photography in a safe environment for several years. Opportunity presented in the form of Tanya Atherton http://purpleport.com/portfolio/tanyaatherton/  and Paul’s studio in Reading http://www.pauls-studio.co.uk/main.htm 

Aside from a disconcerting sign for “South Wales” while trundling along the M4, the venue is very close to the motorway exit and neither taxed elderly Tom Tom, or my pitiful sense of direction. Only one wrong turning (and that was heading home).

Dressed in beloved deep brown cow hide jacket; denims and moccasins ( the latter easily discarded to avoid dirty footprints on white backdrops); I arrived, camera bag bulging with lenses, spare batteries, memory cards, spare flashgun. Then of course, my hand-held “light-sabre” style LED light.

This should’ve catered for every eventuality.... 

In practice, my old faithful Sony Alpha 55 body decided not to communicate with the remote flash trigger.No amount of gentle tweaking or cajoling could persuade it to capitulate, so I borrowed Paul's Nikon D500 for this shoot. Obviously, working in this context it is imperative to consider other practicalities, such as model comfort. Ensure your venue has decent, functional heating, a break area and be very clear about what you are looking to achieve from the session beforehand. Technical skills are no substitute for good interpersonal communication. 

Tania is very intuitive and delightful to work with. Paul’s sage like wisdom and calm, friendly support ensured consistently good results and the three-hour shoot concluded favourably.I would like to pursue this genre further and hopefully, these shots will attract other models looking to explore or expand their port-folio.

Back to bikes... www.sevendaycyclist.com has an overview of commuting/everyday tyres http://www.sevendaycyclist.com/rubber-fetish-talking-tyres and chat with Tegan Philips about Axel, her mile munching Surly disc trucker.http://www.sevendaycyclist.com/tegan-phillip-s-surly-disc-trucker. The Univega’s almost constant exposure to wet, greasy roads saw its bottom bracket and rear triangle engulfed in caked on, slimy grunge.

Much as might be expected from a decent polymer wax, the Pro Green MX bike shine 101 has provided an excellent barrier, so paint, anodising and bright work remained resplendent.  Twenty minutes, some fresh Rock n’ Roll absolute dry chain lube later, we were ready to go again. I’d forgotten how tenacious the absolute dry is-stayed put for at least thee months.

Admittedly much of this was through a relatively arid early autumn but several wet weeks and a good 600miles in, a protective filmy layer still adorned the links. This compensates for the curing time, which is between two and four hours, depending on air temperature.

I tend to leave lubes with this kind of gestation, curing overnight. My personal preference errs toward light to middleweight preps, which attract less grot and therefore, require less cleaning before replenishment.

That’s not to say I’ve an aversion to wet lubes, especially on a winter fixed mountain bike where you want the oil to stay put come hell and/or high water. Many are very quick to apply, make excellent transition to other little jobs and will even double as grease substitutes on fasteners.  

Talking of cleaning, an editor has very kindly presented me with some anti lubes and Pedros’ bike brushes to make my winter fettling that little bit faster. This time of year, it’s worth giving things a quick once-over to stop component seizures before they start.

Something I was reminded of on Wednesday when my MK1 KA’s drivers’ side door lock apparently seized solid. I initially attributed this to a central locking fault, which seems quite common, not only to the KA but Focus too.

Thankfully, stripping away the interior facia and blasting its components with middle weight PTFE spray restored normal, slick function. Since prevention is always better than cure, passenger side and boot mechanisms and assorted heavy duty bike locks also received liberal, precautionary squirts.