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.
