Yet Another Cycling Forum

General Category => Freewheeling => The Dark Side => Topic started by: Phil W on 27 September, 2016, 07:54:43 pm

Title: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: Phil W on 27 September, 2016, 07:54:43 pm
What do others do for photos on the recumbent whilst still moving? On the upright grabbing my waterproof camera out of a jersey pocket is quick and easy. But grabbing from a pocket would be fraught with challenges whilst reclined. I wondered if a polaroid cube stuck directly to the frame in front of the seat would work? The frame is steel and the cube is said to have a strong magnet, no other hardware required. Thoughts?
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: Kim on 27 September, 2016, 08:17:13 pm
I did, for a while, have a don't-care-if-I-break-it cheap camera with a lanyard that I used for this on group rides a few times.

But mostly I just fail to take photographs.


Pocket issues can be circumvented with recumbent-specific jerseys, those fishing/photography utility vests, bum bags, etc.  On something like an ICE trike you can get a thingy to mount a bar bag off to one side of the seat.  Or lightly-loaed banana bags can be rummaged in without spilling their contents.

Action camera on the bike doesn't seem like a bad idea, if you're after those kind of photos/video.
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: woollypigs on 27 September, 2016, 09:07:48 pm
I've managed ok

(http://photos.woollypigs.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/pootle.jpg)
http://photos.woollypigs.com/bicycles_cycling/out-for-a-wee-pootle/

I clip it to my belt, lay it across my belly, when no traffic and not going up hill, grab it and point and shoot.
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: Nethypete on 27 September, 2016, 09:57:18 pm
Any top with breast pocket - lots of softshell tops, windshells or waterproof jackets have vertical zip chest pocket. Shirts with collars have breast pockets perfect for a camera and one looks so not like a proper cyclist...or if all else fails a bum bag on the wrong way round. Once you can steer with one hand you can snap away.....a whole new World with feet in the foreground
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: Kim on 27 September, 2016, 10:00:58 pm
We should have a feet in the foreground thread in The Gallery
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: Phil W on 27 September, 2016, 11:17:11 pm
The jacket idea and breast pocket will work through winter but I prefer lighweight shirts with little or no zips all other times. I was wonder if there something I could use as quick release holster. The lanyard is an idea. Eta for deliver is 15th October so I guess I can try some of the DIY, already got the bits type solutions soon.

Mr Peli is that just a standard compact with a long lanyard?
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: woollypigs on 28 September, 2016, 11:47:44 am
Mr Peli is that just a standard compact with a long lanyard?
Yes, pretty much. The point and shoot, Limux FS16, lives in a softshell cage which have a lanyard. To which I have attacked the cameras little lanyard too (mainly to avoid mislaying either from the other). I then clip the lanyard to the cheap climbing carabiner attached to my belt. When camera isn't in use it is in the softshell in my pocket. When in use I take it out of the softshell and pay the lanyard and camera across my belly. So the softshell and carabiner is the anchor on the other other side. This has worked just fine for the pootles I have done.
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: fuaran on 28 September, 2016, 12:06:35 pm
Maybe a top tube bag, or Alpkit Stem Cell, if you have a suitable tube to attach it to?
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: Phil W on 29 September, 2016, 02:58:28 pm
Well I've gone for a cube coz' it's tiny and lightweight. Plus one for sale for £50 might have swayed it.
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: Krystine_M on 02 October, 2016, 12:08:44 pm
Taken up in Shrewsbury Quarry.
(https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/t31.0-8/14444990_10154591268527342_8143192393545111522_o.jpg)
https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/t31.0-8/14444990_10154591268527342_8143192393545111522_o.jpg (https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/t31.0-8/14444990_10154591268527342_8143192393545111522_o.jpg)
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: Phil W on 03 October, 2016, 05:40:00 pm
^^^^^ nice
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: Tilley on 11 October, 2016, 07:14:05 pm
Been thinking about getting a Contour Roam3 action camera for stills and some video on the trike.
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: Joe.B on 11 October, 2016, 07:32:08 pm
No photos to show for it but during a late ride from Glasgow to Helensburgh last night I spotted 3 meteorites. I attribute this good fortune to both the fine clear sky and being laidback as I doubt that I'd have seen them if riding head down on the road bike. :P
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: Joe.B on 15 October, 2016, 11:27:38 pm
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5561/30261136681_973b72790a_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/N75eDT)20161015_173039 (https://flic.kr/p/N75eDT) by Joe.Audax (https://www.flickr.com/photos/84858164@N02/), on Flickr

Cheeting a little bit as I only had my phone not a proper camera and I can't opperare the phone camera while moving. I was a nice Autum ride along the 754 between Edinburgh and Glasgow so worthy of a photo :)
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: woollypigs on 23 October, 2016, 08:03:39 pm
(http://www.woollypigs.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/2016-10-23-12.43.43-P1070329-1024x683.jpg)
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: Phil W on 23 October, 2016, 10:52:43 pm
Good efforts. Impressed on a canal with Autumn leaves. I'll need to be very confident before I ride along a canal one handed on slippy leaves.
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: andytheflyer on 24 October, 2016, 01:07:05 pm
I'd need to be very confident before I rode along a canal.... never mind some leaves or being one-handed!
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: woollypigs on 24 October, 2016, 01:58:00 pm
I actually find it rather stable, yes the first few weeks I wobbled as I passed people on the canal. I think the main reason was that, I wasn't sure how wide the bike is and where the front wheel was, as I couldn't see it. Now about 610 miles into my life on a bent I feel ok when passing people. One handed is getting easier, now that I have learned to relax, though I don't think I'll ever master no handed :)
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: Kim on 24 October, 2016, 02:09:33 pm
One-handed on a 'bent is no different from two-handed, as you aren't bearing weight on the bars.

Canals and leaves and such are a matter of confidence in the bike.  I generally prefer an upwrong for that sort of thing on account of the better manoeuvrability, but a recumbent can be reassuring in as much that it tends to be less nasty if you do fall off.  (Also, the Streetmachine is the only bike I've successfully recovered from front-wheel skids on.  Some quirk of the geometry, I think.)

No-handed doesn't really work on 'bents, as you've no real way to steer it.  Best case it goes in a random direction.
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: Mr Larrington on 24 October, 2016, 03:04:40 pm
No-hands is generally to be avoided except for very short periods such as moving one's paws from one set of grips to t'other but I've come across the odd one which could be ridden hands-off for extended periods (excluding Flevobike-type nonsense which is meant to be piloted thus).  Dave Richards' Kestrel low-racer only needed the bars for the hairpin during a lap of Darley Moor.
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: ElyDave on 24 October, 2016, 04:07:43 pm
I've not worked up the confidence to take a bottle out on the move yet with the M5, had got to that point with the ICE B2 before selling it.
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: Tigerbiten on 24 October, 2016, 07:14:19 pm
No-handed doesn't really work on 'bents, as you've no real way to steer it.  Best case it goes in a random direction.
Depending on the roads surface and camber, I'm OK hands off at low speed on my bent trike.
Lean left to track right and right to track left.
Works best at walking speed uphill.
At higher speeds I cannot shift my CoG far enough to straighten the path.
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: Kim on 24 October, 2016, 07:20:44 pm
Trikes don't count  :P
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: Joe.B on 10 April, 2017, 06:32:35 pm
I had another go at taking photos on the move last weeked, not easy with a phone camera what with all that swipping nonsense. Should pick up a cheap compact.
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3928/33828484221_8eb5f556b2_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/TxiPMX)IMG_20170409_105902217 (https://flic.kr/p/TxiPMX) by Joseph Bulloch (https://www.flickr.com/photos/84858164@N02/), on Flickr
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2918/33828484661_2cc434c1c9_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/TxiPVx)IMG_20170409_105906437 (https://flic.kr/p/TxiPVx) by Joseph Bulloch (https://www.flickr.com/photos/84858164@N02/), on Flickr
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3937/33573308810_6476e0ecdd_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/T9KZ2U)IMG_20170409_104755506 (https://flic.kr/p/T9KZ2U) by Joseph Bulloch (https://www.flickr.com/photos/84858164@N02/), on Flickr
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: Joe.B on 10 April, 2017, 07:56:01 pm
While on the topic of recumbents and photos has anyone else here increasingly found themselves being the subject of unwanted photographs?

It’s happened to me four times (to my knowledge at least) in the past couple of weeks.  The first was a car slowing right down beside me while I was riding along one of Newcastle’s busy city centre dual carriageways.  I turned to see what his problem was only to find that I was being photographed, or maybe videoed by the passenger.

A similar thing happened just as I was leaving the small village of Lochgoilhead about a week ago. This time a big black Audi ran alongside me on a road that was barely wide enough for such a manoeuvre just so the passenger could get a couple of photos.

Then just yesterday while out on the bent with the tandem club the same sort of thing happened twice.

It can’t just be me can it? Anyone else regularly find themselves on the end of an unwanted camera?
 
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: Kim on 10 April, 2017, 07:59:19 pm
While on the topic of recumbents and photos has anyone else here increasingly found themselves being the subject of unwanted photographs?

It’s happened to me four times (to my knowledge at least) in the past couple of weeks.  The first was a car slowing right down beside me while I was riding along one of Newcastle’s busy city centre dual carriageways.  I turned to see what his problem was only to find that I was being photographed, or maybe videoed by the passenger.

A similar thing happened just as I was leaving the small village of Lochgoilhead about a week ago. This time a big black Audi ran alongside me on a road that was barely wide enough for such a manoeuvre just so the passenger could get a couple of photos.

Then just yesterday while out on the bent with the tandem club the same sort of thing happened twice.

It can’t just be me can it? Anyone else regularly find themselves on the end of an unwanted camera?

Normal for riding a recumbent.  I work on the principle that if they're videoing you on their iPhone they've probably seen you.
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: woollypigs on 10 April, 2017, 09:37:55 pm
I'm sure people have snapped me while I was riding, which I haven't got anything against. Though if they are driving at the time I am.
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: Kim on 10 April, 2017, 09:40:52 pm
What I wonder is where the photos all go?  Presumably they're being uploaded to Twitface or something.  Is there a hashtag for weird bike spotting?
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: Joe.B on 10 April, 2017, 09:53:42 pm
That's just what I've been wondering.  There must be a generational aspect to it; I only take photo's of things that I actually want a photo of, but then I'm 42 and grew up back when a roll of film was a photographic necessary.  My daughter on the other hand has an iphone that’s practically busting at the seams with all of the thousands of photos it carries.  They never get transferred to a computer and sensibly filed, just continue to exist on the phone.   
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: Kim on 10 April, 2017, 10:14:38 pm
I think I'm on the cusp of the generations in that respect.  Sometimes I'll take a photo because I want to keep a nice picture of something, but I'm just as likely to take one as a form of communication - the "look at this interesting thing I saw (https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=1865.0)" use case.

(There's also a technological aspect.  Digital photography has made photography a practical way to document things where in the film era it simply wasn't.  I might use a camera to record positions or settings of things where historically you'd have made measurements or sketches, or even as a substitute for a magnifier or mirror.)

Some of my photos get filed in a photo gallery.  Some get filed in a filesystem along with documents, code, schematics or whatever for a particular project.  Some get emailed to someone or uploaded to Twitter to illustrate a particular point and are forgotten.  Most are unwanted duplicates or for temporary reference, and kick around until I have a clear-out then get deleted.

I'm old and wise enough not to trust anything important to a single storage device.  Especially one that's easily stolen/dropped.
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: Joe.B on 10 April, 2017, 10:52:11 pm
Yes now I think about it I do often use my phone in that way.  Tag strips in large junction boxes that I’d once have noted down often get photographed now. The camera phone is often a good substitute for the inspection mirror where access is tight too.

I had an interesting conversation a few years ago with an archaeologist that I used dive with about the storage problem.  She had been involved in a study investigating the best way to store information alongside high grade radioactive waste. The idea being that our distant descendants should know what was it was all about should they stumble upon it in 5000 years.  A modern high grade papyrus was a very credible option I believe.
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: Mr Larrington on 11 April, 2017, 05:40:34 am
I once found myself being overtaken by a Mercedes, which then stopped to allow an impressively turbanned Sikh to leap out of the back seat and start papping me with his box brownie.  That was in 1982.
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: Phil W on 11 April, 2017, 04:46:28 pm
Sadly I managed to drop my cube when unloading from the car after returning from my March 200 Audax.. That would have been alright but it rolled under the wheels of a car parked next to mine. They headed somewhere before I noticed the camera missing and it got squashed a little and no longer works. The micro SD card was ok, so got photos off. So I'm back to stopping and and odd photo with the phone.
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: Phil W on 15 May, 2017, 09:53:49 pm
Replacement cube purchased.

Here's my first video footage whilst riding one handed as I hold the camera.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMdj_Xg4KX0&feature=youtu.be
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: ElyDave on 16 May, 2017, 06:44:30 am
looked like a section of 10 Mile Bank there?
Title: Re: Photos whilst recumbent
Post by: Phil W on 16 May, 2017, 11:05:21 am
looked like a section of 10 Mile Bank there?

Yep, I rode approx. 400km of roads and cycle tracks in the Fens so many many of the banks and Fens covered