A PASHNIT ride through Central California!!

Awesome description of the ride, Pashnit!

As a fellow photography buff, I found alot of your tips really useful...

Can't wait for the next report once riding season begins again...
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Ill say it again,,,,,, Breathtaking views.... Maybe next year,, ill have to join you!!!!!!!!!!
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Nice, looks like a good time...id love to ride with you guys some time.
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Thanks guys! Our story continues....
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Bob says I'm ready to go get some lunch!

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Alright then, let's ride!

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Dale shot some pics on the way down...

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Yours Truly takin' it easy down the hill - amazingly smooth pavement!

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Arriving at the Deer Lodge at the base of Highway 33 (near Ojai, CA)

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The Deer Lodge is a biker hangout that's been around since the 1930's. Quite a variety of bikes there, although predominantly Harleys.

This Indian was just georgeous!

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Photo Tip: Cropping, as I've mentioned with the Frank-Alan shot, is a great tool after you take the shot. If you take a photo large enough, say 3 meg or larger (in file size), you can easily crop your photo to hone in more on your subject.

Take for instance this Chopper. Here is the original photo, not bad, I'd like to get rid of the lady in the photo- I could blend her into the background by 'photoshopping her out' or I can just crop the photo. Here is the original... not bad, but really busy, almost too much to look at. When you look at the pic, how many points of interest can you see, or are drawn to with your eyes?

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Here is one way to crop this photo... See how I cut out all the riff-raff in the pic, and now pull out the Chopper fork, which is quite becoming to look at.

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Or, since the Chopper is so long, I could crop the photo this way, stretching the photo a bit. This photo is just slightly wider than the one above, but looks very different.

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Or this... Going lower pulls out the two wheels & the two motors, which is framed by the long fork.

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Photo Tip: Here's Bob's photo of the same thing. Note that Bob is standing slighly left of where I was (I'm actually standing out in the street). (Remember the suggestion to shoot 2-3 pics of the same thing, but from slightly different angles) From where Bob is standing, his photo is consistent with the angle of the fork. So in a sense, he's finding a place to stand where his photo flows with the position of the Chopper.

In the Pashnit Photo, I line up on the angle between the fork & the front frame tube- so I am doing something very similar in finding an angle to shoot the bike that flows with the motorcycle. Also note that Bob & I both have positioned the camera pretty low, and are shooting into the Chopper, rather than just standing and shooting down on it. This way, the Copper also fills up the camera frame.

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And lastly the picture of a picture - Bob catching me in the act. No, I'm not constipated, I'm looking straight down into the screen, note the level of the camera, and just how far away I am from the Chopper. I zoom the lens to its max (for the Canon Pro1, 7x or 200mm), then start walking backwards. I ended up out in the street.

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Finally, lunch where we all came together. Roger is out of view, but on the left is Dale (GixxerDale), Frank, Tim, Erik (1911), Ayumi, Patrick, Blake, Alex, Alan, Jeff & the super-white guy is Yours Truly.

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Dale's view Tim, Bill, Alex, Alan & Jeff

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One of Jeff's Tattoos

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We were also joined by Bill (BillyFutura) at lunch who walked up to our group and asked, "Is this Pashnit?" Why yes Bill, it is! Bill had ridden all the way up from LA just to see if he could run into us. He didn't know exactly where we'd be or what time, but guessing off past threads, The Deer Lodge was a good bet he thought. Bill joined us for the rest of the day on his Futura, and had so much fun, rode all the way back to San Luis Obispo with us & stayed the night.
 
Afterwards, it was time for Dale, Roger, Blake & Jeff to head back.

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Pashnit being a poser

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Time to do some more riding over to Solvang and the hills surrounding this tiny town set up to look like a Danish village. Finally a stop...

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Photo by Alan

A new stop gives me anothe chance at capturing great shots of the R1.

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When you look at this, you finally realize why Frank's R1 looks so unique. Besides the undertail, there's no hugger or chain guard. It gives the rear of his bike the ultimate naked look- especially with that undertail exhaust to boot! I have ridden about 3000 miles with Frank, and constantly been waiting for an oppurtunity to shoot the tail section on this bike. The more I look at these angles, the more I wanted to somehow capture that. Finally, with the right lighting, I can get the shadows to give the photo the depth it needs to show off the R1's shapely tailsection.

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Frank & the R1

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Ayumi on the GSXR 1000

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Bill & the Futura- Bill has spent the last 20 some years in the music industry in LA & ran a rather large recording studio at one time. He has worked with the likes of REO Speedwagon, and was a part of the recording of the soundtrack for Friday the 13th were just a few he named when I asked him.

He was just getting back into motorcycling now that his daughter is in college, and had only recently joined my Pashnit Forum. I think I've introduced him to a whole new extended family.

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By far, the Aprilia Futura has to be one of the most beautiful bikes ever designed.

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Beauty, ain't she. Note the shadows (or use of shadowing) in this photo to give it that 'feel'. To get this shot- I'm standing clear across the street and zooming the lens.

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