July « 2009 « Cycling Around The World – the Blog
You may not have heard about this in the news: gasoline is getting more and more expensive. But this will certainly not put a damper on one of the greatest pastimes ever: bike trips!
We at Cycling Around The World love bike trips because they’re a photographer’s dream: each new mile is a photo waiting to happen. So we’ve compiled our Ultimate Guide to Bike Trip Photography, to inspire you on your next trip! Gather as many friends as you can for your bikepool vacation, and pack the camera gear. It’s time to hit the road!
Hitting the road in Uganda
Ingredients
Let’s start with the necessities. It may be a little obvious, but they’re all items you’d hate to be on the road without.
* Camera * Plenty of memory cards * Extra batteries or a charger (better) * A laptop (a sturdy one if you really want to take this)
* If your camera is hefty (yeah you, DSLR owner) you might want to pack a point and shoot or disposable camera as well, for those particular adventures where you can’t be weighed down.
What To Shoot Along The Way
Create a map of your route before you get on the road and don’t miss a single photo opertunity.
Where Did You Stay?
As you voyage into new territory, you’ll probably be landing in an unfamiliar place at night. Whether you’re crashing at a relative’s, in a hotel or on a stranger’s couch, it’s all part of the journey so don’t forget to document it.
Front Page newspaper
Someday when your kids’ kids are zooming around in solar-powered bikes, you’ll want to pull out your road trip photos and tell ‘em about the good ol’ days, so why not make your trip into a time capsule? Snap a shot of the newspaper’s front page every morning so you can remember what was going on in the world while you were adventuring through it.
Getting Another’s Perspective
There’s only so much you can see and shoot on your own, so why not give this experiment a try: before you hit the road, pack one or two (or ten) disposable cameras in self-addressed, pre-posted envelopes. Throughout your travels, leave a camera and envelope with interesting people you meet or maybe even in random places. Leave a note to drop the camera in the mail when it’s full, then cross your fingers and hope that it’ll eventually find its way back to you.
Time Lapse
We think pedalling down the roads at a relaxed 20 km per hour is a great opportunity to hone your time-lapse chops.
Record Your Whole !? Trip
Tinho Chow’s bike takes pictures of his entire bike ride across America. Attach a camera on your bike and you can do the same.
Don’t Forget About Video!
A vacation on the road just wouldn’t be the same without home videos to torture your friends and family with when you get home. So if you’re traveling with a (point and shoot) camera that has a video option, don’t forget to use it!
Showing Off Your Memories
You just got home and you’ve got the digital equivalent of that roll of undeveloped film in the junk drawer: a memory card full of bits. Get your pictures out of there and do something spectacular with all those memories. Why not throw them into a digital slideshow?
Lost and Found
If for some crazy unfortunate reason you lose your camera while on you’re out on the road, you might just find it at Found Cameras and Orphan Photos. Hey, you never know.
This post?
I’ll admit it. This post is a more or less completely rewritten 😉 version of the The ultimate guide to road trip photography on PhotoJoJo.