Day 84: ripping on the Ripley

Activity: Ripley spring shakedown - had lots of fun riding the Ripley for the first time in months it seems. I don't really count heading out with studded tires on lame ice...

Photo: dog walkers at Sheepfold

Thought for the day: full suspension with gears and a dropper post is so, so different from a single speed. Neither is better, but full suspension is definitely more fun!

Day 83 (March 23): chickens and Ripley

Activity: another lame activity which was basically walking from Smooth Automotive which was fixing my car to home Morning Walk

Photo: I didn't take any photos of that epic walk, but I did manage to get my Ripley ready for spring riding and tossed out some treats for the chickens so they could look like they were checking out the bike.

Day 82 (March 22) - dark hiking

Activity: Evening Hike Anita and I went for a hike at dusk. Most of it was in the dark. But it sure was fun and we didn't get lost.

Photo: before the sun went down, I managed to get a few long exposure photos taken (see Strava link). But my favorite photo of the day was a portrait I took of Katie

Day 81: March 21 - spring snowstorm beauty

Activity: Family snow hike It was the first day of spring and it snowed. The snow was absolutely beautiful in the woods.

Photo: snow on pine needles. Taken with the Sony A6000, Minolta 50mm Rokkor vintage lens and a macro screw on closeup 4x filter

Day 80 (March 20) - fun sun spring skiing

Activity: Day 27 of snowboarding. Conditions were spring corn on the lower side of the mountain near Gatehouse Lift and North Lynx and we hung out there ALL DAY. Lots of fun!

Photo: Giovanna, Katie and Sophia plotting their next run

Day 79 (March 19th) - firm snow / fun party

Activity: Day 26 of snowboarding. It was kind of chilly and the conditions weren't that good. I was going to call it a day early, but we found the Destefanises and had a good time doing some runs with them.

Photo: The main reason we went up for the weekend was to attend Bobby and Mary Shea's 8th Pig Roast. The pig was fantastic. And so were the fireworks!

Day 78: (March 18) - riding to the sunrise

Activity: Catching the sunrise - kind of lame - basically got on the bike to ride out to photograph the sunrise. And then rode back.

Photo: I took a lot of shots of the sunrise, but really liked this one

Day 77 (March 17): Secret lunch ride

Activity: I wasn't really supposed to head out onto the trails for a ride... but I did anyway.

Photo: The center of Winchester Center. It was stormy, and looked like an excellent time to head into town and check out the drama.

Day 76 (March 16): Afternoon hike after the rain

Activity: Afternoon Hike Another hike - trails were too muddy for a bike ride. But the conditions were more conducive to photos.

Photo: A reflection of the woods in the water

Day 75 (March 15) : rainy day hike

Activity: Rainy hike It is always fun (and challenging) to get some photos in lousy rainy weather.

Here is my favorite from the day: I loved the juxtaposition of the power line with the tree...

Day 74 (March 14): photos and bike riding

Activity: Finding gems on the Cross Fells trail - Had a great time taking photos out on the trail today (see Strava link above)

Photo: However, this quick snap with the cheap Sony long range telephoto from the deck went crazy on FB (not sure why - it isn't that great...)

Day 73 (March 13): Fun at Gordon College on the SS

Activity: Gordon college fun on the SS with the crew I had never ridden at Gordon College on the SS. It was pretty challenging, but manageable. I'll have to do it again...

Photo: I know I'm not supposed to do this, but the view on the way to the drive was pretty amazing! Took this with my iPhone...

Day 72 (March 12): Emilia's 3rd all state festival!

Activity: Early morning love for the Gates Carbon Drive Sometimes a sloppy ride in the woods is just sublime when you know you don't have to clean your drivetrain afterwards. Thank goodness for Gates carbon drive!

Photo: Emilia having fun at the MMEA All State festival at Symphony Hall! It's her third year in a row at All States!

Day 71 (March 11) Gem at the dump

Activity: https://www.strava.com/activities/514216099

Photo: Great clouds at Winchester's transfer station. One man's junkyard is another's canvas!

Day 70 (March 10) Pizza night and fast rides

Activity: Catching glimpses of the soul-crushing pace set by Rob and Scott Well that was a really fast ride. Rob and Scott were outta sight. That's okay... early spring time  - no need to stress over how much faster they are right now!

Photo: Katie doing homework after pizza night

Day 69 (March 9)

I've been remiss about posting, so I'm going to skip the "thought of the day" and "before and after" photos and just post the photos and a quick activity log to catch up...

Activity: From no daubs to a gazillion - you are only as good as your last ride! Singlespeed ride with lots of bad ugly riding...

Photo: our friends made us Maple Syrup from the maple tree at their house!

Day 68 (March 8): wonderful day in Boston

Activity: fun bike ride with my friend Matt early, early in the morning. https://www.strava.com/activities/511576104

Photo: I was in Boston for an interview in the North End. The skating rink there has striking regularity in its architecture and the shadows and contrast looked great mid morning. 

Post processed in Capture One Pro. I did a slight (but not full) keystone correction, increased contrast,  and highlights, and then used a trick to bring down the cyan and blue in the B&W processing to give the sky some drama. A little bit of clarity brings out the interest and busy windows, and voila - architecture shot!

Original RAW file with no changes in Capture One Pro

Thought for the day - it was great to see schoolchildren out playing on a nice spring day. It made me mad to think that my kids don't have outdoor recess in middle school and high school.

Day 67: March 7 - spring is starting

Activity: pretty nice mountain bike ride in Spring conditions: https://www.strava.com/activities/511003286

Photo: I spilled some coffee beans in the morning and decided to make some lemonade out of lemons. On the coffee bag, I am using the technique of reducing brightness to increase midtone contrast and increasing the exposure to make up for the reduced brightness.

I like how the increased midtone contrast of the bag makes it pop without looking unnaturally bright, and there are some basic highlight and shadow adjustments to make the windows and reflections look a little more defined as well as to give some definition and increased exposure to the floor

I also liked the photo in black and white - the red is brighter for the bag, and I reduced the brightness of the yellow for the floor.

Original RAW image out of Capture One Pro. The bag is not exactly leaping out of the photo, and the light through the window and the reflection on the floor is blown out

Thought for the day: every year, I love how a certain amount of snowboarding really brings some good balance and flow to my mountain biking. There is something about being really attuned to your body's position that snowboarding enhances and that is somewhat lost over the summer of cycling with such a focus on going uphill faster and faster.

Day 66 (March 6): another nice hike out to Castlerock

Activity: Day 25 of snowboarding. Conditions were better than the day before, although Spring skiing was largely absent. Katie and I made the hike out to Castlerock and had a great time doing it. The top of Castlerock was really nice, and Cotillion wasn't all that bad, although I didn't exactly enjoy it.

Photo: Here we are at the Church lookout. This was shot into the sun, and it is great how much photo information you can recover from the RAW file.

Post processed - we are properly exposed and the fatherly pride comes out of the shadows

Original - shot into the sun. Lots of shadows on us making us look kinda dark

Thought for the day: Katie and I have hiked to Castlerock quite a few times over the past few years, and it is great to watch her grow up and just love being outdoors and enjoy the journey.

Day 65 (March 5): Snowboarding on yikes and the Castlerock Extreme competition

Activity: snowboarding on ice. The beginning of the day had promise - Steins and Ripcord were both really nice. The end of the day was scary. I was falling constantly just doing speed checks and you could see the sections of glare yikes everywhere. Katie did well in the Castlerock Extreme competition, placing 12th in the women's division.

Photo: I learned something from this photo of the winner. I have been using the mid tones adjustment in Snapseed on my phone, and I wanted to get the same type of effect in Capture One Pro. Apparently all you have to do is move the brightness down to get mid tone contrast bumped up. I then compensated with the exposure and got the "pop" out of the image that I was seeking.

After processing - saturation, structure, and the combination of increased exposure and reduced brightness add some mid tone contrast and interest.

Here is the original - good composition, but it was an overcast day and lacks "pop"

Thought for the day: it is four days later and Sugarbush still hasn't posted the actual scores for the event. You wonder how these operational slips slip through the cracks!

Day 64 (March 4): indoor street at Clover Burlington

Activity: hike at lunch https://www.strava.com/activities/508449471

Photo: the inside of Clover, Burlington

After - corrected for vertical keystone to remove distortion and changed up the contrast overall and in particular added some interest to the center whitish section of the photo with highlights and curve adjustments

Before - it is pretty distorted with the wide angle, and the contrasts between dark and light have promise, but aren't really there

Thought for the day: good food doesn't have to be expensive to be transcendent. The mushroom sandwich at Clover was fabulous - and strangely yet satisfyingly meaty for vegetarian fare.

Day 63: chilling ride - winter is back!

Activity: singlespeed ride with Matt https://www.strava.com/activities/507558352

Photo: Our wine opener from France!

Thought for the day: good sunrises are fleeting - you can't plan to wake up to a good one - it just happens

Day 62 (March 2): a couple of hikes after the rain

Activity: it rained overnight and was too wet to ride. I ended up doing a couple of hikes during the day - one at Wright Locke Farm and another in the Fells - to check out the conditions and also take some photos.

Wright Locke Farm: https://www.strava.com/activities/506981123

Fells: https://www.strava.com/activities/507144945

Photo: the farm scene with a trailer as the foreground subject. Here's the post processed version. A keystone adjustment with some saturation and structure.

The original photo: taken with a super wide angle lens, this looks a bit bendy

Thought for the day: holding your tongue is good and the exhibited restraint can allow a narrative to develop naturally

Day 61 (March 1): early morning singlespeed ride

Activity: singlespeed fun in the Fells. I did most of the mountain bike loop without any daubs. Yeah! https://www.strava.com/activities/506024371

Photo: I missed (a beautiful red fiery) sunset, but managed to get this one of the sun rising over another part of the reservoir

Thought for the day: an early ride is a great way to start the day. It focuses the mind and sets a great tenor and mood for the remainder of the day.

Day 60 - winter was never here?

Activity: bike ride in shorts. In February. https://www.strava.com/activities/505556931

Photo: dinner - post processed wth Snapseed and shot with iPhone

Original here

Thought for the day: Go Bernie go!

Day 59 (February 28)

Activity: day 23 of snowboarding. First time I ever hiked over to Castlerock twice in a day. Liftline was wonderful. I rode Rumble better than ever. It was a lot of fun! Did lots of runs down Sleeper in the spring conditions. 

Photo: the Mini Church

Thought for the day: Bernie Sanders has been standing up for black lives for 50 years. At some point, the public will figure this out

Day 58 (February 27)

Activity: day 22 of snowboarding - kind of. Katie had the Castlerock Extreme Jr competition today and won the overall! There was lots of sitting around and waiting, and a few runs in between. Conditions were not so hot....

Photo: here is Katie just dumbfounded she won 

Thought for the day: external validation can be immensely rewarding. For some. Katie really loves the feedback; her sister doesn't need it as much. Regardless, I'm so happy for her to have won the competition today!

Day 57 (February 26)

Activity: https://www.strava.com/activities/502839422

Photo: Winchester center / wide angle lens

Thought for the day: finding joy van happen in just discovering something for yourself that others have already figured out, but which you do for the first time. Today, it involved brewing a nice cup of coffee with a new burr grinder. As someone who doesn't drink coffee, it was really satisfying to brew something that was so good. 

Day 56 (February 25)

Activity: exploring in the woods https://www.strava.com/activities/502062923

Photo: nice birch tree stand

Thought for the day: stopping rackets is an ongoing goal of mine. Letting go of being right is brining me so much closer to those I really care about. 

Day 55 (February 24) - rainy day hike with Anita

Activity: https://www.strava.com/activities/501215834 - great hike with my lovely wife Anita

Photo: post processed in Instagram

Straight out of the Sony

Thought for the day: the world isn't as bad as everyone says it is. We heard a great article on NPR about a fellow who spent 3 years criss crossing the country and asking people what they thought about the state of general affairs. They thought things were good at home, but going to hell in a hand basket elsewhere. Hence the popularity of both Bernie and Trump!

Day 54 (February 23) - winter ride at summer pace (for some)

Activity: Rob and Bruce were going at it. I was off the back. Winter ride for me; summer ride for them. https://www.strava.com/activities/500317149

Photo: I put myself off the back to take this photo. Post processed version on the top.


The original is a bit blown out and obviously the shadows need to be brought out

Thought for the day: train slow in the winter to be fast in the summer!

Day 53 (Feb 22): Walk in the woods

Activity: fun hike with Anita https://www.strava.com/activities/499628908

Photo:  Shadows in the woods (after)

Before:

Thought for the day: avoiding rackets is hard, but that hard work pays off in a big way. Will explore this a bit more later...

Day 52: First bike ride in a long time! (February 21)

Activity: It is sad when during the winter the only good woods shots are on a mountain bike... https://www.strava.com/activities/498975894

Photo: a cracked open macadamia nut from Puerto Rico. Before...

 After - some exposure adjustments and detailing on the nut and it looks a lot more compelling!

Thought for the day: why can't people just leash their dogs (I realize this thought for the day happens a lot when I go mountain biking!)

Day 51 - does power walking around the airport count? (Feb 20)

Activity: walking fast through airports - particularly Philadelphia. It looks like I got a couple of miles in according to my phone.

Photo: Polenta - there is a lot of excitement for some people (like Katie) about eating polenta. I think that being hungry after traveling helped. Here's the post processed photo

 And the original straight out of the camera with Capture One Pro

Thought for the day: it is good to be home!

Day 50 (February 19) - touring Old San Juan and flight delay

Activity: lots of walking around Old San Juan, other parts of the city, and airports - 8 miles in total.

Photo: Katie and Emilia at the El Morro fort in Old San Juan. This is the post processed photo - the background wall was brightened and structured, the city was tweaked with clarity, the foreground wall was darkened, the sky was highlight contrast adjusted, and the waves and sea were tweaked just a hair.

Katie and Emilia at El Morro (after post processing)

before post processing

Thought for the day: I had a really tough time with the flight delay and coping with it. I just need to roll with what happens more easily next time around. I was being a pain.

Day 49 (February 18) - enjoying Puerto Rico even more

Activity: at least 3 times up the 14 flights of stairs at the hotel, stand up paddle boarding for 40 minutes, and walking around old San Juan.

Photo: here is Katie is a staged shot at old San Juan. I added a lot of structure and brightening to selective parts of the photo such as the pavers and only increased the saturation for the pavers and sky and the tiniest amount on the buildings. The end effect mostly appears like the exposure was bumped up a notch.

Post processed photo

The original photo straight out of Capture One Pro. Pretty good...

Thought for the day: authentic ethnic food is challenging to cook well because of the temptation to leave your creative imprint on the dish. Our meal at Raices was wonderful because the management may have tinkered with the original formula, but they did it in a way that allows the brilliance of the native ingredients to really shine through.