Category Archives: Photographs

Some night snaps

Photographs

Hand held night mode.

The iPhone presents two reticles in the middle of the screen as you hand hold it for long exposures, the idea being that you want to keep the two superimposed for best results. At the same time, and on-screen message exhorts you to keep steady. These two, combined, work well.

Imagine what Brassaï would have done with this technology.

iPhone 12 Pro Max. Hand held.

Not much to give thanks for

Photographs

The American Dream fades.

Millions of Americans will play Russian Roulette with their lives, and with yours and mine, today by insisting that travel is their God-given right, denying the fact that the coronavirus affects one and all. As the ultimate superspreader event, Thanksgiving will kill hundreds of thousands of Americans who were too selfish to wait a matter of a few months until preventive vaccines come to market. Their victims will include the blameless who stood by and watched in disbelief and were unlucky enough to get infected by these sub-human beings.

This is not the America to which I immigrated in 1977. It is, rather, a collection of selfish bigots who care nothing for their neighbors and think only of short-term gratification for themselves, and hang the consequences.


American morons.

The America of my dreams no longer exists. And while Rockwell’s fine painting includes a message of white dominance, everything else about it is admirable. I wonder, would this cadre have piled onto a virus infected aircraft back in 1950?


The America of my dreams is no longer a reality.

So, give thanks …. and keep your fingers crossed.

Art Deco masterpiece

Motorcycles, Photographs

The most beautiful motorcycle made.

Designed in 1934, the BMW R7 was a ‘one off’ show bike. BMW decided not to manufacture it as the Great Depression was sweeping across Europe and it would have been unaffordable to most.

The very height of Art Deco design, the bike came with an 800cc horizontally opposed twin engine, the forerunner of the 900cc unit in my 1975 R90/6. BMW last sold Airheads – air cooled, horizontally opposed twins as they are commonly known – in 1995. A sad day.



The hand shift gear lever connects to the gearbox with rod linkages.
Control cables are mostly hidden.


The white pinstripe provides relief for the black and silver livery.


This is a ‘hardtail’ design, with rear suspension provided by the sprung seat.


The left panel opens providing access to the fuel petcock and the tool roll.
The air cleaner is in the chrome cylindrical housing. Cloisonné tank badge.


The kickstarter kick rod folds out for easy operation for a seated rider.
Note the locking lever on the rear fender to allow it to be raised for ease of wheel removal.

All the above images taken by my friend Jared RL on his visit to the ‘Shape of Speed‘ exhibit in the Portland, Oregon Art Museum in 2018 (slow link, be patient).



Plain, unadorned valve covers are in keeping with the overall design.

You do not have to love motorcycles to revel in the beauty of this design, nor to fight nausea when you look at the modern incarnation.