Well, granted that I didn’t actually compete in any of the weekend events, I did head over with my camera (and oh my gosh it’s been so long since I’ve used that thing… Do you know how many buttons the 1D Mark IIN has? Freaking… lol) to check out the second day trick competition events. I also managed to drop by on the third day to catch a glimpse of the bike polo event, but I didn’t have my gear with me- just my trusty ole’ HTC Touch 2 (oh how I wish I could ditch this Windows Mobile phone for an Android device though- sigh)

I managed to put together a 10RMB make-shift handle bar mount so that I could take on-the-street-footage. Much thanks to Phebe for her donation of her old Canon IXUS 55 point-and-shoot camera that she gave me for free! Though- I did run into a minor hiccup- I went to get a new 16GB SD card for it, but the camera won’t recognize the card (or any other large-capacity cards for that matter!). The only card that it works with is the stock 16MB card which only records about 1 minute of video… so it’s off to the Canon repair center for me…
(I also just realized that I have yet to take pictures of my new Cateye Strada Wireless bike computer… that’ll have to wait for another post).

Anyhow, I digress.

I’ve been trying to make an effort to bike out of WuDaoKou and into the city more often to hang out with the rest of the fixie/cycling community in Beijing- which was the main reason for why I made it out to the Beijing Fixed Gear Revolution 2 event, especially because the events were late in the afternoon/evening- and it’s not too fun of a ride back to the Wu(DaoKou) late at night. If you think that Beijing drivers are bad during the day, they’re even worse during the night. I encountered two drivers who decided to go in the opposite direction in the bike lane- I was feeling brave (or stupid) so I slowed down, rode in the middle of the lane to block them off, and threw up my arms in a “WTF are you doing?” gesture. Luckily, I’m still alive to tell the tales of my stupidity =)

Aight, enough rambling from me. Here are the pics!

For the gear heads out there- these were shot with (no flash):
Canon EOS-1D Mark II N
Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L I USM
Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

There were so many sweet bikes that night. Definitely made me feel like my little commuter fixie was a bit out of place amongst the works of art there =\

First event of the night- bunny hop contest.
I was sitting with some other photogs near the landing side and we definitely got some close calls and almost got run over.

Next up was the trick contest-

Ines (YouTube ‘Ines Brunn’ for more awesome performances) also gave us a performance of her tricks- pretty sick stuff. It was actually the first time that I’ve seen her perform.
Follow her blog at: Trick-Bike.com

The last event of the night was the track stand contest. Basically, for those who don’t know what a track stand is, here’s Wikipedia’s rendition:

The track stand is a technique that bicycle riders can use to stay balanced on their bicycles while moving only minimal distances.
The term originated from use of the technique by track cyclists prior to starting, or as a tactic in track sprinting whereby riders will initially ride very slowly and maneuver across the track in an effort to get their rival to take the lead so that they can then draft (or slipstream) behind, conserving energy for the final sprint. The track stand can be useful, therefore other types of cyclists also use the technique. Road cyclists use it while stopped in traffic, especially at red lights.

The rules of this competition were pretty simple- Stay on your bike the longest without touching the ground. It did get a bit more interesting though: After 3 minutes one hand had to be removed; after 6 minutes both hands had to be removed; and after 9 minutes one leg had to be removed.

And- just a quick couple of shots of the Bike Polo event, from my AWESOME HTC Touch 2 phone (please note the sarcasm- I hate Windows Mobile devices =_=. The only thing keeping me on this phone is Pleco Dictionary.

And, that’s all folks!

I’ll put up a post to show off my new bike computer- it’s been pretty handy in letting me track my commutes around Beijing; but that’ll come perhaps in a few days- or in a couple of weeks because I’m going to be in Shanghai for about 10 days.

Till next time.

-Duncan

My friend asked me to put some images together that I’d taken from the past year in Beijing, and after sending them out I decided that I’d throw them up here on my blog too. I don’t know why, but I decided to make edit these as black-and-white images.

Without further ado:

An empty classroom at a migrant school in China. Migrant schools are limited in Beijing and many migrant children aren't allowed to, or can't afford to attend local Beijing schools in Beijing.

Children at a migrant school in Beijing smile for the camera.

Migrant school children await the arrival of the Denver Nuggets as part of the NBA Cares project in Beijing.

Local residents peer over a two story apartment block as NBA players arrive at the migrant school.

Migrant school children sit in a classroom as they wait for the NBA Cares program to begin.

A migrant teacher's daughter wait's for her mother outside of a classroom at a Beijing migrant school.

An elderly lady holding a toddler welcome a picture.

Cyclists pass by in the bike lane. Bike lanes are as dangerous as the main roads as silent electric bikes weave through the bicycle traffic.

Motorized carts are a common sight in Beijing. Many carts are stacked high with goods or scrap material.

A lady looks on at Beijing's traffic as she waits for her bus.

An elderly man alights at a bus stop at 安定门

A man glances out of his window on a Beijing public bus. Traffic in Beijing is slow and passengers find ways to pass the time on their commute.

A quiet day on the Beijing subway system. The trains are usually packed with people with barely any standing room.

Guards patrol around Tiananmen Square. Security and surveillance is tight to snuff any possible protests or demonstrations.

A father and child waits outside of the Forbidden City gate.

-Duncan

It seems that this blog has definitely digressed and been focused solely on photography in the past few months. I actually don’t even know if I’ve written anything really about search marketing yet; soon though, soon.

For those stopping by, you may have noticed that I have a new tab in the top menu: “Camera Buying Guide“, which is aimed for new photographers who are interested in getting into photography, figure out some things about what to look for when buying an entry-level camera and a set of lenses. The page was actually based off an email that I have in my Gmail archive, and that I forward on to any friends or acquaintances who are seeking advice in how to purchase their first entry-level camera. The email was getting a bit old, and after recently reading through it again, I realized that the thought process was a bit all-over-the-place, so I decided to revamp it, and post it on this blog. In the future, I’ll be able to link friends over to this blog to give them my basic recommendations, before asking them to share more specific questions with me.

Anyhow, do take a look at the page- I hope that it’ll be an interesting read for you all: Entry-Level Camera Buying Guide For New Photographers

-Duncan