Streets of San Felipe
Here’s some random photos from around San Felipe during race week. No particular order…
2012 San Felipe Baja 250 Photos
Photo: Luke McMillin Class 1 arrives at finish of 2012 San Felipe Baja 250
–CLICK HERE– For a gallery of 2012 San Felipe Baja 250 images.
Here are the first few photos from San Felipe. I was at race mile 58 when the motorcycles came through, then at mile 30 for the trophy trucks and again at the finish for the first trucks. I only have a few photos in the gallery at the moment and will be adding more over the next couple days. Though this was more of a working trip to help out my brother’s team, so I didn’t end up shooting too much.
Photo: 3x KTM of Kurt Caselli/Ivan Ramirez first bike through mile 58 and overall class 22 1st place finisher, 2012 San Felipe Baja 250.
Photo: BJ Baldwin’s Trophy Truck sends dust into the crowd at finish of 2012 San Felipe Baja 250
San Felipe Baja 250 Time
Photo: Kendall Norman Honda 1x, San Felipe Baja 250. March 2011
It’s that time of year to head down to San Felipe, Baja California for the 2012 Baja 250. My brother is racing again so I’ll be helping out the team while pre-running and on race day. By ‘helping out,’ I mostly mean sitting out somewhere in the desert in my truck, cooking in the hot sun while waiting for a rider to arrive, fill them up with gas, watch them ride off and their dust fade into the distance, drive to a new location and repeat. Only a week out of Europe, even 10,000 spf sunblock wont help and I’m sure I’ll be lobster Honda red after a day or two.
I’m not really sure how many photos I’ll take this year. There’s so many other photographers these days and I don’t really have an outlet for race photos so it’s not really worth much effort. I’ll probably focus a bit more on behind the scenes stuff while pre-running and maybe a few sunrises and landscapes while I’m sitting around in the desert. For me it’ll just be more of a fun trip this time around. And there’s lots of cool stuff down there to explore. The race is almost just an excuse for me to go down there.
(All photos on this post from last year (2011). 2012 Photos coming next week.)
UPDATE, March 12: –CLICK HERE– for gallery of 2012 San Felipe Baja 250 Images
Photo: Jesse James trophy truck arrives at finish, San Felipe Baja 250. March 2011
Photo: Spectators await at finish for arrival of 1st trophy truck, San Felipe Baja 250. March 2011
Photo: Calm waters of the Sea of Cortez, San Felipe. March 2011
Photo: Dawn over the Sea of Cortez, San Felipe. March 2011
34,000 Feet Over Greenland
Photo: Flying over Greenland. Feb 2012
I’m now home in Santa Barbara where I’ll more or less be for the next few months, not counting a road trip or two. Had a good flight from London to San Francisco yesterday. The plane was remarkably empty so I had the whole center row of the 747 to myself to stretch out on. Too bad it was a daytime flight and I couldn’t really sleep to take full advantage of it, but it was still nice none the less. Then I had a 1 hour delay getting out of SF to Santa Barbara, so I guess that equals things out a bit. Was pretty tired walking in the door last night, but not as bad as I expected. Most people I know say they deal with jetlag better when heading east, but I always seem to do better going west.
I can’t believe I haven’t been to Greenland yet. Definitely a beautiful place from the air.
Homeward
Photo: Lonely winter road, Lofoten Islands, Norway. Feb 2012
Wednesday I board a plane and chase the sun into the western horizon. After 5 months here in Europe it’s once again that time to head home to California. Not that I wouldn’t love to stay longer, but unfortunately I still haven’t managed any success with getting a residence visa or starting a business. I don’t know how some people do it and make it look so easy; seemingly effortlessly moving from place to place with the apparent superpowers necessary to navigate the endless bureaucracies and restrictions. What’s the secret? I guess I’m not rich-talented-educated-successful-smart-connected-charming enough to pull things off over here yet. Not that I wont keep trying…
As good timing would have it though, I’ll actually only be in California for a few days before heading south to Mexico to help out my brother and his team who are racing in the San Felipe Baja 250. More on that in a few days. I better be sure to bring some sunblock otherwise I’ll end up looking like a boiled lobster after the first day. I think I’ve only actually seen the sun about 8 hours total since the beginning of December so I’m looking a bit like a pasty white Brit tourist at the moment. 🙂
Last Journeys Among the Brecon Beacons
Photo: hiking towads Fan Y Big, Brecon Beacons national park, Wales. Feb 2012
As luck would have it, my final days here in Wales took a turn from the usual gray, rainy days, for a weekend of brilliant sunshine. Saturday saw us heading up Fan Y Big and Cribyn. I was hoping to wait around until sunset, but clouds descended late in the afternoon. I still walked away with over 1100 photos for the day, which for me is quite rare. The forecast for Sunday was for cloud, but as I was stirring in the morning hours I could see sunshine coming through the blinds. So instead of going climbing as the original plan had been, we once again took advantage of the weather and headed up to Hay Bluff and wandered a bit down Offa’s Dyke path for a couple hours.
Tonight is my last night in Wales, so I’m glad I got a few final days out in the hills. Same thing happened last year as well, maybe it’s the California sun trying to welcome me home…
Photo: Big views from Fan Y Big, Brecon Beacons national park, Wales. Feb 2012
Photo: Heading towards Cribyn, Brecon Beacons national park, Wales. Feb 2012
Patterns in Ice – Lofoten Islands
Photo: Snow on Urvatnet, Lofoten Islands, Norway. Feb 2012
Photo: Rock breaks through ice on Nedre Heimdalsvatnet, Eggum, Lofoten Islands, Norway. Feb 2012
With the relatively low amounts of snow during my two weeks on the islands I often found myself using ice as a foreground subject. Normally, even with only 10cm or so of snow, the frozen lakes and fjords would just be flat areas of white without much contrast or anything of interest. With the snow mostly melted from rain or blown away by the wind I found the crack patterns that formed in the ice to be patterns for study. The frozen areas of tidal inlets where rocks would break through the ice and form unique shapes and patterns were especially interesting. This also helped add a bit of contrast to the scene on otherwise flat and overcast days.
Being from California, ice isn’t exactly a common sight for me. I probably looked pretty funny at times trying to negotiate my way around. Especially after the days of rain when the ice was especially slippery and I would have to use my tripod as a sort of walker to keep me from falling on my ass. Though I still managed that a few times as well. On one somewhat windy day, my tripod (without camera) was blown about 20 meters while standing up. It was a bit funny to watch it just slide across the lake until I realised that it ended up a bit farther from the shore than I was comfortable in walking; I usually stuck to areas where I could see that the bottom wasn’t much more than knee deep if the ice was to break for some reason, although it was plenty thick enough.
The following two photos illustrate just how much a night of rain can change the scene. In the first photo the snow helps emphasise the crack patterns in the ice, giving a bit of contrast to the scene in the flat light just before dark. In the second image, the cracks are almost without detail and the contrast in the scene comes from the changing hues of the ice as it is elevated upon a rock below the surface and the water covered ice reflects like the surface of a lake.
In case you missed my post from the other day, HERE’S THE LINK to my gallery of the trip.
Photo: Frozen shore of Ytterpollen, Lofoten Islands, Norway. Feb 2012
Photo: Frozen shore of Ytterpollen, Lofoten Islands, Norway. Feb 2012
Lofoten Islands Winter Photo Gallery
Photo: Edge of the World, Å I Lofoten, Lofoten Islands, Norway. Feb 2012
Lofoten Islands Winter 2012 Image Gallery –CLICK HERE–
The first images from my 2 weeks in early February 2012 on the Lofoten Islands are now up on my archive. Overall there is a more variety than the images from my January 2010 trip, but I think the 2010 collection is still better overall; more dramatic and better light conditions. It was definitely a struggle this year at times. From what I’ve seen online in recent days, it seems conditions improved greatly after I left. Bad timing on my part I guess. I’ve had pretty bad conditions for my last 3 Lofoten trips, so I think I’m due for some better weather next time. One of those 25˚ C summers with no rain would be nice! Maybe if I can get back in July…
Lofoten Islands Winter II – Images by Cody Duncan
Haukland in Winter II – Lofoten Islands
Photo: Haukland beach, Lofoten Islands, Norway. Feb 2012
I’ve been busy the last week getting a few images processed. I should have a gallery of the first 50 online and ready to go tomorrow.
I made several journeys out to Haukland Beach during my time on the islands. I was hoping for conditions similar to the award winning image I photographed in 2010 but I never managed to get the timing right for the tides and temperatures were too warm for much ice to have formed. While it’s not as dramatic as I might have hoped, I still like the simplicity in the above image. I should have arrived a bit earlier though for a bit more color in the sky. Next time…
Lofoten Islands Northern Lights
Photo: Northern lights fill sky over Reine, Lofoten Islands, Norway. Feb 2012
Out of 12 nights on the islands I only saw a minor display of the northern lights – aurora borealis on February 6th. Most every other night of my trip the sky was cloudy and thus not very conductive to northern lights watching. Capturing a photo of the lights over Reine, or more specifically the mountain peak Olstind is an image that has been on my mind for a while. I think I came close, but the aurora wasn’t particularly bright so I’ll have to be back to try again. As luck would have it, I missed a fantastic display of the lights just two days after I left the islands. In addition to missing a good display that occurred at the end of January.
I’m of a sort of mixed opinion as to how good the Lofoten Islands are as a location for viewing the Northern Lights. While snow covered mountain peaks rising out of the sea make for perhaps some of the best subjects to include in a photo of the northern lights, the weather on Lofoten greatly diminishes ones chance of seeing the lights. I’d say that if you have 2+ weeks and want to see/photograph the northern lights than Lofoten Islands would be a good location. If you’re time is limited to under a week, then it would probably be better to look to northern Sweden or Finland where the chances of having clear skies are much higher. It doesn’t matter active the sun is, if the night sky is full of clouds, as it was 10 of 12 nights for my last trip, you’re not going to see anything.
Photo: Northern Lights over Olstind, Lofoten Islands, Norway. Feb 2012
Seasons On Lofoten Winter eBook
Kungsleden Trail eBook
Kungsleden Trail Hiking Guide