Dad's Ducati

Llywellyn · May 28, 2011

For some time, my father joked about having me take pictures of his bike. So while I was home during Christmas last year, I dragged him out to the garage with me to do just that. I'd been curious to try the long exposure/manually popped flash trick I saw a long while ago on Strobist, and I figured this would be ideal for a fun experiment--conveniently disguised as father–daughter time. :wink

His birthday is in a couple weeks (and father's day soon after), so I finally got around to editing all the shots and created the below collage. I'll be buying a nice print of this and framing it for his birthday/father's day gift.

I'll also be printing wallet-size images of him on the bike, which he's joked he wants to give to my grandmother (and others in the family, I'm sure). I know our sense of humor is a bit odd, but I'm sure he'll get a kick out of it.

If you have suggestions for improving the collage, I'd be happy to hear them.

1

A few of the collage images embiggened for fun.

2

3

4

5

6 Yes, my dad is cooler than I am...

Thanks for stopping by! :thumb

jiro · May 28, 2011

Nice shots, Kerry. I thought I was looking at a Ducati brochure when I saw your post. The lighting is crisp and the shots are very detailed. Awesome!

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FlyNavy · May 28, 2011

Yes!!! Very nice.

oldoval · May 28, 2011

Hindsight is 20/20 but I might have cleaned the dirt off the center of the tire tread. Otherwise pretty cool.

Andy · May 28, 2011

BradfordBenn · May 29, 2011

Very nice shots. You can come take pics of my VFR anytime. But I am putting on my motorcyclist helmet for now not my photographer hat as you have done a great job.

The crop on #2 is a little irksome to me as it goes right through the mirrors. I am not sure if you can lower it without losing some of the clutch hardware.

I also would recommend cleaning up the ground a little in PS as it did distract me a little. For instance #5 is not consistent with #6.

I really like #4. I also am impressed that you do not have the issues I see all to often when people take pictures with mirrors in them, unintended things in the mirrors!

aktse · May 29, 2011

Well done! Love the images! Your dad will be thrilled...

DaddyO · May 29, 2011

Really nice piece of work

ian408 · May 29, 2011

I think your images will make a pretty cool gift.

Have you thought about making him a set of Moo mini cards of the individual shots? That'd be a neat gift too.

Llywellyn · May 29, 2011

Thanks for all the nice comments!

oldoval wrote:

Hindsight is 20/20 but I might have cleaned the dirt off the center of the tire tread.

Spot on there. It was the first thing I noticed when processing the shots and kicked myself for. It was my first time doing this type of photography, so it didn't even occur to me (and I was literally shooting in the dark, so I didn't see it). Lesson learned for next time!

BradfordBenn wrote:

But I am putting on my motorcyclist helmet for now not my photographer hat as you have done a great job.

Oh, you know, I didn't even notice that on #2. Hm. Now it irks me, too...

I left the grunge on the floor for the individual shots because I liked it, but like you, once I grouped them together, the inconsistency of the grunge bothered me. So I cleaned up the floors in the collage, but I've left them alone in the individual shots.

And I spent way too much time on #4 trying to make sure I fired my softbox directly into the mirrors. Since I was shooting mostly blind, most of the reshoots of that image were solely to refine my blind aim of the flash into the mirrors.

ian408 wrote:

Have you thought about making him a set of Moo mini cards of the individual shots? That'd be a neat gift too.

I hadn't thought of that! Thanks for the idea.

ScottW · May 29, 2011

I really like the dark background, really makes the bike standout!

Wicked_Dark · May 30, 2011

terrific photos of a terrific bike (my hubby used to have one).

DoctorIt · May 31, 2011

Did I sell your dad my bike? I literally had the same one, down to the handlebar mounts, aftermarket seat, windscreen, and even that headlight mod was on my list just before I sold it!

You did a great job - thanks for sharing the strobist trick too

Jabfinger · May 31, 2011

Nice shotz! How did you get the bike to stand straight up?

Llywellyn · May 31, 2011

DoctorIt wrote: »

Did I sell your dad my bike? I literally had the same one, down to the handlebar mounts, aftermarket seat, windscreen, and even that headlight mod was on my list just before I sold it!

Heh--sounds like you and my dad would get along swimmingly.

Jabfinger wrote:

Nice shotz! How did you get the bike to stand straight up?

Thanks! This Ducati had two kickstands--one was the typical single, kickdown stand that makes the bike lean, and the other was a dual-leg stand centered under the bike that required a bit of physical strength to employ (dad came in handy for that part). I just cloned out the kickstand in the final shots.

BradfordBenn · May 31, 2011

Llywellyn wrote: »

.... the other was a dual-leg stand centered under the bike that required a bit of physical strength to employ (dad came in handy for that part).

I think the term you are looking for is centerstand. However is the Duc always that clean or is it winterized?

Llywellyn · June 1, 2011

BradfordBenn wrote: »

I think the term you are looking for is centerstand. However is the Duc always that clean or is it winterized?

...uh, yeah, what he said. (I am not up to speed on motorcycle--or any auto/moto--terminology, obviously.

)

He had just cleaned it, I think. Considering he lives in central Texas, the need for "winterization" never comes around. He rides more frequently in the cooler months because the leathers are so hot. Less riding in summer for the same reason.

Dad's Ducati

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