autofantasia's photos with the keyword: cyclist

Called "Le Monument" this artistic dry stone wall sculpture was created by Gordon Simpson, Master Dry Stone Waller. It was erected in 2014 and unveiled by Brian Robinson to commemorate the Tour de France, which passed the spot between Ripley and Harrogate where this piece of public art can now be admired. The shot was taken by me a few days ago for this week's Sunday Challenge , for which the theme was sport or anything to do with sport . You'll find a shot of the overall sculpture in the Notes and you can learn more about the man responsible for creating "Le Monument" by visiting the site below: www.dry-stone-waller.co.uk Or, check out this short little video on YouTube: youtu.be/urou7pxKw5o Oh, and if you're wondering, as I was, who Brian Robinson is. Well it turns out that he was the first ever Briton to finish the Tour de France and the first to win a stage in the race way back in in the 1950s.

So this week the theme for The Sunday Challenge was panning , not a technique I've used or even practiced before, which I guess is good because it saw me being pushed out my comfort zone. The idea for those that haven't come across it before is that you capture a moving subject in a way that shows they are moving via the blurred background, as opposed to when you use a fast shutter speed and end up with both the subject and the background in sharp focus. As I say, not a technique I've used before so some reading up and picking of brains was required. Not an easy technique to perfect I read and boy were they right about that. I spent over an hour in a lay-by to start with trying to capture passing cars and out of the 100 or so shots I took I wouldn't say I was in the slightest happy with more than a couple of them. This is one technique that has a high fail rate for sure ... at least for me. Next I went to the local park to try and capture any local dogs that were being exercised, but had very little success with that either. Then I remembered an area to the rear of the local leisure centre where there is a cycle path and went to wait for an appropriate subject to come along. And I waited, and I waited, and I waited! Then just as I was about to give up and go home for a heat and something warm to drink I saw this chap approaching me. I had one chance to get it right and although it is far from being the perfect shot at least I came home with something I felt I could post without too much embarrassment. P.S. Still having major broadband connections so I'm afraid I might be slow commenting on what you guys have been up to lately!

Another from the series of shots I took for the The Sunday Challenge , which had the theme of At The Market , but which also extended to cover shop displays. This was in the same window as the Victory Bears that everyone seemed to feel were too nice looking to actually eat and comes with added reflections and more traditional processing!

Another from the series of shots I took for the recent The Sunday Challenge , which had the theme of At The Market , but which also extended to cover shop displays. This is a photo I took of part of the window display in Bettys Tearoom on the High Street. As you can see these were specially made to commemorate the Tour de France coming to North Yorkshire. As some people overseas might not know much about Bettys or realise that these are edible, I've copied the following text from their website: Wearing the iconic yellow jersey that was introduced in 1919, the year Bettys opened, our adorable cyclist bear looks set to take his place at the front of the greatest bicycle race. Handcrafted from Swiss Grand Cru milk chocolate with marzipan decoration, he certainly leads the pack as a uniquely charming gift. “With our heritage, we thought it would be nice to do a vintage cycling bear, so we went back through archives to see what cyclists used to wear,” says our Product Development Manager, Lesley Norris. www.bettys.co.uk

For those that don't know, this year's Tour de France started in Yorkshire ... yes I know, that's what I thought! Anyway, despite being a keen cyclist I didn't make it along to the start today, but I did manage to shoot this beautifully carved tree in Harrogate a few weeks ago. So, ooh la la, ee by gum! letour.yorkshire.com

For those that don't know, this year's Tour de France started in Yorkshire ... yes I know, that's what I thought! Anyway, despite being a keen cyclist I didn't make it along to the start today, but I did manage to shoot this beautifully carved tree in Harrogate a few weeks ago. So, ooh la la, ee by gum! letour.yorkshire.com

For those that don't know, this year's Tour de France started in Yorkshire ... yes I know, that's what I thought! Anyway, despite being a keen cyclist I didn't make it along to the start today, but I did manage to shoot this beautifully carved tree in Harrogate a few weeks ago. So, ooh la la, ee by gum! letour.yorkshire.com