Tour de Fat

Brad Armstrong is a dear friend. When I first came to the Tribune newspaper 14 years ago (yesterday), Brad and I worked together in the photo department and every day we did the same thing. We were like two kids who couldn't wait to show each other the pictures we took that day. Those were good times.

I left the Trib three years ago and Brad was promoted to Director of Photography. We hang out and frequently have lots of laughs. I recently asked Brad if he would take my portrait for an article for Southwest Graphics magazine (they're doing a story on me). Of course he said yes.

The other day, Brad and 141 others found out they were being laid off. Fearing that Brad's plate might be a little too full, I called him to offer a chance to opt out of our photo session. He wouldn't hear of it. While we were talking he said that Saturday was out because that was the day for Tour de Fat and there was no way he was going to miss that. He said I should go too.

Tour de Fat is an event hosted by the New Belgium Brewing Company. You know, the Fat Tire people. I can't figure out if the event is designed to promote bicycle riding or Fat Tire beer. I will say though, that I've never seen so many bicycles in my life.

The event kicked of at 9 a.m., with a marching band of sorts and a bicycle parade through Tempe. Did I mention that almost everyone was in costume? Did I say the part where the bicycles looked like something out of a Dr. Seuss book? Before lunch, I'm sure I heard a Who.

Brad and I talked about being motivated and he said that he had a hard time photographing in places like this because, he asked, "What are you going to do with the pictures if they're not for the newspaper?" I told him that if nothing else, shooting something like this is a good exercise in what I call, Finding The Picture.

Just because you are in a visually stimulating environment doesn't mean you are going to automatically walk away with a good picture. You have to find it. While everything is whirling by you, you need to be able to make good decisions. Lens choices, exposure, composition, even ISO. Find the picture. Have fun and let your style flow.

Another good thing about going to things like Tour de Fat is that it allows me to shoot things for myself and not worry about anything else. I told Brad that at the end of a year, I'll have a lot of really nice images to add to my portfolio. Some things will be from assignments and other things will be self generated. By the time I finished flappin' my gums, Brad had gone to his truck for his camera.

With a couple of exceptions, the day ended like it did about 14 years ago. I posted the equivalent of a proof sheet to a Web site and called Brad to show him what I did. He liked it.

If you would like to see what I did today, click here for a slide show of really fun images. And even if you don't check out my images, say a prayer for my former coworkers. They need something positive.