The Netherlands have more bikes than people with most residents using this common mode of transportation. One person told me that nearly everyone has two bikes; one to ride around the city and get stolen and another for excursions into the countryside. The bridges over the canals of Amsterdam are the largest hills you will find in this flat city of one million people.
Bikes are parked and chained everywhere. Many of the hundreds of bridges have a festively decorated bike chained to the railing. From the first sighting, my vision of exactly how to photograph them was set. Finding one unobstructed by other bikes took some doing.
Some technical stuff for anyone interested: This is a long exposure to blur the motion of the tourist barge in the background. In Lightroom, after painstakingly selecting the bike and its decorations, I then desaturated (removed the color) from all the image except the selected bike. With Photomatix Pro software, I processed some different effects including these two.
Photographer Chris and painter Robin Rohwer share a painting or photograph each week that captured their interest in hopes that it will also capture yours. They have a small studio and gallery in the Phoenix Building at 418 South Gay Street where you can stop and see their work. Their website is www.ChristopherRobinArts.com. All works are copyright protected.
