See Do Think and Feel

Ingredients are KEY. Just like a pizza, or salad, or movie, or story, there are certain things that make up a good one, and things that make up a great one. What is it? Sometimes it’s difficult to identify exactly what it is that makes these things great. Songs: a good beat, a catchy melody, meaningful lyrics? A movie: an interesting plot, decent acting, amazing visual and sound effects? Pizza: delicious dough, tasty toppings? It’s hard to say sometimes. But what MOST of us can identify, in general, is which ingredients, if missing, would make that thing … not so good? A burger without a patty? A story without a plot? A song without a beat?  With photos, something similar is going on. There are, in my opinion, certain “must haves” and then there are the other ingredients, that if presented and combined together in an artful way, can elevate an image to greatness. Let’s take a look at these ingredients: Must haves in my opinion: An identifiable subject You should be able to see and...

Handcrafted Scooter Kickstand - for Photos I love to take and share photos. I love to document my experiences and show what I've seen, done, thought and felt with others. It's one of the reasons that I started this blog.  When I scooter, I enjoy taking photos of the scooter I rode at the time and display it against an appealing background. I feel it gives the image a sense of place and "being there". To draw others into what I experienced.  One of the challenges that I quickly experienced was "how to present the scooter". Leaning it up against an object (wall, tree, post, etc.) is possible, but I find it limits photographic composition and creativity.  Freestanding the scooter opens up numerous photographic compositional options . Set the scooter on a leading line, move it into or out of the sunlight, frame it with background trees or juxtapose it with another object. The problem is that most scooters don't have a kickstand. I don't think I'd wan...

SwiftyONE A scooter story in 3 Acts Every once in a great while, circumstances align and all is right with the world Act I: Pining I have coveted Swifty scooters for quite some time now. From what I have read and watched in reviews, it seems like a fine scooter / kick bike. Numerous personal testimonies from owners repeatedly lavish praise on the Swifty brand. Out of the many scooter brands and models out there, although larger than my other scooters, I felt this would be a fit. I spent so much time on the Swifty website daydreaming about the various models. A folding one would be nice, maybe something in metallic blue. They have a gorgeous color they call Atlantic Blue. Regrettably, Swiftys are priced well beyond my budget. Add to that the exorbitant cost to ship one from the UK and it seemed that my pining would have to continue.  Besides, how would I carry it with my Miata? That has been a long standing prerequisite for any scooter in consideration. Although I have a larger ve...

I love hanging out with my kid (Sean). I invited Sean to come scootering with me. Sean likes scootering. I love scootering. We went scootering. Sean loves ice cream.  We hid a Geocache somewhere nearby. Can you spot it? The Coastal Rail Trail and Inland Rail Trail are great scootering paths! Cool art in Carlsbad Remember I told you that Sean loves ice cream? This is about the best there is. Yumm! We all take a break Bellies full of ice cream, scootering back to the car, we saw construction vehicles moving sand and "fixing" the beach. About 6 miles of scootering today  

  Deadly quiet, invisible to radar* and incredibly fuel efficient The S-117 Stealth Edition custom built A5 Air My wife Sandy, rode my Boardy the other day and experienced a VERY noticeable difference in the way it rides. Prior to the Boardy, the only scooters we owned had hard, polyurethane wheels (The Razor A5 Lux and Xootr). Hard wheels certainly have their advantages. They roll further and faster due to their low rolling resistance. They're easier to maintain as you'll never get a flat. But they do have their downsides. Hard wheels effectively and vigorously transfer the shocks and vibrations of the surface that you scoot on. Rough pavement can be teeth jarring, twigs and cracks can stop you in your tracks. In addition, hard polyurethane wheels are not ideal to ride off road, even on hard-packed flat dirt.  We love the Boardy with its pneumatic wheels and the way it rides, but couldn't justify the price of a 2nd Boardy in the family. What to do? Many pneumatic wheeled ...

My impression and review of my Boardy scooter. I also own a Razor A5 Lux and Xootr Mg. I enjoy long distance "exploring" over varied terrain. In one day, I have scootered over 30 miles on my Xootr and on another day over 32 miles on my Boardy . I also enjoy scooting for fitness, pushing the scooter at sustained speeds.  I don’t want to use a bike rack on my car to carry it to my scooting locations. My scooters  must  fit in the trunk of my small car (Mazda Miata). Pros: It's smooth over rough pavement, dirt roads. One of the reasons: it uses 12” high pressure, pneumatic tires. I keep the air pressure high to make the tires as firm as possible. It offers less rolling resistance, but still absorbs shock. Another reason it rides smooth is that it has a "flexy" wooden / fiberglass deck. Absorbs even more shock. Feels kinda like a skateboard. It can get a bit bouncy, but I think it's groovy. The deck is made of layers of wood and fiberglass. It's seems flexi...