Colt Wagner
Portra 160, Yashicamat 124G
After I finally got my motorcycle wired up, following months of fabrication, anticipation, and desire to ride it, I spent a day taking it on short jaunts to test drive it. The first test drive ended in towing the bike home (with my brother’s moto). The second test drive resulted in me almost having to push the bike home, though I managed to make it back. Thinking the bike was good to go, I took it on a third ride to my friend’s house 15 minutes away. I made it within a few blocks, and the charging system took a shit again.
Undeterred, I let the bike sit for 30 minutes and kicked it with my friends. Seeing light rain drops, I kicked the moto to life, jumped on, and headed toward home. 30 blocks from my house, it died again. This time, it seemed it was not going to start. The charging system wasn’t working, and the battery didn’t have the needed voltage to run. I started pushing it down the sidewalk, trying to beat the rain.
It was early June, and the spring rain was mostly gone. But this storm seemed it was going to be a big and intense one, not like the standard Oregon constant light drizzle. The air was dense, humid, and still, much like it is before a torrent in the mid-west. There was an eerie absence of activity and sound in the street. I pushed my bike down the sidewalk on Foster as fast as I could, trying to beat the deluge.
Though I was in a hurry, I had to stop and shoot a photo. The light was so nice and atmospheric— that perfect time of the day for photography when color and contrast are perfect and even and charming. Clearly, I didn’t nail the focus, but I like this shot nonetheless.
No more than two minutes after shooting this, the rain came. It was heavy. It was quick. It was intense in a flash-flooding, not at all north-western kind of way. The streets were rivers, the gutters were overflowing, the drops were heavy and explosive. I pushed on, soaked to the bone, camera dry inside my waterproof messenger bag. I thought not of the bare metal on the bike being exposed to the rain, and just focused on getting home. It took some time, but I made it, and vowed to bust my ass on the electrical system until the bike was reliable.
Our own little Piedmont Belmont
Portra 160, Yashicamat 124G
As a side note: I love this exposure and light. Scan was good too.
My mom, at Soter Vineyards a few weeks ago
