Race for the Ridge Trail Festival 2011

Another great festival has came and gone. The weather couldn't have been more perfect, the trails conditions faster, and the times any better. There was a good turnout for all four of the festival's events. On Saturday October 8th, the festival started off at 9am with the grueling cross country race. The collegiate A and citizen expert classes endured three tough laps with some tight switchbacks, some great single track, and a bunch of climbing. If you know the Arcata Community Forest trails well enough then the #6 switchbacks mean something to you. This is where I posted up for a few hours to photograph the racers battle out the tight, steep corners.

Kevin Johnson tackles the tough switchbacks on #6 at the 2011 Ridge Festival

The short track cross country event started at 2:30pm on the same day. As the name implies it is a much shorter version of the cross country event and a bit more technical. The event took place right in Redwood Park at the base of the community forest. Racers battled out for 20-30 minutes depending on their class, and proved their ability on both the flats and the technical sections. I also photographed the short track race hiding in the ferns in the technical section.

Jason Hayes pushing pedals during the short track race.

The SuperD and Downhill events took place Sunday at Tish Tang near Willow Creek, CA. Riders came out with their squishy bikes and battle armor for a chance to be gravity king or queen.

Kent Johnson blasting over a drop in the downhill race on Sunday to take first in his category.

To check out all the photos from each of the events go to jmbarnesphoto.com.

Community Forest Trail #19

Was inspired by an old friends new album, so I took a break and went out to shoot some video in the local Community Forest. There's not a ton of riding there, but some very beautiful and flowy single track that I can't complain about. I mean, who can complain when there's riding right outside your door? Not me.



Thanks Travis from Leave Let Be for letting me use "Cold House" for the soundtrack and for James for letting me borrow the Sony Cam. Sorry, I'll get it back to you soon.

2011 Ridge Trail Festival Coming Soon

Back for the second year the Ridge Trail Festival mountain bike event will prove to be another awesome event. Both a collegiate points race and an open community race, the Festival will offer a grueling XC route, a fast flowy Super D route, a stomach churning short track route, and even a full on Downhill event. Photos from last year can be seen and purchased here. I'm still undecided on whether I'll race the XC again, but I'll definitely be photographing all other events I'm not racing.

Check out information about the 2011 Ridge Trail Festival here. The event will again be in the community forest in Redwood Park in Arcata on October 8-9. Direct your questions toward Kirk Cohune at kcohune AT gmail.com.

Kinetic Grand Championship 2011

Memorial Day weekend has again came and gone with another spectacular episode of the Kinetic Grand Championship (formerly Kinetic Sculpture Race) in Humboldt County. Thousands of spectators from near and far arrived in Arcata, Eureka, and Ferndale to witness kinetic sculptures of all shapes, sizes, and genres compete in this years race. Despite the high winds on all three days, the weather held up rather nicely for both the racers and the observers. Day one took the riders from the Arcata Plaza, through the Arcata Bottoms, over to the Manilla Dunes, and finally to Halverson Park in Eureka. Day two, the racers braved the cold and windy conditions of Humboldt Bay, many of which struggled successfully in the wavy conditions, while others left their shame behind and received assistance to the takeout point. Once back on the road they pedaled, pushed, and hopped their way to Cannibal Island near Loleta. Day three the racers were originally supposed to cross the mouth of the Eel River, but again due to strong winds and dangerous conditions most took the alternate route into Ferndale where thousands were eagerly waiting their arrival.

Day 1 the weather was glorious as we stood watch along Jackson Ranch Road.

Sculptures with all kinds of functionality made their way past us. This one used an eccentric wheel that was propelled by bouncing on a platform.

Day two was hard for most while others had no qualms. This WASA sculpture cruised along without a hitch in Humboldt Bay.

All kinds of spectators showed up to watch us and the bizarre sculptures.

Despite a bit of drama dealing with registration requirements, the High Schoolers sculpture shoved on.

These flags show just how windy it was out on the bay Sunday.

On Monday, the sculptures and their entourage make thier way down Main Street in downtown Ferndale.

And chances to win a Fat Tire cruiser.

This is one way to beat those high gas prices. Over 40 miles on a unicycle is rather honorable.

KLAMM!

This is just a few samples from the race. Many more photographs can be viewed and purchased from this year's race here at jmbarnesphoto.com

Humboldt State Fencing Tournament

Today at approximately 12:30pm the Humboldt State University Fencing Club hosted a fencing event at the Lumberjack Stadium on campus. Although a rather small event, there were teams representing from as far as New York. The tournament lasted approximately two hours with demonstrations given at the beginning for those of us uneducated in the rules of fencing. I did get a chance to take a few photos, unfortunately viewers had to stay in their seats and flash photography was not allowed.


A participant getting foiled at the HSU Fencing tournament on Sunday.


Fencers at the HSU Tournament in the Lumberjack Arena on Sunday.

Fencers preparing to duel at the HSU Fencing tournament on Sunday.

Things get foiley at the HSU fencing tournament on Sunday.

Participants receiving medals at the HSU fencing tournament on Sunday.

Thousands Attend HSU Budget Rally

There was more than clouds brewing today around Arcata, particularly at Humboldt State University. Today at noon thousands gathered at the Humboldt State University library to protest the proposed state wide CSU budget cuts. Members of the California Faculty Association, the Associated Students, and hordes of concerned students attended to let known their concerns for the cuts.

I got a chance to interview one of those concerned students, James Bruce, who personally went into classrooms during the last couple weeks to let students know that their presence was important. Here is what James had to say about the protest.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
The rally was put on by the California faculty association (teacher's union) (CFA), the Associated Students (AS) and several concerned students. There is already a $500 million dollar budget cut that will happen for the entire CSU system. There is an additional $500 million dollar budget cut that is purposed, totaling a billion dollar cut. To put this into perspective: the entire CSU annual operating budget is just over four billion, approximately 25% could be cut. Humboldt State University's annual budget: just over 100 million. This includes faculty, buildings, lights etc. The budget cut that has already passed is equivalent to five whole HSU campuses. The billion dollar cut will be the same as getting rid of 10 HSU campuses, and it even gets worse: the entire statewide system consists of 23 campuses (granted, each of the campuses have different budgets, but this is to put the cuts into perspective).

In 1960 the California master plan for education established the CSU system to tailor to the top 12.9% of high school students. The CSU system was to cater to 33% of the high school students who qualify. The rest of the California population was supposed to have a community college available to them. The California constitution specifically states that higher education is supposed to be free and accessible (see California constitution article IX section 5. or read the justification for Article 1 sec 7.a. or Article 1 sec 28.7.)

All the while tuition has increased 242% since 2002 for students while the CSU chancellor and the HSU president have been granted a 77% salary increase. Further, in many speeches made by chancellor Reed to 'business round tables' he has explicitly said on numerous occasions, "What can we, the CSU, do for you [corporations]?" (see either 'business roundtable' 1999, or 'South Bay Business Roundtable', 2001, or any of the other speeches from chancellor Reed at : http://www.calstate.edu/executive/speeches/archive.shtml
The message is clear: the CSU academic curriculum will be catered to business interests. Education is no longer essential to have a civic minded, critically thinking society, it is no longer essential to the preservation of the rights and liberties of the people. It is to turn students into workers.

At every single CSU across California, students rallied, walked out of classes, some faculty canceled classes, teacher's unions gave speeches, songs were sung and state representative information was given out. People are pissed

I personally went to about twenty classes to ensure that students were aware of the massive budget cuts, how it will effect them and when the rally was. The one single question that i was asked at every single turn was 'what is one protest going to do?'
My response was to ask them if they understood that our system is not a democracy, it is a republic. In a republic, representatives are supposed to do what you tell them to do. When have you told your representative what to do? And a protest is simply the first step.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Below are a few photos from the rally. The whole gallery will be up shortly and can be seen here.

Union songs were sung to as protesters gathered around the HSU Library at noon today

Arcata Mayor Susan Ornelas even gave a speech during the rally.

Thousands of protects attended the rally today to express their concerns about the proposed budget cuts to the CSU.

Protesters representing many different organizations, but came with the same message.

After the rally speeches, a march began around the campus.

Protesters express their concerns of the CSU budget cuts during a march on HSU campus.

The full rally gallery can be seen here.
Rally Panorama 1 here.
Rally Panorama 2 here.

Arcata Farmer's Market

Today the Arcata Farmer's Market started for the 2011 season, an indicator that the semester is rapidly coming to a close and hopefully the warm weather is on its way. The market was remarkably different for today's opening day than last year's. I recall a cold, windy, and very rainy event for 2010, with a very sparse turnout on both the farmers and the attendees. Today was a pleasant surprise, with a great turnout from both sides, and a sunny blue sky to boot. In fact, it was so pleasant out I decided today was the day to get some tomato starts into the green house. A couple rounds around the market, some beets for a quinoa salad, a six pack of tomatoes for $2.50, ready to roll.

I didn't take the usual farmer's market photographs today. Instead the HSU fencing club had a little practice area to help promote their tournament next weekend. Apparently folks from all over the country will be here to participate. So I decided to hang out for a spell and snap some shots.

It got me thinking about some studio strobist shots ideas for with the club. I've got some cool ideas that might make for some good promotional photos, with some ninja like fencing action. Now just if I had time to make it happen.

The Golden Party

So as of late I've been pretty stoked on this whole strobist style movement of photography propelled by the great David Hobby. I've gotten myself a couple flashes, had some nice photo shoots, and had enough time in between to really contemplate light. As the great photographer Joe Mcnally says, "Light is the language of photography." I couldn't agree more. And when in the situation of mixing flash and ambient light, one must really understand light.

So on another note, I've been having fun shooting 'events' for friends. My friend Natalie asked me to photograph her golden birthday party last weekend. I set up a couple flashes on stands in a extra side room and let folks get as crazy as they wanted. It was nothing special as far as setups and results go, but provided decent lighting for dynamic situation. Natalie supplied a box of props in case people were feeling the urge.

I had a rather basice setup (which I should have photographed) of one sb-600 on a flash stand, with a 30" shoot through umbrella. The other flash was on the other side and bounced off the ceiling. Above is the birthday woman Natalie and some friends she "hooked up" at a previous party.

The lighting setup worked rather well for a couple people or small groups but because the room was pretty tight it didn't work well for larger groups - where the edges would be blown out and the folks in the middle were under exposed. Here was a fun shot of Kevin and Joel.

While the dance party was going on and folks weren't coming into the "photo room," I would head out and snap some shots on the dance floor. Although not truly 'stobist' style, I was playing with mixing my sb-28 with some fun ambient light in the room. In this case there was a disco ball over in the corner.

Some of the most fun shots were taken with the golden lights hanging in the other room. Since it was the "Golden Party" (Au Yeah) I thought what better than to mix a bunch of long exposed golden light trails with some dance moves. The full gallery can be viewed here.

The Suitcase Junket at Redwood Curtain and more...

Welcome back to the blogosphere, well thanks. Been away for awhile. Today I attended a very inspirational talk by Andrew Davis of tippingpoint labs where he shared ideas of how Humboldt County is failing in terms of promoting ourselves (yes I'm included in that), what the 'outside world' knows of us, and a little insight on what we need to do as a community whole to promote ourselves better.

Being a new business owner with very little business savvy, it was interesting to hear a perspective other than trying to get page hits and unique viewers to our websites. Really, isn't that how we win? I've dabbled quite a bit on this world wide internet and have come across so much information of people toting their page hit medals, but lack a real strategy. Wow, I'm probably boring the heck out of you right now. Really it's all interesting stuff that goes beyond your web presence but in your content. And for that, I've been a bit inspired to share a little about what happens around here behind the Redwood Curtain (a term in which I got to share with Andrew personally).

Andrew is from Boston on the east coast, and it turns out the next fella is also from 'round them parts. This all happened by accident really, as a friend an myself were headed down to Redwood Curtain Brewing for a nice refreshing IPA on happy day Tuesday. It turned out that a one man band by the name of The Suitcase Junket was in town and performing shortly after we arrived. Somehow I must've known that my camera would be needed and just happened to be slung around my shoulder along with my trust sb-600 flash and a little flash stand. I love when I'm prepared.


The Suitcase Junket has a rather interesting style that I really dug. Using three foot pedals, of which one slapped a traditional style bass hammer on a non-traditional style suitcase that he was sitting on, one for a top-hat symbol, and the other for a baby shoe against a metal gas can.



Unfortunately I didn't get any up close shots of his instrumentation, mostly because I was generally into just watching and listening (and enjoying the best IPA in Humboldt County of course). His songs were original and mixed with a sort of "flailing" guitar, that he often would turn into a more bluesy sound with the help of a glass slide.


Probably the most interesting for me was the Tuvan like throat singing that he busted out. I've always been a fan of Tuvan throat singing but never heard anything quite like his. The Junket had a much more high pitched beautiful whistle sound that I felt worked very well with his Tom Waits covers and his original folky jams.


If you want to learn more about The Suitcase Junket visit his website. Thanks to Redwood Curtain Brewing Company for bringing in a great, and surprising show. Hopefully more music like this will appear in the future.

Stomach Churn 2010

The annual Stomach Churn cross/mtb race has came upon and left us. There was a great turn out again this year with over 20 riders in each race. Since I've been chained to the computer trying to get something accomplished on my thesis and absolutely no time on my bike I opted to just go shoot some photographs and watch everyone else suffer. I know, lame excuse, but I'm really much better at taking photos than bike racing anyway.

The 30 minute race started around 11am. It was good to see woman in the field as well.

The traditional Stomach Churn puke bucket made it's appearance on top of Cardiac Arrest hill as usual.

Dan from Adventure's Edge made a quick jump on the lead right off the bat, and despite burping his tubeless tire manged to keep his lead with a pretty nice gap at the finish. Don't let those downhillers trick you - they've apparently got some skillz on the cross country terrain as well.

The 60 minute race takes off. Chris Johnson pulled away for for a quick lead...

Until Graves turned on the burners and practically lapped everyone on the field by the time 60 minutes was done with.

Some brave souls actually did ride cross bikes including Jennifer. (Although Jennifer was screaming the whole time wishing she had her mtb.)

Evan took the cross dress competition home with his sexy Daphne ensemble.

While others wanted to take a little something home of their own. The gallery can be seen here (for now). I'd like to personally give a shout out to Vic for his continuous hard work putting this race together, Adventures Edge for their continuous support, and Revolution Bicycles.

Butler Valley Solo

Everyone seems to have left, has a real job, or is hiding out in their bat cave. The forecast called for completely sunny skies for today and the next couple days; I was skeptical. When I awoke today, got some oatmeal and coffee in my veins I realized there were sun rays and not rain drops falling from the sky. Motivating for a long solo ride is hard without dragging my feet, but once I got started I was stoked at my decision.

The Britt Ranch is always an exciting arrival. The steep 2 mile Korbel climb is over, and then you are surrounded by amazing idyllic overlooks. Today was no exception.


I've ridden the Butler Valley loop a half dozen times or so. Either I completely overlooked this every time, or someone recently had an experience that trumps anything I've had. This minivan seems to have been there for sometime though - cloaked in dated rust, bullet holes, and excessive signs of vandalism I can't imagine it showed up within the last month since I last rode butler valley.


I know I've already thrown in the typical self-camera-phone shot, but the mad river bridge is an amazing place. During the summer on this ride this is where we would hike down to the river and take a quick, cool splash. It's a good point to rest, take in some calories, and ponder the 8 mile climb ahead. At this point my legs were still feeling pretty good, but I still had a long way to go and I knew it. The best part about going solo is I have only myself to be competitive with rather than redlining while I watch the fast guys rapidly fade away.