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Below are some of my friends in the women's cycling world. First is Laurent Charras of Petite Raines with Jeannie Longo. Next photo is Laurent on the left, and William Meertens of Belgium from Ladiescycling dot net. Second row is CJ Farquharson from Womenscycling with a boatload of cameras hanging from her shoulder. Next photo is Phil Marques on the moto in the Tour De Toona. Last row is Davide Ronconi from Bici Ticino and Ciclismo-Femminile 2007. He also runs Modesta Vzesniauskaite website. Next photo is my trademark blue hat, my trusty Sony H-9, and a small shot of me with my bike up in the Sierras. Since I live in the Sierra Nevada range of California, a couple more shots, Sonora Pass when I was feeling my oats as a middle aged wild man and teenage Zen, when I was testing the waters during the big climbs of the Sierras as a teen. Love that Sonora Pass, really killer climb!

Friends in the cycling world!

Laurent Charras is from the south of France, and he used to shoot men's cycling until he got fed up with doping scandals and decided to start working for the women, along the same lines that I enjoy doing it. That is that women race clean without drugs, they do it for little or no pay and they are the underdogs of the sport compared to how much attention the men get. Also most importantly to Laurent is that he likes to do it as art, composition and as the beautiful side of the sport. These are similar to my beliefs. Laurent doesn't profit from the sport like most, and his photos are some of the best out there, if not the best.

Mountain Goat and Teenage Zen!

I don't know a whole lot about CJ, except that she has a sponsor, so she has the means to work and travel to these races. William Meertens does a lot of races on his own dime, but he sells photos as well to recoup some of his losses. Davide Ronconi is another purist from Switzerland. He does it strictly because he loves the sport, and his interest seems to be more on Modesta's Fanclub, although his new site has good info on the races, but the size and quality of his photos has diminished, which I think is probably due to bandwidth restraints with his server.

That brings us to Davide Tricarico and Walter Todaro. Tricarico is my hero in the women's cycling world. This is the guy who has movie star good looks and a way with the women, which really translates into good photos. I guess the women melt in his camera lens, and he is a real likable guy. Kind of Cecil Beaton of Italy with a sometimes flair for provocative photos which are very hard to get in women's cycling because they ride a fine line, where they must be in good taste and show the somewhat sexy side of the sport, which Davide believes the sport can have both. Many teams don't like the idea and just want riders to be portrayed as athletes, but Leontien Van Moorsel put and end to this taboo, with her wholesome show nothing spread in Penthouse and her lipstick and fingernail polish at races. Leontien posed in Penthouse with her (clothes on), and her Dad overseeing everything, and she made a lot of money for photos no more provocative then you might see in Cosmopolitan.

Davide and Walter dissolved their website on women's cycling when Walter started to raise a family. Davide went back to shooting races and works pretty much freelance, and he is also a professional racer who raced Paris Nice this year. His youth and good looks, along with his Italian charm really get the ladies attention, so two things are important as a photographer in women's cycling. One is good looks, the other is age. You can't be too old and expect to hit it off with the ladies, but you also need to be a good communicator, which is not one of my great skills, however I get by. I just keep moving and focus on getting the job done, which if I don't, I won't go home with any photos. Shooting the men is a cakewalk compared to the women, because of the delicate sensitivities involved.

Davide work is good, but as a freelancer, he can take shots I can't take, because the integrity of my website is at stake, and also that's just not me. I really have no desire to over do the sexy side of women. I am not saying he does, but at times he takes some provocative photos. Personally, I like action shots, they are my favorite. I like portraits too, but nothing beats action, and I think most women racers want action shots, as they are women of action. There are two schools of thought about women and racing, and about if women can use their sex or natural good looks to lift the status or popularity of women's cycling. I think if its done right, its ok. Leontien proved it, as she made as much money or more from modeling as she did from cycling. She was a superstar of incredibly magnitude worldwide. In Holland she was a god, and they even made a statue of her in her hometown while she is still living, something usually unheard of until someone dies.

Statue for Leontien!

Note: Davide Tricarico is not to be confused with Davide Ronconi from Switzerland, who also takes great photos. Just kept in mind there are two Davide's in this article.

I don't know who is better at getting portraits, Davide or Laurent; they both have a gift for it. These two guys really have a love for the women in cycling, and they really do a good job of bringing out the best in portraits, as where my strength seems to lie in action shots. These guys are a bit younger then me too, so they are more charming as well. These three guys from France, Switzerland and Italy, all do good work and cover each country well providing a good window for women on their native soil. In fact William is from Belgium too, so he covers Fleche Wallone as well.

Phil Marques was the original. He started taking photos in the mid 90's, and did a lot of nice moto shots of women at the races here in America. His work is also some of the best I have seen. His work is mostly action shots like mine, and he is very good at getting crisp close up action shots on the moto. He went into video TV productions to try something more creative then still motion photography.

Kimberly Bruckner

Two of Eugene Levy from Splash! He's the relentless photographer who got busted up trying to get some photos of Daryl Hanna, who became a mermaid when she got wet. So in his relentless pursuit of getting photos, he got the wrong people wet, and paid the price. However, in the end, out of remorse, he put his career on the line to make right the grief he had cause her, and became the underlying hero of the film. Sometimes I see myself in that role, although I work to promote the women's side of the sport on mine own dime without any profit whatsoever for myself, sometimes I still find myself being made out to be the bad guy.

Eugene Levy in the movie Splash!

Note: Read the rest of this as a reference to the connotation instead of the denotation, and its more inspirational. It’s meant to be inspirational, so it should be taken as reality based in myth, the connotation of the metaphor.

One of the first assumptions riders sometimes have, is that if I am a freelancer not working for any specific cycling organization, that I must be up to no good. But in the end, a lot of women riders are even handed enough, to realize I am working in their best interest, and are finally willing to play their part, as well am I. It's all for the image of the sport, and what they give goes through the lens and out to the public, as I am only the instrument or the platform they can use to become known and get recognition through their photos, and they should know that the more they are willing to play their part, their market value can only go up, but also they provide the fans with a window to see the sport. As for me, I am just quite happy to play my part as a hobbyist cycling photo journalist, and while I only get to enjoy the race through the glass prism of the viewfinder, I still get satisfaction and enjoyment from the races, especially as art and composition.

I wish I could be out there cheering on my favorite rider and team, but its better I stay neutral and unbiased towards all the riders and teams, hard to do, there are several riders I really like which stand out and become new revelations every year. I can't please everyone, there will always be riders who don't trust me, and those who do and remember me from previous years. I make mistakes sometimes, crossing the line in the urgency of the moment, not always asking politely, but I mean well, and I never post anything unflattering or negative, but always try to show the riders whenever I can capture those rare upbeat moments. If its action, victory, or those expressions of joy and happiness that riders have in cycling, I try to think back at every race, when I am able to capture such moments and it makes it worth all the trouble. However, I do share my photos with pro women right here, and I hear from them often enough.

There are lots of big sites with guys who travel to all the races, and sell photos for profit, as well as provide sites like Cyclingnews with photos. Personally I have decided not to send photos to CN. I would much rather do a more comprehensive report with photos and get it into other sites that will respect my wishes and allow me to present my photos and report on my own terms and in my own time. One of the problems with CN is there is this mad rush for all these competing photographers to get their photos posted to CN, and often CN has a report up with photos before I even get home from the race. I guess some of these guys might have wireless links from the field and upload them in real time, which is crazy to me, since it seems like a race between competing photographers to gain notoriety, rather then an art form that takes the time to do a really good job of presenting the women in the best possible light.

For one, I don't want my photos downsized, and CN posts photos that are much too tiny to be a good representation of my work. Also I need the time to get home and sort things out, and this mad rush to get photos posted to CN is a competition I have no interest in. I don't want my photos posted as smaller little pictures along with a billion other photographers. The photos they post are often only slightly bigger then my thumbnails, which usually run around 300 to 400. Today with monitors much bigger, and bandwidth much more common, the visual experience of the Internet can accommodate bigger and better quality images. When fans and riders see my work, I want them to know what my work looks like, and not some watered down version stripped of its pixels and grossly branded with huge watermarks. I don't do it for profit, and I always try to give the fans and women racers the best quality images possible, since it's them that I am working for, and its them that do all the work racing for our entertainment.

There is a bit of a difference between European women and American women. For one, Europe has the old romantic notions of the relationships between fans and riders, and also those women seem to have less taboos about racing and the spectacle of racing. Over here in America, it could be some women are afraid of the girls gone wild concept, which has given photographers a bad name here in America. If you are freelance and not constantly pumping your photos into sites like CN, there seems to be some distrust, as often they expect you to be working for some big cycling organization with credibility, in order to feel at home in front of the camera. That urban myth should be dispelled.

Its bad, what goes on in Spring break, and I have never been there. I am about as down home fashion as Kellogg's corn flakes and Mom and Pops apple pie. However, I am not a square, I rock! But I rock in a wholesome manner, and while you might find a few provocative photos on my site, there are only a few out of thousands I have posted here. 99 percent are in good taste, and the guys in Europe post way more provocative photos them me, and they post controversial photos as well. Stuff like accidents, girls crying and stuff. If I did that here in America with my site, I would be tarred and feathered, shanghaied, keelhauled, burned at stake! Well, just kidding, I mean I could do that, if I didn't have a website and was just a freelancer, but since the integrity of this site is at stake, I don't want to do that.

To tell the truth, that is not who I am. I am not really interested in accidents or being a predator of the spectacle in cycling. I don't want to gain popularity by posting photos of the hardships of women in cycling unless there is a good story to tell along with it. However, on this page, will I post some unusual photos, and I will discuss heart to heart about some of these unusual photos, which have stories to tell. I am going to lay it out on the table for you, and we will see where you want to take the sport. The cards are in your hands, and its up to you to decide how you want to play the cards. I am willing to play, but the women have all the aces, and I know that.

So lets play, and all things considered, lets have fun at it! Why not! Ok, first off, what kind of photos can I take? Well you should know if it was the men, there wouldn't be any problems at all, but with the women, believe me, this isn't always easy! There are a lot of sensitivities and delicacies here, and a lot of toes and taboos to be stepped on. First of all, the ladies should remember something, and I know you are probably not going to like to hear this, but its true, and that is that cycling is a spectator sport. Yes, that's right. It is a public spectacle! Spectatorship! You are public professional cycling figures! When you come to race your bikes, you should know this is not as a social club with a closed membership between women only, but far from it. You are there first and foremost for the fans! Mainly because you are Professionals, (Pros)!

Wheather you like it or not, you are on public display for the fans as professional cycling women. Well, here in America we call them Pro 1-2, they are the best we have and we are very proud of them! It is a spectacle, as these are the top women road racers in the United States and we greatly admire to see them in real time! We want to see with our eyes and stare in disbelief at what amazing athletes they are. We want to celebrate the genetic gifts god gave them, and those timeless moments could be lost forever, unless they are captured though a lens! Did you ever think about how photos capture a snapshot in time, something video cannot capture! Photos are really extraordinary compared to video, but video serves its purpose as well. I wish I had more photos from my youth of me when I was bike racing, and I bet someday some of these riders will want to come back here to get their photos! I am still learning myself as a student of the camera, and I will fine-tune everything. I want to tone it up or down some as needed, but I don't want the site to be boring either. However, I only cover Pro 1-2 women and the elite world class, because they are the best and totally awesome to watch!