Tuscany: Pisa, Siena, Firenze

Most of my time in Italy was spent doing a lot of sightseeing, which was tiring. We saw the leaning tower of Pisa, Florence and Siena. As follows are my favorite photos, not just the sites.


This bike is a workhorse!


See the airplane?


Siena is a really magical city.


My mom reading something.


Reflections are nice


I was here


I love this light!


If you have been to Florence, then you know what building this is.

Next train to... Rome.

Rimini, Italy + Race Day

I returned from Italy recently. I was there for my brothers duathalon race. Going into this trip I heard way too many "You better take lots of good photos Chad." I took lots of photos but decided that I hate travel photography and am not very good at action sports photography. The photos that I will reveal to you might not lead you to that decision, but I was kind of bored with a lot of my photos. At least I learned this much.

However, I did enjoy the light very much. This may be a bold statement or an obvious statement, but I think Photography, out of all the arts, captures and portrays light the best. I am a lover of light, and that is why photography is my most suitable medium. I observed lots of light shaping buildings and buildings creating light shapes. I took too many photos just so I have a photo of all the sites, but I don't think I needed to try so hard. Next time, postcards may be the only photos people receive from me of the sites. And if you were wondering what I like to take pictures of most, that would be people.

So here it is! The first stop of the trip was Rimini, Italy, the location of the race. This place is a typical touristy city and is only interesting in the summer. The race was the only interesting thing to me.


this is the beach town Rimini in the not so packed off season

Dustin my brother riding

One of our new friends Allan Villanueva, he came in third

Friend Colin Keith from Newport Beach

Dustin finishing, he had a stomach virus on his race day and didn't perform well but he did finish!

My friends from México

Continental breakfast, the best on of the trip, best café too

a building I found interesting

the train station

and on to my next destination... Venezia.

New Bike + Ride

Since nothing good has come from Amtrak except a $25 voucher, and Fed Ex is still taking their time, I decided it was time for me to do something. I decided to buy a new bike. I wanted a road bike with gears for going on longer rides, yes I know people ride fix gears very far, but that's working harder to look cool. So after going through many options of new bikes I decided I don't want to contribute to all the waste when creating new things in foreign countries and purchased a used racing bike from the 80's.


This is my new bike. An old steel lugged frame equipped with campy.


My first ride was with my brother to the farmers market


he's faster than me


The Ladera Ranch Farmer's Market. This is only a portion of it.


Dustin loading his bag with some weight for the ride home, this is part of his training

I plan on getting my bike painted when my family and I visit Italy for my brothers competition. So I will have some color photos when I return.

Outside Lands

After my trip to Texas, Jessie and I went to San Francisco for the music festival Outside Lands. Here are some shots I took during the day with Fuji Neopan 400 and my trusty mechanical Rollei.


San Francisco


lots of bikes in SF


these guys were admiring the arrested


too many people at festivals


Twin Peaks stage, with art by Barry McGee


I purposely expose some of the first frame of the roll. This is the shot I got on this roll. Jessie waiting for the bus.

My favorite performances were Bon Iver, Wilco, Cake and of course Radiohead. It was just too crowded for Radiohead.

the biggest catch, the smallest pond

This is the movie that Dave Helman created using me and my time-lapse.

be sure to watch it in High definition!

I have lots of things to post in the coming weeks, but its all film so be patient.

Bike Movie

After all of my bike tests, I put together this movie with some help from Dave Helman. I used the other tripod head and it worked better, however there are just way too many vibrations that go through a bike. Helmet cams are a much better idea.

This will be my last bike mount video, because I got stuck on the mount and rode into traffic, thank God I didn't die (or my camera get damaged). So I hope you enjoy. Dave will have a full length movie with actual video involved.

music by Neutral Milk Hotel

please check out in High Definition!

Matthew Jenson

This is Matt Jenson. He is a graphic designer, friend, and a fun guy to be around. On his somewhat recent visit to California from NYC, I had the pleasure of going on an adventure with him. We decided to go on a bike ride to a friends house a good 9 miles away to go skate his ramp. I did the ride on a very street friendly fixed gear, Matt rode a cheap, Target, girl, beach cruiser. He was a real trooper. We rode home too.


This is for an article in GQ


he is always stoked (Grant and Greg also featured)


did I mention he used to play soccer?


and the ride home.

Film is Ilford Delta 100 (a new film test if you are keeping track)

I love the train, I hate Amtrak

After living in NYC, I have come to love public transportation, especially trains. However due to a poor experience with Amtrak I would much rather find other ways of getting around then use that train.

A few months a go I took a trip to Santa Barbara and then on to Monterey with my bike via Amtrak train and bus. On the way back the bus driver said there wasn't enough room for my bike (which there was plenty, he was just lazy) so I had to leave it in Monterey. My friend Jeremy whom I was visiting had to ship my bike via Fed Ex, where it got damaged in transit. So I have been without my bike for about three weeks total. I am only writing this because I want to encourage people not to take Amtrak and if traveling by train to use the Metrolink or the San Diego Coaster, both of which are much cheaper.

Costa Mesa Critical Mass 6.27.2008

Here are some photos I snapped at the Costa Mesa Critical Mass on June 27, 2008. This was my brother and I's first Critical Mass and we plan on riding more.

this is only some of the group, if friends want to go next time let me know and we can toss the bikes in the back of the truck and drive the 20 miles to costa mesa.

Bike Mount Test II

This is round two of testing the super clamp on my bike. The much longer distance traveled in this experiment revealed some new challenges. The clamp did not falter however the tripod head could not handle the bumps and vibrations and so the camera moved, but did not fall off. The camera is still in tact and I have at least one more attempt up my sleeve before I try to make a solid video.

music by the who