H Is For Handlebars

Meet Isobel, Necessary On A Bicycle

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

Sometimes random sights make interesting images. I was in a hurry when I shot this on my first evening in Dawson City, up in the Yukon, in late August. I had an hour to spare and I took a brisk walk up the riverbank, turning around smartly like a parade-ground officer when I had exactly half an hour left.

I had both cameras with me, one with an 18-125mm lens and the other with a 70-300mm lens, so I was basically covered for any eventuality. Armed with both of those lenses, I knew I could stay on the riverbank and shoot anything in the middle distance or that caught my eye along the colourful main street.

As I returned to my hotel I noticed this cycle leaning against the side wall of a home. I just had to take the shot. It wasn’t just the bike or the colour of the exterior wall; it was the sum total of the picket fence, the angle of the bike, the fabric lying casually on the fence palings, the dark metal against the light colour of painted timber, and of course the strong shadow of the handlebars on the painted yellow timber.

It was just one of those scenes you had to shoot. I sometimes get asked what exactly determines the images I capture – and my answer is always the same. If you look twice at something, hit that shutter button. Chances are the light conditions will be different the next time you pass by, or that it will be obscured or, worse, that it won’t even be there.


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