Dear friends,
Here is a little piece I wrote to get Nikon to help sponsor my continued photographic coverage of the biker world. If you like what I’ve put down please add a comment to the NIKON Facebook Discussion Board “
Forty years of Nikon SLR photography and now COOLPIX P7000”
I have been packing Nikon SLRs since 1965. It all started with a Nikkormat that I purchased in Okinawa Japan when I was 17 years of age. It was about the same time I bought my first motorcycle. I’ve been riding and photographing ever since. I returned to the States and attended the Maryland Institute College of Art on a full scholarship.
As most graduates of art school I found myself desperately seeking employment. It was while working in a camera store I was approached by an officer of a 1% motorcycle club. The club was looking for someone they could trust to photograph the national mandatory run and funeral for their sergeant of arms. That club then and even today does not like having photos taken, but they wanted to honor the wishes of the family. After a final briefing by the president of the club, I was allowed to record this major event, but all the film stayed with the club. This life altering experience got me hooked on bikers.
In time I became a
freelance photographer, making a living doing photography for annual reports, magazines, brochures, advertising, etc. I made good money,
won awards all with my trusty Nikons. For my personal work, I spent over 30 years sharing the road with old school, and hard core bikers. It was not only good for my artistic soul, but helped me to relax between paid assignments. I learned people skills that made working even with bankers more successful.
As time went on my biker friends would ask what I was doing with all the photos I was taking of them. I had no plans for publishing any of this work. I did give a lot of it away. Some of my images made it into the pages of the top biker magazines via my friends. Eventually I created a biker community website
www.VtwinBiker.com. Soon thereafter my biker work was discovered by magazines, advertising agencies, museum curators, gallery owners, and the like. Imagine my surprise that other folks were interested in my personal, private biker images that I was doing for fun. Now I have a Japanese magazine with a year’s worth of my photos on their covers, and I was hanging in
galleries, and
museums. Then I was rediscovered by one of America’s oldest motorcycle magazine “Iron Horse” who did a feature on my work. It wasn’t long after that I was approached by publishers to do a book of my biker photography. My book “living the life” has gotten some great reviews and write-ups. We have shipped worldwide, and the Japanese are my biggest fans. All of this from a Nikkormat that I bought in Okinawa Japan forty some years ago.
I’m now packing a Nikon D200 with an AF S 18-200mm 1:3.5-5.6 G ED lens for over 70,000 miles on my home built hard tail chopper. This is one rugged camera that has been to hell and back. In combination with the 18-200mm lens it has been the perfect partner. That is until now. Nikon has introduced what might be the perfect biker photojournalist camera, and that is the COOLPIX P7000 . Its small size would make it easier to pack than my D200. Its low profile would be less conspicuous and intimidating. Its 28-200mm focal lens is damn near perfect for capturing a wide range of biker life scenarios. And the icing on the cake is the extended ISO and low noise night mode.
So, what do you think Nikon, do you want to go on the road with this seasoned biker photographer? Would you like to partner up with me and capture dynamic images of the bikers’ world? Would you like to have your name up there in lights, and in front of my ever-growing following, who appreciates hard hitting images? Bikers spend money, need quality products, and are always asking me how I do what I do. I’m thinking this could be mutually beneficial. Thank you for making great photo equipment, and being part of my life.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Doug AKA Q-Ball
Doug Barber Photographer
North Beach, MD 20714
Cell 410-610-6595
doug@dougbarber.comwww.dougbarber.comwww.VtwinBiker.com© Doug Barber Photographer 2011
PS, I’ve been purchasing nothing but Nikon equipment from Service Photo in Baltimore for over 30 years. Just ask the owner Burke Seim.
Links to my work
