Bike To Photo

Fun With Cameras XXVI

The view from the waste tip Schurenbachhalde near sunset shows the former coal mine Prosper, the still operational coking plant Prosper, and other reminders of the region’s industrial past and present. Here, I experimented with the bicycle as part of the composition. Essen, Germany, September 28, 2022.

Cycling and photography: a matchup of activities ideally suited to exploring the outdoors with the mind of an athlete and photographer alike. I discovered this positive side effect of substituting a portion of my running with cycling this year. Not only is the athlete in me more relaxed and happy because of a reduced toll on my legs and mind. But the photographer side of my psyche enjoys the additional playtime, a luxury that the athletic desires had cut shorter.

Now that we’ve left the days of summer behind, morning sessions with a bike and camera are trickier. While the delayed sunrise is a benefit, the chillier temperatures introduce the difficulty of balancing appropriate attire. What’s comfortable for sportier cycling is not warm enough for a photographic walkabout. And what’s warm enough for the photography portion is uncomfortable for cycling.

So, I turned to the late afternoons and early evenings for the two photorides that make up today’s essay.

30 and 40 miles, respectively. Same location. A straight out-and-back ride for the first one. And a bit of a detour at the beginning of the second ride. Due to much-needed brake maintenance on the regular bicycle at my disposal, I was “limited” to an e-bike; not the worst choice with about 15 pounds of photographic and general-purpose baggage on my back. Besides, an e-bike can, if desired, still provide a sufficient “long and easy” aerobic training benefit, which is precisely what I want out of most of my cycling.

About the location: I visited Nordsternpark years ago on bike rides that included the Tetraeder installation, the World Heritage Site Zollverein, and a relaxed bike path (the one I use for a lot of my running workouts).

I wanted to retrace that route and did so for parts of my 50 mm lens outings earlier this year. Once I had my navigational bearings again, I thought it might be worthwhile to revisit Nordsternpark with photographic goals.

The park includes remains of the former coal mine Nordstern, various waste tips that offer good vantage points for the western Ruhr Valley, and plenty of reclaimed nature.

Despite some road sign absurdities that saw me circling one of the waste tips before I found an accessible path up, I enjoyed two decent early fall evenings. I observed rustic landscapes that aren’t willing to give up the industrial past, barren landscapes but also fall colors at their best.

The openness of some of the spaces presented me with compositional challenges that I tried to answer with ultra-wide angle experiments, more-than-usual use of a mild telephoto, and trying to be mindful of foreground interests.

And both days gifted me with visual surprises on the ride home.

Just as last time, I will share a few outtakes on Instagram. Below, you’ll find the pictures I selected from the two rides separated into six groups with captions. As always, you can click on any image for a fullscreen view. Enjoy.

Top left A cruise boat passes on the Rhein-Herne canal at Nordsternpark, a former coal mining facility. Gelsenkirchen, Germany, September 28, 2022. Top center The bridge Bogenbrücke offers a good opportunity for an abstract image. Gelsenkirchen, Germany, September 28, 2022.Top right View over the Rhein-Herne canal and Nordsternpark, a former coal mining facility, from the foot of the bridge Bogenbrücke. Gelsenkirchen, Germany, September 28, 2022. Bottom left West of Norsternpark, the bike path along the Rhein-Herne canal offers views of the waterway and a waste-to-energy plant. Pictured here is the tip of the plant’s furnace lit from the west by the setting sun. Essen, Germany, September 29, 2022. Bottom right The vantage point near a waste-to-energy plant west of Nordsternpark shows the Rhein-Herne canal and the litter that previous guests left behind. Essen, Germany, September 29, 2022.

The view from the waste tip Schurenbachhalde near sunset shows the former coal mine Prosper, the still operational coking plant Prosper, and other reminders of the region’s industrial past and present. I “cropped out” distractions with a mild telephoto lens, which is already a tad too long (top left). I tried to capture the wide-open landscape as a panorama (four images in portrait orientation stitched together in post — top center). I used a groove in the soil as compositional element to make the foreground more relevant (top right). And I experimented with the bicycle as part of the composition (bottom left and right). Essen, Germany, September 28, 2022.

The art installation Bramme für das Ruhrgebiet (steel slab for the Ruhr Valley) stands atop the waste tip Schurenbachhalde. For scale, I included three people walking behind the installation in the background (top left). I used a 20 mm lens and got close to the steel slab while keeping an eye on the landscape in the background (top right). I kept the 20 mm lens but walked even closer to include only a part of the slab (bottom left). And I got even closer and looked up through the 20 mm lens. This is one of my favorite pictures from this trip (bottom right). Essen, Germany, September 28, 2022.

The statue Herkules von Gelsenkirchen (Hercules of Gelsenkirchen) stands on the roof of the former winding tower of the coal mine Nordstern. Gelsenkirchen, Germany, September 29, 2022.

Fall foliage at Nordsternpark. Gelsenkirchen, Germany, September 29, 2022.

Top left At the edge of Emscherpark, a furnace of the coking plant Prosper can be seen standing isolated against the sunset sky. Essen, Germany, September 28, 2022. Top center Railway tracks lead to the coking plant Prosper as the sun sets on the horizon. Essen, Germany, September 28, 2022. Top right Blue hour view of the Gasometer and river Emscher. Ideally, I would have had a tripod for this scene because of the low light levels. But I enjoyed the colors enough to attempt a few frames without one a few miles before the end of the ride. Oberhausen, Germany, September 28, 2022. Bottom left The sun sets behind the coking plant Prosper as seen from a bike path. Essen, Germany, September 29, 2022. Bottom center and right Post sunset view of the BusinessPark O, an industrial estate near the mall Centro. Oberhausen, Germany, September 29, 2022.