I spent the weekend teaching a motorcycle class. I know. What else is new? Teaching riders is rewarding on so many levels. The passion still burns. It was literally a hot weekend, as well. I got home in the late afternoon, savored a cold beer, then fell asleep on the couch. Being a high energy instructor takes a lot out of a body! I'm still a bit groggy but felt the urge to play with photos. Another rapidly developing addiction.
Cone were on my mind today. Weird, isn't it? Not for an instructor, actually. Most of my world is made up of, and defined by, orange cones. Big ones and little ones. It's amazing how a parking lot or stretch of blacktop becomes our world. Cones define the borders of our kingdom. Cones direct our paths inside the walls. Sometimes they become a means for one instructor to deliver a message to another.
A big cone in the early morning sunlight.
Placed in a line they become a sort of miniature castle wall.
I was actually trying to capture an effect and failed to achieve it. Steve Williams provided a link to a photo of a line of soldiers. I was trying to duplicate the effect early this morning. The cones were too far apart and stretched over too much distance . My lense would only open as far as f/4. Now that I think of it, I guess I could have moved the cones closer together. My only excuse is that I had to get ready for students this morning. Cones become the start point for braking and turning exercises. Both the start of the line and the start of the practice itself.
Cones form either a chute or a maze, depending on the need at the time.
Small cones transform into imaginary obstacles for students to swerve around. Bless the small cones for they spare instructors from serving as the obstacles!
Then there is this artwork left on the whiteboard. This greeted me when I arrived in the classroom this afternoon. The other classroom instructor invoked the small cones for this masterpiece.
What was his intent? Since this instructor is a truly good and caring man, I choose to take it as a gesture of affection. After all, must not people pay homage to a Legend?
Miles and smiles,
Dan
