About

Welcome to the personal blog and showcase of Adam Patterson, an Edmonton Based Graphic and Web Designer. The basic principle behind my site is to give my work a home for people to view and to voice my opinion on a variety of topics.

The site is running off of WordPress with a custom CSS and XHTML theme for WordPress, The Gallery is running on ZenPhoto.

I have lived with computers all my life. My interest started along time ago, when I first used Adobe Photoshop 3.0 . My interest in visual design led to the Multimedia program at Alberta College (the program is now run by NAIT) were I graduated in 2002.

Since then, I have been doing freelance work, and have launched a number of company websites. Besides web design, I have worked in print, photography, audio and video editing, and logo design. I have kept up to date with current web trends such as Web 2.0, Grid Design, Standards and Content Management. I have a passion for multimedia and programming.

Prior to joining nForm, I worked for five years at United Cycle were I was in charge of training the mechanics on hydraulic braking systems, suspension theory, and wheel building. I also contributed to a number of company procedures that has improved work flow and reduced the customer turn around. As a Certified Bike Mechanic, I naturally have a passion for mountain biking.

Websites

adampatterson.ca (portfolio)

thewonderingphotographer.com (photo-blog)

Equipment

I have a collection of cameras that i like to play with. i have a Richo Diacord from around 1965 as well as a Konica EE-matic from the same erra. I first started shooting with a Canon TX and shortly after moved to a Canon AE-1. A year or so after i got a Canon Elan 7 and purchased a few inexpensive lenses. Today i primarily use my Canon 40D Digital SLR.

WordPress Plugins

Akismet, Better-Wiki-Link, Blogroll Nofollow, Did You Pass Math?, Download Counter, Google XML Sitemaps, Hello Dolly, Paged Comments, Pixelpost Latest Photo, Regenerate Thumbnails, Search Everything, Simple Recent Comments, Simple Tagging, SyntaxHighlighter, WordPress Database Backup, WordPress Related Posts, wp-cache, WP-PageNavi, WP-Polls, WP-PostViews, ZenphotoPress, Zenphotos, ZENpressed

My New Rear End

Its that time of year when my bike starts to act funny and has become unreliable under load. Chain skips, gears are not working so well. I finally had some time to fix my bike and install some new toys on my bike.

Chris King Gold with Heavy Duty Axe on Mavic 721 with DT Swiss Alpine 3 spokes, SRAM DH 11-26 Cassette and SRAM X.O 20th anniversary Carbon Fiber Black Box Medium Derailleur with X.0 Shifters.

I hope to get a Rockshox Pike from a friend by trading some bike parts. Nothing beats the barter system.

Gallery Update

The Pretty and Pink

Seams as thought almost every manufacture of bikes and bike components now realize that women like pink. And what better way to lour women into cycling?

Pink parts! Any why not make them some of the best parts money can buy? a Chris King wheel set can set you back over a grand, and the pink Hope brake set could set you back $500 or $600.

Speedgoat, an online bike shop last year held an raffle for a pink bike and the proceeds went to help breast cancer. Not to mention they build a sweet pink bike.

Other companies like Chris King continue to donate a portion of there Pink components to Cancer research.

You don’t have to be a Lady to enjoy some pink on your bike. Pink seams to be the new black for a lot of guys riding there burly Down Hill bikes.

Read on..

9 Months Later…

I shipped my rear wheel by UPS thought United Cycle to Chris King in Portland Oregon for Warranty work. I knew that by that at the time of year when i send in the wheel (June 2007) that they would be behind, so I waited about 2 months and then called them to ask if i could get a tracking number to follow it back to Canada.

I was surprised to hear that they had not received it.

My first instinct was there must be a mistake, so the tech i was talking with did some looking around the warehouse, shipping receiving, as well as the shop and called me back the next day to let me know that he was 90% sure that i had not arrived.

At the same time I gave United Cycle a call who shipped the wheel out on my behalf to got a tracking number. After looking up the tracking number i then learned it had made it from Edmonton to Spokane Idaho in about 2 days. It never left the depot. I phoned UPS and asked them if they knew what had happened. They issued a trace rout on it, basically to see were it ended up if it got scanned in the wrong depot and sent to some other location. After a few weeks of no contact I called back and they told me that Chris King had received it and that it was signed for.

Great! Or so i thought.
Read on..

Seasons by The Collective

One of my favorite mountain bike movies was the Collective, not long after Roam came out. Well with the new riding season upon us its only fitting to call the next movie Seasons.

Check out a teaser on there site.

Links:
http://www.thecollectivefilm.com/
http://www.pinkbike.com/

A legend has passed on.

Sheldon Brown was a name i heard many times in my years as a bicycle mechanic. His web site http://sheldonbrown.com is a constants source of reference for almost every bike shop. I learned a lot from is extensive wisdom.

Sheldon Brown (July 14, 1944 – February 3, 2008) was an American bicycle mechanic from Boston, Massachusetts. His trademark beard and plastic helmet-mounted eagle, named Igor, were his trade marks.

I was in contact with Sheldon a few weeks ago going over my spoke calculator and working on the new release with him witch he was going to host as a tool on his website.

Sheldon was actually some of the inspiration behind my spoke calculator, I’m glad he got to see it and liked what he saw.

Sheldon Brown on Wikipedia.com.

Interview with Dan Barham

I was first introduced to Dan Barham at my old job, he had just moved from Manchester, U.K. I just thought he was another guy in a bike shop until the speaker at the seminar we were at recognized him from the U.K. She had said how he took some amazing photos, so I got to talking with him. Dan was pity modest about his talents, I realized something was up when he said he had a Canon Mark II DS. I have grown up around bikes and computers so we had a lot in common.

Dan has had a number of cover shots on top bike magazines as well as features in many more of them. Bike Magazine, Dirt Rag, Mountain Bike Rider, and Mountain Biking UK to name a few.

Dan doesn’t limit himself to just mountain bike photography if you have a look at his Flickr Gallery. I really like looking at peoples more raw galleries, not the portfolios because it’s a glimpse into the every day life of an artist.

Dan has since moved on from the bike shop and Edmonton to Live in Canada’s Famous North shore (Vancouver) were covers the biking events all over British Columbia.

Dan was nice enough to do this interview with me, and i hope you enjoy it.
Read on..

Dan Barham Cover Shot

After Crazing the magazine stand looking at the bike mags i came across my old friend Bike Mag. while looking through the September issue at home i saw that the cover Shot was from another old friend Dan Barham. To top things off the photo was also shot in my home town of Edmonton, Alberta.

After looking at Dan’s Blog to check things out its fitting that he got the cover for September because his birthday just happens to fall in that month.

Happy Birthday Dan :)