5th-grade elementary school teacher, cyclist, and photographer Tom Sweeney wrapped up his 11th year of bike commuting. Tom hasn’t missed a single day of riding to work since January 18th, 2012. On each of Tom’s rides, he takes multiple photographs. When the end of the year rolls around, Tom combines the best photos into a slideshow set to music. The direct route to Bennet Elementary from Tom’s West Fort Collins home would be around 3.5 miles, but you can tell by his photos that he rarely takes the direct route.
If you enjoy his work, be sure to check out his book, Lisbon To Shanghai in Four Summers, where he documents his bike ride around the world over the course of four summers.
Wondering what Tom shots with? “I used the Olympus EPL models (EPL10 is the current version) for years – they’re small, have full manual controls, and are relatively inexpensive. Considering that I drop my cameras a lot, price is important. Having said that, I’m now using a Sony A6100, and recently sprang for a Canon M6 with the 18-150 lens to get better close-ups. I revert to the older cameras in the rain or when the temps dip below twenty.”
