Archive for the ‘Cars’ Category
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27
Jul
2010
Volvo C30: Same tunnel, same old tricks
Photographing cars was the reason I got my first camera. I’ve always been a big car guy, but you wouldn’t be able to tell by my current ride; a Scion xB. Maturing sucks. My brief 10 year driving history includes having my name under an 87 300ZX, 96 300ZX, 94 RX-7, 99 Subaru 2.5 RS, and now…. the box. Unfortunately a fire-spitting RX-7 can’t haul all of my photography gear.
Back on point, after a 2-3 year hiatus of not shooting cars (focused on people and designing), I got an itch to shoot Lauren’s new Volvo C30… that, and I had a day left of renting the Canon 15mm 2.8 lens for the Ashley Knights Jr. photoshoot (hence the same location!). I wanted to focus on just 1 shot, a motion/rig shot. This technique used to be a super tight-lipped secret up until a few years ago. I like to think I was one of the first digital photographers to figure out how to take this kind of picture. Along with names like Easton Chang, Luke Munnell, Josh Mackey, and Jason Siu come to mind as well. Back then I was using a 2.5mp “state-of-the-art” Olympus camera lol. In fact it was a rig shot that gave me my big break in the automotive industry, and opened a lot of doors. Now with the spread of blogs, tutorials, and every photographer out there willing to share every shred of knowledge in a youtube video for any kind of fame, the secret isn’t so, secret.
Unedited image. Despite an occasional car at 3am, the famous tunnel had very little traffic.
My trusty rig, totals 12′ in length. Got the piping specialty cut at some NASCAR shop in North Carolina years ago.
The two 6′ poles are connected with a slightly smaller diameter metal sleeve, and held together by… yes, paper clips 
I may not have the fanciest rig on earth, but I dare say it’s the most practical!!
I almost felt like I was 16 again shooting my buddies cars long after midnight. In hindsight I would of done a few things differently for this Volvo image, but it’s a good starting point to my revamped interest in shooting things with 4 legs instead of 2.
11
May
2010
Formula Drift: Atlanta
With my new found freedom of working freelance, I spontaneously bought AirTran plane tickets at 2am to go to the Formula D: Atlanta event. No hotel necessary, my old friends at S3 Magazine and new friends at Keep Drifting Fun provided a couch (or floor) to sleep on.
BIG thanks to UrbanRacer.com for getting me media access. Shamefully I spent most of my time having a few Yuenglings in the paddock area, but hell I was mainly here to have fun. On to the pics:
I have this foot thing I’m working on… trust me it’ll be cool. But this shows where I was shooting for most of these pics.
One of my favorite shots; 2009 Champion Chris Forsberg leading 2004 and 2006 Champion Samuel Hübinette around the horseshoe.
Forsberg ripping around the horseshoe again.
Ryan Tuerck blowing smoke in my face. Thanks
Ross Petty smokin’ around the horseshoe. One of my favorite cars of the crowd.
Vaughn Gittin Jr. showboating for the crowd. The sound of this mustang’s V8 almost makes me want to buy one… almost.
Dai Yoshiahra against Chris Forsberg in the semi-finals.
Close-up of how beat-up these cars can get over 2 brutal days of drifting.
The big weiner; Dai Yoshihara. A crowd favorite.
Formula D has been around for nearly a decade, and the sport of drifting much longer. It’s one of the few motorsports where I see absolutely everyone associated with the sport having fun. Any attitudes that flare up over an unethical bump or crash is dissipated as quickly as the smoke just made. Drifting was founded on having fun, and when the sun goes down and cars are tailored away it will still be based on fun. Long live drifting.
2
May
2010
Urban Racer Formula D Official Fan Guide
Shortly after finishing up a shoot in the Malibu canyons I get a call from Jackie Ling, Director of UrbanRacer.com. He wanted me to throw together this year’s Official Formula Drift fan guide. Heck ya! I love drifting, and my previous experience working within the magazine industry made me an obvious fit. The deadline was super tight, but after a hurricane of emails, pdfs, and corrections, this spot-uv’d, sleek looking fan guide was approved and ready in less than 5 days.
MUCH credit goes out to Olly Howe for the cover illustration. We have collaborated before. I sent Olly the pics and art direction, and he returned one of the most incredible covers I have seen in my life. Chris Forsberg and Ryan Tuerck have never looked better! That added with a spot-uv for the black areas made this a fan guide that couldn’t be left behind. Literally. At the first Formula D event of 2010 in Long Beach, I made a mental note to count how many fan guides were left behind on the bleachers and ground. Flyers and litter were everywhere as usual, but said fain guide? Zero. None, NADA!!!! 
Thanks goes out to Olly Howe, Jacob Leveton, Bob Hernandez, and Jackie Ling.
25
Nov
2009
Import Tuner cover build-up video
Hello YouTubes!
Hearing my voice is freakin’ disturbing… Do I really sound like this? I’ll blame it on my room acoustics.
My buddy Jeff Creech, the cover car photographer for this issue, proposed for me to do a step-by-step guide on how the Import Tuner covers are pieced together. The idea had been itching the back of my brain for a while so this felt like the perfect opportunity. I’ve done a lot of covers in my 5 year span of being an Art Director, so why not go an extra step.
Since the Import Tuner covers literally take 4-5 days to complete because of back and forth company approvals and basically lots-o-work, screenshots were taken over the time period and pieced together later instead of doing a time-lapse video. It’s a lot to cover in just 7 minutes.
…and yes I know I accidentally said “if you have any questions, hit me up, i’ll try to ASK any and all that I can” at the end, sigh lol.
At the time of this blog post, this issue is on newsstands.
1
Jun
2009
Gymkhana 2
Out of nowhere, Ken Block’s Gymkhana Practice popped up last year on the car forums and blew our hats off; Raw power, endless pavement, incredible driving skill… it couldn’t be topped. It was just TOO badass. After the announcement that a 2nd Gymkhana was being filmed, I scoffed at how it’s not going to live up to the first, ESPECIALLY if the main car is the Ford Focus-esque looking Subaru STi. Oh how I was wrong, so very very wrong.
26
Apr
2009
370Z – TAKE2
I’ve heard about this project for a few weeks, and now it’s up, and for real. Steve Demmitt and Scott Dukes collaborated for this 370Z video/shoot. Little is known about TAKE2, but judging from this short video, a lot is expected with anticipation.
Nissan 370z – TAKE2 from WWW.TAKETWOWEB.COM on Vimeo.
25
Apr
2009
Turbo Magazine: Twisted Sixx
OK last oldie before I actually post something new and worth reading. I’m in LOVE with this old ’71 Datsun 240Z. College kid Austin Hoke from NC built this beauty from the ground up, cutting no corners. I squeaked it into a feature of the June ’07 issue of the now deceased Turbo Magazine. It’s turned into one of my favorite motion shots… so much that I framed it on my bedroom wall to stare at it everyday. It’s a reminder that I’ll never be able to build a badass car like that, only buy 
25
Apr
2009
Modified: TSX
Another oldie. I shot this back in 2006 in my freelance days and was featured in the July ’07 Modified issue… which is oddly now owned by the company I work for. Desmond Performance who built the car were very very nice. This wasn’t my first shoot of the TSX. I did a shoot of the same car, which can be found here. I felt this was a breakthrough shoot for me. Implementing flashes and combined exposures to get the best image. I’ve learned a lot since then!
25
Apr
2009
Import Tuner: Supra Cover
Old news to me, but considering my blog is new, I feel I should touch base on a few of my highlights from the past few months. One of them being cover for Import Tuner Magazine… October 2008 to be exact. Working for the magazine I sort of took this accomplishment for granted, but just because I’m the Art Director for the magazine doesn’t give me a shoe-in for the cover… However so far I’m 1 for 1 haha. You can read the feature here.
