Scuderia SouthWest Cars and Coffee- August 2017

This month's Scuderia SouthWest Motorsports gathering had a German car theme, and boy were they out in force. Porsches, Mercedes, Audis, and BMWs covered the theme row as well as the rest of the parking lot, showing the best Germany had to offer, ranging from modern day exotics to priceless classics. 

The ASU FSAE team also brought our Formula car out to display. This is the first show SDM17 has been to, and it certainly won't be the last. Since we're an American university, we parked in the American car rows, and we even got a spot next to Bondurant, one of our sponsors who let us use their autocross track for testing. It was a pretty good day; we drew quite a few crowds and talked with a lot of people. We even recruited some new members to the team that day; it's no surprise a lot of ASU students come to these shows. 

Of course, my GT-R friends came out to the show and got their usual spots, which are coveted because they're one of the few spots in the area with shade. There was also a strong JDM showing as well, although on the other side of the parking lot. It was cool meeting some people in person finally after following them on Facebook and Instagram, as well as meeting with the usual Cars and Coffee peeps. 

And of course, there were exotics. Scottsdale McLaren brought out quite a few cars, and some privately owned McLarens came and joined them to form quite the row. There were also some surprises as well, including the 50th Anniversary Aventador and a Liberty Walk Huracan. 

Despite the heat, it was a good show. A lot of cars and people came out, and it's only going to get larger from here as vacationers come back to the Valley and the temperatures cool down.

From the Archives: Monterey Car Week 2016, what I edited then

After going through my old blog posts, I realized I never posted any photos from Monterey Car Week last year. So, here's what I have. Keep in mind that these photos were edited almost a year ago, and the photos were taken a full year ago, so it's not the freshest example of my work. Nevertheless, how can I not share these cars?

From the Archives: Austin's Celica Shoot II

A long, long time ago, I took more photos of my friend Austin's Celica. I say "more" because an even longer time ago, I took some photos of his Celica. Anyways, I took these additional photos of his Celica, but I never got around to editing and publishing them because school got super busy. But, here they now are.

Just because they're old photos doesn't mean they're useless. In fact, I found going through them enlightening on how much I've grown with lighting, composition, color, etc. Also, Lightroom and Photoshop don't care when the photos were taken, meaning I had new canvases to experiment with different editing styles. I experimented with more washed-out/lighter colors plus gradients to give more mood to the photos and to convey the heat and feelings of a summer sunset. Furthermore, I experimented with color, using warming filters and brown colors with gradients to enhance these effects. I definitely liked how these turned out, so hopefully I'll start doing more of this to broaden my styles.

I also got to see how I had no idea how external lighting worked, as seen in these next few photos. I relied on the little light in the day I had left for them, and when that disappeared, using the flash but not very well.

I think it's great to go back and look at your older work. You can see what worked, what didn't, what you still do, and how you've improved. Even though I felt like I've stagnated over the past year or so, I've seen that my efforts to try new things, and my overall photography skills, have actually improved. Hopefully this will also be the start of going through old photos (hence the "From the Archives" title), mainly because I do want to eventually get to my Monterey Car Week 2016 photos....

Matt's Scion FRS

I've been trying to get back into doing photoshoots again. Unfortunately, this summer was busier than I intended, between getting sick, working, FSAE, starting my honors thesis, and moving out of my old apartment. Admittedly, I also haven't been aggressive enough in trying to secure photoshoots, but alas.

However, when my friend Matt said he was looking for photos, I was down for them. He told me that his Scion FRS is at a steady-state. He'll leave it like this for now until he's ready for the next stage, so he figured he should get photos of it now since he'll be able to use them for a while. The highlight of this stage is the Rocket Bunny spoiler, wrapped in carbon fiber. So, naturally I had to showcase that. Of course, he has a good set of other mods as well, both internal and external. Internal upgrades include the intake, Agency Power headers, front and rear sway bars, and an Invidia exhaust with midpipe. Externally, a diffuser, side skirts, black roof wrap, and Autodipped wheels complete the look. 

Matt's FRS is a workhorse. He's put on thousands of miles on it from daily driving and trips. He actually recently came back from California and 86 Fest before this shoot, and the rock chips on the front show.

Matt wanted to take shots at Tempe Town Lake since he never had any shots here. If you've seen my previous photos, you'll see that this is a main spot of mine since I'm usually in Tempe. This shoot also let me discover that the lake security that usually shows up and kicks you out of the ramp at nights/the evenings aren't present during the afternoon, something I'll be taking a note of for later. 

The cloudy, monsoon weather made for a perfect backdrop of the lake. It also made for some interesting lighting situations. When the clouds covered the sun, I opted to go for a cooler temperature to capture the relaxed mood of the weather at the time (this being an Arizonan summer, the fact we could be outside and enjoy the weather says a lot). Being next to the approach path for Sky Harbor also allowed for some cool shots with planes in the background. 

Meanwhile, when the sun came out, since we were approaching the evening, I went for a warmer color temperature to capture the vibrancy of the desert sunsets that we get treated to when the monsoon clouds roll in.

I also have been experimenting more with HDR. The D750 has what I think is faster continuous-high speed shooting as well as more increments than my D5300. Plus, now that I'm using my tripod more and Lightroom having a built-in HDR function, it's been a no-brainer to try using HDR more. 

I definitely have the itch to shoot some more. As time consuming as it is, I still love taking photos, and having a photo shoot is a great chance to get to catch up with people. It was certainly great to get to talk with Matt for a while, since we're both usually busy and can only exchange a few pleasantries when we see each other. 

Cars and Coffee- July 2017

July 4th is America's Independence Day, and to celebrate that Scuderia Southwest made this month's Cars and Coffee American themed. More specifically, it was themed so that cars would park in a red-white-blue color to match the order of colors on the America flag. Plus, to add more detail to it, SSW wanted to have a diverse range of American cars and asked for different years of the same makes to line up for photos. It definitely paid off as the show-row was spectacular looking.

In addition, Lexus' corporate branch brought out the LC500 for people to test drive. Of course I signed up to test drive one, and I have to say the car is amazingly balanced. The 50/50 weight distribution really shows since it felt incredibly planted and stable when turning. And while I always thought it was a little down on power for the price/class, it certainly moved well.

Of course, Scottsdale McLaren came by to spoil us with a brand new 720S. I really did not like how it looked in the initial photos (mainly the front area due to the headlights), but it did begin warming up to me in person. It's definitely a car to look at in real life rather than photos to full appreciate the design. 

Despite the 'Murican theme, there were of course the usual European luxury, super, and classic cars. Again, I've been experimenting with compositions and different angles to change up my photography a little. I'm still a sucker for sunrise-lens-flare-exposures though, as you can see here. Honestly the AMG GTS looked like a shot out of GT Sport.

It was also interesting seeing a Ferrari FF and a Ferrari GT4 Lusso parked next to each other. Side-by-side you can really see the differences between the old and the new. Like every new Ferrari for me, it took seeing the GT4 Lusso in person for me to like how it looks (although I did see it in Monterey last year, so I've had time to warm up to it). The new grin is a different beast compared to the FF.

And, of course, there was a Japanese presence. Godzillas made their usual appearance, as well as some very nice looking NSXes. There was also an immaculate Supra present. 

However, it was extremely hot, and there is now another Cars and Coffee in Chandler at the same day and time. Thus, turnout wasn't as large as it had been. Whether or not this will change next week for August is to be determined. But, as usual, I look forward to seeing what shows up.