Study Break- Tempe Town Lake Night Portraits

Being a full-time engineering student is super busy. However, it's important to make sure to go and have some fun when you can, which is what a friend and I did one night towards the end of the spring semester. Since it was tradition for us to snap selfies and pictures of each other whenever we went out to go do something fun, and we had some cool photo ideas but the only camera available was my phone in a dark room, we decided to recreate the pictures in better conditions.

First came testing settings, framing, etc., since I would be in some of the pictures so I would have to make sure everything was set up first. But, after snapping a few pics, I decided I didn't quite like the location we were at due to the lighting, so we moved closer to the lights nearby.

The light poles nearby make for some good props for photos, and the lights meant I didn't need to use my speedlight, which I couldn't really use when the camera is sideways, anyways. After we determined sitting on them wasn't possible, we tried some other poses while also messing around with how much leggings were shown. I thought that the combination of her outfit, the nighttime, and the lighting added a sense of mystery to the serious photos.

Eventually though, "sitting" on the pole was achieved, leading to some of my favorite photos from the night. The background, lighting, and positioning all came together really well. For these shots, I thought that having more of the leggings and skin exposed would  add to the mood of the photo (and also because it wasn't really physically possible otherwise thanks to the stretchiness of her dress), plus it matched the poses well.

My friend decided we should get some group shots again, and after demonstrating and determining that my phone-based wi-fi remote wasn't going to work with the poses we were trying, I resorted to setting up the camera and speedlight (due to the increased distance to get us both in the shot), setting the timer, clicking the shutter button, and then running in a panic to my spot. 

To get full-body shots, I had to rotate the camera and tripod, meaning no more speedlight, and set everything up again, giving my friend some more time to have fun before getting some more group shots, including a fun one and one of us being badass looking. We don't mess around.

To be honest, as of right now I find it more difficult to be creative in editing with portraits than automotive photos. However, something I think portraits really lend themselves well to are black and white conversions, which is what the following two photos are. They add this feel and emotion to the photo that can't really be put into words, and that is what I'm after when I take pictures. For some reason, when I look at these pictures, the Jaykode remix of the song "New York City" by the Chainsmokers pops into my head. The first photo involved black and white conversion, followed by adding in cloud and rain effects, while the second was a black and white conversion and darker contrast/blackness settings.

It's always fun to hang out with friends and decompress when life gets stressful. As much as it seems like that isn't possible when life gets busy, time can be found and made. 

Bugatti Chiron

Living in Arizona has its perks, especially as a car person. Scottsdale is home to all kinds of amazing cars and car events, all of which I had no idea existed three years ago. The wonder never ends, as I would have never guessed that I would be able to come face-to-face with the Bugatti Chiron, fresh from Geneva and resting before Pebble Beach.

To the uninformed, the 2017 Bugatti Chiron is the successor of the Bugatti Veyron, the poster-car for "fast car" since its release in 2005. How do you top a 1000+hp, 250+mph, $1,500,000 USD hypercar? Take everything that was excessive and turn it up to 11.

A quick-run down of the specs. The Chiron will cost you $2.6 million dollars, if you somehow get your hands on one of the already-sold-out-500 copies to be produced. The engine now pumps out 1500 horsepower and 1200 lb-ft of torque from a revised quad-turboed W16 engine, venting all of those burned dinosaurs through six exhaust pipes, four out the rear and two out the underside of the car, creating a blown diffuser, the same technology that was banned in Formula One. In a world where the "Holy Trinity" have turned to creating hybrid hypercars, Bugatti stuck with time-old-tradition and kept the car with a gasoline engine only, using sheer force of engineering, displacement, and boost to crank out the power. With all of that power, it seems a little disappointing that the top speed is only 261 mph. However, this isn't it's final form. The 261mph top speed is "limited", since its record-setting top-speed attempt will attempt to crack 270mph. 

There will be no shortage of options, either, to make sure each car is unique. After all, if you're paying for the price of six Lamborghini Aventadors, you want to make sure that the Cars and Coffee meet you roll up to doesn't have a Chiron with the same grill-color, a $6,800 option. This is a steal compared to the bare carbon fiber option, which is $289,000, enough to buy a McLaren 650S with $24,000 left over. Or, if you aren't feeling up to completely exposed carbon fiber, a partly exposed carbon engine cover is a mere $17,000, which is perfect since this is the same price as the sports seats, so you can go even faster. Or, tl;dr, everything is expensive, but luckily, there is a four-year service plan that will cover all maintenance on the car, making it more affordable!

There's no need to go on about big the numbers on this car is, because they're massive.  Rather, lets talk about the design of the car. Now, this is completely objective, but when there is so much press over all the numbers I just quoted, personal opinion is always interesting to hear. I know many people who think the Chiron looks ugly, but I disagree. The Veyron was nice looking, but, dare I say it, it was a little "bland", since it was mostly made of basic, round shapes. As an engineer, I appreciate the engineering beauty of the Veyron, but I felt the aesthetic beauty was a bit lacking. The Chiron, however, is completely different. There are aggressive character lines all over the car, giving it the aggressive, assertive look it needs to say "Hey, you wanna race? Cuz you'll lose" to the face of P1s and LaFerraris, the current definitions of hypercars. The long taillight, and the angular rear that juts out, housing red taillights with beautiful geometry inside, is a sight to behold that no picture can do justice to. It captures the imagination as it looks like an impulse engine that belongs on the Enterprise in Star Trek rather than a car that sits in front of me. The massiveness of the wing on the back lets you picture the air rushing past it when the Chiron is racing at full speed. Those LED DRLs on the front of the car give an unmistakable, angry look, befitting for the rest of the front fascia. And the width, my God this car is so wide, it looks like it will not hesitate to eat small children and compact cars for breakfast. As an engineer, I love all of the vents and scoops, as it affirms my belief that form follows function, that engineering is beautiful, that engineering can be an artistic masterpiece. To think of how much air and fuel the engine eats at full-throttle, how the air moves around the body at Vmax, and how everything inside the car manages to not spontaneously combust is a beautiful thought in my head.

But the one obvious styling detail that i absolutely love is the characteristic 'C' line throughout the car. It's present on the side, acting as the dividing line between the two-tone color scheme. It splits the car in half, forming a crease on the hood that becomes pronounced on the roof and becomes a bridge overlooking the engine. The seats of the interior are bisected by a 'C', swooping gracefully through the cabin. In a world where extreme design is the norm, the Chiron nails it with unique styling elements that will make it to the walls of five-year olds and thirty-five year olds everywhere. 

Will the Chiron be able to define this generation of hypercars like its predecessor did, especially with fiercer competition in the guise of the Koenigsegg Agera R/ One:1/Regera, Porsche 918 Spyder, McLaren P1, and Ferrari LaFerrari? Only time will tell.

Am I fanboying over this car? Possibly. But when it's a car designed to define a generation like its predecessor did, it's hard not to be overwhelmed and infatuated at first-sight. Or second sight. Or third. The Veyron was an engineering marvel. The Chiron is this plus a work of art. It'll be great to keep this rosy image of the car in my head, as it is highly likely this will be the only time in a long, long while I will ever see this car. But, I hesitate to say "ever". After all, this is Scottsdale. Who knows what will show up next?

Automotive Photos from the Past Month

I'm not dead, I promise. Just super busy and slow at editing photos. Here are the pictures I've posted on my Instagram/Facebook, I posted these thinking I would be done with the rest in a week and I would have all photos and a write up on the blog, but clearly that hasn't happened. I promise I will work on them as soon as possible though.

Messing Around with Photoshop

While I was going through photos from our hikes, to annoy my friend I took random pictures of her. Some of them actually came out pretty well, although dark and noisy. But, I thought they would look good in black and white, and after adjusting everything and converting to monochrome, I realized I wanted the pictures to have a hand-drawn effect/look. 

For the first picture, I wanted a more delicate, "angelic" photo, so I maxed out the value of Lightroom's Noise Reduction tool so the image was completely smoothed over. I then softened it before plugging it into Photoshop to create the handdrawn effect. The first image is the final product, the second image is what I started with.

For the second image, I decided to go with a more "gritty" appearance, so rather than reducing the noise in the picture, I amplified it by hardening all the lines in the image using Lightroom's clarity tool. I then plugged the photo into Photoshop to create the handdrawn effect. Again, the first image (third in the series) is the final product, and the second image (fourth in the series) is what I started with.

Cars and Coffee May 2015- Penske Racing Museum

My friend told me about how the Penske Racing Museum always holds a Cars and Coffee meet every third Saturday of the month, and I've seen the meet on websites before. With school over, I decided to go with him to check it out.

The day and night before, there were huge rainstorms all across the Valley. An inch of rain fell at Sky Harbor International Airport in downtown Phoenix alone (which is basically where rain will least likely fall due to location and the fact the pavement is a million degrees thanks to downtown and jet engines). The morning after, aka the morning of the show, there was still thick cloud cover over the Valley. I knew it was going to be a great opportunity for photos because I love taking pictures with cloudy backdrops. The lighting that exists due to cloud cover just makes things perfect for photos; the grayness of the sky, the cooler lighting, the lack of direct, harsh light- it all creates very moody images and nice reflections/contrasts, especially on metal. As I drove north to Penske, a light, and then a heavy, rain started coming down. I smiled, because I knew now that the cars at the show would be covered in a fresh layer of rain. I find a particular beauty in cars covered in rain droplets. I can't explain why, but seeing the water bead up on the metal and glass, and seeing how the water droplets grouped together and rolled off the body,  following the bodywork of the car, is magical to me. Maybe it's because from a design perspective it helps visualize the lines of the car, and from an engineering perspective it helps visualize how air flows over the car.  I couldn't wait to get to Penske and see what there was.

When I pulled in, I was a little confused. I thought maybe I was not in the correct place because I did not see too many cars. When I drove further into the parking lot, I realized I was at the correct place, but there were only around a dozen cars present. Rain always kills off meets. Still, that did not mean I could not take some photos. Since my friend had not arrived yet, I starting walking around before taking pictures to see what was there. I started with a lineup of Porsche 911s from different generations and different trims. I recognized a 3.8RS and a GT3 from the Gainey Village Cars and Coffee show immediately. I tried to get some shots of the water beads on the GT3, but they were too fine on the body. The RS though, was much more cooperative, and the monochrome image of the RS below is one of my favorites, if not best photos I've taken. A 135i M, a very underrated car given its capabilities, sitting nearby made for a good shot, too, as well as the Maserati dealership's Ghiblis. I've never lied the Ghibli too much, nor Maserati's new styling direction. But, since Fiat wants to sell 50,000 Maseratis per year, whatever is the most appealing will work (unfortunately). 

I walked around a little to see what else was present. There was a first generation Ford Mustang present, but it was parked in a way that I would not be able to take many good photos of it. There was a Roush Mustang and another Mustang GT present, as well as a seafoam Nissan GT-R, but I've also seen them before multiple times, and they were also not parked in the best positions, so I did not capture them. However, many of the Ferrari/Maserati dealership cars were parked in great positions. First up was a white Gran Turismo S, or, at least the badge of one. I was definitely pleased with how it came out and how well it came out edited. 

Moving onto the Ferrari section of the dealership, I came across a rain-kissed Ferrari F12berlinetta. It was beautiful looking at how the rain had beaded up and flowed off of the body. Seeing the front of the car covered in droplets worked well with the shape of the F12, especially towards the airbridge on the sides of the car. The moody lighting was also perfect in framing the water beads on the car. Further up, a 458 Italia and California parked side-by-side, facing the mountains. The picture of those two cars was wonderful with the mountains and clouds in the background. The rain on the California's body was also perfect looking, with drops flowing off the canopy and beading on the bodywork.

But up ahead sat a black Ferrari FF. The water on it, its position, the shape of the car itself, the way light was reflection off of it, it was all perfect. And, I think these are the best photos I've taken. Monochrome really worked well here:

Processing to bring out the colors of the sky (or, in the 4th photo's case, reduce the colors) also made for striking images, especially when sharpened:

And of course, here are the images without heavy processing, which still look great in my opinion. The clearing skies allowed for more light and blue skies to start appearing in images:

The Ferrari FF sat pretty in front of the Ferrari dealership, with a 458 behind it. Again, I love how the rain beading on the body adds an indescribable beauty to the car.

Having walked to one end of the dealership and not really wanting to continue on as it started becoming a Jaguar and Land Rover lot, I decided to walk back to see if my friend had arrived yet, and sure enough I saw his A4 parked nearby. By it was an evil looking CTS-V with huge hood vents that could eat a small child. I met up with my friend and we starting talking, but were interrupted by an Alfa Romeo 4C rolling by.

We talked for a bit and decided to go look around inside the dealerships since there wasn't too much to look at outside, but not before I snapped a few pics of a Ford GT. Inside the dealership, we wandered around, looking first at the Lamborghini/Bentley/Rolls-Royce dealership. There were a few Huracáns and Aventadors inside, as well as a Continental GT and a Phantom. We went outside to the back area, where an attractively positioned lineup of Ghiblis were parked, photobombed by a Honda Odyssey.

We returned to the front of the dealership through the Ferrari/Maserati dealership, admiring a used Nissan GT-R with around $40,000 worth of mods on it, as well as the Ferraris on display. Back at the front, I got another shot of the rain-soaked F12, with direct sunlight now hitting the bodywork. 

Another treat lay ahead (at least for me, since I am a fan of JDM cars): A RHD 2nd generation Toyota Soarer, I'm assuming from Japan. I didn't find the owner so I could know what engine it had and what mods were in it, but I was still able to appreciate it. The clouds started covering up the sun again, giving me back that cloudy lighting I like.

Walking back, I got a shot of an M4 pulling into the show, driving by a bagged A3. After talking for a little while longer, a C7 Corvette pulled in, white paint looking amazing in the cloudy light, before leaving after only a few minutes. I loved how the white seemed to glow in this lighting, and how the black contrasted the white. Funny how a few years ago when this car first came out I hated the look of the blacks on the car contrasting the body paint.

Since we were thinking of leaving, I decided to get some photos of a McLaren MP4-12C that was parked nearby because the carbon fiber inlets for the intake were red, which I thought was striking looking, especially since it had bright red brake calipers as well. 

After that, my friend decided to leave, but I decided to hang around a little longer to take more photos. A Mercedes 220 (W187 I believe, if my quick Google job was correct), rolled in. It is in beautiful condition, with the black paint giving clear reflections of everything in sight. I was never much into older cars, but the condition and look of this 220 in the now-direct-sunlight-again-but-still-overcast-skies lighting made it something beautiful for me.

As I was walking around, I noticed that the F82 M4 had parked next to an F80 M3. Given their black and gray colors, I thought it would be neat to get a photo of the two together, as well as the M3 alone since I have actually never seen an F80 M3 before.

Before heading to my car, I walked around back to the back of the dealership. I remember seeing some rain-covered cars that also looked really good looking. Yup, worst mistake ever because there were, resulting in the bazillion photos below. First up was a Porsche (forgot the model but that's not important for the photo). The way the raindrops had collected on the hood and on the Porsche badge made for an amazing image, made even more amazing looking with monochrome and heavy processing. Here are edited ones, not heavily processed:

And here are ones more heavily processed and ones converted to monochrome:

And ahead of this was a Ferrari 430 Scuderia, completely soaked in rain water. I love how the 430 Scuderia looks dry, with its curves and more aggressive body kit, but in the rain it looked even better. Again, I cannot describe why rain-covered cars look more beautiful to me,but regardless, I ended up taking many photos of it.

And, of course, the inevitable: a ton of edits, which in my opinion look fantastic.

Of course, monochrome conversion was even more fantastic. The images just look so moody, I love it.

I wandered around a little more, exploring the racing museum and going up the staircase to see the view of the mountains. As I was coming down, I saw a Jaguar XJ from almost directly above. It's large roof was absolutely covered in rain. As you probably guessed already, I had to take photos. But look at them. It looks so beautiful.

As I descended the staircase, I knew I captured some great photos. If only I knew that these would be the best photo's I've ever taken so far. But, to be honest, I think it'll be hard to top some of these in the future, even if I become pro and owned $10,000 cameras and lenses. I just love these images that much.