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. 

Eddie's GTR and Nicole's X5

These images were shot in August of 2016. Since then, Eddie's GT-R is now a whole new mermaid with a new custom wrap from Colorbomb, hopefully updated shots will be available soon!

Becoming an automotive photographer is interesting as you get to meet a lot of new, cool people. One of these people I have met is Eddie. Funny enough, it started with him liking a lot of my photos on Instagram until I finally met him and his Mermaid (Nissan GT-R) at a meet. He loves my work and wanted to shoot with me, and I obliged. He also asked if another fellow petrolhead, Nicole, could come along with her BMW X5. I said of course, the more the merrier!

Eddie has been in Arizona for a long time, 27 years, but it wasn't until he bought a BMW Z4M that he got truly into cars. This was traded for an M6, which eventually was replaced with a CTS-V Coupe, which is where he says the passion for serious modding develped. His former CTS-V Coupe had D3 parts pushing over 800HP and had all of the carbon fiber exterior fixings. But, one day he took a peek at the GT-R, which led to a test drive, which led to him coming home with it, causing the V to be sold to focus solely on the GT-R.

Eddie is in the scene today for the people, like those in the OneAuto group and sharing a bond with his son. He loves to see the younger generation of petrolheads get inspired and create goals and dreams of their own for their future cars.

As of when these photos were taken, the mods to Eddie's GT-R were the following:

  • Joe Bach GTRR 700 Package

    E85 Conversion

    Speed Density Conversion

    Upgraded injectors

    Intake

    Hard Piping

    Cobb Tune

    Full Variable Exhaust with upgraded down pipe and mid pipes

    Head lights by Fly Ryde (demon eyes, angel eyes)

    Tail by Turn Conversion by Fly Ryde

    Ride Controller Auto Start and Under Lighting

    Air Lift Suspension with 3H/3P

    Rohana Rims with MPSS

    Carbon Fiber front spoiler

    Duck Bill Carbon Fiber Trunk

    Carbon Fiber Side Skirts

Unfortunately I could not find the bio information for Nicole, and since a long time has passed and I'm trying to push out my old content, I decided to not seek it out again and bother her more. However, there will be more shoots and more opportunities in the future.

BioDesign Professional Portraits

Funny enough, Bianca and I were complete strangers around two weeks ago, and yet here we are, taking pictures. Of all places to meet, too, we met at an orientation for our jobs at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, due to a small-talk comment. But, with the world being as small as it is, it turns out we both know my roommate and that she and him are co-workers.  

 

It turns out she needed some professional portraits done for her applications to med schools, and me being a photographer, I offered to take them. After deciding that Biodesign itself would make a good backdrop, here we are. I originally planned to take these photos in the warmth of the evening sun during the golden hour. However, clouds blanketed the sky, unsurprising considering that for the past week we've had some pretty serious monsoon weather, including several haboobs, Luckily, there was still plenty of light, so we went to the sunny side of the building to take these portraits.

Since she also needed a passport-style photo, we headed indoors to find a plain background. Also, it being summer in Arizona with added humidity, the AC was a nice treat. But, with all of those TV displays, we couldn't help but take a few extra pictures.

We definitely went inside at the right time because as we took pictures and talked, the winds outside picked up to monsoon levels, with trees flailing wildly in the wind. So, at that point we decided it was probably a good time to end the photoshoot, until we walked back around the building. Since the wind was calm for brief periods of time before picking back up, I thought the back of the Biodesign building would make an excellent backdrop, and in between spats of wind, we took some more pictures. At least the wind was blowing the right way ("fluffing up" her hair as opposed to throwing it onto her face).

After randomly noticing another cool looking backdrop of the path that leads to a sculpture, we talked some more before heading on with the rest of our evenings, with the world ever so smaller.