I decided to edit these pictures first before the qipao photos (which would be the Part 2 of the Chinese Cultural Center Portrait shoot) because a) I've never done a night portrait shoot before and I was anxious to see the results and share them, and b) I really liked these because I thought they looked badass. So here we are. After the daylight left and we messed around some more, my friend and I decided to brave the cold (more her than me since she was still wearing her dress) and try some night portraits. Tempe Town Lake is pretty at night, as long as you don't look at the water, and I thought the bridge lights, artificial lighting, and her jacket would all match very well together in photos. Leaning against a pole looking badass was the first round of shots here. I used my speedlight on a low light setting and a very high angle (like 60 or 70 degrees) with a bounce card to shoot these in addition to a low shutter speed (from 1/40-1/20 seconds), with the camera of course mounted on a tripod.

Of course, all these shots were far away, and my friend wanted to try some ones that were closer. I have to say, these are my favorites, they really make her look badass, in my opinon (not that she isn't already).

Moving on from the light pole, we decided to just do standing shots. Also, since all the other ones were serious, we threw in some smiling pics into the mix. For these, I didn't use a flash, instead I used a much lower shutter speed (1/15-1/10 sec or so), which I didn't think would work but the results speak for themselves. I'm not sure if I like them better or not though. Trial and error will tell me what to do in the future.

Oh, and because I also had a leather jacket, she wanted me to pose with her in our leather jackets so we can be badass together. These used the same flash settings as the first pictures, with me using the camera's timer to take the photos. We're about to drop our newest mixtape, yo.

Of course, I couldn't just let the images go without some artistic editing. Here's my artistic license applied to the pics.

Here's to hanging out and taking more pictures in the future. Thanks for your help, my friend!

Subarus are a huge thing, as you can probably see from the recent blog posts about Subarus. There are a ton of Impreza drivers here at ASU, including my good friend Noah. Noah and I first met because I was wearing a Honda NSX shirt, and both of us are huge fans of it. With us both being car guys and an admiration for the NSX, we became friends easily. Noah drives this Blobeye Impreza WRX STi with a Cobb exhaust, white wheels that I forgot the name of, and some other various small engine mods that I forgot to ask about again since I forgot that this was also a feature piece and that I needed to ask him about these things.

As can be seen from the license plate, Noah and his STi are from Oregon, which he tells me has an absolutely massive Subaru presence. For this academic year he drove his STi down from Oregon to have in the desert. The Arizonan fuel, however, has not always matched his Impreza's tastes, as he's told me before how he's had to work on the engine mapping a lot because the fuel didn't agree with his previous maps. But, with those issues over, Noah's been driving this thing- a lot. It serves as both his daily driver to his job and also his track-day toy, and its long, multipurposed life can be seen in its odometer.

The Impreza STi has always been a favorite car of mine because of its rally heritage. Riding along with Noah on the way to the photoshoot location, I became enchanted by the traditional boxer-burble and the wastegate, as well as the smaller details such as the shift indicator (that Noah set to go off at around 3500rpm just so it can be heard regularly, a decision I wholeheartedly agree with). And, being outside looking at the car, I was taken back to when I was younger, playing Gran Turismo 4 and loving how the Blobeye looks. Even sitting still, it looks aggressive and ready to race.

Unfortunately, Noah plans to sell his beloved STi due to life. Even though the STi is a wonderful car, it still screams "boy-racer" too much for Noah's current and future professional career because of all the reasons why a person would love an Impreza STi- the big wing, the loud burble, the bright color, etc. It's a real shame to see her go, but Noah told me that after school is done and a career is in place, he definitely plans on buying another one. Subie love sure runs deep.