Remember how I said I'd take some good shots of my car and write a feature about it? Well, the feature and all the shots still only exist in the future, but I went to South Mountain last evening and some of the shots I took excite me enough I can't wait to share them. Look forward to a feature of my Honda soon.
Rolling Shots Experiment- Results
As my last blog post mentioned, I always wanted to try rolling shots of cars. Thanks to my friend who also wanted me to try it and his girlfriend/also my friend who was willing to drive my car while I took photos, I got to try it last Friday. We decided to do it in the morning, close to sunrise. This, plus the fact that the road we wanted to do this on, the State Route 87, is half an hour away from our houses, meant we had to wake up at 5am and still miss a good portion of the sunrise and the golden hour. But, after meeting in Fountain Hills, figuring out how our walkie-talkies worked (so we could communicate and I could tell my friend where to position himself relative to me), and driving out onto the freeway, we got settled in. I moved to the back seat and first learned that sticking half my body out the window of a car moving at 50 miles per hour really wasn't that bad. However, the wind on my sinuses was, so I could only stick out for 30 seconds at a time when facing away from the wind, 15 seconds max when facing towards the wind. After quite a few horrible shots and subsequent adjustments, I got into a groove.
It always amazes me how it only takes around an hour of driving to go from a desert landscape to a mountain/forest landscape. As much as I love the desert, it gets monotonous after a while; nothing but flat, sandy, landscape with low-growth shrubbery and cacti. As we drove, it was interesting for me to see the transition as cacti became replaced with trees, and blank mountains were replaced with mountains filled with green bushes and trees. It made for some nice backdrops to the photos.
I have to say, the road was super nice. Someday I'll have to come back just to drive on it. I was kind of bummed to not be able to drive, but hey, it's for art.
Even though it was only a short stint up north and about 20 minutes of walking around, it was certainly a nice change of pace from the city/desert. The air was crisp, the sun wasn't burning a hole through my face, and it was quiet, except for the sounds of birds and insects. Even though I've always preferred urban environments, there was a very strong allure I felt towards the less tamed mountains. I certainly wish to come back here sometime for more shoots.
On the way back, we decided to get some shots with the headlights up, just for fun. Headlights go up, headlights go down.
It was certainly a fun experience. I have to say, part of the reason why I enjoyed it was because of the walkie-talkies. We could talk to each other at a whim, as if we were just sitting and hanging out, except the seats we were sitting on moved at 60mph. I definitely wish to have more of these kind of shoots.
Here are some digitally edited photos, these made for some very nice sharp, high-contrast images:
Monochrome was pretty nice too:
And here are the four images from the other blog post:
Rolling Shots Experiment
After wanting to try this for some time now and receiving a suggestion for it from a friend , I experimented with motion photography, using his C5 Corvette Z06 as the subject, with my friend driving my car alongside. I have more photos to go through and will write about the full experience, but for now, here are some of the first photos I've tinkered with. I have to say they came out well, in my opinion.
Wild West
While I may be out shooting multi-million dollar cars at car shows and listening to the rumbles of high-performance V12s, I can't forget the cars that I actually have access to. While I may be able to see LaFerraris and 918s, these are not my cars. I have no claim or right to them. Instead, my bonds lie with the cars I can drive and that I do have claims to. My personal car, a 2008 Honda Accord sedan (V6 5AT), will get a spot here soon, but in the mean time, here are some photos of my father's 2014 Ford Mustang GT that I took way back in the beginning of March.
When my father said he was interested in the Mustang, I thought he was joking. He never liked American cars, and I knew that when it came to "retirement" cars, a muscle car was never on the list. But sure enough, my family and I went to the Ford dealership one day and test drove a Mustang GT. I have to say, on the test drive, even though it was a base model Mustang, I was impressed. So was my father and mother. All of my experiences with US cars have been rental cars, which meant the best I sampled was a 4 cylinder Malibu, which I was not impressed with at all compared to my Accord, to the echoes of why GM and Chrysler went into bankruptcy, a la PT Cruiser and Dodge Caliber- the less said about those cars, the better. However, the Mustang showed me that US cars had improved greatly. The quality of materials in the cabin were very good, comparable to Japanese cars, and the ride and seats were comfortable. The driving feel was great, and, of course, a huge V8 meant power, which the salesman encouraged us to use by flooring it on the freeway on-ramp.
I also got to test drive a Focus ST, which was also a very fun car. The salesman, who was also a manager, knew I have only had around 40 minutes of manual experience and was teaching me about it. But, we did not purchase the Focus as well, which the salesman was expecting anyways. So, talks returned to the Mustang.
After some paperwork and other discussions (I was not paying attention as I was messing around with the other display cars), my mother and I went home in the afternoon after all of the test drives, leaving my father at the dealership. Would he actually buy it?
Sure enough, that evening, he came home with one: a white 2014 Mustang GT Premium coupe. And I have to say, I love how it looks. The white color, which can look plain on some cars, looks great on the Mustang. I especially love how the white contrasts with the black on the back, and how in turn the black contrasts with the taillights. For some reason, it kind of reminds me of a raccoon, since it looks like a black mask over a pair of eyes.
I also love the overall design of the Mustang. The previous generation went with the "modern retro" look, but it never appealed to me. However, stretching around the dimensions and shapes on that design resulted in this one, and all of the minute details, from shortening but elongating the headlights and adding HIDs and DRLs, to rounding out the back, to making the car appear to be shorter and squatter, all make the car look fantastic to me.
And boy, it drives well. The V8 is super responsive and can either act tame and quiet when cruising, or can absolutely yell when floored. Plus, with the added Shelby exhaust and engine remapping (and cold-air intake, not that it's the +50hp contributor, we all know that comes from red paint), this Mustang sounds superb. The only drawback is that my father hates manual transmissions, so there are only two pedals. Still, that does not draw too much back from driving this car, since I can only tear it around the local freeways and streets. I hope to take it to the track one day and let it loose.
When I get the chance to take more photos of this car with a feature as the end goal, I will upload a better post about this car. Until then, enjoy the photos of this stallion roaming around the Wild West.
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.