Some friends and their car club Hiroi Sekai have begun holding weekly meets in Gilbert. I decided to go to it yesterday, since even though last week was only their second week some "heavy hitters" in the car scene here showed up to it, and I'm eager to see it grow. Some more heavy hitters showed up last night, and despite an incident with someone not even at the meet squealing tires, leading to cops showing up, the space we had was already pretty full and the meet went smoothly. I look forward to where this leads to.
Site Update!
Hello everyone! I will admit I have been inattentive to my website for the past two months, but I will rectify that starting this week. I've been keeping busy with various events, which you will see soon! Here's a preview of some of the photos I've taken in the past two months that need to be published:
First Street Refined Weekly Meet
After quite a bit of "planning" and talk, my university's official car club, Street Refined, held a meet that will hopefully become a weekly/bi-weekly event. The turnout was great. The parking lot of the Culver's we met at, a meet spot that we've used in the past, was completely full with the cars of our club members. It was an amazing turnout, and in addition, a great example of how diverse the car community is. Muscle, European, Japanese, spanning a range from a Nissan GT-R to a Honda Accord to Miatas to Mustangs, we're all one big happy family.
It was a great night of seeing people again that haven't been seen for a while, and meeting new people who share a similar passion.
Schumacher European
Continuing on the tour of North Scottsdale dealerships under the influence of Barrett Jackson, we come to Schumacher European Ltd. This one dealership had quite a few gems on display. I was first drawn to the blue Lamborghini Aventador SV (seen in the gallery later in the post), but as I was walking towards it, this caught my eye: a white SLS AMG Black Series. I've never seen a Black Series SLS AMG before, and I immediately walked into the dealership to look at it closer. As Frank, a sales associate, and I discussed, white is an incredible color for it. Being white, all of the carbon fiber bits added on to the SLS' body can be fully seen and appreciated, from the aggressive, wide wing to the splitter, canards, and diffuser. I just love how aggressive the car looks, matching its exhaust note and performance perfectly. The unique proportions add to its appeal, with its long hood and compact greenhouse tucked in the rear, surrounded by carbon fiber. I'm a sucker for white cars with black body parts, so to me the color is perfect.
After admiring the white SLS AMG, I finally went outside to check out my original target, only to discover even more amazing metal present. I spent a good while talking to Sales and Leasing Consultant Irving about the cars in front of us, cars in general, and our participation in motorsports. It's always great talking to another car person, especially since every time it's a reminder of how diverse of a group of people we are. But, after the alarm to a Ferrari 458 was set off by another curious visitor and Irving had to find the keys to turn it off, I turned my attention to the three cars that were in front of me: another Mercedes SLS AMG Black Series, a Lamborghini Murcielago SV, and my original target, a beautiful, blue Lamborghini Aventador SV.
Frank was right, while black is a very nice color on the SLS AMG, giving it a very menacing look, it hides all the details of the carbon fiber that could be seen on the white one. While the black makes the rear end of the car ferocious looking, with the spoiler and diffuser clearly visible, the carbon fiber bits on the sides and fronts vanish into the blackness of the body. Still, it truly is an aggressive looking car. I went from having never seen a Black Series SLS AMG to have seen two in one day.
But, most of my attention was on the Aventador SuperVeloce. I've only seen a red one before, and that was in the cramped, crowded confines of Cars and Coffee. Now, I could freely walk around and soak in the liberal use of carbon fiber, aggressively sharp lines, and aero kit. I've always loved Lamborghini's sharp edges and lines, and in the SV, I love how that design philosophy was turned up to 11. Seeing the setting sun and beautiful Arizonan sky reflect off of those angled body panels was truly a sight to see. The blue, especially in the sunset, was so radiant. It just popped. I wish I could summon the proper words that would do it justice, but alas, all I have are the pictures to show.
And, I can't forget the Murcielago SV parked next to the Aventador. However, with light getting scarce and the time I said I would be home having passed nearly 3 hours before, I did not take too many shots of it. And, in fact, I totally forgot about the two Ford GTs on display at the front of the dealership, including one heritage car, which is painted in a Gulf racing livery like the GT40s that raced in Le Mans. I was pretty upset about forgetting them, but at the same time, I was running out of light. Maybe some other time I will see them again.
These two pictures deserved their own gallery. As of right now, I think these are the best pictures I've taken. I got lucky with the angle of the sun, my positioning, and the settings I chose to shoot at. See for yourself:
Lamborghini Aventador LP-750-4 Superveloce in the setting Arizonan sun
Generations of Raging Bulls in the setting sun.
Tempe Town Lake Night Portraits
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!