This month's Cars and Coffee brought quite a few gems out for show. Some local favorites showed up like Taylor's Liberty Walk and Nismo GT-Rs and Haugen Racing's 351JZ. There were two 911Rs and a 300SL present, plus even a RUF! Scottsdale McLaren brought out a BAC Mono and a tribute 675LT out for show. Will pictures be up? We'll see, no promises, but I have these done now. All in all, it was good times and close to the end of an era, as the show is set to move to a new, larger location in April. I can't wait to see what it brings.
Photos from Taiwan, Pt. 2
Shilin Night Market
Night markets are a wonderful part of Taiwanese culture and something I really liked while I was last there 5 years ago. I brought my camera along to Shilin Night Market, even though I didn't think I would be able to take many photos due to the low lighting, packed streets, and cramped quarters. However, it turned out to be a wonderful opportunity to try out street photography for all of the reasons that I thought would be hindrances. I certainly could never take photos like this here in Arizona, or anywhere in the United States.
At first, I only took photos of the entire market to capture what it looked like as a whole. But after a little experimentation with my lens and camera settings, I realized I could get some pretty good shots of people and other isolated subjects in the markets. And thus I went about trying to capture the atmosphere of a bustling market filled with people from all walks of life, eating, shopping, and having a good time, all under the night sky and neon signs.
Here's a little blurb about Shilin Night Market, again taken from Wikipedia (yes, kill me English professors, I'm not sorry though): "
Shilin Night Market (Chinese: 士林夜市; pinyin: Shìlín Yèshì) is a night market in the Shilin District of Taipei, Taiwan, and is often considered to be the largest and most famous night market in the city…. The night market encompasses two distinct sections sharing a symbiotic relationship: a section formerly housed in the old Shilin Market building, containing mostly food vendors and small restaurants; and the surrounding businesses and shops selling other nonfood items….
In addition to the food court, side streets and alleys are lined with storefronts and roadside stands. Cinemas, video arcades, and karaoke bars are also prevalent in the area. Like most night markets in Taiwan, the local businesses and vendors begin opening around 16:00. As students begin returning home from school, crowds reach their peak between 20:00 and 23:00. Businesses continue operating well past midnight and close around 01:00 or 02:00."
I really wish I could have spent all night here taking pictures. It was an entirely new experience for me to take shots like this and I could have experimented for many nights. Each second was a new frame as people hustled and bustled around. Plus, I would never go hungry with such amazing night market food. Until next time, Taiwan.
Cars and Coffee January 2017- Early Highlights
Photos from Taiwan, Pt. 1
Over winter break I got to spend a week in Taiwan. Naturally, I had to take photos.
Ximending
The first location is Ximending. Ripped from Wikipedia since it can explain it way better than me, "Ximending (Chinese: 西門町; pinyin: Xīméndīng) is a neighborhood and shopping district in the Wanhua District of Taipei, Taiwan. ...Ximending has been called the "Harajuku of Taipei" and the "Shibuya of Taipei". Ximending is the source of Taiwan's fashion, subculture, and Japanese culture. Ximending has a host of clubs and pubs in the surrounding area. This area is in the northeastern part of Wanhua District in Taipei and it is also the most important consumer district in the Western District of Taipei."
After first seeing it at night, I knew I needed to come back for photos. The brightly lit signs, the upbeat atmosphere, the amount of people and energy around, I just had to try to capture it.
The photos above are only the "front" main area. Once you walk around inside, you get greeted with "miniatures" of this space filled with people and signs, but on small streets. Both vehicular and foot traffic busily coexist here.
Furthermore, there are many side alleys where smaller shops are located. In addition to these, there are large "walk-only" areas within the district filled with foot traffic and shops.
Presidential Office Building
Nearby Ximending is the Presidential Office Building. Again, ripped from Wikipedia, "The Presidential Office Building (Chinese: 總統府; pinyin: Zǒngtǒng Fǔ) houses the Office of the President of the Republic of China. …It became the Presidential Office in 1950 after the Republic of China lost control of mainland China and relocated the nation's capital to Taipei at the end of the Chinese Civil War. At present, this Baroque-style building is a symbol of the ROC Government and a famous historical landmark in downtown Taipei."
In previous nights it was brightly lit. I don't know if it was the time I came to shoot (around midnight) or if it was the day (December 31st) that was the reason why the lights were off, but nevertheless, I grabbed some pictures while the undercover secret service agents guarding the area outside watched me.
New Year's Eve, Taipei
Every New Year a huge fireworks show occurs on the Taipei 101, the tallest building in the city, the country, and the world until the Burj Khalifa was completed in 2009. This being a city of nearly 3 million people and also a tourist attraction, especially for the New Year celebrations.
My hotel was located close to the Taipei 101, roughly a mile and a half away. It took around 30 minutes to walk one-way, but there was no way I was getting close to it that night due to the crowds. Instead, I set up shop around a kilometer away from the building (yes, I'm mixing units, but as an American I can afford the luxury of doing so). Unfortunately, while I could see the building perfectly, this location did not give me a good photo-taking view of the building. It did however, put me in the middle of the crowds walking closer to it. Thus, while waiting for midnight, I took long exposures of the crowd, and, after filming the firework ceremony, taking photos of the aftermath:
Everyone was so courteous, making sure they weren't in my way, making sure not to hit my tripod's legs, etc.
Taiwan was amazing, and I will hopefully have the rest of the pictures up soon.
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.