The (Un)Usual Suspect

I'm this months Motor Magazines (Un)Usual suspect in the letters section it seems....

The Southern Roadtrip

I've just returned from another Shoot with Motor Magazine, this time it was over a couple of days down south comparing the BMW 335i, Audi S4 and Ford FPV F6.

After picking up the BMW on the Weekend and falling in love with it we drove down to my local area on Monday morning for a breakfast meet up and plan the days ahead, A fuel fill at Engadine and we were on our way south to Kiama through some picturesque roads that snaked there way all the way to Kangaroo Valley.

After doing a few car to car shots and getting some cool angles by risking the camera I jumped out and got some driving shots on a long sweeper that looked like something from a commercial. The sun filtered through the trees and gave a very cool effect.

By now everyone was starving so we continued on to Moss Vale, Ponch chose a quiet little café in the main street because it looked the least suspect out of all the stores, what a poor choice that turned out to be with 3 out of 4 lunches looked like something a dog had thrown up, fortunately my Chicken Burger was somewhat edible much to everyone's jealousy. So with everyone still hungry we hopped back in the cars and made a charge for Wakefield Park for Luffy to put down some hot laps for the article and Ponch to do the performance figures.

Anyone who has been to Wakefield will tell you how cold it can get in Winter, It was literally a couple of degrees above zero and it was only 4pm! Luffy tore the track apart in all 3 cars and on the cool down lap would drift it right past me making for some great cornering shots, he is an amazing driver!

The sun had set but my work was still not over, We needed to get interior shots so I setup my gear and got to work before dinner at the hotel restaurant. Dinner that night got eaten so fast it was ridiculous, everyone was starving from the failure of a lunch and tired from a long days driving… time for bed.

Ponch had the idea that if we got up at 6am we could have some of the backroads to ourselves to get some group shots. After driving for ages I came across a bit of a outlook were I could use a telephoto lens and keep all the cars in the frame. It was a bit dicey doing it on a blind corner but it looked cool so we would risk it. After spending 20minutes to position the cars perfectly and setup my shot we heard a car coming through the mountains, quick as a flash everyone jumped in their cars and drove to avoid a pending accident! And I didn’t even get to hit the shutter! Damn.

We continued on, heading towards Canberra to the Brindabella's line of road to get more driving shots and for Ponch to get a good feel for all the cars characteristics. Midway down the highway I noticed a cool backroad that had plenty of trees lining the road, with minimal traffic. It turned out to be a perfect spot to get some car to car shots but unfortunately the rocks the cars through up broke my good polarizing filter.

Once at the Brindabella's I got more driving shots and Luffy just couldn't stop belting the F6 around the sweepers, power oversteering and sliding all over the place was an amazing thing to watch. We finished up and headed for a park towards Canberra for the group and rig shots and some final statics.

It was getting late and Luffy had a flight to catch back home so we called it a day and headed home back to Sydney, once again I grabbed the BMW and loved every second of driving it, the amazing engine, luxurious interior and superb handling make it an excellent car.

Keep an eye out for the 3 car comparo in next Months Motor.

It's all coming together

Last night I submitted my Shots from BFYB 09, it was a bit of a relief to put that one away after many late nights processing and de-rigging shots. I got a call from the Art Director this morning who was stoked with the shots. That was an even bigger releif.

I was worried about one of the multi car rig shots not turning out too good but that didn't matter, the rest of the shots were enough to clinch me more work.

So next week I'll be spending a couple more days galavanting across the state, this time with 3 big dollar turbo cars

I'm starting to picture the shots in my head now, After completing the last shoot and knowing what can be accomplished with some lateral thinking and photoshop that this could be a very special feature.

I also have not posted a review on the 5dmk2 yet which I have planned to do for some time. But after using it on the last 2 shoots it is definately a very worthwhile investment. Particularly for Automotive photographers. 

Back home

Bang for your Buck 09 is over and it was the coolest photographic experience I've ever had. Whilst still being fun and creative there were many challenges that pushed my limits in both patience and skill as the art directors had some ideas that were definately pushing the boundries of Automotive Photography.




Not only did I get to take some cool unique shots, I also met a dozen or so top blokes that made the trip even better. Everyone was extremely friendly and everyone had a passion for cars.

It was a great experience, and hopefully the start of more long term stories with Motor in the future. But now I have 24Gb of images to sort and process including some very special rig shots and night shots I'll share when the magazine is published next month.

Gearing up

Here is everything besides the rig, suction cups and light stands layed out.


3 bodies and 8 flashes might be a bit over the top, but in the case of disaster at least I'll have backup.

I'll try to update the blog over the next few days pending internet access. But leave tomorrow in the Renault Megane dCi 175 in bright red no less. Let's see what this thing can do!

Motor Bang for your buck 2009

Well I have received the brief.... am I shitting myself?... yes, will I nail it?... Hell YEAH!

Heaps of room for creativity, but all the hard work is already thought out. From what I can see it's an varied range of cars, from everyday commuters right through to ball tearing rip snorters! I can't see how some of these are good bang for your buck when they cost a small fortune.

Cool part is I'll be doing some driving, so a good chance to put some notches in my "hot cars I've driven" belt.

Still need to collate some gear and a few miscellaneous things before Monday but right now I'm pretty excited for it.

Goodbye old friend...

Time has come to sell the 1dsmk2, new 5d2 makes this pretty much obsolete in every fashion, so after been relegated as a backup for the last few shoots it will be put up for sale mid June.

Hardest thing is working out what it's worth... 30604 Actuation's (on this shutter) few dents and scratches but in perfect working order.

It's been the best piece of photographic equipment I've ever had the pleasure of owning, I can really see why people love 1 series bodies but for my line of work the weight is a major negative for rig work.

New Lid

Got a new helmet the other day, One Industries Kombat series. The paint job is awesome.

Also got some New Smith Goggles and Tearoffs ready for racing to begin.




My Kitchen makes a surprisingly good studio.

Good and the Bad

Today was my birthday, usually a day for celebrating and having fun. But not today. I found out a friend of mine was horrifically burnt in a Gas explosion whilst at work.

Sydney Morning Herald Story

Unusual for the newspaper, the story is not hyped up at all, infact both are much worse than the story portrays unfortunately.

Get well soon Todd, My own, my family and friends thoughts are all with you at this difficult time, Pull through mate.

Today was a good day.

Today I got asked if I was interested in shooting Motor Magazines "Bang for your Buck" annual feature in early June for a week. Of course I said yes. On a scale of 1/10 on how stoked I am right now, I would say I am at a 15/10.