Performance Imports Issue 114

New issue of Performance Imports is out, I shot this feature in 2008 and it's only just hitting the shelves now! Stans car is quite unique, not just the fact it's running a single turbo RB26/30DET combo, but the fact it's an Auto creates a lot of headscratching. I shot this feature in 2 sessions, with the possibility of cover I shot a lot of cover options that could fit the bill, instead it was relegated to a normal feature which is a shame as this car is awesome.

I'll be updating more with more Motor Magazine work and a big commercial shoot i'm gearing up for soon.

Sheckler and the Red

A while back I posted about the Red camera system, now film makers are finding out what all the fuss is about and putting together big budget movies with them, here is a cool clip showing the making of a new Ryan Sheckler Promotional vid for his website. As much as I hate Sheckler, it's pretty cool.

Sneak Peak

It's been a while since I've done a shoot for a private customer, whilst it's nice shooting for magazines there is additional pressure to constantly produce a high quality of work, so every now and then it's a good break to do a private shoot and try some new ideas and techniques.

Here is a sneak peak of the car in current post production overload…

Here is the result of the shoot at the end of the night…

Hopefully it's repairable.

Hot Tuner 2009

As I dawdled through Sydney's morning traffic on the way to the inaugural Motor Hot Tuner challenge something bright and green appeared in my rear view mirror, it was a couple of cars behind me but I couldn't quite make out what it was. A few kilometres down the road the mystery green object was right behind me, menacing and low. I knew it was a Porsche and a special one to be in that Kermit Green Colour.

He tails me for a few more kilometres, now on the final stretch to Western Sydney International drag way, In no way did I think this would be one of the cars taking part of the event, I thought it was another rich guy taking it to the circuit next door for a track day.

I pulled up at the designated meeting spot, and so does the Green Machine. Yep the 911 GT2 was part of the story, and best of all it was modified and an absolute animal!

As we said our hello's and introduced ourselves, an automotive smorgasbord joined us, Super snake Cobra, R35 GTR, 911 Turbo's, Modified Volkswagen and a Holden Commodore that had more grunt than a Pig Breeder. Take note these cars are all modified, some more than others but the level of these vehicles was exceptional and a credit to those who built and own them.

The plan was relatively simple, gather 22 of the best workshop modified cars from around the country and test them against each other in a series of controlled test to see who was the Hottest Tuner in Aus. Logistically shooting this many cars in 2 days was extremely difficult but we managed to get the job done.

Day one involved the Acceleration test, 0-100kph, Braking tests and 0-400M thrash, whilst on the other end of the track we had the Dyno running measuring peak power and torque.

To avoid any inconsistencies, all the cars ran the same 98 octane fuel, were driven buy the same driver for each of the respective tests and kept locked up in "parc ferme" overnight to stop any overnight tuning.

Day one went relatively smoothly, Fellow snapper Thomas and I worked through lunch to snag a DPS shot with the Blue SS Commodore and the Super Snake doing a Burnout past the line, it worked out pretty well and gave a good mix of emotion and speed to an otherwise boring scenario. Taking exciting images of drag racing is difficult without having the cars lift the wheels or combust into flames so we had to do a bit of head scratching.

That night, Easton Chang made the trip to shoot the cover options, it was great to see his way of thinking and how he shoots his ultra complicated setups, I learned a great deal and will put a lot of the things into practice in future shoots.

Day 2 was at Oran Park Circuit for the track test, one flying lap on the main circuit and another on the smaller south circuit. John Bowe was the Guest driver for the main circuit and is an Australian Touring car Legend, It was amazing to meet one of my hero's from when I was a kid and he is also extremely funny and quick witted. Luffy took to the south circuit and in true Luffy style ripped it up! Doing some amazing powerslides for the camera's and making it look so easy.

In the end it was the Fitzgerald Racing Porsche 911 Turbo that took the honours over the 911 GT2, also noticeable mentions must go to city performance and their amazing R32 Golf which ran 11's over the quarter Mile and decimated many of the other tests. A lesson that can be taken from the event is that power doesn't nessaceraly maketh the car. Starting with a strong base and making smart and effective modifications is the real winner and a recipe for success.

So that was the 2009 Motor Magazine Hot Tuner event done and dusted, hopefully next year a stronger and even faster set of vehicles take up the challenge and hopefully I'll be there to capture it once again.

Motor Sept 09

Newest issue of Motor hit the stands yesterday with the Feature I shot with the three Generations of Renault Hot Compact cars, The Renault Clio R27 F1, 16TS and 8 Gordini all have cool bits and peices that make them different from other cars so it was a real pleasure to experience.

The Clio R27 is a great car, I was never a fan of Renaults until I saw this in the flesh, The stickers while a bit of a wank are a typical Renault way of making something different cool, albeit advertising the fact they won the 2007 F1 championship in 2009 is totally ridiculous to me. It's a trackday special that you could drive everyday. I found the seats a bit too racelike for my liking though especially after sitting in them for a whole day.

I also thought the Renault 8 Gordini was particularly cool, 2 fuel tanks, rear engined and a raw driving experience. It reminded me of a Datsun 1600 but with a few quirks. This particular car was immaculate and a testament to the owners love and dedication to the make.

The 16 TS was also very unique, a Colomn shifted manual, rear seats that lifted up and suspension that felt like you were floating on a cloud. This car would have been revolutionary in it's day. Apparently these made succesful rally cars aswell.... sounds scary.

I was happy how the article came out, Cockburns story is both informative and in-depth but I like the way he incorporates humour to break it up a bit. I would have thought the 3 car rig shot would have been the double page spread but the Static Group shot looks sweet when cropped. Overall I am happy how it turned out.

Motor - August 09

Hit the shelves today, I have 2 major features and 2 smaller ones. Check it out.

bfyb vid

Ignore the last bit, not onsale yet.

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. 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.

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.