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Fit Freaks!
So I have learned that scheduling is one of the biggest issues with setting up photoshoots.
Everyone is busy, weather never cooperates, surprise ninja attacks… it’s all too much for me sometimes… LOL
This week, Fit famous Note and Steph were kind enough to let me shoot their cars while casually strolling the boulevards of Fullerton.
I was really busy this week and I wasn’t able to scout a location. So we just drove around and what an adventure that was.
From downtown Fullerton, colleges, 50 U-turns, douchebag Celica GT-S driver to earthquakes, we witnessed it all!
One of the main components I was looking for was Fits with low offsets and these guys did not disappoint. I mean they were so damn low that their tires were smoking while they were cruising the blvd. I sat their laughing my ass off when we were trailing Note’s Fit and smelled Steph’s tire shredding away. If you look closely at the wheel shots, you can see that their lettering is gone! That is gangsta!
As much as I am opposed to shooting in locations that have been “played” we really didn’t have a choice as we were loosing light and I didn’t want to leave these two without any pictures. So Note lead us to these large warehouses with roll up garages.
Thanks to Note, Steph and Duy (my very trusty assistant)!
Enjoy.
I think I can be safe in saying that the Acura NSX is probably one of the most sexiest cars ever. Sure, the Europeans have cars that give it a run for the money but growing up in socal, this car is the that got away for the majority of us. With the discontinuation of this Tokyo Exotic back in 2005, trying to get your hands on one will get more and more difficult . We can already see evidence of that now. Almost every car in the market has plummeted except for the NSX. :bangshead:
When I met Jeff this past Sunday, I knew he had a beautiful car but… “My oh my!” when I first saw it coming up the hill on the opposite side of the street, I was like “Hot Damn that beast is sexy!” I was like a little school girl jumping for joy over and over in my head (um, I just did 50 push ups to counter act the fact that I said I was a school girl). The sounds were very sexy indeed.
The 1992 NSX is the product of Jeff’s vision of producing a car that is unique, fast and controllable. No corner cutting here. Without getting into a mod list, here are some of the goodies found on his car. Carbon Fiber Dymag Rims, NA2 conversion headlights and bumpers, brembo brakes and a supercharger is a one off by Whipple that has a larger displacement of 2.3L vs. the 1.6L made by the Comptech one. It put down 435 rwhp on a dyno dynamics dyno. Carbon fiber front lip, rear wing, rear diffuser, rear window garnish, are made by DOWNFORCE, red hot chili from the Mini Cooper with a black pearl top and mirrors to match, Sparco seats, Simpson Racing Belts, Rear wide body (not sure which one at this time) along with all the cooling for the motor and supercharger. Unfortunately, I wanted to put the interior off til it was completely dark so I can get the glowing gauges but it was getting so late, I was not able to get any shots of it but you can believe me, it was gorgeous inside.
Below you can check out rolling, static and detail shots from the shoot.
Thanks again to Jeff and his wife Jane for taking the time out to meet me and my wife.
Meeting Jay last minute was a bit challenging because location is always something I stress over.
I always “drive” around my head and try to think about places that have unique colors, texture and architecture but this is not as easy as it sounds. Normally we drive on the main roads and that keeps us from the small roads that that hide the true character of a city. Getting lost is really the best way to find the cool spots to shoot. Unfortunately there is no guarantee that you will find a great spot either.
Jay was happy to wash his car and head down from Rosemead to Pomona in a matter of hours while fighting afternoon traffic from LA. While he fought the commuter nightmare, I spent about 40 mins scooping out the location of our shoot. One thing was for sure, there were plenty of cops driving around but we later found out that they really didn’t care that there was a car blocking an alley, people gathering to watch and ask questions or that we had a camera hanging off a long pole from the car. That made this night FTW!
Here are a few from the night. Thanks again Jay for making it out.
Blogs, blogs, blogs… I guess it is just hard to get away from them.
In the past week, I have decided to pursue a path in automotive photography mainly cause it offers me a way to challenge myself from the norm of shooting portraits and secondly, shooting cars… what else can any guy ask for?
On the first of this month (April 2009) I have decided to put together a real clean and tight portfolio to start submitting to various publications. I am not sure where I would like to take this, but if I can shoot cars, drive cars and get paid for it…. well then, I can die a happy man.
So the countdown to the end of April begins….
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