Midsummer Evening
With the long evening hours upon us and a newly acquired lens in my possession, it was time to set up a photoshoot with @tim_type_r ‘s recently refreshed 911. Being 911 buddies and circlejerking about every available modification (and splitting shipping costs on said parts), there was no other choice than to take photos of our cars together.
We decided to meet later in the evening, which was good timing as I had an appointment with Terence at TT Auto for my 911. It was due for an oil change, plus I had wanted to get a stud conversion done for a while. I do switch back to the OEM wheels and tires for storage, so using bolts and trying to align the holes is pretty frustrating sometimes. The other issue is that the OEM bolts have seen better days, with the black paint having chipped off in multiple areas and some rust forming.
I went with Motorsport Hardware 44mm studs, as I do not use spacers and I wanted to use close ended lug nuts for an OEM-like look. The stock thread for the bolts is 45mm, so it’s basically the same. A little bit of blue loctite and an allen key made short work of the install.
The beat up OEM nuts. They’ve definitely seen better days and don’t belong on an otherwise clean car.
I went with Augment Wheel Company 35mm Titanium Close-Ended Lug Nuts in black for that stealth look. They are light and strong, and interestingly use a 17mm socket instead of the OEM 19mm. This ended up being a plus, since it reduces the risk of me scratching my Meisters.
Onto the oil change. I learned something new today, as the oil cap assembly actually extends, making it easy to fill your oil
Product shot!
Once the wheels were torqued down and fresh oil was put into the car, it was time to meet up with Tim. We crused over to NAIT for our photoshoot. I’ve been having some trouble finding good spots to shoot at, so NAIT was Tim’s suggestion. I rarely ever go to NAIT, so this was a great opportunity to explore the area.
This would be also a good time to talk a bit about the new lens purchase. I am now the new owner of a Sigma ART 24-70 F2.8 E-Mount Lens. For a long time, I lusted over the 24-70 F2.8 Sony G-Master, but given it’s absurd cost, I had a hard time justifying it. Sigma’s lens comes in at just over half the price with very similar performance. The lens was also designed specifically for Sony E-Mount mirrorless cameras, so the autofocus works, as does eye autofocus which is one of the A7RII’s greatest features. It’s also a big step up in sharpness compared to my 24-70 F4 Zeiss, with the added flexibility of lower aperture. I had a lot of fun shooting with the lens, although the reversed zoom ring is kind of confusing. I’m excited to see them release a 70-200 lens and go head to head with the Sony G-Master F4 and F2.8 lenses.
Anyways, onto the photos! We start at the NAIT CAT building.
I should have used my circular polarizer to eliminate the reflection on Tim’s driver side window…oh well
This one came out a bit better and features a bit of the pedway connecting the CAT building to the parking structure
We then turned around to catch the setting sun behind us.
I’m personally quite proud of this photo. The sun in the background and the angle of the car are perfect. You can also see some of the dandelion fluff being highlighted by the sun!
Wheel Showcase 1
Wheel Showcase 2
We then headed across the street to this airplane hangar. At the point the sun was also setting to the point of becoming a beautiful yellow-orange, casting its color into the next few photos.
I don’t often use wide angles in car photography since I feel it distorts the image, but this was a perfect opportunity. The setting sun and soft clounds on the blue sky.
At the end of the shoot, we had a nice cruise home. Tim’s new exhaust sounds deadly and it was a blast disturbing the peace (but only a little). I wouldn’t mind a few more socially distanced shoots/cruises, especially since summer doesn’t last that long.
Cheers,
Gary