Driven YEG 2016

Gary Wang August 21, 2016

I've been the car guy who's never been to a car meet, car show, or have a nice car. Well after meeting some people who have now become friends, at least I can cross off the first two off my list. We headed to Driven on a warm sunny Saturday and I proceeded to sweat profusely into my sweatshirt (sorry to anyone who touched me HAHA). The weather was great, but the meet was largely underground, in the Grant Macewan University Parkade.

For the uninitiated, Driven is a car show focused primarily on the tuner car scene in Canada. Earlier this summer, they have hosted shows in Calgary and Winnipeg, and after a long absence, they've returned to Edmonton. They've also got a selection of lifted trucks, lowriders, and exotics, but I'm a Japanese car fan and the show certainly did not disappoint. Without further ado, here are a collection of photos that I've captured during my time there!

@renn.s' (don't know his real name D:) recently widebody STi

Randys' (@itsbirdy/@kingsmustrise) Rallybacker FRS — Randys' (@itsbirdy/@kingsmustrise) Rallybacker FRS

First Libery Walk Maserati GT in North America

To top the show off, I met a lot of really cool people. I've been following @itsbirdy/@kingsmustrise since he did hair tutorials way back in the day as well as Simon, Gerick, and Mila G at the Lost Royalty Booth. Incredibly humble and nice people. I even got photos with Birdy and Mila G!

Anyways that's all I got from Driven, thank you everyone who came out, everyone who brought their cars, and everyone for their ongoing support! Driven was a great experience and I'll be definitely going next year!

Cheers,

Gary

Cruse/Photo Session August 19, 2016

Gary Wang August 21, 2016

Friday evening was host to a full evening of car meets, cruises, and photoshoots. I've got a few shots to document our time. It was great meeting everyone and I promise to get more usable photos next time!

It started off with me showing up at United Cycle at 9:30pm, not realizing that there was a car meet...hardparking my stock Camry whattup...

But after meeting up with a couple of friends, we decided to do a walk through and see what we could find. There were a ton of amazing cars, but being ill-prepared for the photography, the only photo I snagged was this one of Neil's R34 Sedan GTR conversion.

Right before we headed out, I managed to snag this shot of Jason's R34 GTT, Tina's Genesis, and Jas' 370Z

Then we headed over to the Muttart Conservatory. Frankly, the lighting was awful (In retrospect, we should have parked on the other side of the lot, under the street lights), so we quickly headed over to the Gallagher Park overlook.

No matter how many times I visit this spot, I'm amazed by the city skyline. Sure it isn't the greatest or most extravagant, but I think there's merit in going out and looking for the beauty in your own city. Like it or not, you live here, so make the most of it!

This was my attempt at salvaging an otherwise unusable shot. The exposure was too low and so everything was lost in shadow. I managed to salvage some detail from the photo but I'm not completely satisfied. I'll take another crack at this next time!

This shot of Damon's Genesis came out pretty well! Perhaps could have cut out a bit more of the yellow/orange from the streetlamp but I'm fairly satisfied.

After shooting at Gallagher, Stefan, our chase car driver extraordinaire, found a grassy spot just south of the Muttart Conservatory. As a disclaimer, I do not recommend driving on park property and we were as cautious as possible but we do not condone doing what we did. However, it made for some cool shots. Lighting the whole night was a challenge with the array of headlights, streetlamps and dark spots, but I did what I could given the circumstances.

Looking back at the next few shots, I think aiming for a faster shutter speed would have been beneficial. My biggest concern was underexposing the cars, but the photos came out a bit overexposed, especially since there was a very bright yellow streetlamp lighting the grass. Headlights on were also generally a no-go, as the glare and dark backgrounds unusable.

Looking back, this was the ideal angle as it allowed for proper exposure of the side of the car and the headlights were not overpowering the image and causing excessive glare. Probably my favorite photo from the Muttart.

On the way back, I tried my hand at rolling shots. In 1 word, it was a disaster, albeit pretty hilarious. I took a few lessons from the quick run from the Muttart to the Legislature. Firstly, do not drive at the speed limit. You're going to want to go nice and slow for the camera to focus and we were going far too fast. Secondly, the camera car and the car you're shooting should be going at the same speed. If it's flying by, the shot is going to blurry. Finally, you need a long, quiet, smooth stretch of road. I'm no 1 shot magician and the perfect shot takes multiple attempts.

This was one shot I tried to salvage from the cruise. The only reason things aren't blurred to the point of being unrecognizable is because we were stopped at a red...haha!

All in all, it was a great night. I had some great opportunities to shoot some fantastic cars and learn from my mistakes. A huge thank you for the huge turnout just to get some photos taken. I'm also humbled by everyone sharing my photos on Facebook and Instagram, you're the greatest!

Till next time,

Gary

Encounters

Gary Wang August 17, 2016

Today I met some new friends with some very nice cars. Kevin (my close friend) and I decided on an impromptu photo session at Kinsmen Park and surrounding area. We headed on the LRT Bridge and snapped some shots.

When I first started taking photography seriously, I took a similar shot on a 50mm on a cropped sensor. This time, with the wide angle there's a lot more context and a far more interesting photo.

Pretty proud of this shot, played around with split toning to get a nice blue sky and water, which contrasts nicely with the largely orange hue of the buildings.

On our way back, we stumbled on a small group who brought out their cars out for a night cruise photoshoot. I quickly said hi and asked if I could shoot their cars, and they were more than happy to oblige. Fast forward a half hour and we were chatting about cars and exchanged contact info. Great bunch of people, if you're reading this, thank you Neil, Tina, and Jason and your squad. It was great meeting you!

If you want to see their own cars, here are their insta pages:

White R34 GT-T: @botjasonc

Blue R34 Sedan GTR Conversion: @neilgounder

White Hyundai Genesis: @bk2.miku

Possible 2nd photoshoot at Gallagher Park Friday and Driven YEG on Saturday! Stay Tuned

Gary

Monday Night

Gary Wang August 8, 2016

Played around with split toning in this rainy photo of my front yard and car. Too bad I wasn't able to catch any of the lightning, I think it would have made for a more interesting sky.

Gary

Sunset

Gary Wang August 5, 2016

Quick snap of the sunset in the Wal-Mart parking lot after work.

Taken on my Galaxy S6 in RAW.

Gary