The Mid September White Vehicle Shoot

Based on the success of the Mid August White Vehicle shoot, Larry (@j2studiosphotography) and I brought our white mechanical babies out for another photoshoot. This one happened to be the day after the double Porsche shoot and was a very warm day. Unfortunately, with the warm came a bright strong sun, which I have trouble shooting with. I used a circular polarizer (as I usually do) but it’s still hard to balance colors and exposure in post. I think I need more practice, have a peek at the photos and let me know your thoughts!

We started off at Government House beside the old Royal Alberta Museum. Having never been there, I was suprised how nice of a backdrop it made for the photos. There was also a big Mini meet happening in the adjacent parking lot, which was interesting! Love to see passion for any car, regardless of make.

Larry fawning over his baby!

Cool shot with the tree. You can see some of the Minis in the back too!

We then set off to Kinsmen Park! The primary reason was to do a fall version of a photo on Larry’s Instagram to show the difference between summer and fall. It required a ladder and some setup so I was more than happy to tag along and help. First though, we took photos of our cars!

This was the shot Larry @j2studiosphotography wanted to get, although his is with a wider angle and higher up. Check his photo out on his IG page.

The short scenic walk up to the vantage point where the LRT shot was taken

Last but not least, we took a few shots in Gallagher park from Cloverdale Hill which is now one way and has a bike lane (???). We parked quickly and was told off by a biker that there’s no parking. I wanted to quip that we spent all that money on bike infrastructure and he doesn’t even bike in the lane they built for him but I digress…onto photos!

Always a nice view of #yeg

Some nice clouds rolled in to give us some cover from the bright sun

At this point, the fatigue was setting in from getting up early both days so we said our goodbyes. I was glad we got to shoot one more time before the weather really becomes an issue. As you’ll see, the next post is shot in less than idea conditions.

Cheers,
Gary

911 x2

With summer being basically over, we’re greeted with fall leaves and surprisingly cooperative weather (especially when we consider how awful and full of rain our summer has been). To capitalize on the color change and to celebrate the fact that Tim (@tim_type_r) finally has his 911 figured out, we found some time to do an early morning shoot.

The first location looks pretty familiar, as I wanted to go somewhere with plenty of fall foliage. Emily Murphy has it in spades and serves as a great backdrop to these cars. Photos below!

Waiting for Tim

At this point the sun decided to peek out, so we rearranged the cars to take advantage of it.

The soft sun was in the perfect position. Shame about the other cars in the shot though.

I then decided that it would be nice to park the car on the narrow roads going to and from the parking area. One at a time though, since we had to move quickly in case someone needed to pass by. Here’s a side by side of Tim’s 997.1 and my 997.2.,

After having our fill of the fall foliage, we moved on to our 2nd stop, right outside the CCIS lecture halls at the U of A. There’s no actual parking allowed there so we stopped, spent 5 minutes shooting and went on our way, trying not to obstruct people.

Our last stop is at Jubilee Parkade, which I’ve shot at before, but only during at night. Turns out it doesn’t look too bad during the day either. At this point, the sky had clouded over, offering a darker, more somber backdrop. Matches the more industrial aesthetic of the area so I was more than happy.

Head to Head

Probably my favorite photo from this spot. Had to get high up to get this photo and it offers a different angle from what I’m used to. The rough texture of the pavement also contrasts well with the smooth paint.

Overall, this has been one of my favorite shoots so far and it’s not because I love Porsches. I felt like I did a lot right with the photography. The weather was cooperative as well.

Good points:

  • I remembered for the first time to rotate my circular polarizer from shot to shot to reduce the reflections on the cars as much as possible

  • Also remembered to use a variety of angles and a mix of landscape and portrait

  • Effective use of natural lighting

Overall though, I feel that more than anything, with outdoor shoots you really are at nature’s mercy. If she decides to give you weather that helps your photography then the photos are just that much better. If not, then you can try your best but you can only work with what you have lighting-wise.

The one other thing I noticed is that many of the photos that were shot as RAW and under-exposed in camera came out better. When given a lighting situation with a large range of brightness (eg. shooting towards the sun with the subject in front of you) using the A7RII’s EV function and reducing the exposure made sure the highlights weren’t completely blown out. This retains the detail in the sky and the camera is good enough at picking up color in the darks that increasing shadows in Lightroom evens out the exposure perfectly. This is something that I’ll have to remember to use, especially on those darn sunny days.

Hope you enjoyed the content. More to come soon!

Cheers,
Gary

No Sleep Weekend (Horspower 4 Hope and RJ Auto Grand Opening)

August 24 and 25 were rough. Not because it sucked or was boring, but because I did not get enough sleep. If you’ve ever heard of “The International” then you know that this year the prestigious DOTA2 tournament was being held in Shanghai. Coincidentally, 3 of my friends and myself thought it’d be a great idea to watch the last 2 days of competition. In its entirety. Mistakes were made.

Friday August 24 ended pretty early, as the games were done by 12am. The next day, I met with my friend Raymond who was coming up and visiting for the weekend. We drove to Horsepower 4 Hope and had a look around. Take a look!

This Murcielago from Pure Executive Auto was probably my favorite car at the show. Having seen various versions of this particular car over the years, I’m always surprised how it looks better with each iteration. The black and white color scheme is complimented by the beautiful AG wheels. The bronze color and rear concave make it look super aggressive!

Widebody Aventador, 991 GT3, M4. Deadly combo.

Cool little race car (I think it’s a Radical SR3?)

996 Turbo. A little rough around the edges, but that means it’s a car that’s been used (which is always a winner in my book)

Sad that this F430 no longer has the Pikachu livery to match the custom plate.

930 Turbo, AKA the widowmaker. Super cool to see one in real life, especially a well maintained example.

Love the wheels on this F430. Some foreground 993 booty in the action as well.

TT Auto’s LP640 Murcielago roadster also present

Never seen a Diablo in real life, very cool

Top Fuel dragster at the Canadian Tire booth

Overall Horsepower 4 Hope was a unique event and a good way to spend an hour or two. It was a charity show which is always nice and was catered more towards families and kids, with lots of activities for children. A much different vibe from other shows that seem to be targeted towards the 20-30s tuner crowd. All in all, a relaxed way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

The rest of the afternoon was spent at Buco in Windermere. Once evening came, the real test began.

On the last day of The International, there are the lower bracket finals and then the grand finals. Lower bracket finals are best of 3, upper bracket best of 5. After some delays, we started watching the Grand Finals at 1am. It stretched out to 4 games. So basically, we went to sleep at 7:30am and I had a bbq to attend in the afternoon. I think I slept in till 1pm and it was good enough to survive the rest of the Sunday. OG won though, which is crazy (first repeat winners, exact same lineup). Too bad for Team Liquid though.

On Sunday I was invited by TT Auto to RJ Auto’s grand opening. Ranno (a friend of TT) and his father own the shop and celebrated finally getting things sorted and being ready for business. It was a much bigger BBQ than I expected, with burgers, hot dogs, a roast pig, and plenty of cake and dessert. The food was excellent and really helped me re-energize. There were plenty of cool cars out too (mostly Euros). Have a peek!

First of all, did not expect a 991 GT3 here. Damn. It’s a track car too!

M4 on TEs. Yes. Also some serious rubber on this thing (Toyo Proxes R888)

Spoon S2K on Advan GTs. Yes.

Spoon brakes too!

C63 AMG on Volk Racing G25s. Love the sound of AMG cars, brutal and aggressive. Hilarious plate too

FC RX-7

Ranno’s LS slammed on Work VS-XX wheels. Clean and simple

Another M4, this example on HREs.

Lemans Blue 335D

CE28 fitted S2K beside the FC

My favorite shot that afternoon. When we arrived, there were no parking spots left, so Terence (in typical awesome Terence fashion) takes front and center. I didn’t know where to park, so I just parked right beside him!

This picture is a close second fav! Mochi inside the Muricelago’s frunk!

And that concludes a very busy but exciting weekend. I ended up having the next 2 weeks off, which was spent sleeping and catching up on all the PharmD rotation requirements. Not fun but you gotta do what you gotta do!

Fall is upon us now, so more shoots with pretty leaves coming up!

Cheers,
Gary

The Mid August White Vehicle Shoot

The title says it all! I met up with Larry (aka @j2studiosphotography), a good friend and coworker, and took some photos of our cars. Larry recently got a Lexus RX350 F Sport in white, so I brought my white car out and we took some photos together on the top of Rice Howard Parkade. Enjoy!

The weather was very cooperative, largely overcast with some sun, which made controlling reflections a lot easier. The 102st parkade (where the Camry and Lexus shoot was done) was completely closed for construction, but Rice Howard isn’t a bad backup option.

The day finished with some excellent brunch courtesy of OEB, right beside the parkade.

Lots of content to catch up on so there’s going to be a bit of a blog dump!

Cheers,
Gary

Banff Detour

A few weeks ago I headed down to Banff to get together with some friends and just catch up and hang out. No car photos, since I was basically driven around the whole time. I considered taking the 911 but the foul forecast changed my mind. Riding in stock civics though, is incredibly comfortable. I think you forget how nice it is to have compliant suspension, especially when you daily a car on coilovers.

Anyways, we visited Lake Louise and Moraine Lake during our day trip to Banff. We also did a quick hike on the Consolation Lakes trail, which was probably the easiest hike I’ve done in a while. Forgot my hiking boots and it was still no issue. Here are some photos of the weekend!

Squad

We were lucky to get great weather in Banff. It started off cloudy and cool in the morning, making the hiking bearable and then the sun came out while we were on Moraine Lake, making for a warm and photogenic canoe ride. All in all, a great trip and I can’t wait to go back to the mountains again.

Cheers,
Gary