Drift Loose

The smoke and the motion in this shot of a drifting 86 at #GRIDLIFE Circuit Legends last month really grab my attention, but it’s the little detail of the hand making the shaka sign out the window that puts this image over the top.

Drift Loose

For more pictures from #GRIDLIFE this year, check out this post.

Living the #GRIDLIFE

Last weekend brought me to the #GRIDLIFE Circuit Legends event at Lime Rock Park. I finally finished processing pictures from the event. Today’s post features some of my favorites from the event, but there’s definitely more to come.

Let’s start with this BMW M3. This was my first time trying longer exposures with moving cars to get serious motion blur. I’m honestly thrilled with how it came out and can’t wait to try more.

Green BMW

#GRIDLIFE was also remarkable for the access available to the pits. Enthusiasts were just roaming around as mechanics got to work on their cars.

Supra in the Pits

That provided opportunities for even kids to get to see the cars up close.

To the Next Generation

The bucolic nature of Lime Rock added some chill vibes to what would otherwise be a pretty high-adrenaline setting.

Modified Subaru in Its Natural Environment

Nocones Garage built this race car from a Subaru 360.

Nocones Garage Subaru 360 Race Car

The red Honda S2000 in the background wasn’t even part of the team with the two red Subaru BRZs, but they were all kind enough to keep their cars in a line.

Triple Red

I like the array of tools and materials in front of this BMW M4.

Up on Blocks

While the Acura RSX’s team worked aggressively on their car, the BMW M2 team in the next stall looked on.

Getting Down to Business

I spotted this Toyota Supra by the gates coming into the show.

Red Supra

The owners of that BMW M2 earlier got their beast out onto the track.

M2 on the Track

Shots like this, with huge amounts of motion blur, are the kinds of dramatic moments that really got me excited to go through with the wasted shots necessary to capture the perfect ones.

AMG on the Track

This show wasn’t just a chance for me to expand my shooting abilities; I also practiced some new photo-processing techniques. I don’t normally do a ton of color grading, but shots like this one really feel richer with some amped up forest green.

Z in Forest Environment

Speaking of forests, this trio was stopped by the gate, too.

Ariel, Porsche, Porsche

From a forest of trees to a forest of people surrounding an FD Mazda RX-7 making its way back to the pits.

They Love an FD

I had a chance to look into some pretty nuts engine bays.

Green Engine Bay

A Honda S2000 looks the part out on the track.

S2000 in Its Natural Environment

Beneath the Boss S14 body kit, this drift monster is still a Nissan 240SX.

BOSS S14

As is this less-disguised example. Just look at those sparks!

Drifting, Now with Sparks

Watching four cars drift in parallel was really something…

Four in Line

But this shot of bonkers tire smoke from an 86 really got me attention.

Toyobaru Drift

A Seven-Year-Old’s Whole World

Neal Stephenson’s “Fall” suggests that that pattern of one’s childhood hometown is patterned deeply into the brain. This picture captures pretty much everywhere I could get to on my own (i.e., on my bike) when I was seven years old—so, basically my whole world at that point.

A Seven-Year-Old's Whole World

Saturday Sun on Ski Jump

As a child, I dreamed of flying over my home town—viewing all of the familiar paths from high above. Visiting that town last weekend, I was able to photographically make that dream a reality. The forests where I hiked and the town ski jump are all laid out before the drone’s lens.

Saturday Sun on Ski Jump

Snow and Clear Air

Clear, cold winter air and a road stretching north from the Connecticut-Massachusetts border makes a lovely entrance to the Berkshires. A photogenic dusting of snow doesn’t hurt, either.

This is an example of perfect timing—as much as I like to take winter pictures, quadcopter drones like neither snow nor extremely low temperatures. Early in the season, however, there are lucky days like this one where snow is immediately followed by clear skies and above-freezing temperatures that give me a tiny window in which to capture the winter.

Snow and Clear Air

House on the Frozen Lake

The northeastern US has been gripped by severe and hardened cold. Consider, for a moment, how much colder 20 ºF feels than 60 ºF. Imagine that difference projected past its original low point, out the other side to -20 ºF. After past winter temperatures like these, I can attest that the return to “normal” winter really does feel 40 ºF warmer. The rivers and lakes are freezing. The snow is a dry powder, dozens of degrees below its melting point. A warm home above the frozen waters sounds pretty inviting.

House on the Frozen Lake