A black Nissan raising a huge cloud of white tire dust is already 80% of the way to being in black and white, so I finished the job.
Tag: automotive
(Mostly) Nissan Drift Pack
A pack of Japanese sports cars going sideways in a haze of tire smoke should best be described as “driftacular”.
Flat Tire for Miata Roadster
The trajectories of the motion-blurred cars in the background make clear that, by contrast, something is not going right with this Miata roadster-class race car. The rapid unplanned disassembly of its right rear tire resulted in a sudden drift into the grass, through I’m happy to report that it was still able to return safely to the pits.
#GRIDLIFE Is On!
Weather is clear and a trip to #GRIDLIFE tomorrow is on! Let’s celebrate with a few more previously unseen shots from last year’s event.
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.
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.
#GRIDLIFE was also remarkable for the access available to the pits. Enthusiasts were just roaming around as mechanics got to work on their cars.
That provided opportunities for even kids to get to see the cars up close.
The bucolic nature of Lime Rock added some chill vibes to what would otherwise be a pretty high-adrenaline setting.
Nocones Garage built this race car from a Subaru 360.
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.
I like the array of tools and materials in front of this BMW M4.
While the Acura RSX’s team worked aggressively on their car, the BMW M2 team in the next stall looked on.
I spotted this Toyota Supra by the gates coming into the show.
The owners of that BMW M2 earlier got their beast out onto 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.
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.
Speaking of forests, this trio was stopped by the gate, too.
From a forest of trees to a forest of people surrounding an FD Mazda RX-7 making its way back to the pits.
I had a chance to look into some pretty nuts engine bays.
A Honda S2000 looks the part out on the track.
Beneath the Boss S14 body kit, this drift monster is still a Nissan 240SX.
As is this less-disguised example. Just look at those sparks!
Watching four cars drift in parallel was really something…
But this shot of bonkers tire smoke from an 86 really got me attention.
WRX In Its Natural Habitat
A curving, semi-broken mountain road beneath an aspen grove is the natural habitat of Subaru’s Impreza WRX. As I took this shot, I was riding in a Subaru myself—there was an appropriate sense of kinship.
200,000
Our 11-year-old car just passed the 200,000-mile mark on the odometer. It’s been with us for multiple transcontinental drives and a lot of smaller road-trips in between. This is our unicorn: a combination of manual transmission, smooth straight-six engine, all-wheel drive, and cavernous station wagon that’s simply no longer available from any manufacturer. What will we do when this car is ready for retirement? That’s a tough question.
Unleash the Beast
My neighbor parks his growling, thundering Audi S3 in a perfectly-sized space. He carefully backs it in and tucks down the corners of the Audi-emblem car cover. At night, this machine comes to life. LED headlamps flare and the walls of the garage form a resonant chamber for the warm-up revs of the turbo engine. Hydrocarbons are injected, explosively oxidized, and exhausted; the beast is unleashed!
Datsun Face
I’m on a roll with Datsuns lately. The crash protection and the reliability of a modern car may not be there, but what a face! Particularly when sitting on wider-than-stock tires and hiding out on some side street in Berkeley, this car has the potential for fun.
The Gate and the Devil Z
I’ve had an attraction to Datsun Z cars since I read Wangan Midnight as a teenager and first encountered the “Devil Z”. Around the Bay Area, plenty of these cars are still running, and those that have survived this long come to resemble the style goals of their owners. That might be the “rough style” Z I photographed in Berkeley, or this super-clean example that was kind enough to park in the Marin Headlands overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco.
Decaseconds 