Around the web today; October 30th, 2013.

I've been busy and haven't had the chance to post anything for the past few days, so here's a whole bunch of links to make up for it:


A heavily modified Ford GT with 2000hp hits 278mph in only one mile, from a standing start:  http://www.carthrottle.com/witness-a-278mph-ford-gt-smash-the-texas-mile-record/



Car blogs and websites frequently post videos and pictures of exotic cars, usually of Italian descent, going up in flames. This time it's a video of a Ford Falcon ute, showing the tray engulfed in flames, which are quickly quelled with extinguishers by several other people nearby. He then continues his drive to work like nothing happened, which doesn't seem like the best idea:
 http://www.carthrottle.com/car-mechanics-ute-catches-fire-still-gets-to-work-on-time/



Some great footage of rally cars getting a whole lot of air on a jump in Switzerland. Competition level rally cars obviously have a lot of modifications to handle this kind of treatment, but I can't help but think that the brutal landings must have bent at least a few chassis out of shape upon landing:
http://jalopnik.com/this-is-a-jump-for-cars-on-the-side-of-a-cliff-1453411744



A 600hp Mitsubishi Lancer Evo ascending a treacherously wet and steep hill climb course in Switzerland. There are some pretty hairy moments when the car gets crossed up under power. I don't like the way Evos sound all that much in comparison to its most common rival, the Subaru WRX, but only in the sense that their engine and exhaust note tends to be rather flat and characterless. This particular example has a tough soundtrack though:
http://youtu.be/vdeW_VR8J9o



In stark contrast to the Evo's flat drone, this open-wheeler's 3 litre V8 emits a deliciously aggressive, high pitched howl as it blasts through the course, leaving a deafening roar reverberating around the hillsides in its wake. Turn your speakers up. Lots.  http://youtu.be/vdeW_VR8J9o


While your speakers are turned up, watch and listen to this one too; a great variety of cars, engines and noises. The Lancia Delta Integrale at 1:30 sounds particularly deranged:  http://youtu.be/mT2kNSOfXZ4



Some food for thought if you're not familiar with trucks and quite how much they cost to operate:  http://www.overdriveonline.com/5-more-things-members-of-the-general-public-dont-know-about-truckers/




This Tata Xenon 'Tuff Truck' is something a bit different. I like it. Looks tough, as its name suggests.
 http://www.themotorreport.com.au/57175/tata-reveals-australian-designed-tuff-truck-xenon-ute-concept




Well this is awkward. It would be embarrassing to stack your chopper anywhere, let alone in your own driveway, in front of your wife. At least it was a very minor incident compared to similar attempts I've seen:  http://blog.powerblocktv.com/husband-embarrasses-himself-doing-burnout-in-front-of-wife/




Red Bull is always coming up with cool ideas. Like racing a V8 Supercar against a plane on the beach in Queensland: http://blog.powerblocktv.com/v8-supercar-vs-airplane-race-on-an-australian-beach/




This certainly could have turned out a whole lot worse; a rally car barrel-rolling within arm's length of a crowd usually doesn't end well. The little hatchback rolls over so quickly it's almost impossible to count how many times it went over. The driver must have been awfully dizzy when the car finally came to rest:  http://jalopnik.com/watch-this-car-roll-over-about-47-times-and-somehow-not-1454270653




A dramatic and sobering gallery featuring images of the recent NSW bushfires taken by members of the Australian documentary photography collective Oculi: http://www.oculi.com.au/features/oculi-group-nsw-bushfires-october-2013-2/




Some ridiculously tight tandem drifting from two Nissan S13 Silvias in Japan:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M_mDbbIDlY




Some good advice from American photography guru Zack Arias about fear, in relation to both photography and life in general:  http://zarias.tumblr.com/post/65430999760/i-feel-paralyzed-by-fear-of-rejection-im-in-my-last



Some very scary footage of a Ducati high-siding and rolling before being hit by the following Yamaha R6 with helmet-cam, spraying fuel and bursting into flames during a race on a street circuit. Both riders were very lucky to escape with no injuries: http://www.epiccarnage.com/video-fiery-motorcycle-crash-footage/

Around the web today; October 25th, 2013.

There has been some pretty harrowing imagery coming out of the bushfire affected regions of New South Wales in the past week or so, from professional photojournalists as well as citizens armed with smart phones. Some of them look very surreal, between the towering walls of smoke and rampaging flames:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-17/nsw-bushfires-in-pictures/5030166

 http://www.news.com.au/national/reader-photos-shed-new-light-on-nsw-bushfire-emergency/story-fncynjr2-1226743195585

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2013/10/21/social-media-users-share-bushfire-photos

http://www.theherald.com.au/story/1859201/bushfire-photos-firefighters-face-d-day-across-nsw/?cs=7

http://au.news.yahoo.com/nsw/a/19493045/worst-bushfire-conditions-ahead-residents-authorities-brace-for-the-worst-day-yet/

However, the situation isn't quite as bad as American TV channel NBC would have its viewers believe:
 http://www.news.com.au/technology/american-network-nbc-publishes-map-showing-the-whole-of-australia-is-on-fire-oops/story-e6frfrnr-1226746114107



A paint shop in Osaka, Japan, has a cool new technique for layering diamond designs into automotive paintwork: http://www.rides-mag.com/magazine/2013/10/audi-acura-stroke-genius/



Some photos of artwork by UK street artist 'Banksy'. They're far from being what many people would traditionally consider 'art', in that they're large 3D sculptures or sets, not just paint on a flat canvas. I love the first one in particular; a waterfall scene set up inside of a small rigid truck that drives around NYC. There's also a slaughterhouse version, that is not pictured. It would be a lot of fun driving one of those trucks around and tripping people out when they notice what's inside. Some of his pieces involve skirting around the law, like breaking into a zoo to tag an elephant with spraypaint, as well as more dangerous exploits, for example on the West Bank wall on the Israeli/Palestinian border:
http://mentalfloss.com/article/53298/banksy%E2%80%99s-11-most-complicated-works




Just navigating this treacherously narrow and steep ridge, then making a straightforward jump on a bike over a 72-foot canyon drop would be challenging enough in itself, but this brave lad throws a backflip into the mix for good measure: http://fstoppers.com/this-gopro-video-of-a-biker-going-down-a-ridge-line-will-leave-your-palms-sweaty



Add heavy fog to cars and trucks doing highway speeds and the result isn't pretty. Once cars having started building up a pile in the middle of the road, there's little they can do to stop the cycle:  http://jalopnik.com/this-is-the-real-danger-of-foggy-roads-1451681466

http://jalopnik.com/scary-video-of-old-lady-crashing-is-why-you-slow-for-fo-599522294

Around the web today; October 24th, 2013

This 911 driver probably needed some fresh underwear after this close call. I had a couple of interesting moments yesterday on the roads, with a van and AMG C63 pulling out in front of me, but nowhere near as scary as this: http://www.carthrottle.com/witness-this-porsche-911-driver-avoid-a-huge-smash-on-a-french-autoroute/



An inspirational post from Jon Acuff, offering some food for thought about pursuing your dreams: http://acuff.me/2013/10/youll-never-make-money-doing-that/

I struggle a lot with the issue of work and income, having been sick for so many years and not physically capable, but having hopes, aspirations and dreams are important for your mental health, whether or not they're going to make you piles of money.



If you like seeing new Camaros in one piece, you probably shouldn't watch this video: http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1087300_hey-russian-camaro-guy-youre-doing-it-wrong-video



A tasty new Ferrari F12 shreds some rubber around Anglesey Race Circuit, piloted by Chris Harris, whose job is envied by roughly 99.5% of males who have a pulse. Skip the first 5 minutes if you're not interested in hearing about the car and just want to see a Ferrari being thrashed, the sideways shenanigans start at 7:50:  http://jalopnik.com/how-to-kill-five-sets-of-tires-step-one-get-a-ferrari-1450894562



This is a pretty cool wagon/boat trailer/caravan combo: http://bringatrailer.com/2013/10/20/two-tone-trailer-1952-ford-ranch-wagon-with-kom-pak-camper/

Around the web today; October 23rd, 2013.

An interesting photographic comparison of what a weeks' worth of food for a family looks like around the world: http://fstoppers.com/what-a-week-of-groceries-looks-like-around-the-world



Some in-car footage from Beau Yates' AE86 Toyota of the big drift crash at WTAC:  http://youtu.be/ZH0xl8X4Ewk



A preview clip for what looks to be a very interesting documentary movie based around the history and drivers of Formula 1 racing: http://youtu.be/ZHlK2HCh12U



American photographer Carli Davidson has taken some cool and hilarious studio photos of dogs shaking themselves dry: http://www.diyphotography.net/photographer-carli-davidson-makes-epic-portraits-splashing-dogs

Her website features a heap of excellent photography of animals and wildlife, and well worth spending some time on: http://www.carlidavidsonphotography.com/Pets/thumbs/



A preview of Gregory Heisler's stunning '50 portraits' book: http://strobist.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/an-all-nighter-at-vista-greg-heislers.html  I've already spent far too much on photography books over the past ten years or so, but the content looks fascinating.

Around the web today; October 22nd, 2013.

Some images from the 2013 Wildlife Photographer of the Year: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/wpy/onlineGallery.do

The website of winning photographer Jasper Doest: http://www.doest-photography.com/



A very cool time-lapse video of locations where TV show Breaking Bad was filmed: http://roadtrippers.kinja.com/this-awesome-timelapse-takes-you-thru-the-best-breaking-1449639032

https://roadtrippers.com/trips/breaking-bad-road-trip/523b4a429d0782bf38000423



Mmm. Donuts. Nice pictures of donuts: http://cutestfood.com/category/donuts/



Some sad news about a terminally ill young girl, whose last wish was to ride in a pink Lamborghini with Richard Hammond, has passed away: http://jalopnik.com/little-girl-who-rode-with-richard-hammond-in-a-pink-lam-1449062454

http://jalopnik.com/i-wish-they-actually-kept-it-that-colour-and-instead-au-1441533538

http://thesupercarkids.com/lamborghini-aventador-turned-pink-for-a-girls-bucket-list/



The driver and co-driver of this E30 BMW M3 rally car were lucky to walk away from this shunt, as were a few spectators: http://jalopnik.com/this-bmw-e30-m3-rally-crash-is-sad-yet-also-hilarious-1449263244


Some coverage of the awesome hot rod & custom festival Chopped 2013:  http://crcooperphotography.wordpress.com/2013/10/11/chopped-2013/

Around the web today; October 21st, 2013.

A blog post by Nigel Petrie of Engineered to Slide fame, detailing his drifting experiences at World Time Attack over the weekend in his insanely awesome Hilux ute: http://engineeredtoslide.com/2013/10/wtac-weekend-wrap-up/



A video from WTAC, showing why it's not a good idea to rip a massive burnout on a high-speed corner with cars drifting behind you. Trashed a couple of awesome cars, including Anthony Cece's tough Cefiro.

A police officer in a Commodore paddy wagon makes a surprise house call, by driving through someone's brick fence and parking in their front yard, after being clipped by a turning car:  http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/police-car-crashes-into-fence-in-prahran/story-fni0fee2-1226743412064


A father of three gets busted driving at 191 km/h down the highway with his family: http://www.bordermail.com.au/story/1853609/road-to-disaster-police-fear-deaths-after-father-clocked-at-191kmh/?cs=53



Street racing isn't the best idea, especially if there's a police car behind you at the lights, but this guy got off pretty easy: http://blog.powerblocktv.com/cop-goes-easy-on-driver-caught-street-racing/

An interesting analysis of how cereal was created and subsequently advertised and marketed; in the early days one manufacturer claimed outlandish health benefits from eating his cereal, Grape-Nuts, saying it could cure appendicitis, raise your IQ, and make your blood redder: http://mentalfloss.com/article/20320/how-cereal-transformed-american-culture


A rare all-wheel drive Cefiro wreck up for sale that looks a little worse for wear: http://m.gumtree.com.au/1991-nissan-cefiro-awd-rare-wrecking-or-repair-whole-car-only/v?adId=1027926912#nissan

Around the web today; October 19th, 2013

An insanely fast hillclimb run in an open-wheeler Formula car, by a driver who seems to be missing any sort of fear genes. I'd crash and kill myself in the first couple of corners trying to match that sort of pace: http://youtu.be/kGqdcz6bLps



A deliciously raspy TWR Jaguar XJS racing car belting around Donington in the UK, followed by a run at the recent Goodwood Festival of Speed. Be sure to turn the volume on your speakers up:  http://youtu.be/DpnlwPv60B0
http://youtu.be/cA52JK_2sWo

Here's another local clip showing a sibling of the car above, flying around Mt. Panorama nearly 30 years ago, with Tom Walkinshaw behind the wheel: http://youtu.be/c5jtf83eKGs


A street photographer taking his work to the streets of Los Santos in the wildly popular video game Grand Theft Auto V: http://petapixel.com/2013/10/17/street-photographer-takes-craft-video-game-world-gta-v/

He has a tumblr blog where he posts his images here: http://streetphotov.tumblr.com/

And a website with photos from the real world: http://fpgomes.com/


Photojournalism from around the world at the Wall Street Journal: http://blogs.wsj.com/photojournal/2013/10/17/photos-of-the-day-oct-17-3/?mod=WSJBlog



A very cool series of photos combining model cars on small dioramas with real streets, houses and trees; all taken on a cheap point and shoot digital camera: http://twistedsifter.com/2013/10/recreating-the-past-with-model-cars-and-forced-perspective/

His flickr page has many more images, accompanied by behind-the-scenes pictures showing how the lifelike look was achieved: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24796741@N05/



Some interesting commentary on the current state of newspaper photojournalism: http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/assignment-chicago/2013/10/photojournalists-and-buggy-whips.html



A related post to the Jasmine Star plagiarism controversy: http://www.cmphotography.com/blog.cfm?postID=107&stealing-makes-me-angry-not-sad

Around the web today; October 18th, 2013

A feature by Speedhunters on a tough looking 1970s Datsun 260Z owned by photographer and journalist Larry Chen, with an accompanying garage chock-full of cool automotive memorabilia, toys and scale model cars:  http://www.speedhunters.com/2013/10/70s-street-fighter-imai-works-datsun-260z/


A lengthy picture thread from the HAMB, with lots of images of junkyards and wrecks from the 1920s through to the 1970s:  http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=390611


Some examples of well-known automotive logos taken back to basics: http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/automotive-logos-simplified-1446395923


Skids in a new Bentley worth more than some people's houses. The video also features some cool team drifts in various Japanese imports:  http://jalopnik.com/how-to-get-a-410-000-bentley-to-do-a-burnout-633209494


A pair of thrill-seeking Canadian motorcyclists get hammered with massive fines after police view footage of their antics recorded on helmet-mounted video cameras: http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/the-most-expensive-joy-ride-ever-recorded-in-quebecs-h-1445902758/1446288857/@pgeorge


An awkward test drive of a new Chevrolet Impala: http://jalopnik.com/someone-crashed-a-new-2014-impala-into-three-new-corvet-1446832965


Snapshots of people all over the world going about their day from The Big Picture blog: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2013/10/daily_life_august_2013_1.html



Several big name US wedding photographers get themselves into trouble by plagiarising some content for  tweets and blog posts:

http://blog.photoshelter.com/2013/10/sad-tale-jasmine-star-doug-gordon/

https://www.behindtheshutter.com/what-we-can-all-learn-from-the-recent-events-of-jb-sallee-jasmine-star-and-doug-gordon/

http://stopstealingphotos.tumblr.com/post/55742970716/doug-gordon

http://mockstarphotog.tumblr.com/post/58264161952/im-sure-it-was-just-her-web-designer

Around the web today: October 16th, 2013.

Quite a few photographers have made the transition to shooting videos as well as photos in the past few years. Here are some good tips from a video editor's perspective, regarding everything from shooting b-roll footage to effectively creating a story from a bunch of clips: http://fstoppers.com/become-a-better-videographer-shoot-like-a-video-editor


A mud hole 4x4 recovery doesn't quite go as planned: http://blog.powerblocktv.com/mypowerblock-bumper-comes-off-truck-being-pulled-out-of-the-mud/


A little off topic, but a good read here about an Irish man living without money, a few years after completing a business and economics degree, managing a large food company and buying a yacht:  http://worldobserveronline.com/2013/10/04/man-lives-without-money/

ABC's Media Watch program ran a story last night on an issue that raised some ire among photographers when it was announced last month; Tennis Australia requesting job applications from sports photographers to shoot the Australian Open in Melbourne. Which doesn't sound bad in itself, but despite a long list of what they're looking for, including experience in photography, your own equipment, in-depth knowledge of tennis,  a strong portfolio of sports images, and what looks like dawn-to-dusk working hours for two weeks, the positions are those of unpaid volunteers:  http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s3868825.htm

Here's a screen-cap of the actual ad on seek.com.au. Which is pretty ridiculous; any takers would be essentially paying to 'work' for Tennis Australia, a large corporation with revenue of roughly $200m a year.

On the other side of the coin, a post from a photographer ridiculing a model for wanting to charge for her time: http://zarias.tumblr.com/post/63957645975/models-rates-i-contacted-a-local-model-for-portfolio

Around the web today; October 15th, 2013

It's been a while since I last posted here. My official photography portfolio site is now up at www.rohanphillips.com

I'll try to start posting a mix of content more often, including links to interesting websites or pages related to cars and photography in particular.

So here's some cool stuff I've come across this morning.

From www.jalopnik.com, a few phone snaps of a 'creatively' decorated Ferrari 458 Italia: http://jalopnik.com/this-has-to-be-the-worst-ferrari-458-italia-paint-job-e-1445068817


On a related note, some photos and video of a Ferrari F50 being driven on the streets in a somewhat suicidal manner, which ends badly judging by the photos of the mangled wreck. While F50s are most commonly painted the distinctive Ferrari red, black looks quite nice, and a little less ostentatious; as much as is possible in a Ferrari anyway. http://jalopnik.com/surprise-528-000-ferrari-f50-driven-by-shirtless-assh-1445127869


A woman running from the police in her Mercedes gets hit by two trains. (video) She somehow manages to escape the carnage with only a broken arm. One of the officers who goes to her aid after the first impact was lucky to get out of the way moments before the second train hit the car: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c90_1381721438


A good example of why I don't think I should ride a motorbike; it's just way too easy for something to go slightly wrong with no chance of recovery. The guys who take part in these high-speed road races must have to swallow a big jar of brave pills before they jump on their bikes. With the availability of low-cost on-board cameras these days, you can see the pileup from multiple vantage points. (video): http://jalopnik.com/this-domino-effect-motorcycle-crash-is-absolutely-ridic-1444953083


A set of photos from RIDES featuring a heavily customised 1975 Chevrolet Caprice convertible 'donk'. These things are controversial to say the least. I started out hating them for being in such terribly poor taste, but over time, and perhaps helped by some excellent photography by www.andrewlinkphotography.com, they're so ludicrously appalling I actually come to kind of like them now. In a way. http://www.rides-mag.com/donk/2013/10/1975-chevrolet-caprice-kent-state


Andrew Link's website itself is certainly worth a visit. His automotive portfolio features a healthy mix of cars, mixing up high-end Euro exotics and the above-mentioned 'donks': http://andrewlinkphotography.com/?page_id=30  His dramatic portraiture is also excellent: http://andrewlinkphotography.com/?page_id=11


This isn't quite photography related, but an interesting experiment regarding the value of art, in this case stencil prints: http://gizmodo.com/banksy-sold-225-000-worth-of-art-at-a-central-park-sta-1444833251


And to round off today, here's a video of a Dodge Ram pulling out a tree stump: http://blog.powerblocktv.com/youtube-video-highlights-dodge-with-cummins-engine-pulling-tree-fround-ground