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 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

Fuel magazine launch #1

A few weeks ago, the publisher of Fuel magazine, Luke Ray, dropped into Auto Transformers in Adelaide, celebrating the launch of Issue 10 of Fuel, as well as a DVD documentary film.

I went along to have a look at some of the fine machinery gathered for the launch party, and here are some photos of the cool rides that showed up. It was a great opportunity to break in my my new Nikon D700 and 50mm f/1.4 combo.

While Fuel mostly focuses on hot rods and customs, there are always some motorbikes thrown into the mix, with a few tidy examples turning up, like this classic Ducati.

A couple of blue Fords with a few decades between them.

 One thing I love about hot rods is that quite often most of the engine is visible, something you can't enjoy in most other cars.

However, there's a plus to having a bonnet on your car, with plenty of interesting statuettes gracing the bonnets of American cars from the 40s, 50s and 60s.

As well as the hot rods, some clean and restored American classics lined up outside the workshop.

 

This 1930s Ford Anglia looked a bit menacing with its matte black paint and hefty rear tyres, and turned out to have a 327 Chev V8 in the engine bay.

It's not going to break any land speed records, but I really like the style of this 1920s Ford pickup, tastefully customised with whitewall tyres, pin-striping and open headers poking out from the engine black.

Buick certainly knew how to design beautiful cars, as this gorgeous 1951 coupe shows.

This custom Ford two door looked quite nice, with an antiquated car phone inside.

As well as the standard road bikes, there were a few heavily modified choppers and cafe racer style motorbikes amongst the cars and throngs of people.

I loved this Ford lakester style rod, very cool look with the red paintwork and white top.

While I was snapping photos of the Ford, this absolutely stunning Chev delivery van pulled in. Again, not exactly a speed demon, but one of the most beautifully restored and clean vehicles there.

I've always had a thing for 1950s pickups, and this tough Ford F-Series is a good example of the style.

While the cars attending were largely American hot rods, classics and customs, a few other nationalities showed up, like this Australian Ford Falcon.

From Europe, a funky looking BMW 2002 coupe.

Buicks certainly changed a lot between the 1950s and 1970s.

More photos coming soon in Post #2...

2012 All Japan Day #3

 Again, apologies for the blog being very quiet lately. After getting married, moving house a couple of times and settling in without a proper internet connection, it's been difficult to make many posts!

I recently visited the oncology doctor about my blood and CT scan tests, to make sure there were no more cancer cells remaining after the surgery. There's a swollen lymph node I need to keep an eye on, but as it stands I'm cancer free now! Which is great news, and obviously a big weight off my mind. 

My portfolio website isn't too far away now, so keep an eye out for that in the next month or two!

In the meantime, I'll be making more regular posts on the blog, starting with continued coverage of the Adelaide All Japan Day from a few months ago. I'm not certain, but it's pretty likely I had a cancerous tumour growing at this point...I just didn't know it yet.

If you missed the first two posts with photos from the 2012 Adelaide All Japan Day, you can see them here:

http://carscameraschronicillness.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/2012-adelaide-all-japan-day-1.html

http://carscameraschronicillness.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/2012-adelaide-all-japan-day-2.html

There were quite a few tidy JZX100 Toyota Chasers in attendance, including this neat and subtle silver example.

A little more rough around the edges, this bee coloured Toyota KE70 Corolla still got attention with the slammed ride height and dished rims with flared arches.

This earlier model Nissan 180SX was looking nice with a tasteful kit and rim choice.

This more recent Type X definitely looked tough.

There were a few smaller cars, like this Mazda MX-5...

...as well as a Suzuki Jimny with a decent lift and big tyres, the ride height in stark contrast to the ground-hugging black S13 Silvia in the background.

White on white is always a good look.

This Mazda RX2 Capella was stunning inside and out, with superb attention to detail obvious from a quick look at the interior, engine bay and body work.

This Mazda R100 was looking good too.

This Toyota Cressida looks pretty tame from the outside...

...but they certainly didn't come out of the factory with this going on in the engine bay!

It was at this point that the owner of a new Ferrari 458 Italia decided to give his car some stick, showing all the Japanese cars what an Italian thoroughbred can do. With a very low tolerance for speeding around lots of people and kids, one of the police officers took off in pursuit, catching him a little further up the road.

After dropping some friends at the airport, he was given the choice of returning to the AJD show for a fairly generously low speeding ticket, or go elsewhere and have his Ferrari impounded for hooning.

The police officer took him aside for a bit of a chat about times and places for such things, giving All Japan Day attendees a chance to admire the new prancing horse model. The yellow and black rims looked a bit odd to me, but they're a very aggressive looking bit of machinery.

He was cruising with another friend who also owned a 458, this one wearing the more traditional Ferrari red paintwork, which got plenty of looks amongst the much cheaper Japanese cars.

Another tough looking 180SX from the Japanese Motorsport crew.

I liked the look of this S15, with some subtle body additions like a small roof spoiler and duck-tail spoiler.



At the other end of the spectrum was this race-spec Mazda S6 RX7, with an enormous rear wing that wouldn't look out of place on a plane.

Just for comparison, here's a normal one. Despite the original shape being nearly 20 years old, the Series 6-8 RX7 models still don't look dated in my opinion. Compared to Australian models of a similar vintage, say a Holden VN Commodore, they have aged very well indeed.



This JZX100 Chaser would have been in the running for the Most Stickers award, but the 180SX in the first post, covered chassis to roof in stickers, was well ahead of anyone else for sheer numbers.

With adjustable airbag suspension, this Datsun lowrider ute was literally sitting on the ground, garnering plenty of attention from spectators and police alike.

The original 1965 Nissan Silvia CSP311 is a beautifully designed bit of gear, with nicely balanced curves and lines. Only 554 were ever made, so they're a very rare sight, especially on Australian roads. Take a look at a standard Nissan S13 Silvia in two-tone brown in particular, and it's clear that the aesthetics of the next few generations of the Silvia lineup took a big backseat in comparison. You can read more about Silvia heritage here if you're interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Silvia.

While the S14 was ok style-wise, it was rather bland. Only with the most recent S15 model did the sleek and attractive curved lines come back into play, albeit a few decades later. Tastefully modified S13s and S14s can look awesome, and I really like the look of some, but as a standard model from the showroom, they really aren't much to look at.

With a distinctively different engine sound to the Jap stuff, this mean 1969 Dodge Charger R/T caught my attention as it rumbled past, a big block V8 lurking under the deep black bonnet.

This Nissan Cefiro looked quite striking in a vivid green hue, for some reason parked away from the actual show itself.

Many of the 80s Toyotas can look quite cool with a decent set of rims and a few inches taken out of the ride height, as this Toyota Cressida shows.

This beast, an R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R (deep breath) V-Spec II Nür, is owned by All Japan Day organiser and owner of Iron Chef Imports Kristian Appelt.

This 1977 RA28 Toyota Celica is far from standard, as you may be able to tell from the tough stance and intercooler hiding behind the grille, and a little the worse for wear.



It's running a fully legal and engineered Nissan SR20 turbo engine, among countless other meticulous additions and modifications, and I actually shot this as a feature car for Zoom magazine a couple of years ago.


There was an unfortunate incident at the 2010 Mt. Alma hill-climb event, where the owner lost control on a tricky off-camber corner near the finish, sliding into a bank to the side of the road, damaging the front and rear. There's an in-car video of the crash below. Knowing how much time and effort it took to create such a beautiful car, it still makes me cringe and feel sad inside when I watch it.

  The car is currently being rebuilt to come back bigger and better than ever.

This 1966 Prince/Nissan Skyline is a very rare beast, you can read more about this car's complicated heritage here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Skyline

Well that wraps it up for today's post, but check back soon for the last lot of photos from the 2012 Adelaide All Japan Day.