02.17.10
A close friend of mine Todd recently showcased his work up in a local art show, and I had the luxury of being able to attend! This is the first shoot on the blog with the new canon 1dmk2. It's a (hopefully) step up from the 40d I was previously shooting with, but won't really shine until the next MMA fights or the track. Other than kicking back and enjoying some art, some old friends, and a beverage or two, this was a pretty chill night that was much needed.

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01.29.10

I spotted this beauty pulling in to enthusiast auto the other day and literally almost wrecked gaulking over it. It REALLY does look this good. I'm usually REALLY against red cars, but somehow this thing just struck me like an aarow out of cupids bow. I had to see it, i had to shoot it, i had to feel if the paint was really as glossy as I thought it was....(ps...it is!)

I stopped in a few days later (because I hadn't seen it since on the lot) only to find out that the guys had been keeping this 'garage queen' in the back of their freshly built new garage addition. It only made sense, keeping this queen in their brand new MONSTER garage. I happen to have my gear with me and "convinced" them to let me take a few shots of it. They had seen my work, so I really had to twist their arm, haha.

The car is an 2003 imola red m5, with only 25k on the clock. The car has always been garaged (do the math, 2003 with 25k) never been in salt, snow, or even rain...I have a feeling me and the o/g owner would get along well. PDC sensors, mk4 nav, M audio, etc, this car has all the goodies, not to mention 400 ponies.

strobist: all shots were done with 2 300w/s strobes (fn300b's) with square softboxes. I'm really nervous about using those things anywhere other than indoors, and the weather is terrible outside so inside their new garage just looked like a great place to do it. Most shots were layered with a few different shots after moving the strobes around, camera tripodded with tamron 17-50 f2.8 lens. The floor is NOWHERE near as dirty as it looks, i literally had to doctor it up, because it looked way too clean. I wanted the look of a perfectly clean car in a shithole garage...well...it's not a shithole garage so I had to doctor it up a little bit, haha.

Hope you Enjoy! c&c welcome!

Thanks to eric and evan at www.enthusiastauto.com ! cruise over to their site and check out the fleet of M-cars they've got now!

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01.02.10

Happy new years attentive blog readers! Hope everyone had a safe new years and wonderful holidays. I forced myself to get out and shoot after buying myself a little christmas present and once my friend mike picked up his new 2006 Is 350 (IN WHITE! MY FAVORITE COLOR!) I had to shoot...even in the 26 degree weather.
So what did you buy yourself Dan?! I know you're asking! I have been wanting to get into some more powerful flashes, typically called strobes. Well WTF is the difference dan? Well, most flashes use AA batteries and typically put out around 50-100 watts per second. WTF is a watt per second? I don't know, but that's how they rate light power. The new strobes are 300 watts per second PER strobe...So that means, I am able to shoot in much brighter daytime light, and still "turn down the sky" while still using the flash powered lights to make the car "pop". As a side benefit, you are able to shoot at a higher aperture allowing for more detail, which is always a good thing. They also run on 110V wall power (ie, plug them into a wall), so how the hell do you shoot on location? good question. Basically you are carrying around a battery with a pure sine watt inverter, some extension cords, and a power strip to plug everything in. A bit more baggage on each shoot, but i think the results are worth it, and it's all about the results.

Speaking about results, here were the shots from mike's 06 lexus is 350 shoot. Daylight savings time is really killing me, not to mention this sub freezing temperatures, but I have been super excited to get out and shoot with the new lights, so we just said F it, and went out. Mike took a break from the NSX game and got back into the lexus scene. After some "convincing" from me he found a very clean white is350...nothing better than a clean white 4door.

Most shots were layered / tripoded as the lights aren't powerful enough to light up the entire car evenly, so two strobes were fired at the rear, then middle, then front and layered all together...my favorite way of shooting to make sure light is distributed evenly-- and I think it works. Check it, enjoy it, and lmk what you think!! If you are on flickr be sure to click the pictures and leave a comment.

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something tells me this won't be the last shoot with mike's is...but until the weather is warmer and he is back in town, this is it for now! enjoy!

12.14.09


Nothing beats a phone call from your long time friend asking for "a favor"...except a favor in 30° weather.

My long time friend Colt has been trying to sell his one of a kind custom fully built acura TL (see Colt's TL set). He struggled with finding someone wanting such a VIP style car in our retched town, but eventually found a willing candidate to trade for a sport bike, the all black 04 honda cbr 600rr.

Colt doesn't ride, (he's more of a 500hp v8 guy) but jumped at the opportunity to sell something a little bit more liquid, so he got the car to 'trade' value, removing his work vs-xx rims, bodykit, and other small customized pieces. I was the lucky one to help him pick up the bike, and he's pulled so many favors for me, I was willing...plus I wouldn't mind the opportunity to get out and shoot something. It's been cold, snowy, and the sun sets fast in cincy so I wanted to force myself to shoot!

While they were working on the title work, I snuck the bike behind a church and tried to grab a few shots. 2pm isn't exactly my favorite time to shoot but i made it work. I forgot my tripod and my g/f drove my flashes / camera behind me so I just had to make due.

Shots were done mainly with the tamron 17-50 f2.8 with an nd8 filter set in AEB mode. The first shot was set to sync at 1/200 and fire the flashes (3 staggered 420ez's @ full power), while the second shot was set to 1/500ish to get the sky nice and dark. If i would've had a tripod it would've been much easier but they layered nicely. A few other edits were done once behind the computer but I really liked how this set turned out, as I'm afraid to shoot black cars / bikes and also shoot at such a 'bad' time of day.

I called this set "face your fears" because of the many obstacles on different levels it entailed...riding someone else's bike for one, riding it in freezing weather, shooting mid day, trying to light up a black vehicle, and the headaches we entail while dealing with purchasing or trading a new vehicle.

hope you all enjoy!

if you are on flickr, please click and comment!


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until next time...

10.03.09

Hey Guys-
It's been a long month since I've posted anything up. I was out of town for a few days this month for some training, and have been working on a ton of new and exciting shoots. I wish I had the time to update this more often so I may just cover a few things, and save the "special goodies" for the next entry!

This past month, I was invited to a few different car shows, as well as an MMA fight night. Both were a blast to shoot, but this was my first MMA fight, and with the victory of my good friend Doug Keefe, it made the fight that much more exciting. I was honestly scared of what I would be able to get since there is a giant cage around the fighters, but I was lucky enough to have the angle to get some shots in. If you'd like to check out all 150 shots, check this out, but i'll just put up some of my favorites to give you a taste!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/btmlinedan/sets/72157622541626491/

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Lastly, i'll leave you with some shots from the few car meets I was asked to shoot...with a taste of what's next to come at the end! If you would like to check out the full car shoots, check out these two photosets!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/btmlinedan/sets/72157622434644293/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/btmlinedan/sets/72157622565269192/


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AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST... I leave you with a taste of the future...






until next time...keep shooting!