Masters of Dirt
With the start of my 2012 season rapidly approaching, I needed to get to an event to setup two new cameras and blow some cobwebs off my own skills. The Monster Energy Masters of Dirt show, which took place in City West this weekend gone, proved to be the perfect event for this task. Subjects which were fast and could change direction quickly, low light, mixed light sources and rapid action provided the perfect challenge of ‘bedding in’ my new equipment. It certainly wasn’t an easy to event to shoot. The low light forced an ISO of 2000 and relatively slow shutter speeds (much slower than what I would have liked). The lighting system inside the arena was tricky to work with too, with the riders often jumping above the lighting rigs into the darkness. Access was slightly limited – although we had almost free reign of the venue, we needed to be conscious of not blocking the views of any paying spectators. The show itself was top class with some genuine breath taking moments. Credit to the organisers for the smooth running of the entire operation and although this was my first FMX event, I’ll definitely be looking to attend more in the future.
D-Mac’s Carina of Doom
I made a quick visit to Formula D competitor Darren McNamara last week to check in and see what he has been up to over the winter months. Darren is a huge Toyota fan so it comes as no surprise that he always has a couple of interesting projects on the go. His Carina project has certainly attracted a lot of attention over on Speedhunters. It has divided opinions too, but as Darren has said, it’s not really meant to be taken too seriously and is only intended for a bit of fun. Having taken styling cues from a mix of different automotive sub-cultures (VW, JDM, USDM) it’s certainly an interesting project. It’ll be even more interesting when it receives its SR20DET conversion later this year …
Team Need for Speed D-Mac ’86
You may remember late last year that I published a feature both here and on Speedhunters of Darren McNamara’s wild rotary powered AE86 build. I never got around to posting these images of the car during it’s first test day and first two events. Considering it was a completely fresh build, the success it has enjoyed at its first two events is astounding. Rarely do cars work so well out of the box. It’s a credit to Darren and the team at MCN Sport.
The Banana
I thought I needed a little bit more colour on the site these days, so let me introduce you to the ‘Banana’. Bryn Alban’s Nissan Skyline is not your regular sort of R32. Having been fitted with one of only a handful of genuine Bee*R R324 kits, and re-painted in its original shade of yellow, it’s certainly not a quiet car. Be sure to check out the full feature on Speedhunters when it was originally published last year …
Behind the Visor II
The most important part of any motorsport, is the man or woman behind the steering wheel. It’s often easy to forget about the person who commands their motor vehicle at speed towards and around us. Getting to know the characters behind the visor is one of the more interesting sides of motorsport. Pictured top to bottom – Edward Sandström, David Brabham, Darren McNamara, Fredric Aasbo, Daijiro Yoshihara & Nigel Colfer.
Honda Civic Type R
One of my favourite parts of my job is the unpredictable nature of it. It’s a very rare occurrence for any two days to involve the same thing. It also means that you generally need to be prepared for anything and be able to adapt to any given situation. I had been previously in touch with Tonto about shooting his car but for whatever reason, it never happened. That was until we bumped into each other at a drift practice day last May. I had attended the event with the intentions of shooting the on-track action but with the day that was in it, I knew we had to make the most of it. I usually like to prepare for feature shoots or any sort of an in-depth look at a car for a couple of days beforehand. I also like to use external flashes and light modifiers but this was one of those occasions where I needed to channel my inner-Linhbergh and shoot au naturale. A back-to-basics shoot is always a much more enjoyable experience. You have less to worry about and can concentrate on composition and other ideas. A fast shoot with a fast and light processing session. If only they could all be like this …
Ford Capri RS3100
The Ford Capri is something of an icon for many reasons. The MKIII version, the production of which ran for eight years, is a personal favorite of mine. This particular example was based in Northern Ireland, where I travelled to in June of last year for a comprehensive shoot for Classic Ford magazine. The shoot ran to a tight timeline (don’t they all?) due to the fading light and intermittent rain. I find it beneficial to look back at shoots which are a couple of months old to identify areas which could have been improved upon. It’s all just a continuous education … Photography by Paddy McGrath for Classic Ford Magazine UK. All Rights Reserved.
Scenes from Liverpool
I had a rare weekend off recently which I used to visit one of my favorite cities on this small planet. Liverpool has been like a second home to me since I was a kid, so I always try to make a couple of trips there each year. It was also the perfect excuse to dust off my Sony NEX5, a camera which I haven’t had a chance to use much recently. It was only a last minute decision to bring it but I’m most certainly glad I did as the pocket sized camera blew me away once more, nearly two years after purchase. This is also my first post since upgrading my website – you’ll notice now that I can run larger images (950PX) wide which although make take longer to load, might be worth it (occasionally anyways). More images after the break …
