A GT86, AE86 & The Drift King – A Shoot for CAR
We all have dreams and goals in our lives. Some are big, some are small but with enough work and dedication everyone of them is achievable. You just need to want it bad enough. Throughout my photography career, I have and continue to work towards two goals. 1) Shoot a full season of Formula One and 2) Shoot for CAR. I can now scratch the latter of the list. A couple of weeks back, I received an e-mail from Ben Barry, the deputy editor of CAR in the UK. He asked me if I was free at the end of June for a shoot that I’d have particular interest in, but couldn’t elaborate until closer to the date. Intrigued, I ensured my calendar was free and agreed to meet CAR writer Ben Pulman at a secret test track outside of London. A couple of days before the shoot, I received a brief with three important words: GT86, AE86 & Tsuchyia. Those of you with an interest in drifting will surely recognize the name Keiichi Tsuchyia, also known as the ‘Drift King’. Tsuchyia-san is the godfather of drifting, and without doubt one of the most important people in the history of the sport. CAR wanted to celebrate his history whilst also exploring his involvement with Toyota’s new GT86. The brief I received illustrated clearly what CAR wanted from the shoot, and allowed me to plan in advance what equipment I would be relying on. Unfortunately, on the day of the shoot my appendix decided it no longer wanted to be a part of me. Shooting in much discomfort and pain, I was limited in my movement and abilities. It was pretty upsetting, as this was something I wanted to deliver 110% but I just couldn’t. I pushed on as much as […]
Gatebil Mantorp Park
Following some recent health issues, I’ve been out of action for the last few weeks. On the plus side, I’ve a couple of interesting shoots and stories to share with you. After the Bavaria City Racing Dublin event, I took to the skies once more. Destination? Sweden for the annual Gatebil show at Mantorp Park, a couple of hours south of Stockholm. Unfortunately on arrival, I found my 5D MKII was unresponsive having presumably taken a knock somewhere in transit. My 5D2 has been a reliable work horse for the last three years so I was pretty bummed out by its loss. Thankfully, I had two other great cameras in reserve but it did put a bit of a downer on the event. The mayhem at Mantorp was even better than expected. Having experienced the Rudskogen event the year previous, I thought I would be prepared for the Swedish take on the popular event. I wasn’t. Check out the full coverage on Speedhunters below … Read the full Speedhunters coverage here.
