Just before Christmas last year, I journeyed north to a small village west of Belfast called Magherafelt. My brief was to shoot a couple of cars which were running a new wheel by UK wheel company 3SDM. The 0.01 is 3SDM’s flagship model and it’s not too difficult to see why. As far as the shoot was concerned, the day turned out to be a nightmare. Gusts of wind and heavy rain interrupted shooting all day (along with taking my Nikon SB800 being blown clean off the top of a light stand). Moving the cars to a backup location provided a stroke of luck however. With the winter sun setting over the Ulster countryside, we were gifted with a half hour of magical light.

For the processing, I used a simple system of compositing the lit cars onto naturally exposed and developed backgrounds. Any of you who get past the opening line on any of my posts here will know I’ve been trying to work on my processing skills lately and hopefully you’ll enjoy the fruits of my labour.

More images after the jump …

www.3SDM.co.uk

Back in August 2011, I waved farewell to my beloved Volkswagen Caddy van (affectionately known as Sudsy). I loved that van. However, it had got to a stage where I wasn’t getting the full use out of its hauling abilities and I yearned for something with more than two seats. Whatever I chose to replace Sudsy would have a lot of boxes to tick. First and foremost, it needed to be something remotely interesting and have potential for minor modifications down the line. It needed to be economical as I’ve often clocked up over 1,000KMs in a single weekend. Similarly, it also needed to be a comfortable cruiser with the ability dispatch long stints with ease. Anything else was a bonus. Read on after the break for more …

I spent countless hours researching my options – Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Honda, Volvo, Volkswagen & Skoda being the main contenders. Visiting various main dealers allowed me to experience each car and was a great step in helping me make my decision. In the end, one manufacturer won out over the others – BMW. Growing up I was never a big BMW fan. My father would often joke about the difference between a hedgehog and a BMW – with a hedgehog, the pricks are on the outside. However, every BMW I viewed was solid. Not perfect mind you, but solid. The quality and finish of each car was something that really impressed me even the salesmen were courteous and never tried to push anything on me.

Originally, I was searching for an E60 520D M Sport but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t find one with reasonable mileage at a reasonable price. The reasoning behind a 2.0 diesel was mostly based around tax / insurance reasons and I couldn’t stretch my budget to a 2008 model to avail of the cheaper road tax. When a 2006 E90 320D M Sport popped up for sale in a Peugeot main dealer not even 30 miles away from me, I thought it would be rude to not take a look. The car had only just been listed and had not even been cleaned when I arrived to view it. With only 44,000 miles and a full BMW service history (the full spec list is at the bottom), the car commanded a strong price. The exterior was original, with only some minor stone chips on the front bumper and one or two parking scuffs spotted around the car. Mechanically, the car was absolutely on the button. Reading through its service history, all of the major faults that the E90s are known for had already been sorted so I knew I wasn’t looking at a lemon.

On the advice of my father, I made a comically low offer to the dealership in the hope that these being tough times, they wouldn’t turn down a sale. They didn’t. Deposit paid, a six month warranty obtained and the car was mine.

Before I had even collected the car, I knew what direction I was taking it in. I didn’t want to go overboard with the modifications, rather I wanted to just try to improve on the original package. The OEM 17″ 194M alloy wheels were replaced with BBS LM Style 19″ rims measuring 9.5J at the rear and 8.5J up front. I wanted to avoid putting the car on coilover type suspension as I wanted to retain the ride comfort. Researching my options, the Eibach Federn Pro Kit was the recommended choice amongst owners and enthusiasts. By replacing the factory springs for the Eibach items, we successfully lowered the vehicle whilst retaining the original comfortable ride.

Next on my to-do list was some preventative maintenance. The mid to early noughties diesel BMWs were prone to swirl flap failure. The flap which modulated the amount of in-cylinder swirl would often break apart and be ingested into the combustion chamber where it would wreak havoc with the engine’s internals. This neat solution by PMW Ltd. in the UK, replaced the swirl flaps with pressed aluminium blanking plates. They offer two sizes, 22mm & 32mm. Since neither myself nor PMW were certain which size I required, I purchased both sets with the option to return the incorrect size for a refund. As it turned out, the N47T2 engine uses the smaller 22MM blanking plates.

The interior remains unmodified as it’s pretty much perfect the way it is. Perhaps a set of BMW Performance aluminium pedals in the future?

The exterior is where I believed a less is more approach could work wonders in freshening up the look of the car. SSDD Motorsport in the UK was my first port of call where I ordered black grilles …

… a carbon fibre lip spoiler …

… a pair of carbon fibre corner splitters and a set of LED rear license plate bulbs.

I also changed the stock rear lights for a pair of M-Style LED brake lights …

… and their smoked side repeaters.

One of my personal favourite modifications has been the Umnitza P90 Projector headlamps with Predator Orion V2 LED Angel Eyes.

It has all started to come together recently and I’m really happy with how it has progressed (especially when looking back at photos of the car from when it was new so to speak)

Since these photographs have been taken, the front and rear bumpers along with the rear passenger side door have been painted to repair the stone chips and parking incidents described earlier. Next on the to-do list is a full paint correction detail with the good folks at CleanCar.ie and maybe a BBK upgrade in the near future …

Vehicle Specification:

2006 BMW 320D M Sport

Exterior

475M Black Sapphire Metallic

M Sport Aerodynamics Package

BMW Individual High Gloss Satin Chrome

Park Distance Control

Colour Coded Bodywork

SSDD Motorsport Black Stealth Grilles

SSDD Motorsport Carbon Fibre Corner Splitters

SSDD Motorsport Carbon Fibre Lip Spoiler

SSDD Motorsport LED Registration Plate Bulbs

Interior

Dakota Black Leather

Multifunction M Sport Leather Steering Wheel

M Sport Seats for Driver & front Passenger

Aluminum Interior Trim

BMW Professional Radio

Mobile Phone Cradle with Bluetooth Interface

Alarm System

Interior and Exterior Mirrors with Automatic Anti-Dazzle Function

Automatic Air Conditioning

Cruise Control

Preparation for CD Changer

BMW Individual Headliner Anthracite

Wheels & Suspension

M Sport Suspension

Eibach Federn Pro Kit

BBS LM Style Alloy Wheels – Front: 19×8.5 ET35 – Rear: 19×9.5 ET25

Federal 595 Evos – Front: 225/40/19 – Rear: 255/35/19

Lighting

OEM Lights Package

OEM Fog Lights

Umnitza P90 Projector Headlamps

Predator Orion V2 LED Angel Eyes

M-Style LED Brake Lights

M-Style Smoked Side Repeaters

Thanks to …

Teddy at SSDD Motorsport

Paul at M-Style UK

Paul at Auto Alloys Northern Ireland

Larry at CleanCar.ie

Martin at Wexican Motorsport

Bolands BMW Waterford

I don’t know if it’s just me or do the years seem to be passing by faster and faster? I can hardly believe we’re already looking back over our shoulders at 2011 with 2012  laid out before us.

If I’m honest, 2011 seems to have passed me by. With an increased workload, I think I defaulted to an almost automated method of photography during the middle of the year. Looking back, I think I should have done a lot better with the opportunities that presented themselves. Having had some breathing space over the holiday period, I’ve had the chance to identify key areas which I aim to improve upon in 2012 and beyond. I don’t think my photography was in any way poor last year, in fact I’ve probably taken some of my best shots in 2011. I just think I could have done better is all.

Some of the areas I’ll be approaching differently in the future will be my preparation, process of shooting and post-processing. I’ve quite a rigid methodology in how I shoot – which although has served me well in the past, I’m now looking to change by improvising and taking more risks. My post-processing is strangely the opposite – I’m always changing and modifying how I’ll edit a shoot afterwards. From here on out I plan on doing much lighter processing in my regular coverage and more thorough processing in my commercial work. I want to create two very different styles that somehow can both be instantly recognized as my work.

I’m currently in the process of re-building my print portfolio, something which I’ve neglected since finishing my degree. I also hope to keep this blog more updated with more behind the scenes posts along with my own thoughts on current affairs relating to the photography industry.

Before I finish up my ramblings, I just want to say a huge thanks to all my clients who I have worked with in 2011. I wouldn’t be living my dream if it wasn’t for each and every one of you. Thank you.

I also want to thank my family, friends, mentors and co-workers for their constant support. You rock.

So, let’s see what 2012 has in store …

-

Paddy McGrath

Whilst shooting at Gatebil earlier this year, I had the pleasure of photographing the freshly unveiled Swedish built hypercar, the Koenigsegg Agera. I managed to capture a couple of decent-ish snaps of the car as it lapped the Rudskogen course, one of which is my favourite shot of 2011. I never for a moment thought that a couple of months later that Koenigsegg Automotive would be in touch to acquire the images for their own promotional use. To say I’m ecstatic would be the understatement of the year. I’ve included the images submitted to Koenigsegg below, I can’t wait to see where they show up!

Post processing a digital photograph is one of the most important aspects of modern photography. Sure, you’ll hear plenty people complaining that it’s ‘cheating‘ but you’ll usually also notice the same people can’t tell their arse from their elbow when it comes to editing an image. After all, even traditional film photographs need to be dodged, burned, exposed etc. before they are fit for purpose. I guess it comes down to each individual situation. Personally, if I’m shooting an event I’ll limit my PP work to a minimum in order to ensure I can get my photographs out as soon as possible and also to give a fair and honest reflection of what occurred. I do think it’s wrong to remove / add items to an image which is to be used for traditional journalism purposes. That is cheating in my opinion.

If you’re tasked to create an image fit for advertising or promotional use, then all bets are off. It’s requires a huge amount of thought and vision both during the shoot and through the processing stage. Although I currently don’t shoot a whole lot of commercial work, it’s something I’m interested in. Whenever I have spare time, I usually find myself searching the web for the best contemporary examples of high end commercial photography. I then try and figure out how the image was lit and processed and see if I can replicate it. This is all part of a personal drive to improve my skill set. What I’ve included below is the images which were used in the creation of the above image. It was pretty much an afterthought to use this shot so there are definitely a lot of things I would have changed if I was shooting it again. But what I really wanted to do here was to see just how far I could take this image. The end result is by no means perfect, but it’s a start. More images and text after the jump …

This is the original RAW file as it was shot. As you can see the exposure is pretty much wrong in every area of the image. I was just walking back to my rental car and liked the trees and sky so snapped a quick shot which I then disregarded and continued on with the rest of the shoot.

Same as the image above but with some slight cropping and straightening.

Using the incredible power of the RAW file, I was able to pull this amount of detail from the shadows.

The tones were a bit too warm for what I wanted so I cooled the image off until it was closer to what I had in mind.

Same image, same RAW file but this time I’m concentrating on the sky. Notice the blown out portion of the sky at the very top of the image, this RAW file was being pushed to its limit and there was no detail here.

Roughly laying the sky over the improved foreground.

I happened to have a similar shot of the car parked in the same position but which was taken with a longer lens. I wanted to use this for the car as there was too much fuzziness and lack of detail in the original. It’s pretty straight forward to get to this stage and have everything placed accurately before the next stage.

Using layer masks, I first blended the sky into the background as best I could. You’ll notice that at the bottom of the sky, the blue fades to white but I’ll fix that later. Once I had the car correctly masked in, I used some adjustment layers to ensure the car matched its background for contrast and colour. Curves, levels and saturation adjustments were the primary changes made. I wanted to add some sun flare to the image – for no other reason that I wanted to learn how – so I painted in the flare on a blank layer and used the blending modes to try and get it to look right. What’s obvious to me now is that the sun is in the wrong place. I also tidied up the foreground a little bit.

With a little bit of help and advice from my work colleague and friend, Linhbergh, we moved the sun to where it should be – I was even feeling brave enough to add the slightest beam of light escaping from the clouds. I worked the reflections on the side of the car a little bit to remove some distracting objects. I fixed the white in the sky by selecting the highlights (Select > Colour Range > Highlights in Photoshop) and gradually brushing in some blue. I also removed the vignetting which was present in the previous example.

I’m sure I’ll keep tweaking things as it’s far, far from perfect but considering the starting point, I’m pretty proud. This was my first attempt at creating something like this, hopefully I’ll have a lot more to share with you in the future.

With December just about to roll around (memo to self, buy Christmas presents) the motorsport season is well and truly done for twenty-eleven. The off-season gives us a chance to relax, reflect and reminisce about the season. We can finally sit back and begin to take everything in. Because their is so little shoots during these dark months, I usually spend my time trying work on my processing styles. This usually involves going absolutely and completely overboard with my processing to the extent that it might make your eyes bleed.

But it’s for good reason. By pushing everything up to eleven, it helps me figure out just how far is too far. From this I can scale things back and find a happy medium. I’ve always wanted to try and create a processing style which pays homage to old photographic prints that have faded, been marked etc. I shot this 993 Porsche recently for Speedhunters and thought it was the perfect shoot to revisit and experiment. You can check out the original feature for comparison here. The rest of the images are after the break …

It’s almost impossible to talk about New York City today and not mention September 11th – a tragedy so great that we now only need to refer to it by date. There have been much larger losses of life throughout the course of history but there is something about happened on that Tuesday morning that hit us all so deeply. I’ve wanted to visit the World Trade Centre site for quite some time to pay my respects to all of those who lost their lives. I was expecting to walk into a quiet area filled with sadness but instead I found a place full of energy, recovering from the disaster in the only way they know how – with pride, passion and dignity. Nothing else sums up the people of New York City like the World Trade Centre site. The recently opened 9/11 Memorial is a fitting tribute to those who lost their lives on 9/11 and during a separate terrorist attack on the WTC in February 1993.

Part two of this story begins with the WTC site and the 9/11 Memorial before exploring the rest of what this incredible city has to offer. If you’d like to contribute to the 9/11 Memorial fund, I’ve included a link to the official website at the bottom. Read on for more images after the break …

Let me know what you think of this story via e-mail or twitter

To donate to the 9/11 Memorial Fund, please visit their Official Website

Growing up, I’ve really only ever had one dream. It was a dream that always stayed with me when others would fade away or would be forgotten as time passed. It was a realistic dream – sure, we’d all love to win the lotto or a couple of Nobel prizes but it’s healthy to keep your feet planted firmly in reality – and one that I knew I would someday be able to make happen. Earlier this year, all the planets and stars aligned for me and I was finally presented with the ability to travel to the greatest city on earth, New York. Ever since I travelled to the USA as a child with my parents, I’ve always had a place in my heart for those United States. This was more of a holiday than a job but being a photographer is something you can never turn off. Armed with my beloved Canon 5DMKII (minus a battery grip to save weight), the Canon 35 F1.4 L and  the Canon 135 F2 L, I was sure I was ready to take on the city that never sleeps. This is the first of two parts and I’ll hopefully have the second part online later this week. Enjoy …

Let me know what you think of this story via e-mail or twitter

Popular motoring journalist Chris Harris tweeted earlier that the iconic Manthey Racing Porsches will not be found contesting the VLN and Nurburgring 24 Hour races in 2012. According to Harris, the Balance of Performance system is stacked so heavily against the GT3 R that Olaf Manthey has decided to call it a day. Since 2005, Manthey have claimed five out of six outright wins at what is billed as the hardest endurance race on the planet (the Nurburgring 24 Hour) and a staggering 24 VLN race wins in the same time period.

One would hope that Herr Manthey has something up his sleeve …

I’ve been out of the office for the last week on a long overdue vacation to the United States. Unfortunately, the auto-responder I set-up before departing got knocked off after a power cut so I apologise for any lack of correspondence in the mean time. I’ll be back in the office from Tuesday November 1st where business will resume as usual. I’ll be sure to share some of my favorite sights from my trip with you shortly …