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More after the break

Just finished a quick edit on James Deane’s SR20 powered FD RX7 that I’d like to share. We were a bit stuck for time so we only had time to fire off a few test shots, but have no fear as a full shoot is on the cards. I cannot wait to get this car back in front of the lense …

Back in April, I was lucky enough to have time to shoot some portraits of some of the drivers and staff of the Prodrift Super Series. When the majority of your work is based around the machine and not the man, it can be refreshing change of pace to shoot the men (and indeed women) behind the visors. The idea behind these portraits was to portray the people behind the cars, to show the real person and not just the name you may recognize from the commentary.

More after the jump …

The above shot of Shane Lynch (Team Japspeed Stobart Maxxis), was shot with a Canon EOS 40D with a 24-105 F4 L lense. The shoot took place in a music festival tent at Donington Park in the UK. Using two flashes, one high camera left and another low camera right, both fired through white umbrellas.

Kieran Hynes, Prodrift Series Head Judge, Canon EOS 40D, 24mm, ISO100, f/8, 1/160th

Alan Lenihan, Hankook Tires Nissan Silvia, Canon EOS 40D, 47mm, ISO200, f/5.6, 1/125th

Dennis Healy, Nexen / Hunky Dorys Toyota Corolla SR-86, Canon EOS 40D, 24mm, ISO100, f/8, 1/125th

Ian Bergin, Judge & Commentator, Canon EOS 40D, 67mm, ISO100, f/4, 1/160th

Mike Deane, Silverstone Tyres / Deane M-Sport Nissan Silvia, Canon EOS 40D, 60mm, ISO200, f/7.1, 1/125th

Martin Ffrench, Wexican Motorsport Nissan Silvia, Canon EOS 40D, 24mm, ISO100, f/8, 1/160th

Dean ‘Karnage’ Kearney, Maxxis Nissan Onevia, Canon EOS 1D MKII N, 50mm, ISO800, f/1.4, 1/125th

The brief for the shoot was fairly simple, the client wanted some simple, clean images that can be used for brochures, posters etc. We had a bit of time to spare at the shoot so we ran with the idea of rigging up one of the cars with the intention of catching both the cars in the same frame. Previously, this would of been a nightmare, but thanks to the new rig, we were allowed some creativity we never had previously. In the above shot, the rig is actually suction mounted to the REAR window of the lead car, then passing over the roof and bonnet to sit about four / five feet from the front bumper.

Sticking with the theme of simplicity, we went for a straightforward shot of the side of the Sileighty car. Being a bright day, with a black car, getting an exposure was a bit of a nightmare. I stacked two circ-pol’s to kill off as much light as possible.

This is the rig on its four meter configuration, using some twine to tension it to the rear spoiler legs. Handy with the 180SX that the rear hatch is nearly all glass, so plenty of grip for the suction mounts. We changed the wheels to green to tie in further with the Monster branding, the photos looked a bit too black and white with the white wheels. Prodrift & Monster liked the change so much they’re getting the wheels powder coated !

This is my personal favorite from the shoot, captures all the sponsors and the close proximity to the wall increases the sense of motion. In reality, the cars were in neutral, free wheeling down the hill in the background, so the maximum speed was around 5mph.

Again we went with some subtle colour changes to re-enforce the Monster branding. By changing the wheel colour again and adjusting the hue of the yellow wall, it strengthens the image from a commercial perspective. The rig in this one is in five meter mode, I still had the option of increasing it by another two meters but was happy with this angle.

For the statics, we just went simple images in front of the pit garages. Several exposures were combined to minimize the reflections. I didn’t bother with lights as now time was getting tight as the cars were due on track for a demonstration.

With the cars parked up in the same spot, I just grabbed another closer shot to emphasize the sponsors on the front bumper.

With the cars on track, getting the usual smokey, good angle drift shots were easy but I wanted to finish with something little bit different. As the car was coming back down the pit straight, the driver was firing the car into 360′s and I caught this shot of the car mid spin. I blew out the background with the aid of the adjustments brush in Lightroom along with a bright vignette.  It still keeps the car in situ, whilst removing any distractions from the background.

- Paddy



Related reading …
www.prodriftseries.com
www.monsterenergy.com

Just published the coverage of the third round of the Irish series on Speedhunters. Check out the article HERE !

Just uploading the shots from yesterday’s event to my flickr, full gallery and walkthrough coming soon !