Recent Editorial Work – KS Motorsport BMW E90
Client: Speedhunters Intent: Editorial Date: July 2015 Location: Rudskogen, Norway. Original Feature: http://www.speedhunters.com
Recent Editorial Work – 2JZ Powered BMW E30
Client: Speedhunters Intent: Editorial Date: June 2015 Location: Mantorp, Sweden. Original Feature: http://www.speedhunters.com
Daily Driver – My 2006 BMW 3 Series
Although I spend my time shooting cars, it’s a very rare thing that I get time to shoot my own car. Earlier this year, after months of planning & preparation, I was finally at a stage where I was happy to take the time out to shoot it. I’ve owned the car for three and a half years now, but since day one I’ve always had in mind just how I wanted the car to look. Some of it was simple, whilst other parts took a lot longer to come together. My main aim was to create something that didn’t look modified. I wanted it to look like a car that BMW could have released. To achieve this, a lot of genuine BMW parts were used, albeit cherry picked from other models. The wheels comes from an E63 7 Series, the brakes were an over the counter option available from my local dealer, Brembo for BMW Performance. The boot lid is a full carbon CSL style trunk, inspired by the E46 M3 CSL whilst the front splitter is a rare Hartge Japan item, and took two years of searching to find. Not long after this shoot, that splitter met an untimely demise which resulted in the car being raised on its KW suspension whilst another splitter was sourced. The real reason I wanted to shoot my E90 was for posterity. I spent so much time agonising over such small decisions, researching part options online and trying to come up with a unique look that I just wanted something to look back at in years to come and say ‘I’m proud of that.’ Since ‘completing’ it, I’ve mostly been staying on top of maintenance and ensure the car is running 100%, all of the time. There’s just over 140,000KMs on the clock now […]
Dangerous Games – An Airlifted E30 M3
I could count on one hand the amount of cars that I believe should never be touched or modified in anyway. The E30 M3 used to be one of them. Previously, I always thought it was perfect from the factory and any attempt to interfere with its natural state would be detrimental. Nick Singh Sahota, the owner, on the other hand, thought different and I’m quite glad that he did. With ECU controlled Airlift Performance suspension and an E46 M3 sourced S54 power plant, Nick has built one of my favourite E30 M3’s ever. I came across the car during the recent Ultimate Dubs show in the United Kingdom. The title would suggest that it was a Volkswagen only show, but they seem to be quite relaxed about the rules when it comes to original manufacturer. The car proved an instant hit once I ran it on the Speedhunters Instagram account. With this in mind, I wasted no time in getting the car shot in detail. In fact, the other exhibitors were still rolling out whilst we were mid-shoot. With a rapidly setting sun, we worked the venue as best as we could to maximise the impact of the car. The entire set was shot with minimal lens selection and an even smaller amount of processing. The only time consuming part of the jobs was removing the many pieces of litter in some of the exterior shots. It was one of those rare times where everything came together at the right time. Shot for Speedhunters
When Your Dream Car Doesn’t Exist, Build It – A BMW M3 Touring
It was purely by accident that I stumbled upon Nick Pritchard at Players Shows, last year. I had been confined to the Speedhunters Hangar all day, shooting in a make-shift studio. As we wrapped things up, I popped out to take a quick look around as the cars were leaving when I spotted the familiar front wings of a BMW M3 attached to the body of a 3 Series Touring. I had seen a couple of Tourings before with the M3 front, but something really caught my attention. I don’t know if it was the massive Brembo brakes or the more subtle widened rear arches. A quick chat with the owner, Nick, who was sitting in the car waiting to leave confirmed my suspicions. This was a complete M3 Touring. Now, you’re probably wondering why I’m getting so excited about an estate car. Well, it’s rather quite simple. BMW never built an M3 Touring. Nick took a 318iS, and E90 M3 donor car and basically mashed the two together until he ended up with what is honestly, my dream car. I won’t bore you with the details, the link to the full feature is below, but needless to say that this conversion is quite simply breathtaking. It is flawless. The fact that it blends into everyday traffic, is a testament to the quality of the workmanship on the car. It looks absolutely factory. I’ve been shooting a lot more LoFi lately, trying to keep things simple whilst working on backgrounds and compositions. This was no different. I’ve also been stopping down a lot more lately, in a quest to find more sharpness. It’s working, too. Again, processing was kept simple in a less is more sort of way. I liked the cool tones which work with the car’s colour and […]
A Trip Through Wales
Sometimes the stress of everyday life can take its toll. We all have our ways of relaxing and letting off steam but my personal favourite is a spirited drive across a familiar piece of tarmac. Earlier this year I was introduced to the A4069 in Wales whilst on assignment for Speedhunters. Although I was working that day, I knew I needed to come back at some stage and really spend the time learning and appreciating the route which cuts through the Brecon Beacons National Park in South Wales. Fortunately for me, the road isn’t too far out of my way when travelling from Ireland to London, so I make a point of taking the slightly longer route whenever I can. I’ve already wrote about the experience on Speedhunters (link below) so I won’t bore you with my ramblings. Before I finish I just want to say, I’m already looking forward to the next trip… Pursuing Performance on Speedhunters
The CleanCar Experience
Anyone who knows me, will probably have noticed that I’m a just a tiny bit obsessive about keeping my car clean. With the poor weather (and even worse roads) we are blessed with in Ireland, trying to maintain a daily driven car to a high standard is an uphill battle to say the least. That’s even before the nine month long winter rears its ugly head… Regular upkeep and proper washing techniques go along way to keeping your pride and joy in top condition, but every now and then you need to step back, and let the professionals deal with it. Enter CleanCar.ie, a Wexford based detailing service who have been leading the way in the car cleaning business on these shores for quite some time. You might have noticed that I referred to them as a ‘detailing’ service and not a ‘valeting’ service. Detailing is essentially the epitome of car cleaning and paintwork care. I’ve known the two main men behind CleanCar long before they set up shop, and I know that both Larry & John take huge pride in their work. They are enthusiasts first and business owners second. It had been quite a while since my car had been treated to an enhancement (the ground work was done quite some time ago) so earlier this week I dropped off the car to the CleanCar workshop to let Larry work his magic on it. All the work carried out is recorded, so when I turned up today to collect it, Larry talked me through the whole process. It goes a little something like this… – Strong Wash & Deep Clean to Remove Old Layers of wax – Paint Spatters Removed from Paintwork & Glass (a neighbour painting their house recently covered my car in house paint) – De-Tar […]
Photos of the Year 2012
It’s actually quite difficult to write a review of a year whilst trying to avoid every cliché available. I guess it is always good to take the time to look back and appreciate things and learn from mistakes. Speaking personally, 2012 was a bit of a hit and miss year. Although there were certainly some fantastic moments, there was also a lot of time that needed to be endured rather than enjoyed. Photography wise, I don’t think I built upon my technical skills and ideas as much as I would have liked to, mostly due to a lack of field work in comparison to other years. However, these are all things I can focus on for 2013 and try to evolve further as a photographer. I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who comes here, to those of you who take your time to send me e-mails and everyone I’ve interacted with over the last twelve months. I hope that your best moments of 2012 are your worst ones in 2013.
Nürburgring 24HR ’12 – Part Three / The Race
I’m sure I’ve certainly said this before, my year revolves around the Nürburgring 24HR. It’s the centre of my world, an event that I dream of during the winter, look forward to in the spring and reminisce about during the summer and autumn when it’s over. It’s an event that has everything, and I mean everything – the greatest racing circuit on earth, changeable weather, an almost impossible variety of cars, hundreds of thousands of animated spectators and fierce racing. This, sadly, is my final N24 post for 2012 but not my last Nordschleife related one. Be warned though, there are around 40+ images after the link so these might not best be viewed on a mobile device …
Nürburgring 24HR ’12 – Part One
I’m quite a lucky person. I’m working in my dream job, traveling the world and photographing fast cars. I honestly couldn’t ask for more. Even the variety of events that I attend is often breathtaking, there’s never a dull moment. When you have it so good and yet one event still stands out above all the others, then you know it’s special. For me, the annual Nürburgring 24HR is the centre point of my year. It’s such a challenge to shoot but it’s just so rewarding in many different ways. We’ve just wrapped up our coverage on Speedhunters (which is well worth a look as always) so I thought I’d start catching up with things on here too. The first part of this story documents our arrival at the ‘ring on the Wednesday before the race …
Project 4848 – Part Two
I’ve just landed in the door from a truly epic weekend in Luxembourg, where I was covering the first round of the Berg Cup for Speedhunters. Shortly before I left, I put the final touches to my own car and grabbed a couple of quick snaps to share with you. Since part one, I’ve made a couple of changes… I loved the LM style wheels, they were proving a nightmare to keep and when the lacquer began to lift on one of them, I knew we would have to part ways. I always liked CSL style wheels but preferred the concavity of the rears over the flat finish on the fronts of the genuine wheels. Unfortunately, I couldn’t fit a 9.5″ front wheel (especially with their offset) without reworking the front wings and probably adding coilovers to control the ride height. I had a chat with Paul in AutoAlloys and he managed to source four 9″ CSL style wheels with that concave finish for me. It’s only a subtle difference, but it really makes the car IMO. Behind the front wheels, you’ll now notice a pair of Brembo aluminum six piston calipers with 365mm drilled and vented discs. Rebranded as ‘BMW Performance’, the brakes provide a much more reliable pedal with a lot more bite when leaned on. They were a relatively cheap upgrade too when compared with other six piston braking solutions. I’ve also made a couple of small cosmetic changes including a full carbon fibre boot lid, a new exhaust exit and some carbon vinyl wrapping on the steering wheel trim. The car has also just received a full paint correction thanks to Larry in CleanCar.ie
BMW at the 2011 ADAC Nürburgring 24HR
I’m sure it’s obvious by now that I have an affinity for a particular German manufacturer. Growing up in a Ford household, which was part of a Ford family, I don’t think I ever saw myself as a BMW sort of person growing up. After pushing the usual stereotypes aside, I quickly came to appreciate BMW’s brand values. It’s not just about their performance, technology or image, it’s how they bring everything together into a package that just works. Every detail is considered and it shows in the the final product. I’m certainly not saying they’re perfect or without their problems but for me anyways, I can appreciate what they bring to the table. Last year, I was lucky enough to cover the annual Nürburgring 24HR for the second consecutive year for Speedhunters. Shooting the Nürburgring 24HR is a very difficult task. The sheer size of the venue, along with its unpredictable weather system does not make the challenge any easier. In 2011, I had set personal goals with regards to my photography. These goals were related to both the approach and execution of shooting an event. In particular I wanted to focus on the basics and taking technically better photographs. This lead to a lot of (and I mean a lot) of rather plain images but they provided a better base to develop from. I recently revisited my images from last year’s event and re-edited them in accordance with what I’ve learned over the year. This leaves me facing into 2012 with the ambition of changing it all again in an attempt to stay fresh and hopefully build on what I’ve learned so far. I hope you enjoy what I’ve put together. If you like it be sure to drop me an e-mail or a message on twitter. More images after […]
3SDM 0.01 Wheel Shoot
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 …
Project 4848 – Part One
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 …
2011 ADAC Zurich Nürburgring 24 Hour – Part Two
I’ll conclude my 2011 ADAC Zurich Nürburgring 24HR coverage with the second and final part of images. These images take place in chronological order from the Friday qualifying sessions right through to the race end on Sunday evening. Nearly a month later and I’m still feeling the effects of the N24. It’s truly the most difficult event one can photograph during the motorsport season. However, it also rewards you for your perseverance. Read on for more images …
2011 ADAC Zurich Nürburgring 24 Hour – Part One
I’m slowly trying to come around after a couple of very intensive weeks of work. Bouncing from the legendary Nürburgring twenty four hour race to the wild festivities of Gatebil in Norway has taken its toll on this Speedhunter. There are quite a lot of shots from the twenty four hour that I want to share so I’ve decided to split the coverage into two, chronologically ordered pieces. The first part will take you from our arrival in Germany on the Tuesday before the race to the Thursday night after qualifying. The rest of the story is after the break …
FIA GT3 European Championship – Team Need for Speed at Silverstone
As part of my Speedhunters duties at Silverstone, I was required to cover the Team Need for Speed Schubert Motorsport BMW Z4 GT3 in as much detail as I could. With our Creative Director, Rod Chong and GT veteran photographer Jonathan Moore present to cover the track, I was left to focus on the behind the scenes and pit lane activity. More after the jump !
Supercharged E46
I posted a sneak preview of this a couple of months back. Well the feature just hit the shelves in issue #157 of Redline Magazine so you can check it out there. There’s also a brief behind the scenes feature on Speedhunters about the shoot. The rest of the shoot can be found after the jump.
FIA GT at Paul Ricard / Friday Practice
Last weekend I had the rather excellent opportunity of shooting the FIA GT races at the Paul Ricard HTTT near Marseille, France. It would be the very first time I had ever shot an FIA sanctioned event, let alone the pinnacle of tin-top racing at the most advanced racing circuit in the world. I was present to cover the event for Speedhunters.com and my aim was to concentrate on the #76 and #77 cars of Team Need for Speed in GT3 and the #22 and #23 cars of Sumo Power GT in the GT1 class. This set of photographs is from the Friday practice sessions. More after the jump …
Upcoming Feature in Redline …
I had the pleasure of shooting this sublime supercharged E46 BMW last week, keep an eye out it in a future issue of Redline Magazine.
BMW E46 M3 CSL
Sorry about the delay in getting this post together, has been busy here the last while at PMCG Studios. Earlier this month, Junior from Irish motoring site Driver.ie approached me about shooting a rare E46 CSL that was located down the country. With an upcoming BMW theme on Speedhunters, it was an offer I couldn’t refuse. More after the jump …
