In December of 2019, I took my last trip of the year-a week-long trek to Los Angeles, California. The international entertainment hotspot intrigued me because of its rich car culture. I experienced a bit of that car culture by visiting the Petersen Automotive Museum, a fabulous collection of vintage and movie cars. The weather was grey and chilly most of the time I was there, but I made the most of my Fiat 124 Spider rental while I was there, and was rewarded with a couple days of nice weather out in Palm Springs and at Joshua Tree National Park.
Southern California is so glamorized that I guess it should come as no surprise, but it felt a lot different than I'd expected. Most of the streets blended together, and there was a chaotic feeling to it all. I visited a few of the local landmarks: Rodeo Drive, the Griffith Observatory, and a glimpse of the Hollywood sign and Beverly Hills. Getting outside of the city was the most rewarding part of the trip though. I drove out to Malibu and spent a couple hours on the beach. Then the next day I was off to Palm Springs, Joshua Tree, then back to the airport the following night to head home. I hope you enjoy some of my favorite photos from the trip.
0 Comments
There's something very odd about beginning and ending your day in the dark. You feel like you must have gone to bed at some point. Then, you realize you haven't. That's how Petit Le Mans goes. Ten hours of racing that starts at 12PM and ends around 10. Mid-day to fully under the lights. It's one of the most fantastic racing events on the calendar year, and none of my coworkers knew what I was talking about when I told them where I'd been. Everyone thinks Road Atlanta is Atlanta Motor Speedway, the oval south of town that hosts NASCAR races. Do they still do NASCAR? I'm not sure. Okay, that wasn't an entirely fair shot. IMSA, the sanctioning body for this race, is owned by the NASCAR franchise. But it's quite a different crowd at Petit Le Mans. There was quite a crowd this year, too. I was blown away by the amount of people at turn 1 for the start of the race. I hiked to the top of the hill overlooking the start/finish line for a bit of peace, but it was quite literally a mob of people. And it makes sense. Sports car racing has always been close racing, with the added bonus of street-looking cars. The series has attained its own following, produced its own characters, like the Taylor brothers, while also attracting big-name drivers from other arenas, like 2019 Indy 500 winner Simon Pagenaud, IndyCar rookie and youngest Indy series race winner Colton Herta, and motorsports virtuoso Juan Pablo Montoya. The ten hours went by (mostly) like a blur for me. Hiking around the 2.5-mile road course eats up more time than I realized and, although I hit a wall provoked by sleep deprivation at around 1, I bounced back and made it to spectator hill around 9, where my friend and fellow photographer Kevin and I watched the remainder of the race. I used two camera/lens combos for this race. Photos from the paddock were mostly taken with my newest toy, a Sony A6000 with a Sigma 19mm f2.8 lens. This camera and lens astound me with how much detail they are able to grab from the shadows of an image. However, the fixed lens proved a bit of a challenge for a few of the shots I wanted to get, and I'd really like to play around with a zoom lens on this camera next time. In years past, I've paired my second camera body, a Canon 60D, with the superb Canon 70-200mm f2.8 lens. Unfortunately, I didn't rent that lens this time. I think it would have helped a bit with some of the night shots at the end of this post, because I had the ISO cranked way up on a few of them. The lens I did use was my trusty kit lens, a Canon 18-135mm, which, at its maximum zoom, stops itself down to 5.6. Now, I've talked plenty. It's time to let the photographs speak for themselves. Click the link below to scroll through some of my favorite photos from the 2019 Petit Le Mans and let me know what you think!
GridLife epitomizes the newest, youngest, and loudest group of car enthusiasts to grace the United States. Drifting, wild colors, and rhythmic electronic music pulse through each GridLife event on the calendar.
Two years ago I stood at Devil's Playground, a treeless, dirt filled parking lot 13,000 feet up Pikes Peak in Colorado. Less than a mile from that spot is where Carlin Dunne, a veteran Ducati rider, died on Sunday afternoon after completing three of the fastest sectors ever recorded in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb Motorcycle class. We had a decent two week stretch of excellent weather in the Atlanta area and I decided to take advantage of it on Saturday. The morning started at around 8AM, when I reluctantly obeyed my early Saturday alarm. I brewed some coffee, washed my face, and threw together a backpack full of essentials for the morning. Those essentials were my camera with the 18-135 kit lens attached, my 50mm lens, some sunscreen, and my trusty water bottle. After downing most of the coffee and a bagel, I hustled out the door to make the hour drive to Road Atlanta.
Last Sunday was a great day for automotive events in Atlanta. The morning started off bright and early at Caffeine and Octane. (though I didn't make such an early start) Then, the action carried over at Atlanta Brewing Company, where Gears and Beers, a German car show, took place in the afternoon. Both shows were great fun to attend and I switched lenses between each one. Enjoy some of my favorite photos from each event below! June 2019 Caffeine and OctaneThe Lore is what first drew me to Indiana on a slightly cloudy day at the tail end of spring. Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a 2.5-mile oval that took shape in 1909, then made of tar and gravel, then raced on for the first time two years later, at a time when most people were still getting around by horse. The first race came in 1911 and the lore followed soon after.
Springtime in Atlanta is synonymous with the Dogwood Festival, a huge event that takes place in Piedmont Park over the course of a mid-April weekend. Highlights include delightfully soft rock covers, art vendors, giant corndogs, and actual dogs catching frisbees competitively. What follows are a few captures I grabbed while spending a laid back Sunday afternoon in the city.
Barber Motorsports Park is a beautifully-manicured complex that hosts IndyCar once a year in the spring. This was my first time seeing the track and only my second time to Barber Motorsports Park. The first time, my parents, sister, and I spent several hours marveling at the displays inside the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, which houses the largest motorcycle collection in the world.
It's been a while since I've been to a car show like Riverside Meet in Chattanooga. I knew it once I hit the parking lot outside. The modded car world was scattered across the spectator lot. BMWs as old as me with scuffed bumpers and neon stickers, Hondas with gold wheels, and guys riding around on Ruckus scooters already told me what I needed to know. This wasn't a Concours or Caffeine and Octane, but a gathering that represented today's survival of the stance movement. These car enthusiasts are a young group in their teens to early thirties who pair flashy wheels with sophisticated air ride systems, sticking them in everything from old Mercedes sedans to a brand new VW Passat.
|
AuthorThis is a space where I'll post all of the images I don't include on the main pages Archives
June 2021
Categories |