240sx | Chaz's Mind

Nov 26 2012

Hanging with the Drift Faction Boys

Last Saturday, I was invited to shoot a drift event up in Connecticut. It was the last event for the season and I knew I had to make it. The last event I was at was Freedom Moves, and to say the least, I wish I never went. Hoping this would make up for it, I headed out at 430am. My GPS told me it would take 3 hours and 45 min. Somehow I made it there in just over 3 hours. I have never been to Lime Rock before and after arriving, was instantly impressed. They had clean heated bathrooms, a lounge area, and most importantly a Keurig coffee maker. I was working on about 3 hours of sleep, so coffee would be my fuel for the day.

After walking around for a bit, I saw Danny unloading his 2j powered s13. Havent seen him since Freedom Moves. Its nice to see people you don’t get to see on a regular basis. We chatted for a few, caught up with each other, and bitched about the traffic getting to the track.

Seriously, it was about 30 degrees out at this point. I luckily wore enough layers and stayed warm. I was more concerned with my battery life in my 700. I rarely shoot in the cold, and when I do, its for less than an hour. This would be the last test for my camera. I know it can handle heat, humidity, rain, snow, but what about all day cold? To say the least, it performed miraculously.

9am rolled around, and the drifting was about to begin. Huy was running late, so the media meeting never happened. So I just wandered around until I ended up on track. No one questioned me, no one told me to get off. It was nice. For once I had complete freedom to get my images. I wish Englishtown and the NJ State Police would take a note or 10. Anyway Kyle and Shane were the first ones out, their cars are perfect examples of style. Even when their body panels fly off, the cars still look sexy.

Usually when I’m at these events, I end up with more portraits than drifting photos. This time I only took a few.

^One of my favorites. So glad I was standing there to capture it.

And the rest from the day…

You can view the rest on my FB Page HERE

All in all it was a wonderful event, thanks to Drift Faction for inviting me, and Lock City Drift for hosting an awesome year end event.

Tagged 240sx, d700, drift, drift faction, drifting, lime rock, lock city drift, nikon, nissan, s13, slide

Nov 18 2012

Quickie Post

Travelled up to Connecticut to hang with some friends and photograph sexy cars. Heres one of my favorites.

Tagged 240sx, 70-200mm, car, d700, drift faction, drifting, kouki, nikon, nissan, s13

Jun 27 2012

Formula D The Gauntlet 2012- The Drifting Photos

Let’s see…how can I compare this last weekend at Wall? Well obviously fun, exciting, and refreshing. But maybe if you can imagine the surface of the sun with high humidity and rubber raining on you, then thats how Wall felt. This was my first time shooting FD, and going into it knowing the weather report almost put a damper on my enthusiasm. Maybe its just me, but carrying around a bunch of heavy camera gear in 97 degree and 5000% humidity isn’t exactly the best weekend ever. Those negative thoughts faded fast. I wanted to do this forever. I haven’t even been to a FD event before, how could I not want to go? Especially with having the chance to use my passion of photography? I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited.

Like I said, it was about 99 on Thursday. Everyone was trying to stay cool one way or another. Even in the shade, because of the humidity, it was still 99 degrees.

Daigo had the right idea. I don’t want to know what its like sitting in a race suit, in a race seat, in a race car.

Thursday is the day teams get to practice and dial in their settings and for a lot of drivers this year, learn the course.

Friday was just as hot as Thursday. This time I had my media vest and could go on track. I used that day as a scouting day. Trying to figure out where to shoot and get the best shots. The grid was nice, it was shaded and I got to get up close to the cars as they would heat up their tires and do sweet burnouts. Probably took a few years off my lungs though.

I love the Watanabes, they look like huge spooling turbos.

JLowe love tapping the wall. Love him and his car <3. No homo.

Later on in the day, Mother Nature decided rain would be a great idea midway through qualifying. This put a damper on photos. No smoke, no speed, no fun. It was interesting watching the drivers compensate for the wet conditions however.

Points had to be adjusted for the drivers that had to qualify in the rain and after the drivers meeting, the fun started. Top 32 practice. The tire smoke made a return as the track dried and drivers ran hard with some close tandem practice.

Saturday Top 32 battle and onto the finals. Thankfully the rain forest humidity let off and temps dropped a bit. I was pumped. The drivers turned it up to 20 battling for a spot in the top 16 and hopefully more. So many great battles ensued during the day. I’ll stop boring you with my writing and let the photos finish this post off. It was a great time for me personally and can’t wait to go back next year.