Product shots of the Bilstein PSS10 Coilovers

As many of you know, I am a huge Porsche fan and try to stay active in scene as much as I can while managing businesses and a family. When I ordered the Bilstein PSS10's from my good buddies over at Evasive Motorsports, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the quality of the product. Before I decided to install them on my car, I took some time to shoot the fine product. 

I shot the product over at Wanderwall Space and tried using a handful of different lighting angles. Due to the product's shiny nature, getting the right angle was imperative as it showed strong highlights and reflections. 

I wanted a nice soft look and semi flat lighting to really show off all of the textures of this fine product. The best look I got was setting up two large softboxes 45 degrees behind the coilover on each side. With the key light set as a kicker light, I was able to get some nice soft diffusion on the front part of the suspension. 

Here are some BTS photos and various lighting samples along with the final composition. Hope you guys enjoy!

Emory Motorsports

It's becoming so rare nowadays to come across a business that is ran with great passion and with the utmost integrity. People are losing their ways because people are blinded by profits and have little regard for quality and patience. Great things come with time and some things are not meant to be rushed. 

For those of you who don't know who Rod Emory/Emory Motorsports, well you better take note cause he is the man when it comes to all things Porsche 356. He was destined to do what he is currently doing from the birth. His grandfather started Valley Custom back in the 40's and was well known for channeling and sectioning cars that had a very subtle but noticeable look from their stock counterparts. Rod's father continued the tradition with a small garage and ultimately started the Baja Bug craze when he gave new life to Bug's that were otherwise worthless from being an accidents. His father eventually started a Porsche parts business where Rod grew up being surrounded by car parts which basically were like Legos to him. Check out his piece on Jay Leno's Garage by clicking (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwln2ji-yOE)

He started his first 356 build at the age of 14 years old. If you were to ever accidentally walk into Rod's garage and were looking for the owner, you may actually walk right past him. For all of the experience Rod has, you would have no idea cause Rod looks very young. Mid to late 30's but has the knowledge of someone in their 60s. He is a walking, talking history book for all things 356 and with this car growing ever so in popularity, the name Emory will be synonymous with 356. 

Since I have been in the marketplace for a Porsche 997.1 GT3 for the past 6 months, a purchase has been derailed by shortage of supply, purchase of a 964, patiently waiting for my S2000 to sell, etc but as we all know, life has it's reasons. Now I have been reconsidering the purchase of a GT3 for a 356 coupe. I have always loved the designs of the 356 convertible, especially watching it on Top Gun and Dylan McKay on the original 90210. However the prices of 356 convertibles are in the mid $200k range and way out of my budget. When I found out coupes were much cheaper, it started to dawn on me that one day I would add it to my collection. 

A buddy of mine who I will not mention, has been dreaming of vintage Porsches heavily for the past year. He is into 912s and SCs but it wasn't until you sent me a photo of the Emory 356's that it really caught my eye. I mean these gems were drop dead gorgeous and when I found out that Rod Emory started the whole Outlaw term and had them beefed up from 60hp to 180/200hp, I was game. 

I made a quick call to Emory Motorsports where I was pleasantly surprised that Rod himself picked up the phone. Not only that, he was super genuine and helpful in his conversations. When I found out his builds were "a tad" out of my budget, I still wanted to do what I could to see these cars in person and to meet the legend himself. I asked Rod to check out my website and see if he would be down to let me come by and perhaps shoot the garage. Rod accepted but I am sure he did it as a kind gesture however I know that he doesn't do something like this very often. So I was stoked and blessed for my appointment. 

I confirmed with Rod in the morning of our "date" to see if we were still on and after the green light, I invited a buddy of mine who is in the market for older Porsches and has a lot of experience with vintage aircooled VWs. 

When we got there and walked up to the entrance, I started to become very excited as I could see how amazing this hidden gem was filled with goodies that grown men like me drool over. Of course I was getting text messages from people who knew I was gonna be here wanting minute to minute updates. Of course I kindly ignored them as Paul and I was lost in the space of amazingness. 

What I loved most about meeting Rod was that he is the same guy on all the online videos and in person. So many people have tv personalities and in person are very different. Rod took 90 mins out of his day to show Paul and me around his shop, give us the history of his life in connection with the 356, the history of the many amazing 356's in the shop, old and present builds. It was surreal to say the least. 

Rod understands the ideal of quality and time and not being overwhelmed by quantity. He only builds 7-9 cars a year so he is picky about what comes in. He wants the builds to represent his artistry to the fullest. I loved him showing us how the cars go down a spot every time it finished rust repair, suspension mods, mod adjustments, etc. Plenty of room for their technicians to move around and get the work. It was a nice cool working environment. I never once felt like there was a whip out and technicians were getting whipped to get the job done. It was all a harmonious balance. 

Here is a chassis of a 964 getting chopped up to be utilized in a 356. It is sad to see a 964 like that but perhaps it was already on her death bed and now there is new life after death. I want an Emory 356. 

912's - 356's, ugh... just awesome goodness everywhere... hard to concentrate. It's a wonderland of lust. 

Part of what makes Rod's shop so amazing is his long family history of working on cars. Three generations of knowledge and 3 generations of tools. I mean look at this stuff. They don't make machines like this anymore. Vintage machines being brought back to life by vintage machines. Amazing! I want an Emory 356. 

Everything hand crafted by technicians who love what they do. It's Porsche Car Heaven. Below is a photo of Art strolling past trying not to get in the shot but loved that he is. 

Rod spent 18 years in Oregon building Porsches for a client of his. He still has his warehouse up there but love the Oregon plates to keep the roots of his past present. 

Everything is clean and organized. This is how a garage should look like. This is how I want a garage to look like if I were to bring my car in. Too many shady shops out there with little integrity. I know a lot of you out there got stories. 

Oh you know, just got random racing memorabilia hanging on the wall. No big deal.   

Drool...

Sal getting down and dirty!

Rod showing Paul and I his dies to add louvers to various parts of the car. 

You can see the outlines before it goes to the press machine

Another great thing about Rod is that he is not only at the shop everyday, he still gets his hands dirty every single day and puts in work. He doesn't sit behind a desk and point fingers. This guy leads his team by example. Emory putting in Outlaw work. I want an Emory 356.

One of those 356's will be a project 356 car for Momo. Wait until it is unveiled. It is gonna look nuts. Game changer for sure. 

Here is a portrait of #46. It is a 1951 LeMans Class Winning Porsche. In all of her glory, so beautiful

I've never been a big silver fan but after a single visit here, I understand why. Rod believes that silver is the best color to highlight all the great things about this car without a flashy color like red stealing all of the thunder. It makes sense but all I could keep my eyes on was the quality of the paint. It is a 12/10. Mirror finish. Gave me chills. I want an Emory 356. 

Various accessories considered "outlaw" by Purists but Rod says that he was just doing what Porsche was already doing. I am in love.

 Look at how happy Paul is right there. We were like kid's in a candy shop for sure. 

I want to thank Rod once again for opening his doors to two fans of the brand and his love of the 356 that gave us new generations of kids to dream and aspire for. Rod is a shining example of someone who is not only a leader but has turned his passion into a business that benefits the love we all have for cars. 

I am so grateful to have met you and have documented a small part of your journey. 
Check out Emory Motorsports at http://www.emorymotorsports.com

Til the next time,
Andrew Manley
Auto Enthusiast

964 & 991 @Rusnak Porsche in Pasadena, CA

So the other night, a few Purist guys and I went out to shoot some old Euro cars. We had one guy drop out last minute and that was replaced with a newer JCW Mini Cooper Turbo. I will upload the rest of those photos another day.

We headed to Glendora originally to get a few shots at The Donut Man and as we waited for everyone, it started to rain. Then it started to rain real good... got me worried a bit since the roads were gonna be slick. Ended up stopping 30 mins into and then we proceeded to Pasadena.

While shooting around Pasadena, came across a Porsche dealership while we were waiting in the Ralph's parking lot across the street. I thought it would be cool to do a time piece showing the old vs new 911 since a red Carrera was right on the show room floor. 

I didn't know how the shot was gonna turn out since the lighting conditions were pretty lousy and on top of that, I only had a 24-70mm on me and the street was really wide. I knew that I was most likely gonna shoot in the street somewhere.

Luckily I was only 3 feet into the street to make my composition work but nevertheless it worked out fine. 

I started off by getting my ambient shots. I did a bracket shot and got the following below:

Shot on the Canon 1dx and Canon 24-70mm 2.8 Mark II with a Circular Polarizer. ISO 100, f2.8, 2.5 secs, bracketed for 3 stops + and -

Above is our first run light painting with the Westcott Ice Light. My goal was to try and light the top and and the mid part of the lines well. We ran into some issues properly highlighting the hips of the Carrera due to it popping out. So we ran a handful of trials. Got it looking decent towards the end but I had to fix it in photoshop to make it more acceptable.   

Above you can see all of the various variations I did. You can see how gradually I added color tones, got rid of lots of reflection on the glass and poster, got rid of the tree and cleaned up the car as much as I could. In addition, I had to add a darker gradient going down the car and darkening the wheels to make it feel more natural. I also cleaned up the Porsche banner above the 991. The previous one was driving into the window break so I cleaned it up and applied a new logo on there. All about the details.

Above is the final image. I am pretty happy with the outcome and I think it shows the two off really well. I still like my air cooled better but I guess I am biased lol. 

Let me know what you guys think in the comments below and be sure to click on the like and share button!

TIl the next one,
Andrew Manley
Automotive Photography

Photo of me directing Phil (@handsomeandphilthy) how to light the Carrera. BTS Coverage by Danny from Blue Soul Photography

A cruise down to San Diego for Big Socal Euro Meet

Life is an adventure... go out there and meet new people, seek new lands and make fond memories that you can talk about on your death bed. It's so hard to break away from the norm and when you do get away, its hard to ease your mind of all the work you have to do when you get back... you  know what I'm talking about right? Makes it worse since I am Korean and Koreans are workaholics. I try not to be but it's in my blood. 

This past weekend was Labor Day... trying to take it easy on Labor Day seems unproductive so I had to find a way to relax but get some work done at the same time. Where does one begin to do that? 

Apparently there was a big car meet in San Diego on Sunday hosted by a Purist member. Open to Euro enthusiasts, I asked a few Euro people if they were going to check out the meet. Sure enough Darren (@creaminz_official) and a whole crew of Porsche and BMW boys were down to roll so I cleared my Sunday to check it out. 

Darren hangs out with some really cool dudes... and since all of these guys ball so hard, I had to get my #mbn (must be nice) hashtags ready to hand out. Here you go, and here you go.... thank you, must be nice sir... lol but as hard as they all ball, they are very gracious and humble dudes. Pleasure meeting the group, their significant others and their sons.... James and Rob both have one boy so Calvin felt right at home with it. 

There was definitely traffic heading down to SD from OC but a majority of the traffic came from people rubbernecking on the 5 freeway when the Marines at Camp Pendleton area were taking their hovercrafts from the dirt to the sea. It was super badass, sorry no photo, we were just mesmerized. 

The rollers below were shot by me while I was driving. Left the Canon 24-70mm 2.8 Mark II on 24mm, center focus and I shot over my shoulder. I have a pretty good idea of what the lens sees so I was able to get some shots this way. 

Stopped by our 2nd Shell Gas Station in SD where we refueled, snacked on packaged goods and waited for Rob from Crooks and Castles. 

Rob's Lamborghini Aventador in white and HRE's made quite the entrance with his wife sporting the murdered out Merc AMG G Wagon. 

I never attend car shows even though I love cars... not sure why... probably cause of the crowds, the commitment and the heat are at the top of the list. A lot of respect to those that run the circuit of shows... definitely a lot of work. My 964 ended up getting into the show cause the boys know everybody they need to know to get people in. There were two other air cooled Porsches out there, a 930 turbo and a Carrera RS in beautiful RS green. 

This Audi with the Volk ZE's was one of my favorites from the day.... even comes with a stack of firewood. How nice.

I didn't shoot too much on this trip for a few reasons: 1. I was driving 2. Phil (@handsomeandphilthy) jacked my Canon 24-70mm 2.8 Mark II cause he brought a broken lens to the show 3. I actually wanted to be a spectator and not a working photographer.... so you get what you get. lol

Ordered some Thai basil and chili chicken over rice and a Thai Ice Tea. I was let down by the use of breast meat... so dry... ugh. Our pick up sign was "Havoc".

We ended the night with some chicken wings at Wing N' Things and some spirited driving back up the 15N around 10pm. We took some photos... Kevin with the Polaroid and sticking his body out half way around 85mph was fun!

Photo Credit: Kevin McDonnell (@himynameskevin) shot on iPhone

Awesome day with some great people... I hope all of you had a great weekend!

All the images were shot on Canon 1dx and Canon 24-70mm 2.8 Mark II with a Marumi 82mm Circular Polarizer unless otherwise stated. All items can be found at IE Photo Rentals

Til the next,
Andrew Manley

Porsche 911 Carrera 4 (964) with the Pixelstick

So I didn't have too much lined up this week and in keeping up with the blog, I decided to do a shoot with my 964 and The PixelStick and try to create something fun and different at the same time. 

So this is what I used this time around. All items can be found at IE Photo Rentals website:
1. Sony A7RII
2. Metabones Adapter EF to E Mount
3. Pixelstick
4. Canon 24-70mm 2.8 Mark II
5. Westcott Ice Light
6. Marumi 82mm Circular Polarizer
7. Gitzo Tripod with RRS BH-55 (my personal tripod)

BTS and Assistant:
Assistant: Phil Awad @handsomeandphilthy - Website: http://www.handsomeandphilthy.com
BTS Photo: Zach Patino @zack_p14 - Website: http://www.imaginationvisions.net
BTS Video: @parchen_iv - Website: http://www.imaginationvisions.net

So above is the final shot that I picked and edited. I am pretty happy with the outcome but here is everything else that happened that night.

Storytime:
Earlier in the day, I spoke with Zack about doing the BTS for the shoot tonight. He also brought along Matt who does a lot of video work. They both do quite a bit of drone work at major music festivals so make sure to check out their work. 

About 90 mins before meet up time, I call Phil and invite him over to shoot tonight... since he has gotten back from Lebanon, he's need a good 'pick me up' so I told him to grab his gear and shot over. Of course, this guy comes late as he usually does. 

Zach and Matt show up on time (thank you guys for doing that) and since he had some time to kill, I asked them if they knew how to drive stick. Sadly they both answered 'no' and that didn't sit right with me. So I ordered them into the driver seat and taught another two people how to work the art of driving manual transmissions. lol

The location I picked was perfect for the Pixelstick because it is extremely dark and would of been perfect for light painting... only thing was, the moon was out and it was oh so dark but no worries, we got it covered.

I'm pretty sure we probably had over $40,000 worth of gear out there that night. This game is too expensive not to make some money, you feel me?

Even with the moon out, it was pretty dark. I know it is hard to tell from the finished photo cause it looks like it was taken late afternoon but trust us, hard to see what was in front of you... and to give you an example, Phil tripped over his own tripod and broke his Rokinon 85mm with a BW 77mm Circular Polarizer worth $200... that's how dark lol
 

On my out from the pad, I saw my trusty old aluminium ladder and brought her with us. I set my tripod on it's highest setting and shot down on the Carrera but this angle was not ideal. I ended up scrapping it. 

Finally brought the tripod down to a knee level. I think the Carrera looks best at this level. Easy does it.

Started to edit on the spot but was not happy with it so we changed it up.

So we tried a few different lines to get the light paint right but it ended up being a waste of time cause the ambient light with the moon is ultimately what I stuck with. I should have light painted my final composition but I guess I was delirious from being hungry. Phil just kept talking about McDonald's... lol jk Phil, I love you.

Finally pulled out the Pixelstick once we got the angle that worked for us. 

Below you can see all the various designs we tried out.

We also did a roller video but at the time of this blog's release, it wasn't done yet so keep an eye out for that.

Thanks to Phil, Zack and Matt for coming out. It was fun.
Below are some shots from the 3 of them as well.
 

Check out The Pixelstick's website for more information on their product and you can check out IE Photo Rental's website to rent the pixelstick

Creaminz RWB Widebody 993 in Downtown Los Angeles

My halo shot of the night. Profile shot of the Creaminz 993 RWB. ©2015 Andrew Manley

Southern California is the epicenter of so many sub-cultures and trends, it's no wonder why people keeping flocking to this state. Cool weather, warm beaches, gorgeous mountains, barren deserts... we got it all.

In California car culture, Nakai-san of RWB has gotten a lot of attention and no wonder, if you have ever seen a wide body air-cooled Porsche from behind, you will get feelings in your body you may normally not get when you look at cars. Those wide hips, low stance, beautiful exhaust tips... (sorry I just had a moment) mixed with the unique sounds of ITB's (individual throttle body), you get the same dunzo face from every car enthusiast. Pure sex.... 

So Darren aka Creaminz got his 993 built by Nakai earlier in 2015 and has been seen all over car meets/shows in Socal. I met Darren last year thru Dionne Mascunana when Darren would come to IE Photo Rentals to grab gear for Dionne. Back then, he had a gorgeous Turquoise 997.1 GT3 with a Vollkkomen Kit on it. Recently when he came to grab something for Dionne, I asked him if I could shoot his car as I felt like I could use it for my portfolio. Darren is always down for the ride so we set a date and met up in Downtown Los Angeles.

In a better effort to give you guys better behind the scenes (BTS) footage, I asked fellow car enthusiast and photographer Danny from JDMzipties if he would help out with the candids. He gladly accepted along with fellow car super mechanic, Kristian Wong aka @studytuned who has a great eye for photography. Both BTS are below and will be noted in the description. 

Thinking about dinner... Danny @jdmzipties

The lightbulb was cold, so Kris took his sweater off for her and warmed her up. Thanks buddy lol... Danny @jdmzipties

Steady... do it again! Slower this time... Danny @jdmzipties

Love Alec our tall and handsome lamp, oh and he gives off beautiful light. Danny @jdmzipties

I don't get to exercise enough during the day, so here I am like a little monkey. Danny @jdmzipties

What an eagle would see if he were perched up. 3 dudes checking out a car. Danny @jdmzipties

We super hard now. Gangstas. Danny @jdmzipties

Use your friends as a method to keep your shots steady. Stabilization at any cost. Danny @jdmzipties

When in doubt, just shoot in the middle of the street. Danny @jdmzipties

Our evening started out with us meeting at 10:30pm. Kristian, Alec and I got to the location a bit early so I could location scout a bit. Every spot I wanted to shoot at had cars coming every 30 secs or so, so that was a bust. Bit by bit, people started to show up which put more pressure on me to perform. So we got back in the CR-V had drove around to see what we could find. 

I didn't want to shoot at a spot that was pretty well known for shooting cars. Why beat a dead horse right? I had a great idea of Darren to be exiting a parking garage but they were either all closed or had security. I like to call them cock blockers smh. So we kept driving until I found this garage that we used to ride our bikes thru years ago. No security, check. Little to no cars, check. Was a win in my book so we headed back and let everyone know about it. 

For the most part, the shoot was almost a straight shooter. Took my Gitzo and RRS BH55 Ballhead out and placed the Sony A7RII and Canon 24-70mm 2.8 Mark II on top of the ballhead. Took a few ambient shots at different exposures and then had Alec hold the PCB B800 monolight with the PCB Vagabond VLX Lithium battery to power the light. Just to have what I needed, we did two types of light paint. First off, we had Alec stand around different parts of the car while I fired the strobe off thru the stripbox. The second round, we ran the hot light of 150watt and light painted with a long shutter speed. The garage bulbs were really bright so Kristian being the gentlemen he is took his sweater of to put it over the light to stomp out the ambient. It was perfect. 

Setting up the shot... love the lines and textures of this spot. Kristian @studytuned

Testing and getting the composition right. Kristian @studytuned

Sometimes with a sea of help, the best person to get the job done is YOU. Kristian @studytuned

Dionne setting up the Sony A7s on the DJI Ronin. Kristian @studytuned

Tsk tsk tsk, video guys have it so tough... didn't have the right cable. Kristian @studytuned

Sitting pretty. Kristian @studytuned

Also double, triple check all your settings. I am just thinking about what to eat for dinner TBH. Kristian @studytuned

Left, more left, I mean right, your right, I mean stage right... lol. Thank you Alec Nguyen for your assistance! Kristian @studytuned

Good thing this boy is tall! Kristian @studytuned

Love this shot, the back lighting adds so depth. Kristian @studytuned

Sony A7R II. I love this thing. Kristian @studytuned

Somewhere close to Pasadena. Roadside. Kristian @studytuned

Dionne noticed a nice long perspective between two garages so that is what we used for location #2. Darren told me his favorite part of the car was the front but I had a hard time getting away from her butt. It's just so awesome. So went with what my heart told me to do. Never let me down lol. This location was perfect cause it had nice long lines, had a staircase if we wanted to get higher up and had sky scrappers in the background. Did light painting with the Westcott Ice Light for this shot. 

Last shot was for Dionne mainly. We were going to get freeway rollers. Good thing they brought a minivan cause it was so much easier to get low shots hanging out a sliding door. Dionne had some mad skills poking his body out at high speeds. Life is so fun! Dionne wanted to nail the LA skyline in the background so we made a few different passes on the 110 fwy. Money!

I had others with dominant skylines but I think Socal freeway signs say CA so well, don't you think? ©2015 Andrew Manley

Those hips don't lie. Andrew @andrewmanleycom

Rolling thru Chinatown. Andrew @andrewmanleycom

More Chinatown. Andrew @andrewmanleycom

110 fwy and street fans. Andrew @andrewmanleycom

110 north heading to Pasadena. Andrew @andrewmanleycom

Inception, picture of a picture taker. Andrew @andrewmanleycom

studytuned's hair. Andrew @andrewmanleycom

Andrew @andrewmanleycom

ITB's... good lawd! Andrew @andrewmanleycom

Open your heart to me. Andrew @andrewmanleycom

Open for all to bear. Kristian @studytuned

Skip, skip, skip to my lou. Kristian @studytuned

Dionne, why so serious? Kristian @studytuned

Yes I know, I need to work out but I swear it was cold and my jacket is setup to have more insulation around my gut, no for reals. Kristian @studytuned

#flossdesign and #RWB. Kristian @studytuned

A pearl

I want to thank Darren aka Creaminz for trusting me to photograph his car even though he didn't know my skill sets. Thanks for trusting. Thanks to Danny @jdmzipties for being primary BTS shooter, Kristian @studytuned for your captures, Alec for being my very hard working assistant and lastly Jasper for helping out Dionne drive the car. Dionne thanks for putting it all together. 

I hope you guys enjoyed this round up. See you on the next.

Andrew Manley
Los Angeles Automotive Photographer

White Porsche Carrera (GT3-styled) and Cayman in Orange, CA

So the other day, Dionne Mascunana hit me up about coming out to the OC with some gear for him to test shoot with. He likes to gather at Cafe Lu but I rather be productive and get some work done in the little bits of window I get. Seeing the nice hard working ladies is always nice but I ain't got no time!

So I put some pressure on him to find some cars to shoot that same day. He told me that Phat Nguyen from Royal-Origin was down to meet up around 10pm. So I ended up rounding up some gear to shoot with along with what Dionne wanted. Photographers have it so easy compared to what video guys have to lug around. 

Here is what I packed: 
1. Sony A7R II
2. Canon 24-70mm 2.8 Mark II
3. Metabones EF to NEX adapter
4. Westcott Ice Light
5. Canon 1ds Mark Ii (for backup)

What I packed for Dionne:
1. DJI Ronin 3 axis gimbal
2. Sony FS700R
3. Canon 16-35mm 2.8 Mark II
4. Metabones EF to NEX adapter

The DJI Ronin case is huge. I should have taken a photo of it in the Fiat 500e but I didn't so I apologize. The rest went into my Pelican 1510 Case and off I went to meet up with Dionne and Phat.

We ended up meeting in front of Rod' Liquor in the Orange Circle. When I arrived, there was the Phat in his Cayman and Ashton Carlise in a 997 Carrera with a GT3 kit. Originally my intentions were to shoot it down the street at a self car wash joint but when we got there, it was as great as I imagined it. I took a few snaps there but ended up leaving. 

I will have to find another spot to shoot the car wash shot... one day I willl

I noticed on the way to the car wash there was nice brick work the street before so we just headed that way. It was a nice quiet street so we ended up unpacking and getting the shoot on the way. I shot a month ago down the street with two NSX's so I wanted to break up the shot by having one of the cars looking like its exiting the garage. Ashton's car is so low that it ended up ripping off the front lip from the bumper but we ended up getting it managed. 

Sony A7R II... first time using it on a real shoot. It's looking hopeful

Dionne fiddling with the Sony FS700R since it was his first time using it. He ended up dumping the Ronin since he didn't have time to balance it. So glad I could bring the whole thing out for you to just leave it in the car lol

I have been wanting to really nail down a lifestyle driven portfolio for cars and people but I will let time take its course. In hindsight, the only thing I wish I could have done was shot the guys acting to get back into the cars. Just to add the human element. Since this shot was rushed, I will save it for another day.

We were at this location for 30 mins or so. Just enough for me to get the shots that I needed. I took about 8 different exposures and I light painted for 4 frames. There was way too much light for proper light painting but it was enough for me to get what I needed. 

Since Dionne didn't have a way to stabilize the shot with the Sony FS700R, we decided to do rolling shots. So we all got into a camera car and had the two Porsches follow in the adjacent lane. I wish I had better shots to show you guys but I was driving, Dionne was out the window and there were tons of cops on Main St in Santa Ana. But you can get a gist of what happened below.

Being an artist or being reckless? Only you can decide... lol

Lined up at a red light before they took off and blasted their sweet exhaust notes. 

Somehow we ended up in Irvine off Jamboree. Since I was in the Fiat 500e, my battery was getting low and needed to recharge but nope, the Metro station didnt have one. So we just kicked it at a 76 Gas Station to fuel up. Ended up calling it a night cause these guys had to work in the morning and it was already 1:30am. 

Electric at a gas station?! What in the world?

Here is the shot again so you don't have to scroll up. Hope you enjoyed it!

So the Sony A7RII was spectacular for me. Even in low light, the camera didn't hunt for focus. Had so many more options than any Canon I have ever used. I still have to wait until I can get to know all of the features but I am excited to use them. I think I am converting for sure. 

The resolution is so high that it took me a good deal of time to scroll from different parts of the image. I guess that is a good and bad thing but with the Canon 24-70mm 2.8 Mark II, the image was crisp and didnt suffer any issues that I could see as of yet. 

I like colors and I like contrasting colors in my images. Although it looks close to a render, I am happy with the results. I know some of you are curious about the "satellite" looking thing on top of the building. I could of taken it out like I did with the trees but I like it for some reason. Breaks up the sky so I left it.  I spent 2 hours on the edit, could of done another few hours but time is money and I ain't got no more time. So on to the next!

Let me know what you think in the comments below and share!
Thanks
Andrew Manley
Orange County Automotive Photographer

A trip to Cal Poly Pomona

When I was back in college, I remember being the most productive 1am to 4am as I had little distraction from the world around me. In recent months, I have been interested in shooting cars late at night as it adds a new dimension to the landscape when trying to shoot at typically busy areas. 

Safety should always be a priority when shooting at night. Never know when some bustas will try to drive up and cause a ruckus. Safety in numbers is a good starting point so make sure that you call up some buddies to go shooting with you. In this event, I called up Alec (@alecnguyenvisuals) and Phil (http://www.handsomeandphilthy.com) to join me in photographing my 1990 Porsche Carrera 911 C4 964 and 2002 Acura NSX. Alec ended up dropping out as he needed to wake up at 6am for work but Phil was still down. 

Phil eventually came... these young bucks have a hard time committing to a schedule so there is constant badgering I have to do on my end to make sure the shoot moves forward. As I cannot drive two of my cars at the same time, I hesitantly handed Phil the keys to my 964 but I knew deep down he would treat her right. You guys should have seen how his face lit up when he started her. Like a kid in a candy shop.

 

We made a quick pit stop at the Chevron before heading to Cal Poly Pomona. There we were greeted by a car enthusiast who was eager to check out the NSX. His truck did a great job adding a distracting element to the scene lol. 

We found a overflow parking lot with solar panel roofing. Had the campus police check us out and took off. I guess we didnt look threatening. I wish I had more photos to post and show you guys but the problem is, Phil forgot to bring his own tripod to a night shoot (facepalm). So being the nice guy that I am, I handed him mine to shoot. I shot for a total of 5 mins on two locations. 

 

Shots done for Instagram Accounts: ns2kx and 911na2

My goal on the second location was to shoot the cars like they were spotted in the "wild". In the end, i was mildly happy with the shot but it was getting late as it was around 3am so I left it at that and we headed back. 

If you guys have one thing to learn from this is, prepare your gear for your shoots! Being a professional is all about being prepared. You think Phil would have learned his lesson right? Stay tuned. 

Shots done for Instagram Accounts: ns2kx and 911na2