Some unedited shots of Justin’s TSX for you guys to enjoy. One of my favourite cars from last year – a very simple build with some good wheels and just slammed to the ground. All static.
acura
Punit’s Acura Integra Edit
Here’s a little filler for you guys.
Decided to go back and look at some older photos again from the summer and see if I can spruce up on my editing skills a little more for next year. That’s usually how I cycle my work – over the winter I find some new techniques or ways of editing and I carry that through all the way through summer. I guess that’s what happens when you’re bored.
Anyway, one of the things that a lot of people don’t know about editing is just how much time goes into it. For some photos, it can be nice and quick assuming that the car is all clean, there are no imperfections in the paint, the scenery isn’t distracting, etc. That’s not to say that a dirty car needs to be photoshopped clean or imperfections make the car look less visually attractive because there are exceptions. A few that come to mind would be Jackie Tong’s 4Runner – the more dirt the better or Eric Zapata’s 240 – the damage from drifting gives it character and flare. In this example, Punit’s car is more or less in pretty mint condition. Of course, there are a few things that could use the help of my handy clone brush but it’s not about trying to portray the car differently than what it really is, but to help make the photo itself aesthetically come together.
The original image. I made no changes besides adding the watermark. The photo in and of itself is good. Composition on the horizontal plane is good, lighting is decent, no blur in the photo but it could use a little mascara and lipstick, if you will. 🙂
The final output. So let me explain a little about what I did – I bumped the exposure up just a notch, increased the contrast and clarity to help bring out the shadows and midtones. I love shooting coloured cars because increasing the saturation ever so slightly on the red is the difference between “red” and “WHOA RED”. That was all I did in terms of “slider” adjustments… I call them that because that’s literally all it is: adjusting the sliders in the RAW editor to achieve a little more “pop”.
Once the photo is out of the RAW editor, this is where I think a photo can be made to look good, bad, or somewhere in-between. (That’s not to say you can’t mess it up in the RAW editor with color balance, etc… But let’s assume everyone knows what they are doing).
This is the part that people who don’t edit don’t necessarily understand. I like to zoom in to 100% (or more sometimes) and ensure every line and detail looks satisfactory. In Punit’s case, his front lip was scuffed in the original photo so it would only make sense to do his car a favour and do some quick photoshop body work. It’s not necessarily to fake the aesthetics of the car but to just prevent wandering eyes going to spots on the car they don’t need to be.
Applying and Leveling a level ONE Decal
Prior to the photoshoot today, Diana and I went over to JC’s house to meet up and head out in one car since it’s a pain to drive both around when we get to certain locations. Drove up and saw Derrick chillaxin…
He recently got a level ONE decal and about a week or so ago he had carelessly applied it crooked – I never saw it but I’ll just take his word for it. Turns out he wanted a new one and a second chance at doing it properly. Ironically, the level ONE decal is quite a difficult decal to get “level”…
Derrick came up with a better way of doing it and brought tape and everything lol
JC cleaning his car getting ready for the shoot. It’s funny because “most” of the time, JC’s car is always cleaner than the car we’re actually shooting with the exception of his side mirrors sometimes… haha!
Applying this decal is usually a three-man job… Sadly.
Taped up and centered properly this time
Voila! Derrick got the chrome/black decal and it goes perfectly with his car.
Lookin’ good. Been a while since I’ve seen his car…
Random.
Group shot with my lame stock car… Slowly starting to order parts now so I should have my first part next week sometime. FINALLY. By next year it should look decent enough to finally run with the boys.
The Return: Punit’s Acura Integra
I think the most epic weekend for photoshoots happened this past Sunday for me. Based off of my previous post – I was banned from the house pretty much all day so I had to find something to do. Luckily JC wasn’t working and the rest of the gang were also game to show up. Also interesting because there was a diverse line up – super exciting. If you follow me on Instagram then you would’ve seen the line up… If not, then it’s going to be a good surprise for the upcoming shoots 🙂
I’m juggling a lot of balls right now with the wedding since we’re just about a month away – to be honest though, I should start focusing more of my time and energy on finishing up that stuff rather than do photoshoots…….
Ha what the heck am I talking about? As long as I have my camera and a few free hours on the weekend, I’ll be shooting cars!
Anyway – the first shoot of the day was none other than Punit’s Acura Integra. If you recall my post of Punit’s Lexus GS450h, I mentioned that the last time I shot his Integra was years ago when I had first met him. Between now and then I’ve taken random shots of his Integra parked here and there but never a proper shoot and as I write this, I’m still wondering why I never got around to it.
The day has finally come though! Punit just recently finished up his Integra and brought it out for a long overdue photoshoot.
I took Diana’s Fit because I had just polished and waxed the FRS and I didn’t want to ruin the finish because it was set to rain.
And just when I thought I would’ve been the most stock car at this photoshoot, Derrick goes and brings his Corolla. He is currently working on an engine swap on his Integra so it was a legitimate reason to bring this.
And of course, JC’s whip.
Punit showed up shortly after and he had a level one decal to throw on before we started the shoot…
Derrick and JC placing it appropriately.
Of course Punit just sits in the damn car while we do all the work. Doesn’t even undo his seatbelt.
Finally got it on… Most of the credit goes to Derrick lol
And here we go… It’s been a while since I’ve had this through my lens.
One of the biggest changes to Punit’s car is his new wheel set up. In particular – he’s now rocking a 5 lug conversion with a rare set of slightly concave white TE37’s. The set up is now more functional than his Regamasters were with the crazy camber and this set up is way better IMO.
The white on red looks awesome
The rear end hasn’t changed much. It’s still my favourite gen Mugen wing.
Breaking necks and snapping iPhone pics
Punit himself snapping some pics…
If you take a closer look, you’ll see that the 5-lug conversion Punit went with also came with NSX brakes…
The interior is also a little treat when you get inside. In the back you can see the S2000 cluster conversion…
And if we take another closer look – you’ll see that his full hatch is carbon. A little attention to detail goes a long way if you know how to look for it.
Quick shot filling up before moving onto the next location.
A closer look at his Te37’s and fitment. I love this look so much.
A quick shot of the full interior. Still looking mint.
JC and his dirty ass mirrors again. That guy just can’t get his shit together (LOL)
Getting ready to rollout
Derrick creepin…
And I will be the first to admit that I was not on my A-game for this shoot. While I do enjoy shooting overcast, I’m now better adjusted to shoot in direct sunlight. Overcast (IMO) just doesn’t make rollers pop like I want them to. Who knows – that’s probably my weakness that I need to work on but this happened to be the only good rolling shot I got of Punit’s car.
In my defense, we didn’t have much space to work with but I did promise him one more shot at more rolling shots the next weekend to get something even better!
Hopefully I’ll get more shots at the same time too – either way… That’s another shoot in the bag!
lifewithjson 