Kyle Carbert’s Bagged Nismo Nissan Juke

Back on that photoshoot train again – trying to fit in what I can before winter comes. I still have a few more to do but it’s been so hard fitting things in with all these weekend plans lately. This shoot alone took a week of going back and forth with Kyle to schedule properly and to find time that would work for the both of us.

We settled on an afternoon shoot just outside of Calgary and although the BC fires aren’t a good thing – the smoke that drifted over that afternoon gave a nice hazy look to the sky and also filtered out the sun a little bit so that it wasn’t so glaring. I was pretty stoked to shoot Kyle’s Juke as I’ve never shot one before and it was nice to shoot something a little different this time around. Sometimes all you need is a totally different platform to give some inspiration to new angles or shots.

Take a look see…

One of my favourite rollers of the day was this sunset cliff shot.

JC providing me with his companion service once again. Honestly, 99% of my rolling shots wouldn’t be possible without JC. Almost every single one of them that I’ve done over the years has been with him. He knows where to go, when to speed up and slow down… He’s my rolling shot soul mate.

Some more rollers…

 

Kyle’s interior was also a pleasant sight as it was clean and well kept. Sometimes you get to photoshoots and they just completely forgot about cleaning the inside. His steering wheel was also customized where he had the bottom flattened to be a D-shape and then got it wrapped to be thicker. A very nice and minimalistic touch.

Kyle also traded his stock seats for a pair of Nismo Recaros – a very nice pair of seats in person all while retaining all the stock air bags and sensors.

A few more very clean and interesting touches was the hardline/tank set up in the back. Again, very minimalistic and clean. Kyle did the work himself on this and after having air myself and knowing some of the headaches it can have – I applaud Kyle for getting this all done on his own. Nice little Baymax sticker to finish it off as well.

Way before we got the Rav4 Hybrid, I was contemplating the Juke but it just didn’t have enough room in the back for stroller and kid things… That’s partially why I was excited to be able to shoot this. Living vicariously through Kyle’s build, I suppose.

The sun was just at the right spot for us that smoggy evening…

Me and JC posted up. Dynamic duo.

Kyle’s Juke retains a lot of it’s stock simplicity with a few additional touches here and there. It looks very good on it’s own but the red accents stand out well against the white and black.

I know the front of the Juke is quite different than most cars but that’s kind of what I like about them. It looks wicked IMO.

One of my dilemmas when trying to pick a location for Kyle’s Juke was whether I wanted it to be in urban/cityscape or nature. I opted for nature because I think it just suits the car well – it’s a compact cross-over and although it’s bagged and not really meant for any type of nature trek, it’s still it’s natural habitat despite its’ ‘equipment’ lol.

A very well-fitting set up with the Rotiforms.

A further shot of his tank set up

One other thing you might notice is that his over-fenders are paint matched – which is not usually done on the Juke until you get to the higher models. Something I personally didn’t notice until Kyle aired out. It’s much more noticeable when the body gets closer to the wheels that they’re paint matched as it flows much better this way.

That’s all folks! Thanks for watching!

The Nature of Things with Jason Hoang

That title was actually courtesy of JC. I couldn’t come up with a good one and he’s usually pretty good with stuff like that, so I leave it to him. Instead of the usual loading docks and cityscape backdrops, we made the trek out to where we could get some nice greenery.

Anyway – this will be the official kick off post of 2016. We’re finally all cruising around together, the weather is nice, and it’s just a bunch of good times again. I haven’t really made myself available to do many photoshoots yet – it’s not really on my agenda right now. I just want to drive and hang out – taking photos and editing them take longer than one might think!

Last night a few of us decided to go out and grab some Ice Cream and hang since it was April 1st and reached +20C – which is unheard of – so we took advantage of it. We also met up with Alicia and Eric – two sick VW owners. Alicia is also a photographer that JC introduced me to and we agreed to shoot each others cars. I honestly haven’t had a proper photoshoot other than the one Mike and Jesse did of my LS460L. Other than that, I’ve always been responsible for my own photoshoots and I’m particularly picky with who shoots my car. Everyone and their mom is a photographer these days because they own an SLR but no one knows how to use one – there is a difference. When I took a look at Alicia’s shots, I actually got pretty excited for the upcoming shoot. Fast forward to this afternoon and we got ‘er done…

IMG_6057 copy

Starting off at Village Ice cream – I just took a few quick snaps of our cars parked. Above is Rich’s S6.

IMG_6059 copy

JC’s CT200h

IMG_6061 copy

My race car.

IMG_6067 copy

Alicia’s bagged Golf

IMG_6069 copy

Merlin – Rich’s dog in case you didn’t know. Getting huge!

IMG_6070 copy

Eric’s bagged GTI. Love the red.

IMG_6074 copy

Tucked!

IMG_6079 copy

IMG_6081 copy

IMG_6055 copy

Lined up. JDM x Euro

IMG_6096 copy

Ok ok – forward to this afternoon. While Alicia shot my car, I shot hers. It was nice to shoot alongside a fellow photographer. It’s almost inspiring at the same time – it’s almost like sharing the creative energy. The locations this afternoon were perfect.

JC was in charge of moving the cars for us!

IMG_6101 copy

Head on. So clean!

IMG_6107 copy

There’s just something about a Golf in a nature setting.

IMG_6130 copy

Over on the other side, Alicia doing her thing.

IMG_6134 copy

The awesome scenery JC scouted for us included the mountains in the distance. Awesome view.

IMG_6138 copy

JC getting ready to move the FRS

IMG_6146 copy

He couldn’t hold his inner ricer down and he took it for a rip.

IMG_6157 copy

Menacing.

IMG_6159 copy

Great fitment all around.

IMG_6160 copy

I was particularly fond of the diamond patterned leather bra. Added a nice touch.

IMG_6178 copy

Artsy fartsy.

IMG_6187 copy

IMG_6185 copy

Love this.

IMG_6206 copy

Alicia also let me borrow her 85mm F1.2L which was AMAZING to shoot with. If you know what lens that is, you’ll agree as well. It’s a good portrait lens, but it also serves well as a detail lens and certain still shots of cars.

IMG_6241 copy

Another shot with the Calgary skyline in the back. The lighting was perfect this afternoon – just a slight overcast. Black cars shine best in this type of lighting.

IMG_6253 copy

Ass ass ass ass

IMG_6261 copy

One last one to end this. I’ll edit the rest of the photos I managed to capture of my own car and post later. I didn’t want to clog this post up when it’s really supposed to focus on Alicia’s car. I think I have a few more, but I couldn’t wait to get these up!

Volkswagen Close to Home 2015

Time for a more civilized post with some good lookin’ vee-hick-ulls. If you’re a fan of Euro/VW stuff, then this Close to Home show that Fifth Ave Volkswagen puts on every year is going to make your panties wet.

It’s a cool little get together of everything Volkswagen/Audi that displays a small segment of the little surprises that Calgary has to offer when it comes to these platforms. Every year, there’s always something different and there’s always something that will turn heads. It may not be everybody’s thing but I feel like this side of tuning has become accepted as it’s own little niche, and everyone that shows up to these shows know what they’re about. Those that have never seen anything like it are intrigued but never turned off. That’s the cool thing about the VW/Audi community, in particular – nobody REALLY gets it, but everyone accepts it. It’s just too wild not to appreciate… And for the most part, it’s done in good taste.

It was a quick Sunday for me though – I usually go, snap some pics and head out – it’s a fairly small show but good to see some familiar faces.

IMG_9085 copy

We met up at JC’s so that we could roll there together. Gopesh’s car all clean from the Edmonton drive. Still waiting on centercaps…

IMG_9086 copy

It’s not how you drive your car, it’s how you stand by it… This guy is always in the way.

IMG_9088 copy

JC’s hwip

IMG_9087 copy

Corey also came along – what a pleasant surprise, given that he is a South boy and lives too far to hang out most of the time. I am digging the bronze on white.

IMG_9089 copy

Meh

IMG_9092 copy

IMG_9093 copy

Pretty cool camo-theme

IMG_9094 copy

Clean and bagged R32. I feel for those fenders.

IMG_9095 copy

Funky GLI

IMG_9096 copy

More bagged goodness

IMG_9097 copy

This was a cool car. Everything looked like it was in it’s “work in progress” phase. Check those fenders

IMG_9098 copy

IMG_9099 copy

Pretty comfy seats with plenty of bolsters to keep you in your seat during those tight corners and built in ventilation for those hot summer days.

IMG_9100 copy

Mint Beetle in a Tiffany color scheme

IMG_9101 copy

IMG_9103 copy

Mike’s Ghia looking good as usual

IMG_9105 copy

Loved the wheels on this GTI. Reminded me of the Gram Lights velvet red finish

IMG_9107 copy

Pretty neat wood grain valve cover. Not sure but it looked like it was done by hand too.

IMG_9108 copy

This was one of my favourites – the gold VIP modulars are super clean.

IMG_9111 copy

An up-close… All gold everything. Good choice, sir.

IMG_9112 copy

IMG_9116 copy

This was dope. I love the matte cream/tan on older cars.

IMG_9117 copy

Another Karmann Ghia – it’s interesting to see the huge difference in this compared to how Mike has built his.

IMG_9120 copy

Rich’s S6 also all clean after that trip back from Edmonton.

IMG_9121 copy

Josh’s S5 bagged on Meisters. First time actually seeing it in person for me.

IMG_9122 copy

And of course, Gopesh’s GTI up front and center.

IMG_9124 copy

Another of Josh’s S5

IMG_9127 copy

And one more for good measure. I love the look of A5/S5’s on Meisters. So perfect!

IMG_9130 copy

IMG_9131 copy

IMG_9133 copy

A shot of three – excuse my naming – hippie vans. I mean no offense by it because I think they’re cool as hell. Tents on top and everything.

IMG_9136 copy

Here’s a shot of one of them and the interior. Check that couch!!

IMG_9139 copy

IMG_9142 copy

Josh’s girlfriend, Trudy’s S4. Nice line up near the front – S4, S5, S6.

That’s pretty much all there was at the Fifth Ave show. Always a good turnout and cool to walk around! Hoping to get a shoot in this weekend, so stay tuned!

Hybrid Bags. Coming Soon…

Well the time has come for Punit to get his bags installed. I’ve been bugging him ever since he got the car to bag it but he’s been going back and forth with his Integra and GS so it wasn’t a priority at the time. It’s going to be great to have another bagged VIP Lexus around the city. Now the only one left is JC *cough*.

Speaking of JC – he’s been gracious enough to send me these pics since he’s visiting Jackie at Zero Limit most days after work to chill and check out the progress. I’ve been busy as shit and barely have time to even do my own things after work so huge thanks to JC for providing me blog content 🙂

I know we’re all crossing our fingers that the GS is done soon and you all know a photoshoot will be in order as soon as it is. Weather has been great lately and it’s just getting better now. I already have a few cars I have in mind that I definitely want to shoot ASAP so just hold tight a little longer and the blog will be bangin’ again.

photo 1His bag set up…

photo 2A familiar site to me. The lines are all run…

photo 3Jackie sorting it all out.

photo 4The mock up

photo 1The planned layout… Lol

photo 2I hear Punit is doing a hidden layout… Should be interesting to see!

photo 3

photo 4The final picture I got from JC today. More progress pics to come soon!