Rig Shot Practice

May 1, 2017 / jasonhoang / Leave a comment

Went out with Ricky on Saturday night to do some test/warm-up rig shots. He’s been itching to go out and shoot and I’ve been needing new shots so why not! We usually do my car first early on in the season so now it seems like it’s an annual thing lol. It’s cool cause there’s no pressure and we work together to come up with new angles and new ideas. Each time we go out, the shots seem to get better and better and we get faster at setting up.

Ricky took some good shots that night – and so I thought I’d post some up of the set up and a few of the shots that came out. I’ve learned that lighting can either be your best friend or your enemy during rig shots. If it’s too bright, you’ll have a hell of a time getting a good shot without either blowing the sky out or just not getting any movement at all without a polarizer. If it’s too dark, it’s a different ball game in terms of how to use any existing/external light sources to help light the subject.

Getting set up…

Ricky’s GTI – I call it a Unicorn cause this thing never gets driven and I never see it lol. I think it’s got half of the total mileage that my FRS has and I barely drive mine… He’s also had his since like 2009 lol.

Not aired down but still looks good.

Since I was short on time, we had to use a less-than-ideal spot but it still worked.

A shot of the suction clamps

The boom attached.

And Ricky setting up the arm and camera.

Setting up for the first angle and shot.

The outcome. The one thing I love about rigshots is that I’m pushing the car and we’re literally moving at like 1km/h but it makes you look like you’re moving 100x faster. Ricky got some great shots that night – almost all of them turned out awesome.

Switched sides to try and get some movement on the grass.

Tried one from the rear and the wheel turned. This one was one of my favourites. I just wish there was some stuff on the ground to make it more textured.

And one last one that we’re still working on perfecting. A dual rig shot – tougher than it sounds. The rig has to be attached to one car and pushed like always – that’s easy. The hard part is pushing the other one at the same speed to keep everything sharp and not blurred. This particular one in theory was good but we should’ve angled the rig a bit more to get wheel spin on at least one of the cars to give the feeling of more movement. Ricky’s car was also blurred so I actually took a still shot of his car that was clear and photoshopped it into a moving one of my car. I added an artificial radial blur to his wheels and it turned out alright. I got some hot spots from the cloning tool that I should’ve fixed but I got impatient lol…

At least we know for next time!

The Nature of Things with Jason Hoang

April 2, 2016April 2, 2016 / jasonhoang / 1 Comment

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…

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

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JC’s CT200h

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My race car.

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Alicia’s bagged Golf

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

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Eric’s bagged GTI. Love the red.

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Tucked!

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Lined up. JDM x Euro

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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!

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Head on. So clean!

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

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Over on the other side, Alicia doing her thing.

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

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JC getting ready to move the FRS

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

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Menacing.

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Great fitment all around.

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

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Artsy fartsy.

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Love this.

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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.

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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.

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Ass ass ass ass

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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!

I Forgot How Much I Missed Summer…

March 12, 2016 / jasonhoang / Leave a comment

Had nothing planned today so we tagged along with Punit and Gopesh to drop their cars off to get some bodywork done. It was a nice day, I have yet to get my car back – which btw will be tomorrow!! – and thought this would be a nice relaxing way to spend a Saturday… I don’t remember the last time I hung out and just chilled. Decided to also bring my camera along just in case… I’m glad I did. This place has been bone dry lately.

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On the way to the bodyshop. This was the first time Punit and Gopesh brought their cars out this year. It was refreshing for sure… IMG_5507 copy

Punit brought his car to get his bumper and lip repainted. It took a beating last year and as you can kind of see in the pics, it’s been chipped up pretty bad. IMG_5506 copy

Gopesh took his in for a more minor fix – under his flares, a piece of his bumper was bent out and losing some paint, so he wanted to get that touched up. IMG_5508 copy

Andy – the owner of the shop has his 1976 Mitsubishi Lancer under the knife as well. He’s won a few awards with it and he’s looking to bring it back fresher than ever this year with a fresh coat of paint, and some new chrome trim pieces. IMG_5516 copy

Inside the shop, Punit checking to see if he’s high enough… IMG_5517 copy

This would be a prime picture if Gopesh’s ass wasn’t in the way. Thinking he’s a Calvin Klein model or something.. IMG_5523 copy

Inspection of the bumper. You can see the paint chips all over. IMG_5524 copy

Outside, Gopesh taking off the flare to reveal the imperfection he’s been talking about that none of us believed. IMG_5525 copy

I guess he wasn’t lying afterall… LOL IMG_5527 copy

A few more pics of Andy’s Evo – it has an Evo IV engine swapped into it. Cool. (thanks JC for the clarification).

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Some of the work that he’s been doing trying to get rid of the rust. IMG_5532 copy

There’s something about Japanese classic cars that just hit you right in the feels. Too cool. IMG_5534 copy

Decided to head over to Jackie’s shop to hang for a bit and on the hoist sits Steve’s RSX waiting for an oil change. IMG_5541 copy

Over on another hoist is Jackie’s project shop car – an ITR. There’s lots going on with it right now and he’s been stockpiling parts for it over the winter with much more to come. I took a few shots of what I could… IMG_5543 copy

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Fender cut outs for that race car effect IMG_5553 copy

Not too long after – Nick and Derrick dropped by in Nick’s new Porsche GT3. Gone are the days of the GTR if you remember that one at all… IMG_5555 copy

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Took a few interior pics… IMG_5560 copy

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The yellow BBK stands out nicely. IMG_5569 copy

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Squished. IMG_5577 copy

Rich’s winter car – his CR-V that he’s been modding here and there. He’s added a bunch of additions since he’s acquired it. One of the newest additions being the retro CR-V side decal. IMG_5576 copy

Nicely retrofitted projectors into the stock housings. I’ve always loved a clean retrofit. IMG_5590 copy

Outside of Jackie’s shop – Isaac’s LS-swapped RX7 sits… And it really just sits there most of the time, and it’s easy to walk passed it or never get it a second glance. However… Jackie gave me a ride in it not too long after I took this picture and I think I almost puked up the pizza I had earlier. IMG_5587 copy

The interior of the RX7. It’s nothing crazy – and like I said, it’s easy to underestimate. It doesn’t have sparkling, showroom paint. It doesn’t have anything that screams “hey look at me!” If any car can scare the shit out of you, it’s this one. I told everyone it’s highly likely that I would never get into this car again after Jackie drove it. LOL IMG_5584 copy

Back in the shop – on yet another hoist, sits Lester’s Mini Cooper. An ongoing project for Lester that will turn many heads when completed… IMG_5586 copy

I’m sure it’s an easy spot – but… Guess the Swap! IMG_5581 copy

A few shots of Steve’s interior as I walked by… Mugen wheel. IMG_5583 copy

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Lastly – Isaac’s dog chilling in the waiting room happy to see some new faces! Hopefully I’ll have a few pics tomorrow when I get the car back! Stay tuned! It’s about to be a crazy summer!

Volkswagen Close to Home 2015

May 6, 2015May 6, 2015 / jasonhoang / 1 Comment

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.

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…

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

JC’s hwip

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.

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Pretty cool camo-theme

Clean and bagged R32. I feel for those fenders.

Funky GLI

More bagged goodness

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

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.

Mint Beetle in a Tiffany color scheme

Mike’s Ghia looking good as usual

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Another of Josh’s S5

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

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.

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

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!