Automotive | American LeMans Winter Test 2011

Feels good to get back to shooting motorsports. Big leap for me this time. Was fortunate enough to get credentialed for the American LeMans Series winter test sessions at Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Florida. Bummed that Audi and Peugot weren't scheduled to test, BMW and Jaguar didn't show up either. But I guess if you're factory backed teams you get private test days. Anyway, left the Bay Area Tuesday afternoon, arrived in Tampa that night, figured Tampa is "only" a 2 hour drive to Sebring. That's 2 hours if your GPS is working / has reception. 3 hours if not. Which I learned the hard way.

Day one was just getting familiar with the track. It was my first time there and a world away from home. I did some 'research' on youtube with onboard track videos and track tours. It's a friggin big track. Luckily on the second day I realized that you could drive your own personal vehicle around the inner portion of the track. Which is nice. Shoot, drive, park, shoot, repeat. Weather was weird. Same temperature as the Bay Area but a little more humid.

Anyway here are some photos in no particular order. Hopefully get to go back for the Sebring 12 hour race in March. Enjoy!

Shot with :
Nikon D300
Nikon D300
Nikon 70-200VR2
Nikon 200-400 VR
Nikon 14-24
Nikon TC-20II
Iced coffee from the nice people in the portable coffee shop.
Microwaveable gas station food cuz I was too scared to drive out looking for dinner.

zeiss | BorrowLenses

Zeiss. Worth more than your car.
'Nuff said.

Shot with :
Nikon D3s
Nikon 105 VR Micro

Automotive | Volkswagen GTi

Quick shot/edit of the GTi.

Thanks going out to :
Mr. North Carolina himself Kent Kessinger (http://www.kentkessinger.com/)

Google Mastermind and secret police TwoPointOh / Alex / Stop all the downloads! (http://alexsehrer.com/)

Manny Paquiao / Instant Swag / Sore Throat Maniego (http://www.methodikalgee.com/)

More info when we finish the full on shoot.
Shot at some random industrial park in the far east side of Dell tech support country.

Shot with :

Nikon D700
Nikon 14-24
Matthews suction cup (x3)
Manfrotto Magic Arm
Random extend-o pole from BL
Remote wire trigger thinger
Pho Hoa beef stew
G-Rides at the G-Campus fly like the G-Plex

Merry Christmas | Borrowlenses

I'm sure you've already seen the video but just wanted to get it up on the blog. What started as an attempt to a bullet time photo experiment turned into an idea to make an insane Christmas tree for all the Borrowlenses fans and customers. It grew and grew. Literally.

Top is a pair of LitePanels MicroPro LED lights with CTO filters.
Second layer are a trio of GorillaPods and Canon D10, G12' and G10's.
Third layer down are 8 Nikon D3/D3s/D3x each with a Nikon 24-70 and Pocket Wizard Plus II mounted up top.
Fourth layer down is a combination of 8 Canon 5D Mark II and 7D's mounted with Canon 70-200 IS2's and 300L f/2.8s and 580EXII flashes up top.
Bottom layer are a pair of Canon 600L f/4's and Nikon 200-400VR's.
Gary Fong Lightspheres with gels as ornaments.
Canon and Nikon supertelephotos as gifts.
All mounted on every last tripod and tripohead we could find.

And everything else is just a random grab of gear. There's an LED light panel in the middle of the tree pointing upwards and two LED lights on the sides. And the Borrowlenses crew somewhere in there. Hope you guys like it!

Most Expensive Christmas Tree Ever from The Seventh Movement on Vimeo.

Here's a photo of the final product.

Ooo and a sidenote, my photo (well the unedited and horrible white balanced version) and Borrowlenses' moon experiment got posted up on Gizmodo.com. Yay!

http://gizmodo.com/5716810/how-do-you-reach-the-moon-with-your-slr-strap-on-five-huge-lens-extenders

Gymkhana Grid | Motorsports

Out of energy, out of ideas, out of inspiration, out of momentum, just running on empty.

Ken Block Gymkhana Grid Invitation at Toyota Speedway Irwindale.

Shot with :
Nikon D300
Nikon D700
Nikon 14-24
Nikon 24-70
Nikon 70-200 VRII
Nikon 200-400 VRII
Nikon TC-17EII
Nikon SB600