2015 marks the first year I consistently took photos of drifting. I learned a whole bunch about my camera and about the limits of what I can do with it. I went from taking thousands of photos at an event and getting maybe twenty decent photos to taking closer to five hundred and getting fifty or sixty. I still have much to learn, and look forward to the opportunities in 2016 to stretch myself and my equipment even further. Now these may not be the very
best photos I took at each event, but there is more to them than just the photo. Some of them may be redundant from previous posts but I took the time to re-edit each of these photos, one so they will be a bit more of a set with each other for this post, and to have an opportunity to readdress each one having learned so much about the software I work with since the first event of the year. So here is a little compilation of
my favorite photos of drifting I took in 2015. In no particular order and with some words and maybe a story if I feel like it.
This feller was taken at the 6th round of Japanese D1GP at the Odaiba Special Stage in Tokyo Bay. Now I know that's a mouthful, but even being able to type that seems surreal. Realizing again that I had the opportunity to shoot at this event is just incredible. Also this image is special because it marks the first photo I took of a super car drifting. I really like the pull in Japan to use even more and more expensive Pumps in drifting. I mean who would have thought back when drifting was just starting to surface in the States that a few short years later half a million dollar super cars would be drifting with the same classic cars that started it all like the Toyota Corolla. It really makes you think about where the sport has left to go.
This photo is from the same event. It is the Final battle of the event and the second to last battle between the Supra and the GTR of which the Supra took the win. This photo along with the ones that accompanied it in the
original post are some of the most exciting shots I've ever taken. The challenge of keeping the grain in the photos low but having enough light with a slow shutter speed to show the cars and keep everything in focus was such a fun challenge to take. I think I passed the challenge, but if I was better prepared for the event with better equipment my results could have proven to be better.
This was taken at the year end bash of what I now call my home for drifting, Stateline speedway. This Cressida made the trek to the Spokane Coure d'alene area from Seattle as a street car. Not only was I thoroughly impressed with the skill level at which he drove but also the commitment to drive his stiff harsh Cressida all the way from Seattle. I really wish more
locals would have this level of commitment. It would make the local scene so so much better, and events so much more fun to shoot and watch, and drive for that matter.
These next four shots were all taken at VIP (Villains Invitational Project) an event hosted by the
Villains in one of my favorite venues I have ever shot at. Granted I haven't shot at the legendary
PARC go-cart course or at
Final Bout in Shawano WI, but the proximity the crowd had with the action at VIP was incredible to say the least, and the photographers could literally reach out and touch a car flying by in full drift if they felt so inclined.
Because of the close proximity at this event, it made for some unreal shots showing a bit more of the intimacy and emotion of drifting.
Something I've been playing around with this year is panning shots. As the year progressed I got more confident with lower shutter speeds and after shooting maybe fifty shots similar to this at VIP that turned out blurry I finally got one successful eighth second exposure in decent focus. Opening this up and seeing it for the first time in full size on a computer screen had me pretty excited.
This photo is not only one that ended up with a good deal of mood and some dramatic wheel drop rock flinging dust kicking action, it also shows the barrel jumping Miata in full glory. Now, throughout the first day at VIP this Miata was struggling with some understeer
problems. With the track setup at VIP a lot of cars would, instead of
making this corner and turning in like the Miata successfully did in this shot, they would understeer and careen strait for the blue barrels or for the wooden loud speaker pole in the background of this picture (which was later knocked down by an ugly understeering s13). Anyways, From what I picked up, one of the fixes to get the Miata to stop understeering was to throttle on and off and initiate some weight transfer and make the front wheels grip up a bit more and make it into the next corner. Later on in the day after this shot I was doing some really low perspective shots about 75 yards to the right of this photo. Just adjacent to where the understeerers would end up stopping. Now as the first day really got going and the drivers got more confident the Miata driver took the corner before the one pictured and began understeering into the barrels. I distinctly remember hearing the Miata throttle on into the understeer and towards the barrels. I'm not sure exactly what happened to make the driver keep throttle on, but despite efforts from the driver the understeer continued and the Miata hit a barrel knocking it over. The Miata then caught the underside of its front bummer on the bottom lip of the barrel and ended up having its front end thrown some six feet into the air. Now I'm used to seeing the bottom of a car when I'm laying on my back and it is safely placed on jack stands, but seeing the bottom of a Miata flying over a barrel caught me a little off guard especially considering I was laying on my chest with my backpack in front of me as a camera rest. Evasive maneuvers were first on my list of to do's in this situation so I unfortunately dropped my camera on my backpack and got ready to pick a side to dodge the flying Miata. Fortunately I was far enough back in the run off and low enough into the next turn that I didn't have to move at all before the Miata came to a stop on top of a blue barrel. None the less I missed an opportunity to capture an epic once in a lifetime photo of the bottom of a miata flying over an unsuspecting blue barrel. After the Miata came to a stop on the barrel, the event coordinator drove his pit rig to the scene with some buddies and they all burst out laughing. After being lifted up off the barrel by a bunch of willing drivers and crew mwmbers the Miata was back out on the track tearing up the asphalt with the best of them. This, was by far my favorite moment of the event. The whole proceedings; the barrel hop, the reaction of the event coordinator, the help from fellow drivers and crew to lift the Miata and pull the barrel out, and the fact that fifteen minuets later the Miata was back out on track.
Back to the photos. This one was taken at the second event I shot in 2015 and presented itself with some good drivers and fun shots. This shot was more of a mistake than anything else. Yes I planned on getting half of the car and some front wheel poking out with some wild smoke and spark from the tires and undercarriage, but what was accidental about this shot and what surprised me when I pulled it up to edit it for the first time was the face that is perfectly framed in the mirror. Now if the driver was wearing a closed face helmet a lot of the mood of the photo would be lost. Fortunatly he wasn't and the photo displays a great look at what a driver's focused face looks like in the middle of a drift.
These last two photos were taken at the Spokane County Raceway
road course. For the one above I was feeling like I needed more to work with on my photos because of the somewhat boring scenery around SCR. So I found a tree on the first corner of the course (one of like five in the whole complex), climbed it and hoped for the best. After some failed attempts with really slow of shutter speeds I found a sweet spot and ended up with some nice captures.
This last shot was at the first grassroots drift event I ever attended. I had never been to one and had no idea what to expect. I got to the event, scoped the course and picked out some spots I thought would foster some decent shots. After testing out some of the first locations, I arrived at this one and sped up my shutter speed to guarantee some sharp shots to work with. Luckily it was just in time to get a crispy shot of this kouki s14 using up all of the best drifting section at Spokane County Raceway. This being my first event at this track, I got stoked out of my mind on this
one photo, and it very well may be the reason I kept coming back to more events.
So looking back I'd like to give a huge shout out to Treis and Trevor at Stateline for welcoming me into their drifting community, Nate and Jason of the Villains for putting on a Wild VIP and all the drivers for constantly putting on a show and letting me point my camera your way. This next year is gonna be another good one.
Joshua Sewell
Instagram: josh_sewell_photo
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