I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to see when I showed up to the first ‘MFest’ of the year, but I was most certainly NOT disappointed! While there was the expected slew of beat-on E30’s with replica BBS mesh, there were all kinds of high-price modified vehicles to suit almost any taste. Continue reading
Back in November I hit up one of the local regular ‘Big Bang Meets’ and was pleasantly surprised by what I found there! I met a few friends and made a couple new ones and, as always, found some crazy awesomeness that defines what I love about the Southern California car meet smorgasbord… Enjoy!
This was my first year attending the Spocom show, held in the Anaheim Convention Center…in Anaheim. I have to say I was not the least bit disappointed with the quality or sheer number of cars in attendance, because there certainly were PLENTY, but I must have shown up at the wrong time or maybe I just wasn’t properly prepared because I was struggling the entire time to get usable shots both outside and inside due to some gnarly lighting concerns that were honestly out of anyone’s direct control. I really should have brought a tripod for the indoor shots, a lesson that would be drilled into me throughout the day as I was shooting exposures that were waaay too long for my caffeine-addled hands to keep still on a regular basis, and outdoors the combination of direct sunlight and shade made getting clean shots of everyone posted up out front equally difficult. As if that weren’t enough to contend with, there was a protester (or two, I didn’t get close enough to them to find out) with a bullhorn screaming at everyone that the proceeds of the show were going to fund al-qaeda, among other statements designed to incite people’s tempers. Basically, I was laughing so hard at all the B.S. coming out of this guy’s mouth it was hard to get a steady shot! I was honestly proud of everyone attending the show because I KNOW there were at least a handful of people about to give this guy their opinion of him via their fists, but everyone restrained themselves and interacted with this jerk in peaceful, mostly non-offensive ways (I definitely heard a few f*ck-off’s, but hey, they were deserved). With all of this going on, it was still a great show that I definitely plan on attending next year and honestly, what’s going to shoot a show without a little challenge, right?
Anyway, here is part 1 of my coverage of Spocom 14, which will focus on what was just outside the convention center itself before the ticket booth and everything. It was a cool idea to have a big group of cars out front because if you didn’t know there was a huge car show going on, there was really no other way to know about it since there weren’t exactly huge banners flying out in front of Disneyland. I heard a few owners complaining about being put outside of the show itself as if it were some form of disrespect, but I feel like it’s the complete opposite to be outside enticing people to come in! Not only that, but the guys out front had considerably better lighting and backgrounds for photographers! Since I have SO many shots from this show, I’ll be brief with my words for the remainder of this post, enjoy!
Here’s a few of my favorite shots I got today at the meet held in the old Super Autotoyz parking lot hosted by The Big Bang Meet . It’s pretty rare that a meet held in a random parking lot on a Sunday afternoon can bring this kind of turnout, but this meet generally brings out a lot more that’s entertaining than not and you’ll most likely meet a few cool people along the way. Enjoy!
I thought I had properly prepared myself to attend Wekfest this year, but as soon as I got out of my car and saw the line I knew I had a LOT of time before I was getting in. General admission was not until 1:30PM and the line was already hundreds, if not a couple thousand people long. While it’s awesome for the guys putting on the show that attendance is higher than ever, but for someone trying to get in and take pictures…it’s a different story. So rather than slowly sear myself on the asphalt, I decided to take a stroll around the parking lot to check out some of what the Wekfest audience was rolling around in. Keep in mind many of these cars may have been in the parking lot because they chose not to show, either because they are a work in progress or because they simply aren’t interested in building a “show car” and the main reason I go out to shoot parking lots is to see what trends carry over and what are presumably daily drivers. 
There’s not too much I can add word-wise that I didn’t talk about in my first post, but part 2 will be covering the main part of the show hosted on the grassy section where the bulk of the cars were located. No doubt you’ve seen a few shots of this insanely cambered Q45 (Y33 Cima) on rarely seen 3-spoke Work Equips from Low ‘N Slow, it had a primo spot and had the craziest wheel setup at the show. It’s not surprising this look has caught on so quickly; it’s dangerous, difficult to properly achieve, and it came from Japan!
I try my best to stay on top of the sudden explosion of random parking lot meets in my area, which means constantly scraping through social media to find decent meetups that draw in more well-built and thought out cars. Continue reading
My attempt to attend last year’s Eibach Honda Meet was met with miserable failure. I made the long haul all the way out to Storm Stadium near Lake Elsinore with all my gear charged up and ready, tons of water and snacks in my pack, aaaand I forgot my wallet. Needless to say I was fairly frustrated with myself as it meant I could not get into the show since I did not know anyone else attending that year. I ended up having a great time shooting the HUGE dirt parking lot and cars as they were leaving, but I was resolved to make it into the show next time and to be fully prepared. Continue reading
It’s been a while since my last update, but I’ve finally gotten some free time to gather some of my favorite shots of the turnout for Dai’s reveal of his 2014 Formula Drift BRZ at the Fatlace headquarters in Costa Mesa. I try to regularly attend their monthly Slammed Sundays meet they hold because it always draws an eclectic crowd of enthusiasts and you’ll see something new and crazy every month.
One of the first cars I always stop at is Chris’ 8th gen Accord fitted with Airrunner bags and Avant Garde M510. Continue reading
Hobbaswaggle!© 