2018 - A Look Back

The year is coming to an end quicker than most cars I’ve posted on this website, with the holiday period almost on full boost everything is starting to get a little crazy. I thought I’d take a bit of time out from the madness to sit back and reflect on the year passing. With photography being just a passion and hobby of mine it’s sometimes hard to find the time and motivation to push out content, but somehow I managed to average a shoot just under every 2 weeks throughout the entire year. I have chosen one photo from each shoot that I feel is worthy of representing the entire set. Some you may have already seen, others will be the first time ever seeing the website, so I hope you enjoy them.

2018 started off hot with 3 model shoots 3 weeks in a row. First up was Nicole, who I’m sure you’re all familiar with by now as she’s basically become my resident model for the website. This particular shoot was in her parents backyard utilising the freshly renovated pool area which made for a perfect back drop! Nicole has helped me learn so much over the course of the year, really helping me develop my skills even further and I can’t thank her enough for always being open to photoshoots and giving me tips with both shooting and editing.
Check out Nicole here!

Up next was Chantelle, who was probably the most fun shoot I had done all year, such a bubbly person who to put simply, doesn’t give a fuck. I think this particular shot sums her up perfectly. She’s fierce, she’s gorgeous, and is definitely someone that other girls should be looking up to in this scene. She knows how to enjoy herself and not take things so seriously but at the same time gets the job done and does it very well.
Check out Chantelle here!

Last but not least I shot with Courtney. Now there is something about this photo that I just love, I don’t know what it is or why, but I love it. This was a really early morning shoot, arriving at our location at around 5:30AM, with Courtney picking me up around an hour earlier. Now if anyone knows me, I’m definitely not a morning person so this one was a struggle, but I have to say was well worth it and if I had the chance to do it again, I absolutely would. Courtney was great to work with and we got plenty of great photos from that morning, we spent most of it just chatting about mutual friends and getting to know each other, which is one thing I’ve learned about photography. It’s all about the experience and friendships that you make, any good photos you get after that are just the icing on the cake.
Check out Courtney here!

Blacklist’s SummerJam was next and this particular car grabbed my attention instantly. Hidden among a flurry of awesome cars, this falcon ute stood out to me like no other. The colour, the stance, the customised number plates, everything about the car to me is just awesome and is definitely something you don’t see too often when it comes to modified falcons! To this day I still don’t know who owns this beauty but if you happen to see this, I’d love to find out more about your ride and the inspiration behind it!

A quick trip down to Wollongong followed, for another photoshoots with Nicole, this time of her little pocket rocket seen below, so click here to check that out. However the following day was a Tuned. x Downshift meet held at Sydney Motorsport Park, which are usually decent with plenty of cars on display and I’ll always run into a bunch of friends and be able to have a chat, but this time there just so happened to be a Porsche track day being held at the same time and naturally, I wandered off across the other side of the track to capture a GT3 doing it’s thing through turn 1.

Now, I’ve always been a Honda fan and these are 2 cars I would love to spend some time with. I’ve driven an S2000 before but it was only a very brief encounter and I have never driven any K-series honda before, so maybe they can be on the list of things to do in 2019?These 2 photos are more of a testament to me learning and experimenting with rolling shots. Now it’s very clear that shooting during golden hour is always a good idea where possible, but sometimes you don’t have that choice and you’ve just got to just roll with the punches.
See more of these Honda’s here and here!

Once again we have another photo of Nicole, are you sick of her yet? We spent the day out in Camden shooting in a couple of different locations and rounded out the day next to a field, hidden amongst the trees with the Autumn leaves sprawled out over the floor. Combine this location with a gorgeous sunset and surprise surprise, you get some amazing photos.

GTR Festival! It was around this time of year where I really found my groove with photography and my new camera set-up. 2018 GTR festival was a serious event in every aspect and even though I wasn’t there for very long, I managed to snap some great photos and my write-up on the event very quickly became my most visited on the website. Check it out here if you haven’t already.

It’s not often your best mate sells their awesome, fun, impractical, fast, good-looking Nissan Silvia in favour of…well, the exact opposite, but when it happens, why not make them drive you to the Gosford Classic Car Museum as an excuse to break the engine in? See my coverage of the museum here!

Ruby is another one of those awesome people that has helped me over the year, by not being afraid of jumping in front of the camera and helping me practice, so thanks Ruby, you’re awesome!

This particular photo of Luke’s Chaser is a prime example of “if you don’t try, you’ll never know” where I tried something a little different and outside the box and it turned out really really well in my opinion.
See the rest of this set here!

It would be wrong not to include a photo at Olympic Park as I’ve spent many hours there just hanging out and catching up with friends. It’s one place you can take your car any day of the week and run into someone you know or someone that’s willing to stop and have a chat. Here is Chad’s monster of an F6 Falcon, but if I didn’t tell you it makes some serious power, you would never know and that’s exactly how I like it.

Here is another face that pops up every now and then to help me practice shooting. Meghan has been around since day 1 helping me learn and try new techniques etc and it would be wrong not to include her in this. Thank you Meghan not for just this year, but for everything you’ve done over the years.

ANOTHER PHOTO OF NICOLE?!?!? Yes. Deal with it. When I said she helped me a lot this year, I wasn’t joking! We became great friends over the course of 2018 and I hope there’s going to be plenty more memories to come in 2019 and beyond. This time we shot in secret little spot and to see more of those photos you’ll have to check her instagram.

ToyotaFest 2018 was a really cool event in a unique location, but nothing beats the colour match of this ute to the port-a-loo’s! Plus to top it all off, if you look closely the ute is rocking a poop-emoji air freshener, which makes me wonder if he brought the port-a-loos himself or it was just a coincidence!

The Tilton Interiors Evo…what a monster of a car this was. I say was because sadly this year at World Time Attack Challenge the car met its demise in the form of a concrete wall, but I have no doubts it will be back better than ever when the time is right. I ran half way across Sydney Motorsport Park to snap this shot as the car was just rolling out to the track.

2018 was the year I finally caved and built my own car and what a journey it has been. I can’t thank Mahmoud and the team at EliteProTuning enough for what they have done for me this year, making my dreams become reality and setting my car up exactly how I wanted it. A fast, responsive, streetable, simple, good-looking car that can do it all. I went in to Mahmoud and told him just a few requirements for my build: stealthy, clean and simple, responsive, 30psi of boost, and it has to stay as a 2.0L engine. To say the boys at the shop ticked off everything on that list, I’m a very happy customer and have never enjoyed driving my car more than I do now. It makes me proud to be a part of the EPT family.

Here is a new face to finish off the year! This is Emilia, who is an aspiring model who is looking to jump into the automotive scene. I met Emilia at one of the Roll Racing events a few weeks ago and we kept in touch and organised a photoshoot. She was so easy to work with and I hope we can work together again in 2019! Here is a sneak peak of what’s to come from her and if you see her around at an event, don’t be afraid to say hello!
Check out Emilia here!

So there you have it, that was 2018 in my world, minus countless hours spent at work and behind my computer screen in my room editing photos and wasting time watching videos on youtube. It’s been a crazy year and plenty has happened that I can take lessons away from, both good and bad. Sometimes I look back at the end of each year and am glad it’s over and done with, but 2018 has been different, I’m happy things went the way they did and I’m very thankful for the people I’ve met and the people I have around me and have spent time with over the year. Even if you’re not mentioned above, you know who you are and I have to say once again, thank you. I can’t wait to see what 2019 brings and I hope to keep pushing my photography to the next level and meet even more amazing people.
If you want to shoot in 2019, get in touch and lets make it happen, don’t be shy!

- oeJayz