News

We got a new bus to get around in the other day. There is now so much room for the kids that they actually want to go out places now. So many cool things to check out in it too. Will get onto making a page for it (with specs etc) one day soon. Now to find a job so I can start paying for it, lol.

First day practice I can ever remember at Mallala, lol. I took my kids along to have a look and they loved it. Hannah made a mes of herself with chocolate custard, haha. I spent the day messing around with slower shutter speeds (sub 1/80th) and got some surprising results.

This months Fast Fours magazine contains a feature on Jake Jones drift car that I shot earlier in the year. It was just after he damaged the motor so it couldnt be moved too far which made the shoot a bit more difficult. All in all though it wasnt too bad and ended up being the largest feature for the month.

Photos from a shoot taken back in October last year have finally made it into HPI magazine. Its been a while since I took the pics and it was awesome to see a full page spread feature one of the photos I took. Can't wait for the next feature.

Another top bunch of students coming on up through Drift School this year. I was planning on attending with my own car this time round but as I had a blown head gasket I came along to take a few photos instead. Will add more up in the next couple of weeks, been pretty busy lately.

Was asked out to photograph the Jaustech private day last week. There was a good mix of cars and drivers and I also visited some old photo spots and a couple of new ones too. At times I found it difficult dealing with the harsh sunlight and glare, something I will need to improve at in future.

First drift practice held out at tailem bend on the weekend. Its a flowy track which looks fun to drive. Some of the top guys from the street class put on a nice smokeshow once the rain had dried. Looks like the future of drift in SA can only get better. Can't wait to head back out there.

Benji held a private day on the 2nd. Was kinda funny, your only supposed to have 12 cars at a private day yet I have photos of 15 different cars, lol. Benji did a top job organising the day and everyone had a top time. Got a few good snaps, but harsh sunlight and glare proved to be a challenge all day

Second article and photo in The Courier. Looks like I will be covering drift for them on a (somewhat) regular basis. Also had a photo in The Bunyip, but the article was very small and not written by me. Still trying to get into The Messenger papers, but thats a slightly harder paper to get into. If your in an area covered by either The Bunyip or The Courier please buy a copy and support those who support drift.

Cant post many pics yet due to media commitments, but here are a few shots from the first practice on sunday at the Drift Super Cup. It was an awesome weekend although crowd numbers seemed a little down on the previous year. Was interesting to see the Time Attack which featured head judge Kristian Appelt driving the 'flying muffin' as it was dubbed by Racin Jason. For full results be sure to check out mallala.com

I had 3 photos published in 3 papers today. Two of Jake Jones ripping it up from a recent private day and 1 blast from the past, a photo of Eddie Modra from before I was even getting media passes. Was interesting to see such an old pic used, I could hardly believe it was one of my own at first, lol. Ah well, guess it shows how far I have come. Keep an eye out for the latest copies of The Leader, The Bunyip & The Herald newspapers. With any luck i'll make it into 4 papers next week.

With daylight savings now over its getting harder to get good shots at drift practice seeing as its only held from 5pm. But that wont stop me from trying. I got stuck in the middle at the burnout pad, lol. Was good to use a new position during a public practice, but there wasnt much of a crowd in the grandstands, the main reason I wanted to use the spot. Anyway, heres a few pics from the night.

Crazy day. Got to try out a few new angles in a new position which I will hopefully be able to use again in the future. Was awesome to see some top class tandem action from Luke Broadbent and Benny Neal. Jake Jones had his sexy new wheels running but the setup wasnt wuite what he would have liked. He still chucked down a few real decent laps even though he said it felt sketchy as. Jay Duca was ripping it up in his little corolla and the Sleek Spares owners David and Kelly Wong were doing a good job in their cefiro. Kelly even did some tandems with Luke Broadbent and looked absolutely pro!

Last of the daylight savings drift practices. Highlights on the day was seeing Evan Daws back out on track in his absolutely sexy sounding R31 Skyline. Davey Clarke was throwing his car into scandos and lifting wheels off the deck. Daniel Prior was ripping it up and producing awesome angle with plenty of smoke. Simon Podlewski was back in the CTS car and having fun and not taking it too seriously. Wasn't a bad day out.

Got in contact with the editor of The Courier newspaper and I will be sending them regular articles about drifters in their area. Can never have enough good publicity for the sport and I hope it helps bring more people out to the races to enjoy the local talent. This article is about Strathalbyn driver Adam May and the Lewis Engines R33 Skyline. If your a driver in The Courier coverage area and would like to be featured in a future edition of the paper get in touch and I will see what I can do.

Couple of magazine features coming up this month. High Performance Imports have a feature on Team ATC that I photographed due in Issue 119, while Fast Fours are running the Drift Australia article that I photographed and co-wrote with Tessa Whyte in the April issue. Exciting times with more shoots coming up soon. Keep an eye on the newsagents for these two magazines and support those who support the sport we love.

Went out to JDM.X.PARK for another visit. Corey was out there with his Rx7 drifter and James has his 80cc motorcross bike. We set up a plastic barrier and some cones for clipping points and set Corey loose on them. After a few runs he was lining them up beautifully. James showed us a few of the dirt jumps he built for his motorbike and his mate did a bit of 4x4 drifting both on the track and in the dirt. Cliff dropped in on his way to Adelaide and showed that he still had the skills behind the wheel.

First wet drift practice for the year. I guess its better than being stinking hot, lol. Was a few drivers that have improved a whole heap, specially considering the conditions. Was also a few minor accidents too (only caught one with the camera) the worse being Josh Kroepsch whose wheelnuts threaded and came of resulting in the wheel ending up under the car and holding up proceedings. Thankfully he was OK and he got back out there and kept skidding, champion!

Went to the All Japan Day today and took my kids and partner along for a look. Was mainly there to catch up with a couple of people, but as I always have my camera gear with me thought id take a few 'happy snaps' while I was there. Was a pretty decent day, but arriving late meant sun was in a poor position, lol. The kids had a good time though, ice cream shop near The Beach House was pretty cool.

Only one article and photo published this week, but it is a return to the front page of the news section in The Leader. It is also awesome to see credit given this time. Unfortunately it wasnt the best news as Jake broke his gearbox at G1 and failed to qualify. Fingers crossed Jake is back bigger and better at the next event, Drift Super Cup.

Hot and windy conditions at Mallala made getting nice pictures a little difficult. One bonus with the weather tho was overcast conditions which decreased the amount of harsh shadows and glare that photographers hate. Top qualifier this round was Adam May in the Lewis Engines R33 Skyline. But the winner was 'Teflon Don' James Dean Mardle, with second place going to Simon Michelmore. More pics to come.

Had two articles and photos by me published in The Leader and The Bunyip newspapers. The article was about Jake Jones and his preparation for the 2010 drift season. It marks the start of my aspirations to become a photojournalist. Its pretty much my training ground for more work that I will be persuing in future.

Hot, damn hot. Another 42 degree scorcher out at Mallala. Despite the insane conditions the Pitlane Performance boys headed out to the track to have a fun day of sliding. Unfortunately there was a few breakdowns and mechanical failures. But for those that managed to get a full day in a lot of fun was had.

Almost didn't make it to this practice. Had to pay rego and find fuel money and then ended up starving when I got there as I had nothing left over for food :'( lol. But wasnt too bad a night. Saw a couple of guys with their new cars out and a couple more old cars with new paint. Also witnessed one of the best tandem runs I have seen in a long time. Looking forward to G1.

Went out to autofest mainly to see the drift demo's. Hung around for a few of the burnouts and the go to whoa. Was cool watching the extreme team burnout demos and seeing a few familiar faces killing tyres. I had a few issues with my gear so didnt hang around for too long on either day tho.

Went out to Eagle MTB Park in the Adelaide Hills to shoot some MTB pics. Was the first time i've been out shooting MTB pics since way back in the 90's when i used to go to MTB races at Mt Buller in Victoria, and back then I was using video. As you can see I still have some learning to do, but man did I have a good time. Was awesome seeing some of Australias most talented bike riders. Makes me want to get fit and get back into riding again!

1st practice of the year saw a few cool changes. There was new paint for Luke Broadbent and Simon Enright. Scotty Huddy drifted his car for the first time since its rebuild and new paint. A few familiar faces were back at Mallala ripping it up including the Foolish Line boys. Also appearing were some new faces ready for the new year of drift. Cant wait to see whats in store at the local G1 competition.

New year, new track. James Mardle bought a property in the outback which includes a small private track right in his back yard. He invited me up to check it out and it was sooo worth the 4 hour trip out there. You cant get as close to the action anywhere else in Australia. His place also has so much potential to be unleashed in the near future. Expect big things from JDM.X.PARK in the future!

An article authored by me was published in todays Bunyip newspaper. I covered the Mallanats on the 5th of December and instead of just submitting some pics I decided to have a go at writing the article. It wasnt the best article, as its a skill I need to work on, but it was good enough to make it to print.

I held my own private day on the 16th December. It was a freaking hot day with temperatures up in the 40's. Other than the heat and insects it wasnt too bad a day. Had a few other photographers come out to take pics, which was good as I didnt do to well on the day. I learned a pretty important lesson though, dont bother organising another private day in summer.

Wow, what a day. 15 hours of non stop motorsports action out at mallala motor sports park. So many cool events on... show & shine, burnout comp, dyno challenge, go to whoa, dash for cash, extreme entry comp, cruise the track. Something for everyone really. I'm slowly getting through the pics and adding them to the site so if you dont see any of you check back in a day or two. Cant wait for mallanats 2010!

Was asked to come along to Morgan to take some pics of a few mates driving their 4x4's around the Morgan Quarry. I knew I would have a blast so I got up early to meet the crew and we all headed out. Was such a fun day with many very exciting moments. Almost makes me want a 4x4, almost. lol.

Wind. If I was asked to describe the one thing that was prevalent all night, that would be it. It was so windy that I thought I would be blown away any second. The second thing that featured a lot was crashes. I only caught one, but there was at least four altercations with tyre stacks and walls. Other than those two things it was a good practice. Crowds were down on usual numbers, but being as wet and cold and windy it was I wasnt surprised.

Had another photo published in The Bunyip this week. However, this time it was different. This was only my second portrait photo published, the first in full color. I'm hoping to do more of this kind of work in future and maybe even as a job at some stage. Hopefully I learn quick and get good enough.

Flew 'overseas' to Tasmania to shoot at the first ever Oz Drift GP held at Baskerville Raceway. It was the first time this kind of event format was run at basky and it went down pretty well. As well as the drifting there were some time attack cars and the awesome DR Stunts / FUF boys ripping it up on their motorbikes. Was an awesome track to shoot at and I plan on getting back down there in future to revisit sometime in the future. Cant wait!

Got a few of my photos in a couple of newspapers today. Two were published in The Bunyip newspaper and one was published in The Leader. I will have a couple more photos published with an article about Jake Jones in a future edition of The Bunyip also.

Jake Jones stepped up to the plate and blew away the competition to become the winner of round 3 of the G1 Extreme Drift competition. Was awesome to watch him work his way through the field to take the top spot. This put him into third place overall in the championship making him 3rd in SA, 2nd in Victoria and 3rd in Australia. What a cracker of a year Jake, well done mate! Looking forward to the new season in 2010.

I started organising a track day and things were not working out how I planned so when Team Truck Factory asked to take it over I thought that it was a good idea. I've been to one of their days before and it was well organised so I knew the day would be in good hands. Thankfully the day went down with only a few minor incidents but damn was it hot! Mallala must also have one of the worst breeding grounds for those tiny little flys that like to get in your eyes, ears and nose. lol. I ended up leaving early cause I had enough of being out in the sun, but got a few pics before I left.

Finally a school that people cant wait to get to. Mallala hosts the Drift School a couple of times a year and it is always a success. It caters for drivers from the most beginner level who wish to learn car control and basic drifting skills up to advanced / competition drivers wishing to hone their skills in a non competative environment. I love watching drivers confidence grow during the day ensuring that the afternoon open practice session often leaves me wondering how so many people can learn so much in the space of a single day. If you have ever wanted to try drifting I highly recommend giving the Drift School a go.

First drift practice since daylight savings started. Gave me a lot more light to shoot in, plus a nice sunset to try and deal with. Mallala is a hard track to get good lighting from as most places you shoot from are facing into the sun. But as always I made the best of what I had and here are the results...

I have started offering pre-made photobooks for sale from events. They wont be available for all events at the moment, just major state rounds and national events. Check out http://photos.jay019.com/photobooks/ to see what books are avaialable now. As always, custom books can be made to specification. Drift Australia 2009 photobook coming soon!

Can't believe I had not done this sooner! Jame & Christian invited me out for some fun in their 4x4s and wow, cant believe what you can do in those things. They drove up and down hills I would think twice about taking my bike onto, and thats saying something. Mad creek crossing, hill climbing, bush bashing fun. Cant wait to go again!

618 Motorsports invited me out to take some photos of their private day at Mallala Motor Sport Park. I used it as a chance to experiment a bit with slower shutter speeds and a new technique. The new technique didnt work out so well (zoom blur) but I hope to nail it sooner or later.

Oran Park played host to the one and only round of Drift Australia for 2009. Congratualtions to Link Fink for taking out 1st place. 2nd place went to Simon Podlewski and 3rd place went to local privateer Jake Jones. Massive props to Jake for coming back from the crash on practice day to take out 3rd position, top work mate!

Oran Park played host to the one and only round of Drift Australia for 2009. Competitors from all over the country came over to compete for the title of Australias best drifter. The practice day will be remembered for the crash that almost saw both Jake Jones and Jason Greenwood miss out on competing in DA.

Pitlane Performance held their second private day at Mallala. It was a day that will always be remembered due to Justin rolling his KE Corolla. Apart from that incident the day went smoothly and saw some very nice driving by a few up and coming drivers.

Another night drift practice out at Mallala. I dont think I did as well this time out. Not sure why but I just couldnt 'find my groove' so to speak. I took a heap of photos, most of which were chucked out as they were no good.

Organised by Jake Jones the private day was a great opportunity to catch up with some top people and get some new pics at the same time. Big thanks to Jake for organising the day, it ran very smooth and everyone there had a top time apart from the breakages.

Another night practice out at Mallala. There was a massive turnout for this practice with not only a heap of cars out but a heap of spectators too, was quit freaky really. Unfortunately some of the G1 competitors missed out on practice. Considering the number of un-setup cars and 'domestic' vehicles in the field there was surprisingly not many crashes.

Its been a long time coming, but finally updated the page for the history of my R31 Skyline. Shows how it went from a stock family car to what it is today.

Went for an epic journey to Sydney to visit the Oran Park North Circuit before it is demolished and turned into a housing estate. It was soooo worth the trip. The tight twisty track looked like a lot of fun for the drivers and would have been quite a challenge to nail. The larger circuit played host to some awesome smoke shows from a lot of big names in drift. Check out Project D at http://www.projectd.com.au/

Scored another cover shot for The Leader newspapers sports section. The shot is from Jake's qualifying lap which he absolutely nailed earning himself the number one qualifying position. He went on to place third which brings him up to fourth place in the series. Cant wait for round three!

My photo gallery from G1 2009 Round 2 was featured on the front page of the Events, Drifting & Cruise Photos section of the NissanSilvia.com forums. Check out the forums at http://nissansilvia.com/forums/index.php?showforum=280

Feels like I only just got home from Victoria and I'm heading straight back out to Mallala for G1. Was an awesome day full of action. Highlights of the day include Jake Jones qualifying in first position and Team ATC taking out the team drifts. Congrats Jake and congrats Team ATC.

Epic road trip again. Crossed the border into Victoria to support the South Aussies in their battles at the Vic Drift competition. Well worth the trip once again. Bring on Round 3 in November.

Held by Team Truck Factory. Very wet start to the day. Was woried it would stay like that and be horrible, but instead it cleared up and the day turned out awesome. Big thanks to Steve, Jarrod and Chris from 'team skittles' for the invite out.

Private track day held by Pitlane Performance. Was a good day even though there was a lot of mechanical breakdowns. Was great to get out and take some pics during the day again, really loving daytime drift for photography.

Organised by Japanese Import Spares the private day was a great opportunity to brush up on my day time drift photo taking skills. Was an awesome day with some unreal drift action to watch.

Another night practice out at Mallala. Had my new f2.8 lens with me, but by the time it all started it was already getting very dark forcing me to bump up the iso. Still got a few nice pics and had a fun learning experience.

Jake Jones was selected to join the Touge Heroes and they used photos from a Team ATC photoshoot on the blog announcing his arrival. Cant wait to see what they have in store! Check out the story at http://www.tougeheroes.com/blogsite/?p=106

My photo gallery from Team Truck Factory Private Day was featured on the front page of the Events, Drifting & Cruise Photos section of the NissanSilvia.com forums. Check out the forums at http://nissansilvia.com/forums/index.php?showforum=280

Went out to Mallala to take some pics of the Drift School. Was awesome watching some of the newer drifters improving over the course of the day. Despite the cold weather and the bit of rain it turned out to be a top day. Unfortunately tho there were a few mechanical casualties.

The Shannons Nationals was a different kind of event than I am used to attending. Even though the cars were not going sideways the way I like, I still had a fun day and got a heap of photos. Got to practice panning and also get some more shots of the DR Stunts riders going crazy on two wheels.

The Leader published a photo of Jake Jones on his way to qualifying 5th at the Drift Super Cup. Unfortunately the weekend didnt end well for him being knocked out early placing 18th overall. It was his first time drifting in the wet and the first time in his cars new setup. To see all of my published photos check out http://photos.jay019.com/published/

Photos taken at the Drift Super Cup & Shannons Nationals were put up in the Gallery section of the Front Up Freestyle team website. Check them out at http://frontupfreestyle.com/

Photos taken at the Drift Super Cup & Shannons Nationals were put up in the Gallery section of the DR Stunts website. Check them out at http://drstunts.com/

My photo gallery from June Drift School was featured on the front page of the Events, Drifting & Cruise Photos section of the NissanSilvia.com forums. Check out the forums at http://nissansilvia.com/forums/index.php?showforum=280

What an event. Was a top weekend even with the rain on Sunday. Took a HEAP of photos which I am still going through. Have already posted a small selection, but keep checking back as more and more are added.

Managed to get two photos in two papers on the same day. Unreal. The first was a photo of Eddie Modra from G1 and the second was a photo of Jake Jones working on his car. To see all of my published photos check out http://photos.jay019.com/published/

A bit of a late one this time. Was almost dark before the cars even started hitting the track. I had a go at taking pics with low light, used a high ISO speed and yeah, welcome to grain city. Ah well. was fun night out.

"The Leader" newspaper in Angaston SA published another one of my photos. This time a photo of local Angaston drifter Jake Jones on his way to a well deserved second place at round 1 of the VicDrift championships. http://barossaupdate.com/

A rather cold and slightly wet day at Glenelg. Was still good to check out some rather nice cars looking very very hot. Got to see Lee's RB20 powered KE70. Crazy, crazy machine that one. There were also a lot of rare cars including very early model slivias, a few very nice AE86's and a lot of skylines.

Decided to go for a journey over to Victoria to check out the 1st round of the VicDrift competition. Was so glad I did, turned out to be a top day. A new track to photograph at meant a slightly limited range of shots, but had so much fun being a lot closer to the action than ever before. Even got a few laps in the 1via owned by Jake Jones, awesome fun! Will be back over there for round two in July.

Classic Skylines Australia held its first club event in South Australia this weekend. James and Marc kicked things off with an Easter Cruise to the Barossa Valley. You can find more info about Classic Skylines Australia at their website at http://classicskylinesaustralia.com/

Had a very quick look at the Old School & New Age car show down at Christies Beach today. Saw a few nice skylines, Datsuns and a lot of other cars out.

Luke organised a private track day at Mallala to give a few people the chance to test out their machines on a less congested track. Even though a lot of the cars broke down or had trouble during the day, I managed to get a lot of photos. As I was experimenting with slower shutter speeds, there were a lot that did not turn out so great. But we all have to learn at some stage.

Had a photo of mine published in "The Leader" newspaper in Angaston, SA. Went with a story about Jake Jones, an Angaston local who is doing quite well in teh state drifting championships. http://barossaupdate.com/

A top day out watching some new up and coming drifting talent. One of the pics I took on this day was also the first photo I ever had published thanks to Jake Jones, an awesome drifter who is one to keep an eye on.

Scored picture of the week for 10th - 17th March 2009. Was nice to see my photo on the front page of the R31 Skyline Club website. So easy to take good photos when you are shooting a subject that is so cool. :P

Another top day out at the drifts! Only a couple of R31's representing, but a top day and night nonetheless. Took a bucketload of photos, most of which I now look back on and think "what the hell was I doing?" lol.

*mel* & Gavin organised a charity cruise to help raise money for the Victorian bushfire appeal and also the Queensland flood appeals. Was a very nice day and a very nice drive out to Victor Harbour.

To start the New Year I finally finished working on my Database of skatepark / bmx track locations. These are all viewable on Google Maps with a custom made map view that zooms in on the location so you can see what it looks like as well as where it is. Try it out by seeing the new list here or with the map pre loaded with all locations.

Added some cruise photos from the last weekends R31 Skyline Club cruise. Also moved all cruise photos to my photography site at http://photos.jay019.com/ which is all scripted now so much easier to keep up to date.

Finally redesigned the site to look the same in all the major web browsers. Pretty happy with the result so far. Also started to use some Ajax enhancements for the track listings on the music section and thickbox for the photography section and all other places where images are used.

Went out to Mallala Raceway to take some photos of the G1 drift competition. Was my first attempt at taking action photos in the past 10 years so was quite a bit of fun.

Held on a beautiful sunny day the cruise started at Mile End and meandered through some awesome hills roads ending up at Yankallila at the bakery. Awesome day.