Gridlife is a highlight of my summer every year. This marks the 3rd year that I have gone. While every year I try to experiment a bit and expand my portfolio, this year I spent most of my time grabbing photos for people on track. After stumbling into a Facebook group for racers across the Midwest, I offered to grab as many photos as possible of everyone on track. Reception was huge and I was glad to share my work across the group. In between shooting photos for people, I tried out my new Canon gear and got to shooting. While my new 300mm F2.8 IS is much better than my old Nikon screw drive 300mm, I had trouble getting used to the Canon bodies instead of my Nikons. I used a combination of my 7DII and my friends 5DIV. The 5D might be the perfect body for this kind of stuff, assuming you aren’t focal length limited and can’t afford a 1DXII. The 7DII had a bit quicker frame rate, but there is something just special about full frame, 300mm and F2.8.
After arriving Friday morning around 10am, I ended up sitting in line for 2+ hours. I know Gridlife is trying really hard to make this a smooth event, but I really wish they could figure out the traffic solution. Besides that, everything went smooth and by the 2nd drift session of the event my tent was setup and I was able to start shooting.
We will start off with my second favorite photo from the weekend. Similar to my favorite photo of the event (last photo in the story), a vivid livery, vibrant colors, and slow shutter speed make for a fantastic photo. This shot of the Voodoo Ride drift car with the smoke in the background just fits looks perfect to me.
Black and Lime Green/Yellow makes for a vivid livery.
Adam LZ drew huge crowds all weekend long. The car is absolutely beautiful with such a simple look to it. The pits around him were always packed.
The grip guys never get the love that the drifter bois get. I aim to fix that. (But I will admit, visually they aren’t as exciting as drifting photos).
This car is so unbelievably fast. Always cool seeing FWD cars killing it.
I love the simple grey look that many cars are using. But Pikachu trumps all.
For years I have wanted to get a glowing brake rotor photo. I composed the shot, and snapped this. On the back of the tiny LCD screen, in the bright sunlight, I thought I nailed the shot. However I was disappointed when I got home and realized it was soft. I’m posting the photo here to show that you don’t always get the shot you want, and to double check and keep trying until you get it. Don’t be scared to keep trying however. Motorsports photography is all practice and repetition.
The aero on this was ridiculous.
One of my favorite Youtube channels, Gears and Gasoline, covers the time attack series at Gridlife every year. Their coverage brings an excitement that otherwise is hard to follow. Keep up the great work guys.
Im a fan of “rustic/patina” wraps on new cars and I’m not ashamed.
Poptart cat.
The 3 legged thing.
After shooting the last remaining light on Friday, we ate some food and got ready for the concert. It was exciting to see a hip hop group perform at Midwest, as the music is usually EDM or Alt based. You could tell the crowd was a little thinner than usual, but I appreciated the variety.
Saturday I started off shooting the car show and walking the pits. This R34 was beautiful. While I love the typical Nismo blue, white R34 GTR’s on bronze TE37’s are just too perfect.
I think this is the first Vibe I have seen modded. But I dig it.
Widebody all the Lambos.
Dewey and the boogeyman. I got a chance to meet Justin from GOFASTORSUCK over winter and was introduced to their Youtube channel. Go check it out HERE.
2019 was going to be the year of photographing photographers. While it started off well, I’ve been slacking recently. But Gridlife allowed me a chance to capture a few photogs in action.
This is a shot that I wanted to get from the start. I think this was the perfect car for the photo; white car and bright orange wheels.
I got a chance to meet Simba (Grey/blue 240 below) at Final Bout a few years ago. Its always a pleasure seeing him shredding at Gridlife.
Falken livery > all.
Vaughn and Adam LZ put on a great show. When these two were on the track together there was a palpable buzz among the crowd.
I liked the simplicity of this car. Plus the photos just turned out ultra sharp so the pics came out great.
Just dropping the shutter as slow as possible while keeping the car sharp.
One hell of a chaser vehicle.
As always, a big thank you to the men and women who work these events. Without them this weekend wouldn’t be possible.
And we will end with my favorite photo of the event. It is such a vivid livery, such a slow shutter speed (300mm @ 1/30 sec.) and so sharp, the photo just turned out so good.
Shortly after this photo was taken, a massive storm blow in. I didnt grab any photos of it as I took cover and put the cameras away. Shortly after the storm blew over, I headed home for the weekend.
Once again Gridlife blew my mind. The culture is amazing, the driving is spectacular, and the crowds are wild. I cant wait to go back next year. It’s time to start searching for some inspiration for next years photos.
– Andrew
