After meeting at an awesome spot I found in Edgewater, we got right to work.I spoke to Ondrej about his car and he told me that it was recently out of the body shop after a bad accident and while there, he had some work done. The rear fenders are pulled professionally and the badgeless grill was installed with the hood notch being filled. Ondrej told me that he finished his air suspension system just in time for H2Oi last year and is loving every minute of it. He is running Airlift XL’s up front with AirHouse 2 bags in the rear (w/ S10 cups) and FK shocks. Unlike most MK5′s the installer used 1/4″ lines on Ondrej’s car so the airing up and down is a bit slower, but very smooth. The car is using the digital Easystreet management, which I have in my car as well. The trunk setup is super clean and he was even able to keep his spare tire, which most people ditch to make some more room for the air suspension components. The car looks absolutely killer in person and I am really glad I got to shoot it yesterday.

Ondrej is trying to sell these wheels to pick up and refinish something before this show season starts so look out for his car this show season (if you follow the Volkswagen scene) because it should be one to turn heads! Check out the rest of the pictures from the shoot below or head over to my Flickr @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/calledthestig/ to comment or favorite any of these images!

Also check out my Flickr here to keep updated on ALL of my images that I will be uploading: http://www.flickr.com/photos/calledthestig

I purchased my first dSLR in February 2008 – Canon Rebel XTi. That camera had served me well for three years, making trips across the country and never skipping a beat. Always performing above and beyond what I ever expected of it especially towards present day when it approached being 5 years since the release date of the camera. In January I went down to Florida and as we boarded the plane the camera wouldn’t turn on — just totally dead. I left it in the hotel room and felt I was missing out on some great shots, but it was sort of a nice break to not be trying to always grab that picture and just enjoying vacation, which is probably something I really needed.

Upon returning from Florida, I called up Canon and sent the camera in for repair. After the issue was repaired and the camera was returned to me, I decided it was time to upgrade cameras. After a ton of research and insight from friends I knew that I wanted to go full frame and a used Canon 5D showed up at my apartment about two weeks later. The images in this post are some shots from the first day using the camera — what a solid piece of equipment; even after being released for 6 years, it still produces stunning images.

I really wanted to shoot a car while I was there since I had all my gear and my off-camera lighting and Chris was MORE than happy to let me shoot his Gray B7 A4. The car is absolutely stunning and super clean. Even though there are few modifications it still turns heads when parked or rolling. Be on the lookout for Chris at tons of shows this season.

You can check out the the set of pictures on Flickr: Chris Rousseau’s A4

I started off with a cardboard box and a tshirt stretched across the sides of the box. I then tried firing flashes on either side of the box using my Paul C. Buff triggers, but that didn’t work too well. I then went out to home depot and got two flood lights (200W each) and placed those on each sides of the box and the images became MUCH better. I never would have thought to use constant lighting, but it definitely help me with metering the exposure.

Check out some more lightbox (product shots) below as well as the rest of my Lightbox set on Flickr: Lightbox & Product Shots.

After a few email exchanges I found out that I would be shooting the Jordan Brand Classic, an annual event sponsored by Michael Jordan featuring all of the top high school players (in the country and in the world). I was sent to their practices to watch them play and it was amazing to watch these kids, who have never played together, play like they have practiced for years with each other. On Sunday I entered Madison Square Garden through the media entrance with gear in hand…

When this all started I had NO idea that I would be sitting baseline at Madison Square Garden shooting these games. This was probably ONE OF THE COOLEST things I have ever done in my life (let alone my photography career). I was feet from these kids, sitting baseline and even had kids fall on me, but it was amazing. Basketball, in my opinion, is probably one of the hardest sports to shoot because of the difficult lighting conditions and the fast paced action that happens during the entire game. You never know if the player is going to drive down the lane, take a jumpshot, pass the ball or go in for the dunk so you always need to be prepared. It definitely challenged my photography skills to the limit, but I am SO glad that I did it. It’s definitely something I would love to do again just for the challenge.

Thank you to DraftExpress for giving me this AMAZING opportunity to photograph the game and getting me the media credentials for MSG. The rest of the pictures can be seen on Flickr: Jordan Brand Classic on Flickr. Also check out my shot that was published on Sports Illustrated’s website: Cory Joseph, Myck Kabongo, Kevin Pangos – Luke Winn

You can check out the rest of the set of pictures on Flickr: Dimitri’s MK4 GTI

You can see the rest of the set of images on my Flickr: Spring Show and Go 2010 on Flickr

You can check the rest of the set out on Flickr: Process of Fusion CD Release on Flickr

Process of Fusion on MySpace: www.myspace.com/processoffusion