Night shots of an old Friend.

I adored my old Mr2 Turbo, yeah it was lethal & definitely tried to wipe me off the face of the earth more than once! But there was something about it, like a wild dog you just had to tame, I loved it! 


So I was going through my picture library & remember some of the first night time photos I did back in 2008, which happened to be of my Mr2! 

I still love a few of these pictures to this day, especially the one above, just something about it makes me love it the more I see it. Its an old warehouse area in the center of Reading, I found it by accident whilst cutting through a short cut, & at night the security light came on & I thought it was definitely worth a photo :)


Another photo I still really like from that evening of driving around is this one.

The white balance is completely messed up & the car is slightly out of focus... but still I love it hehe.

I thought I'd share these old memories with you anyway.

Thanks for looking! 

Fitted Life Article - Matt's Civic SiR feature!

Here is an article I recently did for Fitted Life all about an absolutely stunning condition Honda Civic SiR. Enjoy!

Matt’s Civic SiR: Offensively Loud? Please!

It’s a cloudy day here in the UK, not so different from the norm really at this time of year. Everything sort of blends into one on days like these. Everyone busy doing their 9-5 on auto pilot with little attention paid to anything other than the task at hand. But among all this something does grab your attention. It makes you give a second glance, you’re curious, and you’re wondering what exactly just went past..what really did you see?

It didn’t make you look because it’s offensively loud or that it was being driven badly, but simply because it looked absolutely stunning and purposeful as it’s gleaming paintwork caught your eyes. Your ears awaken as a 4-1 manifold soundtrack rumbles your ear drums.

Meet Matt, the proud owner of this stand out car of generic moving boxes. Matt is a huge fan of anything Honda and is a real petrol head. His 15 year old Honda Civic SiR speaks for itself and shows off how truly committed he is to the Japanese car scene.

This car could very well have come straight off the boat from Japan yesterday, and you would be most certainly excused for thinking this was so, seeing it wearing its Enkei two piece split alloy wheels with almost perfect fitment in the Civic’s arches. Also we mustn’t forget the plethora of JDM body parts mixed with rare items off the Honda parts list.

It’s had a few changes to its exterior during its life. At the front you’re looking at a Civic Coupe front bumper, which has been perfectly matched with a genuine SiR front lip. With the help of EK9 Type R front lights and JDM fog lights this all comes together to give the front end an aggressive and different look to the norm.

It doesn’t stop at the front though, as the rear spoiler tilt is just as subtle and striking. At the same time you also have a set of Civic facelift rear lights which gives this car a younger appearance for its age.

Inside the car is also no exception to the proof of its excellent up keep throughout its life. In the back you will find an Integra Type R DC2 rear bench with its gorgeous red stitching only making the extra special front seats stand out even more. The front seats are Honda Civic Type R EP3 Anniversary edition Recaros, with their excellent hugging form matched with the Sparco harnesses. It allows you to feel secure even on the most trying twisty back roads, whilst the gear changes are felt as a swift and solid decision thanks to the Skunk2 Heavyweighted billet gearknob that slots into position firmly. This is all followed by a gasp of air filtered by the HKS panel filter and ending with the roar of the Tanabe exhaust. Was that VTEC we just heard? No…merely a tease into its huge rev range, but still pure awesome to behold.

The truth is this beauty arrived here in the UK in 2008, and as with many cars such as this, it has been owned by enthusiasts and cared for with no expense spared since its arrival. Matt is obviously no exception to this statement either and I have no doubt that he will look after this stunning classic JDM machine for many many years to come.

:. Dan Fegent

Found some old stuff that wasn't HDR ;)

hehe hunting through some of my old work I stumbled across some "for sale" style pictures I did of a friends Ford Fiesta.


Given that I've overloaded you all with old HDR stuff the last few days, you'll be pleased to read that these are pretty much as straight off camera as possible hehe


So here is a 2009 shoot I did of a Ford Fiesta.

The story behind these shots as I mentioned was to help sell the car, so with the help of a few of my lenses I set about thinking what kind of pictures I'd like to see as a buyer...

The car had been very well looked after by James the owner, & I wanted to reflect that in the photos, so first off I had to show how straight & dent free the car was :)

Not to mention the condition of the aftermarket alloy wheels that really helped compliment this car!

Then finishing off with some interior shots.

The car didn't hang around for long once the advert was up, whether my pictures had anything to do with that is anyones guess, but it was still good practice back then & I enjoyed doing the shots.

If you would like to see some more pictures of this car, then head on over to my flickr here where the full set can be viewed.


Thanks for looking! 

A HDR approach to a Honda Civic...

Keeping in line with the HDR theme I've had going for the past few days, here is a shoot I did of a friends Honda Civic a few years back. 

He's only recently got rid of this car, was a shame to see it go but it was time to move on :) 

He rang me up one sunny day in 2009, asking if I could do some pics, the more practice I get the better I feel I get so I jumped at the chance! We headed up to this pretty awesome view point above Marlow on Thames & put something together :)

I did love the colour of this car, depending on how I photographed it, it could go from a deep purple to almost a blue, pretty cool! 


Right anyway that is waaaay too much HDR over the last few days, I'll see if I can find some other old work to share with you tomorrow :D


The rest of the pictures of this car can be found on my flickr here. (including non HDR ones ;)) 


Thanks for looking! 

Peugeot 106 GTI

This has to be one of my favourite shoots I ever did! I absolutely loved it, the results I felt were awesome & the owner who is a very close friend of mine was so pleased too, made it all worthwhile! 


These shots are all very HDR processed, however this is still one time that I feel the effect worked in the favour of the car :) 


So let me introduce you to this 106 GTI.

This fantastic little machine was not only a real stunner to look at thanks to its factory kit & eibach suspension setup allowing it to achieve its low slung look. 

It also had the "go" to match the appearance, there was the usual exhaust system upgrades which consisted of stainless steel manifold, de cat & cat back.

You also had the induction kit, allowing for better breathing for the engine.

So far all pretty much standard upgrades really for anyone into their cars...


But this had something else, & that something else was cam work, paired with a custom ECU & remap allowing this little French 1.6 hatch back to produce 155bhp at the flywheel, not bad at all for a car that only weighs in at 900kg.

An absolute monster that punched well above its weight, you'll have to believe me that this thing was quick, with the handling to match, an incredible machine.

I always enjoyed taking pictures of it, & I was sad to see the owner move on from it, but at least it has been captured here for us to remember it as it was :)

The full set of pictures taken of this 106 GTI can be found on my flickr here.


Thanks for looking! 

Honda Civic Type R (EP3)

These next pictures are from a shoot that took place a few years back, I was still playing around with HDR effects when I did these, something which I rarely touch now when it comes to cars.

But that being said, its good to go back & look at where you've come from, so all that being said, let me introduce you to a Honda Civic Type R :)

When I did these photos, I had also just got myself my first off camera flash (wow how things have moved on since.), anyway using my Canon 430ex, I attempted to light areas of the car that were shadowed on this day.

I had varying levels of success with my attempts, at the time I was happy with the results though, looking back now I can see the mistakes I made but its all good.

As I said at the beginning of this post, I was playing around a lot with HDR stuff, this really isn't what I like to do with automotive photos anymore, but back then it was working for me :)

& also messed around quite a bit with selective colouring, with red being a prominent colour on the Type R Hondas, so it had to be done :)

Recently however I re visited the car to capture some interior & engine bay shots, they were actually being done to help the owner sell the parts, which is what a lot of my photos actually end up being used for by friends hehe. 

Need to have another go at shooting this car using what I know now, but its still good to look back at what was & realise how I've developed.

The full set on flickr showing off all the pictures taken of this car so far can be found here.

Thanks for looking! 

Time to wake up & share some more stuff...

I've not given my blog the attention it deserves these last few weeks, so now its time to share some content :)


I'm going to give some attention to old photo shoots & share info about them, hopefully it'll be of interest to readers & will help inspire me to do more as well!


So first off its a Porsche Cayman S...

This machine was absolutely stunning! 

My best mate was doing some valeting for the owner, & they mentioned that they were looking to sell this car, so the offer came to come along & get some pics to help them move it on to a new owner! 

It was a really sunny day, I was shooting hand held mostly with the Sigma 10-20mm lens. With the help of a polarising filter I was able to cut down most of the reflections from the gleaming paintwork. 

It was awesome to do something a little bit different, I tend to always find myself taking pictures of Japanese cars, so a bit of European Exotica is not a bad change :)

The car didn't hang around very long apparently once it was put up for sale :)

If you would like to see the other pictures from that day then head on over to my flickr set here.

Thanks for looking! 

The day started out with a nice and early alarm going off, pretty sure 4AM was involved somewhere, but photographs needed to be taken and I was in desperate need to get involved with some drifting now that 2011 has truly started!

My journey started by meeting up with drift couple Cole and Emma, previously featured on Fitted Life. As I drove down in my little Aygo full to the brim with all my gear for the day, the rain was pouring down heavily even for England. It made me doubt whether the Drift What Ya Brung day at Santa Pod Raceway would even take place…but I carried on in hope that we’d see a break in the weather and that the iPhone’s weather forecast of overcast for Santa Pod wouldn’t let me down. So at 6AM on Saturday, I arrived at the home of two pure awesome R33 Skylines and their extremely friendly drivers/owners who were preparing themselves for a day of drifting.

Before I lose you all I should probably explain a bit more first, Drift What You Brung days (DWYB for short) allow people to practice and learn how to drift properly. It allows drivers to find the limits of their cars and learn to hold them at it. It’s often a good opportunity for people that want to compete in the BDC (British Drift Championship) or ODC (Open Drift Championship) to come and get noticed. It’s also a nice start towards earning their drift license and competing properly. But usually, it’s just a fantastic day to have some fun in your car. Whether it’s a fully bred drift track machine or a daily driver that likes to slide, anything and everything turns up.

So back to the story. I arrived blurry eyed at Cole and Emma’s early on that dark and extremely wet Saturday morning, though the two were sure that the weather would clear up. The two loaded up their spare tyres filling up the Skylines. Actually it’s amazing how many tyres you can get in a Skyline when you think about it. Cole alone managed to fit two extra rear alloy wheels and six drift tyres in his R33, and there was still room for me! hehe. Incredible! Fully loaded, we set off on the 2 hour journey to Santa Pod.

Along the way it was cool to see other drifters heading in the same direction, some even with roof racks holding all their spares for the day. One stop we’re at a motorway service station, the next we’d formed a convoy of five cars all taking part in the day’s fun. Everyone has known each other for years, and if they hadn’t..well then I couldn’t have told the difference. It was a brilliant sense of camaraderie filling the air between the different drifters. An atmosphere with which the whole day was filled.

As we approached Santa Pod, the rain thankfully stopped and it started to look like a good day for everyone! Things were looking up! We arrived at Santa Pod just before 9AM and the drivers set about preparing the cars for the day. Their pit areas were filled of spares and repairs. Straight after the drivers’ briefing the Hi-Vis vest came out and I headed over to sign myself on as a photographer. A great start to putting myself in harm’s way. hehe.

After being introduced to many of the drivers and explaining who I was, I went out to find some good spots around the track as some of the drivers started to trickle onto the various track layouts. The neat thing about DWYB days is that it accommodates all levels of skill. You’ve got several doughnut areas, a transition teaching figure of eight, the kidney which is an off pattern triangle layout, and the full size practice track with roughly eight bends and plenty of 3rd gear drifting opportunities.

As for the cars taking part, for what looked like an awful day turned pretty decent! The UK drift scene is very jap car orientated, however BMWs have really started to show their abilities in capable hands and are now appearing more and more in the scene. This DWYB day was no exception and it was great to see some variety on show.

Nissans were in full force as per usual with numerous Silvias and Skylines. The drivers took to the track showing some fantastic skill on what was still quite a wet track. Among the sea of Nissans there were a few other stand out cars and drivers to me. One being a stunning Yellow S2k and the other an Mr2 Turbo. Both of which are not the easiest cars to drift in the world. I’m pretty sure my old Mr2 Turbo tried to kill me several times on the road so I was really impressed to see one being driven with such talent.

As the day went on the weather improved for the better and the track eventually started to dry up. This led to lots of tyre smoke and even better driving from all the guys and ladies that were practicing.

I made sure to take the time to also get shots of the cars in the pit area, with the idea of capturing the moment in full and of course to get a cheeky closer look at the cars that were taking part. Including an HKS sponsored Silvia S15, simply stunning!

Another stand out car for me was Ross’ red 200sx S14 with an S13 front end or S14.3 as he refers to it. Apart from this amazing front end conversion (I’m a huge fan of pop up lights!) he had also made it so that the exhaust comes out just behind the passenger seat in the rear quarter panel! Pure awesome! I’m hoping to get something sorted along the lines of a full feature for this car in the future. At the very least I’ll be pointing my lens at his car a lot more throughout this year’s drift season.

Overall it was an awesome day among a great group of people, I felt very welcome among the drivers and other photographers. And after exploring all the angles I could see of the track and getting as close as I could push myself to do so, I came away with several hundred shots of everyone that took part.

I also had my goproHD with me and had planned on making this day my first go at putting together some footage and editing it all into a proper little film. The film I have put together mainly focuses on Cole’s R33 Skyline, which can be seen below.

Santa Pod – DWYB day – 8.1.11 from Dan Fegent on Vimeo.

It’s literally my first go at doing anything like that and it’s far from perfect. But, I’m happy with it until I can do better next time!

Lots of tyres destroyed in the name of fun and practice, great times and great memories, until next time.

Oh and I had a lot more room in the Skyline on the way home..funny that. ;)

:. Dan Fegent

For the rest of the pictures from this day, you can find them on my Flickr set!