Repping the Lights
There are few things I honestly miss about the accord I sold. The gas mileage was better than the 4 Runner, but it really was not that much better because of the roof rack I had. So one of the few things I actually miss about it was how low it was, and how responsive the steering was. HOWEVER, there is one thing this time of the year has reminded me of and that is how much I loved holidays with the accord. It was something I did not even think about or realize I would miss until now. Yes it is stupid to miss that about a vehicle, but I looked forward to Halloween, Christmas, etc just so I could have the chance to decorate the car. I did put lights on the 4 Runner, but something about it just does not feel the same. I guess since the accord was modded that it just had that “POW” factor with the lights and such. Maybe I enjoyed the attention more in the accord, I do not know. But whatever it is, I miss just the enjoyment I got from driving around with Santa dragging his beard in the back, lights on top, and my wind faring wrapped in wrapping paper.
So I figured the best way to make myself feel better would be to look down memory lane. ALLLLLL the way back to 2010 and beyond.
These are pictures from the first year I decided to decorate the accord. I think it was in 2007 or 2008. My car towards the end of it’s time was nothing extremely nice in the accord scene since I never felt like updating my mods to match the fads, but I was able to get a website feature with the lights. So I would like to think I was one of the first to truly go all out with Christmas decorations, at least in the accord scene.
The next year was when I added Santa to the decorations
Then the next year I thought that it really needed something. It was festive at night, but it did not have anything to jump out during the day.
I had a bow on the front for awhile but it just did not work for me. So I took it off. I also tried to find those ridiculous antlers everybody and their mother has, but that thankfully never worked out.
As for the last year, I pretty much did the same thing, but changed the wrapping paper. OH and wrapped the front grill also.
Import Alliance Day 2
I had initially planned on not going to the second day of the meet because of plans I had set to attend a mountain biking race. However, after thinking about it I realized that I would much rather attend the car meet since it is only once a year I get to see people I know from the industry. So after packing another cooler full of water I headed out to the speedway again. Traffic was not bad at all heading in, but this is expected for the second day. I was excited about Sunday since that is when they would be holding the track race. And Sunday usually meant less foot traffic for pictures.
First thing I did since I had not spent much time doing so Saturday was walk around to take pictures. It is harder to do so when you have people with you since I do not want to hold anyone up.
Bill’s Accord defines perfection. I do not think I have seen a 6thgen in such great condition. It is always a pleasure getting to see his new mods and talk to him about the changes.
These lips are on an Angelina Jolie level of being so big.
Great site to have on the way home
Now for some track pictures
The little civic that could
Import Alliance Summer 2011 (Day 1)
Another year has come by, which means another Import Alliance Meet to attend. This meet has easily become one of the biggest meets in the nation. So I think it is a great privilege and benefit for it to be held in Nashville,TN. Thankfully the weather was tolerable on Saturday thanks to a light breeze and to it being overcast. Day 1 consisted of me arriving around 10 because I knew the line would be bad early. I think the mindset of most people is that arriving early means no line, but from what I heard it was far from being a short wait. Arriving around 10 though meant that I only had to wait about 20 min to get inside the Superspeedway. Saturday usually attracts more people than Sunday, so there was plenty of cars to look at, and there was also drifting going on at the speedway. I have not heard the estimate but they were expecting over 6,000 people to attend this year. Each year brings more quality rides, but I think this year also brought lots of average rides.
Trying to get fancy again.
Michael Burroughs tends to never disappoint with his rides.
Brent’s 6thgen accord doing a great job at representing us.
Matt’s bed lined accord…yep that is right, he painted the outside completely with bedliner. No more hail damage for him
I would love to drive this!!
Canibeat booth always has some flashy cars
Now for some drifting pictures
Great way to end the day with some fellow accord owners!
Next up will be pictures from Day 2 and specifically of the cars racing on the track.
Chillin’ with some Bees
Well today I was finally able to meet up with a friend to take some car pictures. Trevor, a guy I knew threw the accord scene, recently got a BMW so we finally had matching schedules to meet up and photograph it. I was initially going to take my car, but the morning of the shoot my area some scattered thunderstorms that got my car dirty.
Anywho, Trevor has some sweet photography gear, especially his AlienBees (and everything else). I have always wanted a chance to use them on some cars ,and finally I was given the chance. We did not have a wireless trigger for my Nikon, so we ended up just using his Canon for most of the pictures.
All of these are without flash and unedited. Hopefully we will have a chance to meet up again before I leave Columbus so I can photograph my car (This is my last week of work) I will try and post up his pics whenever he gets them uploaded.
Picture of us setting up the bees….do want
I am tired though from my bike ride this morning, and tom is going to be a long day outside. I am going to the Memorial Golf Tournament. Then one week of work, and off to Chicago to visit my cousins!
April & May Showers
Sorry for not updating in forever. It has been hard to find the desire to take pictures or provide any updates with such poor weather here. May should never have temps in the 30s, and there were only 5 days in April with no rain. It rained 8 days in a row towards the end of April.
Anyways, everything is going great at A&F. I am no longer in the DC, but with their International Distribution group. I am not a morning person, but after waking up early for the DC and getting off early I really miss it. Even though I still worked 8 hours getting off so early felt like they were just half-days. That is one reason I requested to go into the new department at 7:30. Atleast I will get to leave at 4 and still have time to enjoy the sun. (HA I kid I kid)
Now for some pictures though. It was finally sunny for half the day, so I decided to do some car cleaning. Only for it to rain about 30min after I finished. So it looks like I am going to be a hobbit all weekend so my car can stay clean for a few days. Oh and the 10 day forecast only has rain scheduled for 9 of the next 10 days!!! AWESOME!!! Good thing I am leaving for Florida in a week
The weather ruined the one thing I was looking forward to for weeks (Trek Bike Demo on Sat).
OHHHHH and my computer has been built. From what I hear it is a beast, and will be amazing for editing photos. Which is one thing I can not wait to be able to do again. I am going crazy having to post pictures without any photoshop tweaking. Just a few weeks 2 and I will have it!!
Just Some Christmas Spirit
Well it is that time of the year again. To go along with my Christmas cheer of singing, whistling, or humming Christmas songs I always felt that my car should follow suit. I started decorating my car a few years ago, so this year I was going to do the same thing. I not only love seeing my car with the decorations, but the expressions from other drivers can put a smile on my face. It seems like every night I drive I will get multiple double-takes, thumbs up, etc. The first year I started out with just a Santa hanging from the tow hook. So over the last few years I have added to it more and more.
This year I did not add anything extra, except I did choose a different wrap for the Yakima wind fairing. Anyways without rambling on about my car decoration history. I present to you the Christmas version of Selene.
Thanks for looking!
Selene’s Photoshoot
I finally had time to detail the car, and I am really glad I got around to it. The paint feels so good clayed, buffed, and ready to go. So as expected I had to grab the camera to take some photos. The first photoshoot turned out to be a failure. The batteries on my flash were good, but the wireless triggers were dead. So the only way to trigger them was to have the camera about 2 feet away from it. After a long week of work, but plenty of overtime, having the flashes not fire was very frustrating.
The car has no new modifications, and probably never will. I still love driving it, and could never be seen in a stock car. But the passion is not there anymore. My car has become just a mode of transportation, and because of this it no longer gets the attention it used to.
Check out how shiny the car still can get 
As you can see, the weather was phenomenal that day.
Then this photo was from the next day after dog sitting for my cousins.
Burgers N Chips Meet
Last week I had the privilege of meeting up with some of the Grip N Sip guys at a BBQ. I was unsure if I was going to attend because of the horrible weather. But thankfully the storms passed by pretty quick, so I grabbed the camera and headed off to Two Rivers Park. Even with the high humidity I had a great time. But it did make it really difficult to take pictures. I spent the majority of the night looking through my viewfinder at a fogged up lens. So this problem, along with the fact that every car was dirty from the storm meant the photo opportunities were at a low.
My favorite picture from the BBQ
The group eating before the games started.
I have not been very involved with the car scene, but this meet really made me want to start photographing cars again. Hint hint Patrick and your accord haha
Selene’s Photoshoot
Well this should make the car crowd happy since it is something besides flowers or weeds. But a few days after I shot my friends BMW I decided to go back to the same location and take pictures of my accord. The weather was perfect for both washing my car and the pictures. I got a wireless flash trigger for Christmas, so I have been trying to work on my strobe pictures with cars, and portraits. I am getting much better with cars, but I still suck at taking portrait photos. I have not given my car the same amount of attention as I used to, except for the detailing. I would love to spend more money modding it more, aka lower and with new wheels. But I have other passions in life now.
On to the pictures!
I hope you enjoyed the pics!
BMW M3 Photoshoot
This update may not excite many people. But I finally got to go out and take pictures of a car other than mine. It was the first time I have done a phot shoot for another car in months. Friend of mine recently got an M3, so we decided to meet up over the weekend to take photos. I really enjoyed riding in this. I honestly was not expecting the ride to be as aggressive as it was, but I loved it! Made me want to get a stiffer setup for my car. Anyways, we went to two different locations. The first was all done with natural lighting, and the second was taken with my flash and wireless trigger.
Location #2
Anyways one edit and post down….I have tons of pics waiting to be edited, or waiting to be posted. Some cars, flowers, dogs, senior portraits, and more…so be on the look out over the next month!!!
Before/After detailing
Well last weekend we finally had some good weather show up. So Friday I decided I was going to clean my car. Well it ended up turning into a detailing session, and will still need lots of work once the Spring gets here. I did not do 2 much after the wash except use Meguiars ColorX. I have only used that product on my car 2-3 times and it always does wonders to the shine and color of my car. I recommend you try this stuff out if you have never used a product like this. I always thought it would be impossible to bring the color out more, but it really does look better. It is also pretty easy to apply and buff off the car.
Before.As you can see the car was pretty nasty.
After. I was testing out multiple exposure with my wireless flash, so in a way I kinda cheated in making the car look better. The before picture was just a quick shot, while the after was multiple shots edited together.
