I can’t believe it’s October already. Of course time would fly-by the quickest when I have the most on my plate. Even with the full workload, moving, and randomly getting food poisoning, I think I’ve been surprisingly productive. Tiffanie is in the office going through her full work schedule as well but we managed to finally put this final Gridlife post together. She’s been doing an amazing job of adapting to shooting automotive events with me and I was excited to get her photos up on the site. It is always interesting to see an event from a different perspective, especially when it is someone that is literally standing right next to me shooting almost the exact same things a majority of the time. Both our shots are so different and she provides her own unique viewpoint. Admittedly, she doesn’t know a whole lot about the technical aspects of our hobby but she’s eager to learn. I don’t really want to fill her head with abundance of useless car facts but I try to point things out to her whenever I can so she has a better idea of what to look for and what to capture. I think she’s helped me look at the car scene from a broader perspective again because I’ve developed a sense of tunnel vision doing this for so many years…I mean, I still avoid shooting anything with fake wheels or replica parts (that I can immediately identify), but in terms of photography from a technical aspect, she’s helped to re-invigorate my interest in using my dSLR…

Gridlife South 2016 was a fun, eye-opening, experience. I loved it. The weather I would like to stay away from at all costs but other than that, I have nothing but great things to say about Gridlife. I think it just needs time to grow. This was their first time being down in Atlanta and by all accounts, it was a great success. I think with time, the event will grow bigger and bigger. Drivers, both professional and privateer, will want to be a part of this event and interest will just continue to rise. Spectator support should grow as well. I think people are just nervous about attending events like this because they don’t know what to expect. A three-day event can sound a little intimidating but then you realize all that is included in this package, you’ll want to check it out. Hopefully we get invited out again next year and the years to come because I’m interested in seeing what direction this event series is heading towards…

Below is a mix of photos from both Tiffanie and I during the last day or so while we were in Georgia. Enjoy…

Hertlife and crew working on his FC in the pits…

Geoff Stoneback’s GM LS-powered Kouki S14 on Enkei RS05RR…

Ryan Tuerck’s 2JZ-GTE Rocket Bunny FR-S on Fifteen52 wheels…

A view from above at the starting grid and paddock area of Road Atlanta raceway…

Stoneback and his S14. Good luck to him this weekend at the final round of the Formula Drift 2016 series…

Mike Prez’s widebody JZA80 Supra from Speedwarhouse…

Vaughn Gittin Jr. and his Mustang RTR…

Max steering angle on Simba’s PS13 from Proceed…

Devaan Govan and his Z33 going a little off course at Road Atlanta and requiring some assistance to get out…

Yuta, Chris Sullivan from Chicago, and friends looking on from the spectator area…

Group-run through the Esses…

Simba with his Origin Labo-equipped 240SX…

Tiffanie captured this photo of me trying to wrestle with this crazy 400mm Canon L lens that I borrowed from my friend Chris Sullivan that afternoon…

Fish from Risky Devil and his Boss S14…

Final Bout Special Stage East is actually happening this weekend and I wish I could be there, but I just have too much going on this month. Good luck to all competitors on the East Coast this weekend…

Great capture by Tiffanie Marie of Fish’s GM supercharged S14…

The Formula Drift pros having some fun on a weekend off…

I look like I’m golfing here…

With the soaring temperatures outside, we periodically ventured over to the Media Room to enjoy the air conditioning while also working on my terrible seating posture…

R.J. Coffman’s K24-powered Civic from Team Battle Ready…

We all took quite a few photos of Simba’s S13 all weekend…

I remembered last year in Wisconsin I dealt with similar weather in Wisconsin during Final Bout II and how I managed to survive by wearing a towel on my head…

This was a pretty cool BTS shot of Yuta and I snapping photos of the Speedwarhouse Viper V10-powered Supra…

A rare capture of Philip Koch’s S13 going straight…

Sunset smoke show in Road Atlanta…

The Gridlife attendees taking in all that was during that three-day weekend…

As mentioned in previous posts, the Gridlife South series also included a concert series that went on during the evenings when the track went cold. We didn’t really stick around to watch most of the performances but one night after dinner, Tiffanie and I decided to head back to the track to watch Waka Flocka Flame perform. Tiffanie got up-close and personal, capturing some great shots during his performance…

It was pretty interesting watching how he interacted with the crowd and his odd selection of music which wasn’t his own. I didn’t expect to hear some of the songs he chose but I dig the variety in his performance…

Two vehicles from Risky Devil car club awaiting their return to Illinois…

Me, my hotel towel head-wrap, and Gridlife-creator Chris Stewart…

Caught a quick glimpse of this nice S2000 from EMOTION as it cruised by but it quickly drove away…

Some more shots of R.J. Coffman’s Civic, which you saw in-car video of as he ripped through Road Atlanta…

R.J.’s K24 swap and his massive 4-inch intake pipe…

Nice side-exit exhaust and huge rear diffuser set-up…

Brian Villaflor’s supercharged Voltex S2000 in action…

Nice to see some 4-door Civics out and about on the track as well…

Andy Smedegard’s Mitsubishi Evo wearing a full Gridlife livery serving as one of the fastest cars that weekend…

Villaflor’s S2000 back in the paddock…

Chris Sullivan’s weekend track vehicle on gold Volk CE28…

…and one final look at the beautifully scenic Road Atlanta race track with Yuta Akaishi…

That’s a wrap on Gridlife South 2016. Huge thanks to Chris for bringing us out there to experience it all and a great deal of gratitude to everyone whom we met and chatted with throughout that weekend. Thanks for looking…