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stickydiljoe

'Stickydiljoe' aka Joey Lee is a freelance photographer, writer, and creator of The Chronicles.
Cinematic Vibes From Re-Hashed Japan Photos…

Cinematic Vibes From Re-Hashed Japan Photos…

It’s honestly been a very cathartic experience working on this new book. I feel like I should have started earlier in the year but it is what it is. Here is another batch of ‘throwaway’ photos that I don’t believe I ever used for anything because I was just randomly shooting in the moment.

The last few months I’ve been watching a lot of movies and studying color grading and tones from different movies throughout the world. I decided to play around with these random shots from various years during my stays in Japan and really like how they came out. I tried to keep them all similar so they flow into one another as you scroll through.

I think if there was a central theme to this set, it’d be ‘quiet’ or calmness, almost to the point of loneliness, which is a feeling you’ll experience often when in Japan. Maybe I’m overthinking it, lol.

If you’ve noticed I’m writing even more than usual lately, it’s because I’m in booking making mode and I am like DEEP inside my own head right now.

2AM Photos With Battlecraft…

2AM Photos With Battlecraft…

Being that our shops are so close to one another, Kristian tends to walk over here at random hours of the night to watch tv or shoot the shit. Earlier today, I asked him if the shop was clean cuz I wanted to test out some lighting equipment that I planned to use this weekend.

I hadn’t shot with strobes (battery powered remote flashes) in almost four years or more so I’m sure I’d completely forgotten how to use them. I don’t know what made me want to shoot with them since I feel it’s a bit dated in how it ‘polishes’ a photo but I wanted to try something different than what I’m used to these days. Anyways, he said the shop wasn’t super clean and the Civic was on jack stands but he could put wheels back on the car if I wanted to play with my camera and lighting. So around 2 am he comes by and helps me lug all that equipment over and we drink some White Claws. I snapped a couple photos and it made me realize I had no idea how to use strobes anymore. Long gone we’re the days when I used to haul this stuff around everywhere for magazine shoots.

Out And About At Evasive Motorsports, BMWs Take Flight, And Brew’s Cruise!! CHRNCLS Vlog 2021 #11

Out And About At Evasive Motorsports, BMWs Take Flight, And Brew’s Cruise!! CHRNCLS Vlog 2021 #11

We’re out and about for this one! Since it’s been getting pretty hot lately out here in Southern California and Der is taking a break from working on his Civic, we decide to go out for the weekend to check out some events. Things are starting to open up everywhere so car stuff seems to be happening throughout the city. I head down to Evasive Motorsports first for a private event where they reveal this year’s Pikes Peak Hill Climb competition car before Der and I attend a couple other local events. There is quite a bit of diversity in this episode with all types of different builds of all styles so check it out!!

Life As Seen Through A Manual NYC 35mm Reusable Film Camera…

Life As Seen Through A Manual NYC 35mm Reusable Film Camera…

A while back, I acquired this 35mm reusable film camera from @manual_nyc which I stumbled upon one random night. It’s like this ‘sustainable replacement’ for disposable cameras just made out of plastic with a built-in flash and manual wind. I don’t know why it seemed so interesting to me but I ordered it not realizing it was back ordered for months! It showed up at my office one day some time later and I only had one roll of film on my desk that hadn’t been used. It was totally the wrong type of film to throw into the camera but I figured I’d just shoot with it to get an idea of how the camera worked…

Regamaster The World…

Regamaster The World…

I don’t think very many people remember, but when I first started getting into photography back in 2008-09, Jared Aguila (@dpk_jared) was one of the first people I had the opportunity of shooting. You can see those photos HERE actually. Back then he had an S2000 and I had a $600 Canon Rebel dSLR starter camera. Over the years I’d like to think we’d gotten a lot better—him at life and me at photography. We became friends after that day, we ate at Portillo’s, eventually I got to watch him get married, and now I get to see him put Desmond Regamaster EVOs on a Porsche 964. What a life, huh?…

Central Circuit Track Day May 2021 Coverage… Part 2…

Central Circuit Track Day May 2021 Coverage… Part 2…

Let’s jump right back into the second half of the Central Circuit track day photos that Yasu helped me capture last month. Hopefully you guys have seen Part 1, if not, well, it’s right before this post so it’ll be easy for you guys to find. If you love Civics, these are the photo sets you want to see because Osaka can’t get enough of their EG/EKs. Honestly that’s one of the things I love about this entire region. They just have this crazy undying loyalty to the Civic and have such a specific way in how they style them that makes any enthusiast appreciate the craft. There is also this rich history that oozes out of these cars that only people from this area can showcase to the rest of the world. “Civic is culture” as Yasu puts it, and no truer words have ever been uttered about the Kansai region. There really isn’t much else for me to say other than that. The photos speak for themselves. Thanks again to Yasu for carrying to weight for me while I’m still unable to make the trip back to Japan. I hope you guys enjoy his camera work…

Central Circuit Track Day May 2021 Coverage… Part 1…

Central Circuit Track Day May 2021 Coverage… Part 1…

I can see light at the end of the tunnel…FINALLY. We are in June now and things are starting to open back up out here in California. By next week I hear EVERYTHING will resume as it did before the pandemic happened and that will be interesting. It already feels a bit weird being out and about lately but I think we all experienced a pretty strange time in our lives and there will need to be an adjustment period before we all feel “normal” again. Car shows are also on their way back now with the Wekfest tour announcing several dates to close out the rest of 2021 so I’m excited for that. I’m so used to being on the road all the time that I do miss traveling a lot even though it can get quite taxing on the body. I think the next step in our return to normalcy will be when the international borders open-up and I can finally go back to Japan. Last I checked things weren’t going too well out there however, and with the Olympics looming, I don’t have any idea when the border will open back-up for tourism Until then, I thankfully have Yasu staying active in Osaka and regularly attending events. He recently shot these photos from a track day at Central Circuit and unloaded them on me so I could process them for the site. Like the other track day we covered, there’s no real back story to it. The guys just wanted to go have some fun and drive their Civics around Central Circuit so Yasu tagged along. It sounds like he’s been pretty bored at the shop lately so having events like this help to get him outside. Give these photos a look and come back for the rest later this week!…

Surprise Car Meet At The Shop And I Got A New Job!! CHRNCLS Vlog 2021 #10

Surprise Car Meet At The Shop And I Got A New Job!! CHRNCLS Vlog 2021 #10

We haven’t done a Chronicles & Coffee gathering at the shop in a while but since Memorial Day weekend was coming and we didn’t have any plans, I decided to go ahead and set one up last minute! So in this episode, you get a glimpse of what happened that day and whether or not people actually showed-up or not! Before that however, I give you guys a glimpse into what I actually do as a freelance photographer and bring you guys along on a new gig I recently got for Meguiar’s “Portrait of an Icon” series!!

No Good Racing Night Meet 2021 Coverage…

No Good Racing Night Meet 2021 Coverage…

Seems like Yasu has been out and about quite a bit lately, regularly attending shows and meets in his area. I don’t know if it is necessarily the best idea being that the number of cases haven’t really gone done much, if at all, lately in Osaka but he’s being careful and selective of who he hangs out with. I honestly feel like he’s just getting a little bored being at the shop every day and going a little stir crazy so he wants to be outside again. The last year and a half has probably felt a little odd for him since he’s usually either in the U.S. hanging out with us or we’re over there in Osaka with him. Hopefully in the next few months or so things get better and he’ll be able to return in time for the Wekfest tour to start here in America. He recently attended a night meet hosted by our friends from NO GOOD RACING and asked me if I wanted photos. Of course I’m always down for Japan content so I asked him to shoot some stuff. He mentioned that the meet was happening in a brand new parking area which was just recently completed and that sounded exciting since the night meets we go to are normally poorly-lit. There wasn’t a specific reason behind the meet happening, I think everyone just wanted to do car stuff and wanted to not think about the pandemic so they hosted a gathering. Here are the photos from that evening, captured by Yasu Shimomukai from Exceed Japan. Enjoy!!…

Cruising Through Osaka With Yanagi’s EG6 and Masashi’s S2000…

Cruising Through Osaka With Yanagi’s EG6 and Masashi’s S2000…

Typically around this time, the only visitors at Yasu’s shop in Osaka would be me. Wekfest Japan is usually happening during this period and I’d be over there getting ready to go to the show with him. Because of the global pandemic, and numbers still rising over in Japan, the border has been closed off to foreign visitors and I haven’t been able to return as I would usually. From what I saw online, like the rest of you, Wekfest Japan was a great event. There were less cars and the crowd was likely smaller than usual, but it was expected with the way things are going right now. With Yasu being so busy with work, not wanting to catch anything, and me not even being there, he decided it would be best if he just stayed behind this year…