Archive for ‘Civics’

Meguiar’s “Portrait of an Icon” 2020s-Era Shoot Featuring LJ Garcia’s FEEL’S Civic…

Meguiar’s “Portrait of an Icon” 2020s-Era Shoot Featuring LJ Garcia’s FEEL’S Civic…

Let me start-off by saying that I am so glad I decided to take on this project for Meguiar’s. When I was first approached about this concept by RJ De Vera, I honestly didn’t know if I wanted to do it or not. He’d never know because I acted so confidently about it but I was very close to saying no. I was going through some personal stuff at the time and wasn’t really motivated to do anything. All my insecurities were boiling over when I was asked to take on such a huge project for such a well-known company. Meguiar’s has literally been around for over 100 years. To produce something that would not be ‘good enough’ in their eyes is mortifying. I didn’t know if I had it in me. But, I told myself that I’d take on new challenges this year and really see how far I could extend myself creatively. I think it was around 2017 when I had a bit of an epiphany. One day I was working next to my-then significant other, I turned to her, and proclaimed that if I’m not producing my best work moving forward, I would stop doing The Chronicles. If I’m not creating and bettering my previous work every year, there’s really no point in me doing this anymore. Because at that point I would know that I wasn’t having fun anymore. It meant that I didn’t have it in me to challenge myself…
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An ICONIC HONDA Build From The Past Is Found… CHRNCLS Vlog 2021 #19

An ICONIC HONDA Build From The Past Is Found… CHRNCLS Vlog 2021 #19

I never thought I’d see the day but I’ve been waiting almost two decades to see this car again…

For my final installment for the Meguiar’s “Portrait of an Icon” series, I knew I had to do something big, so I sought out an important Honda from a bygone era to tell not only its story, but to add to mine.

To me, this was the perfect way to cap off a series of creative work covering five different decades. A true pleasure it was to be able to photograph a car that first inspired me to collect automotive tuning magazines as a youth.
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Honda Homecoming 2021 Coverage… Part 2…

Honda Homecoming 2021 Coverage… Part 2…

Hmm… I, uhh, kinda don’t have anything else to say about this event. Lol. I think with the previous post and it circulating online as well as through social media, I developed a good understanding of how people feel about it. If you’re on the inside, you’re gonna defend the position of those who were and have always been a part of this event. If you’re not, you either have a good grasp of what I was trying to explain or simply do not care enough about it to give it your time. Some of you are just here to see photos. I wouldn’t say that there was a wrong or a right. It’s just all dependent on perspective. If anything, I saw it as a small social experiment to see how people would react…
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Honda Homecoming 2021 Coverage… Part 1…

Honda Homecoming 2021 Coverage… Part 1…

Hopefully many of you have seen the Vlog episode about this event and have heard some of my thoughts on it. I was expecting a more polarizing response but I suppose people are familiar enough with this event, since its been around for some years now, and have already formulated their own thoughts on it. I was never even supposed to go to this event and was brought in last minute as a guest of sorts, so I won’t be too harsh about my criticisms, lol. I’ll actually be very nice about it, okay? Because overall, it’s a good event. Correction: it’s a very VERY good event—if you happen to own an S2000, an NSX, or an FK8. If you don’t own one of those models, you don’t have to give a fuck about this, because they don’t give a fuck about you either. And that’s as blunt as I can put it. I feel like it would have been necessary to call this the “Honda Homecoming” with an asterisk at the end, because it’s not really “Honda” vehicles as a whole. It’s just those three particular platforms I mentioned with a sprinkle of Integra Type Rs and display vehicles brought in by vendors.
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Extras, Outtakes, and More Details From The Meguiar’s 2000s “Import Tuner” Shoot…

Extras, Outtakes, and More Details From The Meguiar’s 2000s “Import Tuner” Shoot…

I had an unnecessary amount of fun putting this project together. From start to finish I couldn’t have been happier with the results. To be fair, it was quite a bit of work and a lot of planning involved but it’s oh so satisfying when everything comes together the way I envisioned. Once I figured out what photos I wanted, how the cover needed to be laid-out, and all the little details, I had a good feeling it would be well-received. Everybody loves nostalgia, especially car enthusiasts. Just to be able to look back at a time when everything felt new and their were no rules is amazing. The early 2000s represented a very different time in the automotive tuning community. There were no ‘standards’ set and people were really free to express themselves with their cars. Now it seems like more of a popularity contest than anything. Everybody just wants to be ‘someone’ on social media. Everyone wanted to stand-out and be someone back then as well, but there was no social media yet. The only platform for comparison was real life interaction and you didn’t have thousands and thousands of people to compare yourself with everyday. There was less pressure amongst your peers because the sample-size was much smaller. Sure the styles were a bit over the top back then but honestly, it’s not like everyone has it figured out in 2021. We’re all just in a bigger pond now thanks to the internet. I don’t want to go too far off into a tangent about this entire subject so let me get back to the Meguiar’s project…
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Time-Traveling Back To The Nineties… CHRNCLS Vlog 2021 #12

Time-Traveling Back To The Nineties… CHRNCLS Vlog 2021 #12

On this episode, I take you guys back on the road with me on three different photoshoots throughout Southern California for the ongoing project I’m working on for Meguiar’s. You guys got a short glimpse of the 80s-themed shoot I did for them with a E-AT Civic a few episodes back and the next one I’m shooting is dedicated to the 1990s. If you’re a Honda guy then the nineties will undoubtedly be your favorite era. That’s when Honda made the best cars and the import scene was still in its very exciting early infancy. Being that it was a shoot focused on that era, many tiny details had to be incorporated into the shoot that were plucked from that time and obviously, the cars themselves as well. In-between shoots, we also found some time to stop by Unit B to celebrate our good friend Kristian Wong’s birthday. This is a good one and I hope you get overwhelmed with that nineties feeling while watching!
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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.
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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…
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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!…
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