Adobe just released this new AI-based noise reduction feature for their Lightroom program and it is just ridiculous in how good it works. This isn’t even an ad or anything, I just think it’s noteworthy to show you guys. Photos shot with mirror-less camera bodies tend to produce quite a bit of noise, from my experience, but the amount of megapixels nowadays create such large digital images that you don’t really see the noise when the photo is compressed for viewing on say, a smartphone…
Well this was a fun one. After Der and Kristian arrived in Japan, it was time to get Act 2 of my adventures in Japan going. I had a lot planned but didn’t want them to miss out on anything so I waited for them first. Kristian had never been to Japan before to do strictly car-related things so it was important to provide him with the best experience. Being that it was the weekend of Osaka Auto Messe, and the boys were in town, we decided to host another late night meet. I didn’t want to risk getting in trouble again with over 300+ cars showing up to a parking area so we moved the event outside of the city to the quiet island of Awaji. The longer distance made for some fun driving and of course, any time you throw a bunch of straight-piped Civics into an area that’s supposed to be peaceful, a little bit of chaos comes into play. Let’s just say that we were up to “no good” again in Osaka…
So, we are back in Osaka for a few days, just catching-up with old friends and meeting new ones. I had a couple of friends from America ask me if they could possibly see some car stuff while they were in town. Hearing so many interesting stories and lore over the years from Osaka, they wanted to see if it was real. Is Civic culture as big as its been portrayed to be? I wouldn’t normally try to put anything together since I enjoy being lowkey while I’m here but Sara was in town as well, so it was a good time to get car enthusiasts together again. So, a meet happened very last minute on a Wednesday. Many of us haven’t been able to reconnect since the borders re-opened so it was time to pump some life back into the car community in Kansai! Everyone be safe out there and abide by all the rules and regulations please!!
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…
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!…
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!!…
It’s been a strange time for me. I mean, there’s a ton on my plate lately but it’s just been a really odd feeling just being stuck here and not being able to go to Japan. Typically my Japan trips are amazing adventures for me to capture new content but the actual traveling part of it is usually my time to reflect and think about things going on in my life. It hasn’t been easy trying to process all that is going on in my mind just sitting in my office because I think the movement is important for me. Just the physical act of going somewhere allows me this type of release that I can’t get here at home. My moments of reflection are vital for my sanity. I need to escape from my own mind sometimes but without these long flights and quiet times for me to just process, I honestly feel like I’m going a little stir-crazy…
Suspend all disbelief. I don’t think I was ever after the idea of creating an actual game more so than actually creating a ‘feeling’. It’s simple, it’s plastic—but within it is imagination, a healthy dose of attention to detail, and well—a little piece of me. Here’s a little keepsake to remind us of when we were young and how to still be a kid even after we grow old…
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any more real—it’s definitely still NOT real, lol. When I randomly came up with the idea to create a SNES game box a few days ago, I had no idea it’d be so well-received. I honestly thought people would think it’s kinda corny but maybe that’s exactly what we need right now. A little bit of nostalgia to remind us of our childhoods never hurts, I guess. So I took it a step further and created the intro for this imaginary Chronicles video game that must actually exist somewhere in an alternate dimension. I took some old photos I shot from the past, did some cool 16-bit-style stuff to it, added some assets I found from around the web and turned on the game for the first time, haha. I’m currently in the process of producing more game boxes for those who want to have one as a keepsake. It makes for a cool collectible/art-piece for the enthusiasts who support The Chronicles. Hope you like it!!…
Anyone that knows me will tell you that I enjoy collecting things, especially if they are nostalgic and/or remind me of my childhood. I grew up in the ‘90s and a lot of my time was spent playing Super Nintendo. It was always so cool to go to the store and see new games come out and holding them in your hand after they were taken out from behind the display case. Just seeing all the boxes and the box art was so cool. Lately I’ve been trying to consistently be in a creative space so one day I decided to create something that had a mix of both my childhood and what I do as an adult now. I thought it’d be cool to imagine The Chronicles as an SNES Racing video game. It’s completely unrealistic because the eras don’t match-up, nor would a game ever have these types of features or graphics but the main thing I wanted to do was create the box art for this imaginary game.
