NITRO - NEWS

I Must Be Drunk!

2010-09-08T07:49:00.000-07:00

It's been quite the - ahem - party since the end of April! Between my day job and the photography gig, there literally hasn't been enough proverbial hours in the day to keep up with a number of things and updating NITRO-NEWS fell embarrassingly low on the "when I get a minute" overflow list. I'm not sure that I can sufficiently keep this going considering my schedule and not to mention that this is pretty useless when it's not updated. That being said, a number of close friends have pretty much persuaded/convinced/coerced me to jump on that Facebook band wagon and I'm thinking I am going to relent and give it a try. In which case this will come to an end, but a new NITROIMAGE social network will spring up where 'everybody' seems to be hanging out.

I haven't set anything up yet, and it may be a few weeks in the making, but I'll let y'all know when and where the grand unveiling will be. Till then, keep shooting!

Lets Get This Party Started!

2010-04-17T06:45:00.000-07:00

Allrighty then! The snows are outa here and I'm gearing up for the new shooting season. Well, actually I never really quit shooting during the year, but when I'm two weeks away from my first drag racing event, those that know me, know I'm getting pretty anxious and am having trouble sleeping through the night!

Sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY... That's right, in two weeks from today, I'll be back at Firebird Raceway in Boise Idaho for the NHRA D6 season opener. For those of you that may not know, this is the event that kicks off the Division 6 season and there will likely be close to 500 sportsman cars in the park! The other interesting aspect of this event is that the 'air' in Idaho at this time of the year can be pretty attractive for record setting performances, and I know the D6 certification team ALWAYS looks forward to verifying every attempt to shatter class records. Ok, so I'm being a little cheeky, because its an incredible amount of work not only for the racer to WANT to attempt to set or reset a performance record but also the certification team who has to verify each and every 'record run' to ensure it was set within each class rules. As a racer, you'll have to literally tear down your engine in your pit and face the scrutiny of the rule book wielding cert team if you have claimed to set the record in your class. If there are a lot record setting runs, the certification team led by NHRA's D6 Tech Director, Dave Schaffel, will be working from early morning into the wee hours of each night measuring and inspecting the engines and the cars in question. It's a grueling but extremely interesting process that I have witnessed first hand. I will be watching qualifying runs closely and counting the shoe polished "circled R's" on the wind shields of the class cars but mostly I'm really looking forward to visiting with all my Idaho friends... CYA SOON!

If you've been hanging around here for a while, you know that each winter I design a brand new but limited edition business card for the new season. I'm surprised (and flattered) that these have become somewhat of a collectible for some of you. Its one way to get your very own NITROIMAGE print for free!! (my cards are printed on the super cool, exclusive and optional metallic photo paper, just like a real print!) So feel free to stop by my booth at selected Saskatchewan events or stop me and ask for one or two if I'm in your area. Darren Bay's awesome jet funny car, above, was my pick for last year's card, and this year I chose my shot of Rick Williams CBS Fueler from the 2009 Nightfire Nationals, in ultra cool black and white, below. Get your copy today, but hurry, when they're gone, they're GONE! (I always wanted to say that!)

I was commissioned recently by my friends Rob and Chad Woloschuk at Dream Rides and Fabrication in Yorkton, SK to shoot one of their latest client builds, a wicked 1966 Pro Touring Mustang. The photo shoot with the car happened at the owners farm, south but mostly east of Yorkton. I had a great time and the image files have been processed and ftp'd to Canadian Hot Rods magazine where the car will be featured in volume 5 issue 6. Keep your eyes on your local news stand and make sure you pick up a copy of this cool Canadian hot rod mag. In the meantime, here's a couple of sneak peeks...

If I told you any more about the car, I'd have to kill you. No, no I wouldn't (I was just kidding) but it would ruin the anticipation of it's debut in the magazine. Speaking of which, I now have at least two more VERY cool (okay, how many times do I have to say "cool"??) Saskatchewan cars to photograph that have peeked the interest of Canadian Hot Rods magazine publisher/editor Terry Denomme. This could be a good year for local Sask cars and builders getting some well deserved attention!!

I'll keep you posted!

Just Waiting For Spring

2010-03-15T14:57:00.000-07:00

While waiting for spring, I have been keeping busy in the Nitroimage Studios. Ok, so there's no 'REAL' studio per se, but I like to think any location where I'm toting my camera is my studio. What exactly does that mean? Ok, here's a few examples;

Say I'm touring with my pals on a snowmobile run across the frozen prairie and one of them decides to perform something cool - I'm in my studio;

Ryan Gadd performs a cool jump in the Moose Jaw River

My pal Felix Bert is never afraid to put on a WOT (wide open throttle) show!

Or helping out the local music scene by offering my services at no charge to document a recent show at the performing arts theatre - I'm in my studio;

Local artists Lords Kitchner perform recently at the Mae Wilson Theatre

Chase Rysavy AKA Me and My Anatomy CD release show

I assisted my friend and portrait photographer James Johnson (Brighter Image Studios) cover Cheerdown, a sanctioned cheerleading competition - I'm in my studio;

Cheerdown. An interesting assignment with a TON of energy!

I was exhausted afterwards!

Sometimes we do stuff just for fun - I'm in my studio (well, actually this WAS in Brighter Image's studio)

Alysha was trying hard to catch those light beams!

And finally, we even had a chance to enjoy the warm beaches, culture and rich history of the Mayan Riveria in between too! I'm in my studio!!

I'm finalizing my 2010 motor sports schedule and once I have it completed, I'll post the dates and events I will be attending. Once again there's more events than I have time for, but I'm sooo looking forward to another exciting summer season. Winter has been fun, but I'm ready for spring!

Olympic Torch Relay Experience

2010-01-11T09:40:00.000-08:00

WOW! I really have to thank my good friend James Johnson (Brighter Image Studios) who contacted me almost two months ago and asked if I would be interested in helping him cover the Olympic torch relay when it came through the city. James is a member of the local torch relay committee, and is also the official photographer responsible for all the imagery for the local event. He also recruited ace wedding and swimming shooter Rob Harden and the three of us were assigned to cover specific areas. James and Rob handled the route while I stayed at the designated site in the city. I really had no idea what to expect and was not prepared for how inspiring and uplifting it was as the day proceeded. I think we all felt that way after wards. I can tell you that if you haven't experienced the torch relay and it hasn't come through your community yet, JUST GO! Don't make any excuses not to, seriously! If you don't feel proud to be a Canadian after, then there's really no hope for you! A few images summarize my day...

Our day began just before 8:00 a.m. at the Moose Jaw Armouries where the pre requisite pancake breakfast kicked off with a host of local performers providing the entertainment

The media interviewing one of the many local torch bearers. The ones I heard from all said it was one of the greatest experiences of their lives

The ubiquitous and always necessary group shots

Amazing turnout, literally thousands came to experience the magic of the Olympic Flame

The entertainment prior to the torch arriving was inspiring

Diane Therrien was the final torch bearer and lit the Olympic Cauldron on the stage in Moose Jaw. That's Moose Jaw mayor Glen Hagel overjoyed in the background.

The Olympic Cauldron

Cool graphic on one of the RBC trailers, (RBC is an official sponsor along with Coke) Check out the torch flame - what does it resemble?

Proudly Canadian

The flame leaves Moose Jaw at precisely 14:13 to continue it's journey west

Olympic Fever

2010-01-09T21:08:00.000-08:00

I was working in Regina during the winter of 1988 when Calgary hosted the winter Olympics. Calgary made us proud to be Canadian as they threw one heck of a party. At least that's what I heard. A lot of my good friends at the time were either living there, or unemployed through the winter and found their way to Alberta to party it up at the Olympics. I had lots of chances to go, but for one reason or another I stayed home and worked. The daily television news reported the events of each day and I can recall vividly how we embraced that underdog from England, Eddie the Eagle or who can forget the antics of the Jamaican bobsled team. Occasionally, I would receive a land line phone call (texting, email?? yeah, not for years to come!) from whichever inebriated pal with comments like "hey man, your missing the biggest effn' party of your life, get your ass out here, WHOOO HOOOO!!" certainly didn't make it any easier not to be there. But I never went and always wished I had. I'll be in Vancouver for work next week and I doubt there will be much pre-Olympic partying going on. I won't be there when the Olympics kick off in February either. I had my chance in '88. But as fate, luck or a friend who's on the local committee would have it, I was able to obtain a media pass with my name on it to help shoot the Olympic Torch Run traveling through this area tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to it. Its great to be a Canadian!

2010 - The First Entry

2010-01-06T09:25:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how fast 10 years can go by. 10 years ago, some of us were more worried than others about Y2K. Through my work at the time, I was involved with the local authorities (Fire, Police, Emergency Services) to ensure that there were buildings, schools in my case, that would be able to be alternately heated and powered should the gas and electrical supply be interrupted. You know, as a result of a computer somewhere on whichever grid unable to tell its the year 2000. I can recall watching the t.v. closely and somewhat nervously as Australia rang in the New Year hours before us here in North America and, miraculously the lights stayed on down under - go figure. Y2K was the biggest non-event in a lot of history before it and amazingly, we never heard another peep about it afterwards.

Soon after the intro to 2000, I responded to an ad posted by the S.D.R.A. on the S.I.R. website looking for someone with a camera to assume the duties of photographer at S.I.R. after their real photographer retired. I'm not sure exactly what I was thinking at the time as I was no more a real photographer than Mozart was a painter, a complete amateur would have been better qualified than me. I did possess a Minolta X-700 manual focus film SLR camera (remember film??) and a couple of lenses and honestly I really didn't have a clue about how to use them (I'm still learning). But I loved drag racing and would be at the track anyway so I thought if I could fake it just enough, I could hang out along the guardrail for a while at least, until the club realized I was a phony and that I signed up only to get in for free. "Can you start this weekend" was the question from the club spokesperson when I called, "Um, yeah, I guess, don't you want to know if I can even use a camera?" I replied, "You did say you had a camera... right?" she said, "yeah, but how do you know I can use it?" I said, "As long as you have a camera you'll be great, see you then" click. Fast forward 10 years and the rest is history! Little did I know that responding to that little ad would take me on such a long and fulfilling journey. I have loved every second of every minute of it and hope I can continue for some time to come!

The March 2010 issue of Drag Racer Magazine (hitting the news stands now) has a terrific feature on the 2009 Pepsi Nightfire Nationals that I attended in Boise Idaho last August.

I'm pretty pumped to tell you that my shot of Sean Dale piloting the Revell-ution nostalgia nitro funny car from that event made the cover of the mag!! Although I have had my work published in numerous mediums over the years, and have even been on some other 'covers', this is by far my very first main stream-big time drag racing magazine cover, WOW, I'm blown away! Thanks to Editor Randy Fish and Art Director Jerry Bassett for choosing my shot to grace the March cover of their terrific publication! And special thanks to Scott New, Director of Racing Operations at Firebird Raceway for choosing mine and local Boise shooter David Fudge's work for the 7 page feature article inside. What a way to start the New Year!

Merry Christmas And Happy New Year

2009-12-23T12:09:00.000-08:00

Cheryl, Sheldon and I would like to take this moment to wish all of you and your families a terrific Christmas and a prosperous 2010! I would like to personally thank ALL my past clients for your support in 2009 and look forward to the new year. We will be celebrating Christmas close to home this year so if you're in the neighborhood, give us a call or stop by. Be safe, have fun, but most of all, treasure the time you have with your own friends and family over the holidays! The NITROIMAGE studio will technically be closed till January 4 and I'll respond to your emails if not before, then after that. Cheers - Blair Alderton

Did You Know?

2009-12-22T04:51:00.000-08:00

Did you know, that Main Gate Inc.is the company that produces and markets all the merchandise for the NHRA as well for a number of other companies and organizations from select NFL and NCAA teams to the LPGA to name just a few.

My good friends at Firebird Raceway have also partnered with Main Gate Inc. to provide their own event t-shirts. It's no wonder that Firebird's event t's are so damn awesome! But, did you ever wonder where the imagery on the t's comes from? I know what you're thinking, "gosh Nitro, and artist of course". Well of course! But did you know that a lot of times the artist works with an original photograph??

Take for example, Firebird's most recent event t-shirt graphic from their famous Halloween Classic race

This is the art work that was on the front of the 2009 'Classic t's, pretty cool huh? Designed and produced in-house at Main Gate Inc. the t-shirts were sold through the track store and on-line through the track website. The clown sure has a wicked Pro Mod Duster huh? Well by now I'm sure you've figured out the secret. The image of the Duster came from a photo I captured of Dennis Radford laying down some rubber during the 2009 edition of the Nightfire Nationals this past August. Scott New, Director of Racing Operations at Firebird Raceway requested a few different angles of Radford burnouts that I shot at the Nightfire's to send to Main Gate Inc. and this is what they came up with.

I think it's pretty "crazy", but then again so is the Famous Firebird Raceway Halloween Classic!

So, It's Been A While Eh?

2009-12-21T11:49:00.001-08:00

With Christmas around the corner, and a new year looming in the not-so-far off distance, I thought I better put something up here to let you all know I'm still alive and around. I'm somewhat surprised at all the people who have reminded me that it's been 5 months since I made an entry to the blog, that must mean you folks are reading it - wow, thanks! I haven't died, slid under a rock, or gone into hiding, it's just been, ahem, busy since July. I know, I know, that's a poor excuse, but the reality is that writing this blog stuff really takes some time, and that was what I had little of the last few months. I'm going to try and streamline a few things for 2010, and my hope is to be able to make these entries a little easier, more frequent and hopefully less time consuming. That being said, I have been searching for a fresh new blog 'look' so you might see some changes during the next few weeks as I try out a few new templates. I get bored quick so maybe a new face will also inspire me to get in here more often!

For now, though, let me make this short and sweet. As Arnold famously said "I'll Be Baaaack"

BA

Catching Up

2009-07-18T05:05:00.000-07:00

Did I say 'Back in a couple of weeks'? Riiight, sure. Seems the older I get the quicker life seems to fly by. There's lots happening all over the place and summer is almost half gone. The shooting season is well underway and I have been busy with a few other assignments as well. Lots to catch up on but first I'll start where I left off in June and tell you Hemi Nightmare had an awesome debut at the Southey Mopar Meet in Southey SK. Lots of activity in the Bert shop the week before the Fathers Day weekend making sure every little detail was attended to. I was there Saturday when the car rolled out of the trailer into the public eye for the very first time. The car looked simply amazing and attracted more attention than expected. I wasn't surprised, you hafta see this in person. The attention to all the details is pretty intense, but then again if you know the guys that were involved in this project you wouldn't be surprised. There are really only three awards handed out at Southey, all chosen by the participants, Best in Show, Participants Choice and Top Ten, of which Best in Show and Participants Choice are included. The remaining 8 spots of the top ten are basically the same, and there is no ranking designated. Hemi Nightmare placed in the top ten, which isn't surprising. I think Ray was very proud!

I have also been busy with my work at S.I.R. or Saskatchewan International Raceway with 5 of 9 races completed this season. I added a 'pit bike' to my equipment list this year. Not that walking wasn't good for me, but when you have a number of acres of real estate to traverse in a weekend of picture taking, it's good to be able to get from one end to the other quicker than slower. It's also opened up a lot of other potential photographic opportunities and can get me in and out of the pits or to and from the top end and even from the concession quickly. Here's a shot of the NITROIMAGE pit spot taken early Sunday morning at the last event. NITRO-scooter is a 2006 Yamaha BWS, and is street legal so I can even use it around home. (don't laugh, I have) You might even notice the new NITRO banner in the background which is a beautiful larger than life rendition of my business card thanks to the boys at Intelligent Design Inc in Regina. It turned out so well, that I'm now pondering the idea about getting my trailer 'wrapped' Should I do it? What do YOU think?

I have been a fan of the amazing cut-away illustration artist David Kimble for more than 30 years. If you have never seen his work, click on his name in the previous sentence to learn all about him. I have a number of his prints and they are simply incredible. I have had an idea for a photo shoot largely inspired by Kimble's illustrations for a very long time and was able to attempt it at the last S.I.R. event. I enlisted the beautiful 1963 Corvette of Gord and Tanya Spak (and their help of course) and spent a few minutes before racing started to get the frames I needed to work with later in post (Post Processing is a term for all the processing work that is done to an image file before printing or displaying on the web) Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to move the car to a better vantage point (we just placed the car in an open pit spot behind their trailer) Studying the photo I wish I would have taken the door off too, and then had Gord suit up and sit inside, but hey, there's always next time. I'm going to have one of these prints mounted for display on my boards so if you are an S.I.R. regular, stop by and see it next time, it's pretty cool. And if you have a race car that has some removable panels, I can shoot one of these for you too, just let me know.

Next assignment, Kambusters Main Event, July 18/19 weekend in Yorkton, SK. Wait a minute, that's today, gotta run, till next time...

PS - Check out my friend Paul Grant's article in Drag Racing Online. Nice work Paul!

May Gone - I'm Back

2009-06-08T06:50:00.000-07:00

Where did the month of May go?? Well according to this blog it never came and is now gone forever. Holy smokes! I'll be honest, I gained another year in May and subsequently thought that if I didn't say anything about May 2009, I can pretend it never happened. The reality though is that there has been a lot going on that has been keeping me from posting entries here, but I'm gonna make a better effort to get over here more often. It's one of those things though that is sorta at the bottom of the priority list. You know, you have a list of things that get attended to in a certain priority and this is one of the things on my list that is near the bottom or under the category "Time Permitting". Now that the racing season is in full swing, and the house renovations are under control (for the time being) I may have a little extra time, or not, to come on over and let you know what's new. So, having said that, lets get this going...

FLEETWOOD MAC- A Musical Feast
Cheryl and I along with some close friends had a chance to take in the Fleetwood Mac concert in Saskatoon last Friday night and first and foremost, I will tell you that it was one of the best stadium concerts I have seen in a long time (We're gonna catch AC-DC this summer in Regina so I'll let you know how that compares). It was my first concert experience at the Credit Union Center in Saskatoon too. Sure, I have been a 'Mac fan since the release of their Rumors album in 1977 (who wasn't after that album soared to the top of the charts, I was 14) but probably more a fan of Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham's solo careers more as I have waay more Nicks and Buckingham albums than Mac albums. So to get to see both of them under the 'Mac banner was a real treat. I'm sure there are a ton of reviews all over the place but I will say that Stevies sultry voice is as good as always and even if she's 61 years old she still caries hereself with grace and looks great too. What can you say about Buckingham's ability to pick the guitar strings? I'm no music expert but man can he play a mean guitar. Whew! The show was packed full of energy (Buckingham demonstrating that) and the sold out audience was ever appreciative. It was certainly one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences that has me looking for all my old 'Mac, Nicks and Buckingham albums.

HEMI NIGHTMARE
The countdown to the reveal has begun and in less than two weeks, this more than two year project will debut on June 20th at the 2009 Southey Mopar Show,in Southey SK. There have been a number of people involved in this project but none more important than Felix Bert of Moose Jaw. Felix has been ultimately responsible for putting this entire car together and coordinated every other external expert that have contributed to this unique build. I have never been short of amazed watching him engineer and fabricate almost every detail of this project. The amazing stuff I'm talking about is the attention to detail that you don't see. For example, did you know that the trans tunnel had to be enlarged to accomodate the GearVendors overdrive unit? You would NEVER know it has or was not done like this from the factory. I could go on and on, but then you won't have the fun trying to determine if the details are factory produced or not. You can see Felix attending to some details in the sneak peak photo above. (IF you look very closely, you can see three scenes in the image, one of the car, one of the shop in the reflection of the paint and the other if you look real carefully, of one of the many '65 Coronet parts cars that contributed to this just outside the doorway, coool huh?). I asked him the other day if he could estimate the number of hours he has put into this project. He laughed, a lot. Let's say it's been over two years almost every day. I'm not sure what he's going to do once the car leaves his shop, but he says he has lots of catching up to do around the ranch. I'm sure! Even I had small part in this project as I was honored to be able to to design and build the showcard, thanks for the opportunity to be part of this amazing project Ray!

There's a few more things that I will add in the next few days, (probably more like weeks) but I promise to be back soon. I will add now that the rained out S.I.R. Season Opener in May is rescheduled to this upcoming weekend June 13/14. Check the official S.I.R. website for more details, I'll see you there!

Home Time

2009-04-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

Home Time - reminds me of that old television show on PBS hosted by Dean Johnson I used to enjoy. Home renovations can be fun and at times they can be downright nasty. If you have been following along, we are going through a number of upgrades at the homestead. Late last summer and into the early fall we had the complete exterior envelope upgraded with new windows, doors, soffit, fascia, insulation, and siding. We added a 2 story portico over the front entry supported by a pair of 30' columns, and I had designed an attractive pediment that has really set off the front of what was a pretty mundane albeit custom mid 60's 5 level split. (yep, 5 levels!).

So now Cheryl and I have been feverishly working on the interior the past number of weeks with hardly a day off, and I'm happy to say that this place is really starting to come together. Oh there's still more that needs to be done and the list is as long as a list can get, but we're knocking off items every day. Some planned and some not so planned. It's like you know you need to change something, but while you are preparing for the change, you just might as well do THIS other thing you didn't plan for because it makes sense while you have the OTHER thing torn apart! One of these 'extra's' was the restoration of the magnificent original fireplace. It was painted when we moved in, and I was curious to see what was underneath the paint once we had the great room carpet removed in preparation for new flooring. So with a little paint stripper applied in a small obscure area, I uncovered the most beautiful grain of oak I have ever seen. Now oak is not my wood of choice, but we made a decision to uncover the original beauty by stripping off all the paint and then stain it a more modern darker color.

Hey it sounded easy! Exactly one week, three large containers of stripper, two brushes, a couple of pairs of jeans and lots of sweat, we had all the paint off this bad boy. Yeah, I would never do it again! But knowing what we started with, and what we have now makes it all worth while. The craftsmanship on this is amazing. We are anticipating a new gas insert in the fall and I'm going to find some attractive tile and/or granite to place on the surround and hearth.

I have the new flooring installed in all the rooms except one, and have taken delivery of 200' of 6.5" baseboards which of course all require at least two coats of paint. I have completed the installation of all the polished wire glass transoms on all the new main floor doors (you can see the ones above the foyer closet doors) and almost all the trim (casings, architraves, rosettes etc) are done. Whew!

Stay tuned, more updates to come!

March Tributes

2009-04-04T06:28:00.000-07:00

I know it's April, and I guess I missed my March entries (where the heck does the time go??), but I didn't want to begin April without paying a small tribute to two very close friends of mine who both left the world last March. I still find it difficult to remember my time with each of them knowing that they are physically gone. Gone but certainly not forgotten.

Tom passed away on March 12, 2008, and was one of my closest friends for many years. He and his wife Evelyn lived only a few blocks from us when we were in Regina, and we all became very close in short time. I guess we had a lot in common. Sadly, Tom succumbed to lung cancer, he was only 59. Rest in peace my friend, I will not forget you.

I met Gerry about 10 years ago when the organization I worked for then retained Gerry's architectural firm for their design services. Gerry and I collaborated on many capital projects and we became quite good friends over the years. I will always value his wisdom and strength. Like my friend Tom, Gerry also succumbed to cancer. Gerry was 68 when he passed away on March 20, 2008.

Both of these amazing gentlemen had profound influences in my life, and I miss them both dearly. I know my tributes are very short, but it's all I can muster. I don't think I have completely accepted their too early departures :-(

Winter - What's It Good For?

2009-02-25T06:48:00.000-08:00

Well for one thing, winter allows me some time to re-group before a busy spring, summer and fall. One of the things I like to re-fresh every year if I can, are my business cards and the winter is a good time to design a new version. Late in the season last year I ran out of my series of cards that I have had for about 2 years now, and I designed and had a small run of new cards printed. They all disappeared quite quickly but got me through to the end of the season. I wasn't necessarily that happy with them and I knew I was going to work on a new design for this year. I really liked the old ones so I wrestled for some time to come up with something that I thought was better. After a number of design attempts, my photo of Darren Bay's jet funny car shot at the Jet Car feature race at Saskatchewan International Raceway last June kept screaming at me... "dude, this photo rocks, run with it" So I did. The lab I work with also has some trick metallic paper that was just the ticket for the new cards too, I think they turned out pretty good. Make sure you ask me for one, or grab a couple from my stand at S.I.R.

Winter is also good for trying to find all your friends who are locked in their houses trying to stay warm. Yeah, like no one wants to come out of their house when it's -20c or colder it seems. Phone calls go something like this "hey, you out in the shop, I'll come over for a visit" "no, too cold" "ok, I'll just come over for a visit" "NO TOO COLD". Like, I'm not answering or opening the door till it's above -19c. Yup, gotta love winter. I did however manage a couple of shop visits and snagged a few photos to boot.

For example, project HEMI NIGHTMARE is progressing quite nicely. Almost all of the component assemblies are now either restored or replaced with new parts and re-assembly of the car is just about to commence in the next few weeks. I'll keep you updated as the car comes together, but in the meantime here's a shot of the dash. There are still a few small details to finish and install like a couple of knobs and the ashtray, but overall it's ready to go back in the car.

Another project that will make some noise in 2009 is my good friend Billy Mouldings brand new NHRA legal super stock/GT Pontiac Sunfire. Billy hasn't been down a dragstrip for the past 2 seasons as he's been feverishly working on the new car. I can tell you that the engine has been fired, and all the little details are coming together. Bill was kind enough to allow me to spend a little time with the car recently and I got a few shots. Once spring shows up, I'll do a full photo shoot of the car, until then, here's a couple of teasers...

I have met a number of great folks in my travels photographing motorsports events all over the Pacific Northwest. One of those individuals who has become my friend is Paul Grant originally from the UK but now residing in the Vancouver area (he was surprised when I told him I have a good friend here by the name of Grant Paul, cool eh?). Paul's story is pretty darn amazing and I'll point you to his blog as he tells it a lot better than me regurgitating it here. Paul is also an accomplished photographer, who can capture the intracacies of an event in a way you probably have not seen too often. He may not know that he's been an inspiration for me as well. Studying other photographic styles is good for me too and Pauls work is definitely worth checking out! Make sure you click on over to his website, 330 Images and bookmark his blog.

Month 2 - 2009

2009-02-01T19:13:00.000-08:00

Month 2, 2009. Three more of these and the NITROIMAGE shooting season officially kicks off. Still determining my schedule, but I can tell you that I will be in attendance at all the S.I.R. points races, and am planning on heading to Firebird Raceway at least once this season, if not twice. Would love to catch the NHRA National Open in the 'Hat too, as it's been a couple of years since I have been able to get over there. Every other event in between is tentative at this point, as I haven't committed to anything yet. I'll keep you posted!

Month 1 -2009 was pretty busy beginning with a trip to Vancouver right after New Years. I get to spend a little time there every January on business. While we were there a few weeks ago, I had a chance to spend some time experiencing the Vancouver public transit system and I must admit I was pretty impressed. From the buses to the Skytrain and back again, it is pretty darn efficient. That being said, it certainly needs to be that way because of all the people that depend on it. In general, I like to visit Vancouver, but it's just a little too crowded for me. Give me the wide open prairie any day. Of course you know I had to snap a couple of downtown pics from my hotel balcony...

I also completed a special project... ok, I know, you can hush the applause. Most would know that I have had the privilige to compile the S.I.R. Photo Archives hosted over at www.nitroimage.ca. For the past 2 and half years, I have had one of the most impressive collections of slides in my posession, loaned to me from a fellow by the name of Jerry Lucky, who spent a lot of time at S.I.R. in it's early years. Jerry eventually became one of the announcers at S.I.R. in the mid to late1980's and contacted me so long ago wondering if I would be interested in his photos. As Jerry explained, he usually had some time to shoot photos between announcing, and he amassed quite a collection of slides and photographs. Needless to say, what arrived in my mail box was one of the most amazing collections of S.I.R. drag racing history we had ever seen, and with over 600 photos, it was quite the project to digitize and post to the web, every one of his awesome photographs. So awesome are they, that NHRA's Phil Burgess reported about the gallery and Jerry's photos in his on-line column, The Dragster Insider last year. I didn't expect it to take more than 2 years, but I finished scanning the final 80 or so photo's this past weekend. The S.I.R. Photo Archives has gotten more traffic over the years as more and more emphasis seems to be placed on drag racing history. I would like to thank those that have allowed me to share your collections and history of S.I.R. with the world.

It hasn't been all work around here though as we have had some time to put a few miles on the snowmobiles. Last weekend, a group of us made our way over to ride the river. As we snaked our way around the river bed, there were plenty of opportunities to blast up and over the snow covered emabankements or just watch the wildlife. Around one particular corner, I spotted what looked like a bunch of cars, seemingly just pushed over the edge from the fields above and sure enough it was. Who knows how long they have been there, but there were three 1930's 2 door coupes in the pile!! One Plymouth, a Chevy and one I couldn't identify. Along with a few other 40's vintage cars and at least one from the 20's. Now how cool is that?

Oh yeah, and thanks to all of you for your comments on the 'best of' aka 'my fav's' post, I appreciate it!

Best of 2008

2009-01-02T12:58:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year and welcome to 2009! As I'm getting all my hard drive folders prepared for the new shooting year, I thought it might be fun to post up a few of my personal favorite images from 2008 and share a little bit about each one. They may not necessarily be my best but they are a sampling of my favorites ("best of" sounds better than "personal fav's") I amassed literally thousands of images in 2008 and I have way more favorites than I have room to post here, these ones just happened to jump out at me first. Enjoy!

If you know your way around NHRA's Division 6, then you will instantly recognize the official D6 Photographer, Rich Carlson above. I shot this candid portrait of my friend on a chilly Idaho morning during the season opening division race at Firebird Raceway in late April. Mr. Carlson has been documenting drag racing action along the west coast for almost as long as I have been alive, and there is no one else I know that can recall the history of the sport in the division like him. Normally Rich doesn't stand still long enough to sufficiently frame a good photo of him, but like a lot of my images, timing and luck sometimes coincide. For me, this image epitomizes what Rich has been doing for more than 40 years and it was one of those rare instances when the elements were aligned for a good photo.

I have gotten to know a number of cool people doing what I do over the years, and one of the nicest guys I have met has to be Andy Beauchemin from Edmonton, Alberta, above. See, Andy is a nitro Harley guy, and if you know anything about nitro Harleys, then you know most riders aren't really sane. They really can't be, with a ticking time-bomb between their legs, certain sanities cannot exist, if they did, then they wouldn't be nitro Harley guys, know what I mean? They'd be like you or me, but especially NOT nitro Harley guys. Andy has been gladly coming to S.I.R. for the past couple of years to show the folks of Saskatchewan what it takes to do what he does and I think I can say on behalf of the people, that we LOVE him for it. I shot this at about half track, notice the plumes of tire smoke, yep, tire smoke, meaning that back tire is spinning while the front wheel doesn't touch the asphalt surface much the entire 1/4 mile that the bike is under full acceleration. Insanity or skill, you be the judge, I just hope Andy keeps coming back!

Those that know me, also know that I love the stock and super stock eleminator classes. I also hate wheelie bars for my own selfish, self serving reasons, but enough about that. The image above isn't necessarily my 'best' but it does instill excitement for me and hence a favorite. You see, I cannot get enough of the wheelstanding antics of the race cars from the two classes I most enjoy and trying to nail the height of a wheelstand in one shot is as much fun for me as driving one these things is for the racer I'm sure. Larry Peterson's early B/SA Chevelle was definitely a contender for highest wheelie during the Ignitor at the famous Firebird Raceway in Boise Idaho as it defies all laws related to a ton and a half of automobile and gravity.

With the camera right on the track surface there's no way to frame an image like the one above. Oh sure, I could lay on the track to compose the image through the viewfinder, but that's just plain stupid (I've definitely been guilty of stupid before, just not that stupid). I have been doing this for a while with varying results and I have learned kinda where to position the camera for shot like this, but mostly it's a crap shoot. The car is Gord and Tanya Spak's beautiful 1963 Corvette and prior to 2008 the Spak's had only particpated as spectators at a drag race before (that's Tanya guiding Gord into the staging beams). It has always been Gord's dream to drive and in late 2007 he had his chance to pick up the Corvette above. It was neat watching the two of them learn how to run a race operation and see them get better and better after each event. The elements of this image are what do it for me, and for that, it's one of my favorites.

I'm a fan of low light and night photography because it adds so many creative options for a photographer. Combine that with my love of drag racing action, and you get something like the image above. Dwayne Treleaven has been a regular at S.I.R. for years and his alcohol altered is one of the most consistent and prettiest anywhere, and I have been around a few places. What I like about Dwayne and his altered is the way he performs his looooong rolling smoky burnouts, mix in a little darkness and you have a recipe for a favorite photo. This is acheived by slowing the shutter waaay down, sometimes known as 'dragging the shutter', really no kidding and of course panning with the subject. Usually I have a shoe mounted flash for an image like this, and I'll dial in rear sync flash, meaning that the flash will fire at the end of the shutter cycle. I just wish Dwayne and company would make a few more appearances during the season!

One of the ways to accentuate a wheelstand is by tilting the camera during capture. I have been accused of shooting crooked more times than not, and sometimes my style isn't to everyones liking (hey at least I'm not crooked). I'll admit sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Oh well, I try to mix it up a bit because I can get bored quicker than a 7 second alcohol funny car pass. Peter Freisen was really getting his Chevy II up in the air last year even with wheelie bars. I witnessed on more than one occasion when the rear tires were even unloading when the car was up on the bars, all I can say is ditch those damn things Peter... he he he.

I never tire of wheelstands, wheelies, whatever... One of my all time favorite cars that I also never tire of shooting is Brad Chilliak's waaay coool '41 Willys. I have more in-the-air photo's of this purple monster than I know what to do with and even more than Brad is gonna ever buy, but I don't care. This one is different, that's probably why its a fav. Because I released the shutter during panning almost into the sun, in it's color form there's enough flare in this shot to blind a desert rat but converting it to black and white is where this image comes alive for me. Yeah the flare is still there, but it gives the image a gritty no-holds-barred kinda raw look, sorta what this drag racing thing is all about isn't it? I dig it!

I have been watching jet cars for almost 30 years and they still amaze me. Trying to capture their intensity has been testing my abilities for almost 10 years. Definitely NOT easy. If you expose for the afterburner show, you'll underexpose the subject, expose for the subject and you'll blow out the smoke and flames. In any case, you don't have a lot of time to get it right, as the afterburner pops are mere milliseconds long, and the camera's meter is usually rendered ineffective anyway. Try shooting the mayhem at dusk or at night and you might as well pack up your gear and call it a day. This year though I had a plan, and with a number of remotely fired flashes strategically placed, I wasn't gonna let all this action get away, no sir. What resulted was the image above, one capture, of Bill Hosford driving Darren Bays Warped Speed jet funny car just before rolling into the staging beams. Whew, this was adrenaline pumping and another reason I love my job so much.

There's something about an econo altered that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I think it's just the unique engine combination's that can be utilized in the class that make it so cool. For instance, you'll HEAR sounds in this class like you never heard before, like a small cube small block V8 spinning at 10,000 rpms is a sound like no other, or how about a 800hp 4 cyl. It's a class of inovations, and engineering that also defy certain laws of physics. Lonnie Kuenzli's beautiful A/EA altered is one such vehicle, and I captured the car heating the hides at Boise. I don't know all the intricasies of the class but it's one a really enjoy.

As much as I love the engineering of speed and horsepower, the reality is that it would not ever happen without people. A few years ago, I started to concentrate on looking for those moments that told the human side of the story. The photo above says a lot for me. Let me introduce you to S.I.R. track manager Shawn 'Skippy' Zezula. I have gotten to know him well during the years I have been photographing at S.I.R. 2008 provided a few additional challenges for Skippy on top of his usual duties. Early in the season while working at the track, Skippy lost the tip of a finger due to a blow from a blunt object. He was in a lot of pain for weeks after, but never once did he complain or let the discomfort interfere with his duties. Others would have been off work for weeks or even longer. (hey, they make some great pain killers these days) Jet car owner, racer and Skippy's good friend Chuck Haynes called him 'Tippy' and the show went on. Yeah, it's the people that make this sport and I'll continue to look for those moments that tell that story.

If you are a reqular reader of my blog, you've seen the image above before, still one of my favorites of 2008. Who says you need $10,000 in camera equipment to make a good image? (ok, so it helps) Last year I snowmobiled with an old (by today's standards), Panasonic DMC-FZ20 digital point-n-shoot camera stuffed in a backpack. The Pana has been my trusty travel/vacation camera for the past number of years, it's compact, light, makes great images for a point-n-shoot and has an awesome optical zoom range (36-432mm) and a real Leica lens. It does have its limitiations too, but over all a great camera for your usual snaps. During a rest stop on a ride in early January, a freind of mine's son was climbing a small ridge and blasting through drift's at the top. The FZ20 has a manual setting so I dialed in 1/500 of a sec shutter and a corresponding aperature and let 'er rip. You have to anticipate the action with a point-n-shoot because there's such a lag between pressing the shutter release button and the time the shutter is activated, but with a little practice you can surprise yourself as I was. The camera captured a decent image and made some great 8"x10" prints for my friends family, oh, and it was published in an issue of Snoriders magazine last winter too, cool!

There you have it, just a few of my fav's of 2008. If I come across any more, I'll add them here, but for now, I'm gettin' ready for 2009, and looking forward to spending some quality time at a noisy dusty race track near you soon!

BA

Merry Christmas

2008-12-14T06:34:00.000-08:00

Yup, once again I can't believe it's been a lotta weeks since my last update. There's a couple of reasons it's been a busy few weeks. The SDRA awards banquet went down in the middle of November. For the past three years, I have prepared the season Champion awards for the SDRA, these are a composite plaque mounted image of each class winner just like 2008 SIR Super Pro Champion Bill Cawsey above, and I also prepare a 25 minute slide show that's shown during the banquet which takes more time than you imagine, combine that with finishing off some home reno's and you know where I have been between the end of September to the middle of November. In between then and now I have been very busy preparing and shipping Christmas print orders and that explains what I have been doing from the middle of November until now.

I would like to thank all my clients and friends for supporting NITROIMAGE Photography in 2008. I absolutely love shooting, but the icing on the cake for me is turning all those electronic 1's and 0's into a tangible colorful peice of photo paper that you can display on your wall of choice. I should be so priviledged. Again, without your support I wouldn't be able to continue to provide my services, and for that I'm grateful, Thank YOU!

Our 15 Minutes of Fame
Sheldon my 16 year old son and I were featured in the fall edition of SnoRiders magazine. Now we're no professional sledders by any strecth, but over the summer one of the reporters from the magazine, Tanya Laing, called up and convinced the two of us we had a story to share and that I had a couple of images that they would like to publish. After a little thought, we decided, "what the heck, this could be fun" and it was. I totally forgot about it until the issue hit the newstands a month ago and we started getting emails and calls from friends. I think we were both pretty excited... Thanks Tanya!

The NITROIMAGE Photography offices are now closed for the holidays, as we plan a much needed break and look forward to recharging and celebrating Christmas on a warm beach in Jamaica with our good friends the Bert family. We'll be back to ring in the New Year and I look forward to working with all of you in 2009. From our family to yours, I hope you have a wonderful Christmas, and a prosperous 2009! (oh if you were wondering, the pic is of a "sand"man we spotted on the beach while we were in the Dominican Republic at Christmas last year)

Blair, Cheryl and Sheldon

Hemi Nightmare Is Back In Black

2008-10-26T06:30:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a while since there was an update on Hemi Nightmare, but I can tell you that progress has been steady. For the past few months the car has been tucked away in a little prairie body shop getting all the sheet metal massaged and the final paint coating applied, while a truckload of new and original parts and pieces have been trickling in from all over North America. Some of the original parts from the car were sent away for restoration, such as the dash. I didn't ask exactly where in the US it was sent, but it came back looking like it came off the assembly line in 1965! The chrome plating on the plastic is flawless and the attention to the minute details is nothing short of amazing. All the gauges have been rebuilt and re-calibrated and no doubt this will be a center piece in what will become an original looking interior. There were boxes of brackets and latches that went out for various plating processes, cadmium, zinc and chrome plating and the interior has mostly arrived too. But lets talk about the paint. Yes the car is now sporting a fairly fresh but cured coat of BLACK! With the car back in the shop, this weekend the paint was expertly color sanded and polished. If I haven't mentioned before, the car is black, ahem, and I mean BLACK! Observing this polishing process was extremely interesting and it was simply magic watching an already smooth shiny paint application transform into one of the deepest mirror like surfaces I have ever seen - did I mention that the color is black? WOW! The reflection of Felix wiping the dust from the fresh polish process is a pretty clear indication of the depth of the paint, I think. Of course I had to have Felix and Ken (from Kens Crash Clinic, responsible for the sheet metal massaging and squirting the paint) pose for a requisite reflection portrait, (even if it looks like Darth Vader is holding a light saber over their heads) There is LOTS more to do till this machine fires, but progress is happening.

I'll keep you posted.

Sports Action and Music

2008-10-19T19:50:00.000-07:00

Since it didn't snow this weekend (like a week ago) and was relatively nice outside I had a chance to get some loose ends cleaned up around the construction site, er, I mean the house. I re-built a fence that had to come down before construction started, installed a new doorbell button and adjusted the location of the new mailbox. Yeah, I know, pretty mundane stuff but I really need to get this work done before it's too damn cold out, and I think I'm running out of time. On Friday afternoon traveling down a lonely stretch of Saskatchewan highway, I recieved a text from a friend of mine who's the official shooter of the Moose Jaw Warriors, "game tonight?" meaning in not so many words, "hey buddy, there's a Warrior game tonight and if you want to shoot I can get you in" Hey, I'm always up for a photo shoot and I like to think action is my specialty, AND since one has to have special privlidges and/or official credentials to be able to take photo's at a WHL event in the "Jaw", I was all over the invitation. So I grabbed a quick bite, tossed my gear and a CF card in the car and away I went. Unfortunately the home team fell to the Swift Current Broncos, but during three periods of play, I was able to snag a couple of keepers. Oh yeah, THANKS JAMES for allowing me to spend some time at your boards!

i am waves. On Saturday afternoon I had a the pleasure to work with a group of 4 up and coming young musicians who needed some new promo images for their website and promotional material. Now remember what I said about action shooting being what I would classify as my specialty, I have been known to shoot the odd portrait now and again (I still don't do weddings!). I have to admit that it's much more difficult working with a living human, (not that I have worked with non-living human) let alone more than one. The boys were looking for something different, perhaps not your usual band kinda pics, (ah, like I would know what that is... right) so I had them meet me down by an old train trestle and I kinda winged it. I had an idea of what sort of image I was after and after dialing in the ambient exposure, it was just a matter of dialing up my lights to get what I wanted. After about and hour and half, I had all they needed, and I went away having a better appreciation about how creative these guys were. Between their chatter, laughter and chorus's it was a pretty cool deal. They also invited me to shoot their next live gig so I'm gonna try and catch the show. I may not be totally into their style of acid rock/punk, but I can appreciate their hard work and passion. It definitely was contagious, thanks for the afternoon Andy, Chris, Jon and Barak, I had a blast!

Catching Up, Construction and Christmas Print Orders

2008-10-12T15:14:00.000-07:00

WOW, where does the time go? It's been over a month since my last entry, but then again it's been a pretty jam packed month at that. Since then, a lot has been going on in the world of NITROIMAGE. I wrapped up the S.I.R. Season Final event over the September 20 and 21 weekend and what a weekend it was. Although this closes my "official" motorsports shooting season, the work doesn't stop as I prepare for the SDRA year end banquet with client photo orders, preparation of the banquet DVD, and the S.I.R. 2008 Season Championship plaques. There's not a lot of down time between now and November 15, in fact there isn't enough time in a day from now till then. On top of all that, we have been undergoing quite a transformation at home. With a major exterior envelope renewal project commencing in late August, we are almost wrapped up construction on the outside (I'm told the kitchen gets a make-over this winter). With the addition of new windows, doors, insulation, wrap, siding, a two story portico addition to the front and a cantilevered roof at the back, it's been quite the construction zone around here. This is where I say some awfully nice things about my contractor, Darrell Ebbet of E.B.T. Construction in Moose Jaw. With out a doubt, one of the best in the business, and whom without his and his crew's help we would not have been able to transform a pretty plain but unique 1960's custom 5 level split home into what it has become since they began. Thanks Darrell, Keith, Rod and Blair for all your hard work, and putting up with my constant "supervision" and questions. There's still a few details to complete, including shingling the new roofs, some stone work on the portico columns and landscaping, but other than the shingling, the other work will likely be completed after the winter.

I know it's pretty early to be thinking about a gift for that special someone for Christmas, but just a heads up if you are considering a NITROIMAGE print. I won't be able to guarantee delivery before Christmas if your order is not placed before December 5. Although my turnaround on prints is pretty quick, it will take at least a week to process your order and the following week to package it and ship. I try my best to get the orders processed as soon as I can, but inevitibly there are more to get done than I have time, so December 5 is the cut-off this year for Christmas orders. If you know what you are looking for, best to let me know as soon as possible.

Not So Magic in Minot, and Other Stories

2008-09-07T18:45:00.000-07:00

The past labor day weekend was spent in Minot ND at the event called Motor Magic. Once again I had an opportunity to hook up, albeit briefly, with my cohorts in the South Sask Performance Motor Club, a loosely organized group of characters who share a common interest in performance machines. Machines aren't necessarily always cars. You'll know who they are when you see them cruising an event on their motorized picnic table. The corresponding event T-shirt is another ritual in and of itself, and usually showcases a club members ride each year. I was totally shocked when I arrived and was presented with the annual Hillbillie Tour event T. Yep, to my surprise, it was my year. Guys, I can't tell you that I was moved to tears, obviously I couldn't let them drip on your hotel room carpet as I am a man, and I would have surely been riduculed as a result, but I was choking them back just the same. You know that I'm wearing my T with pride and honor!

I also get to spend a little bit of time hanging around the flat track guardrail with my friend and track photographer Doug Angell. Doug has been taking care of documenting the action at the Dakota Flat Track, now called Magic City International Raceway, for years and he has been kind enough to let me be a guest along his guardrail when I come down. It's been a lot of fun over the years. If you're a racer looking for photo's from the event, please give Doug a call or drop him an email. Unfortunately I can't say that it was all that enjoyable working the guardrail this year. A little background is probably necessary. As a photographer, I have been using fill flash for years, and yes, that means in the daylight. I probably shoot with flash 95% of the time during the day. It helps kill harsh shadows and makes the difference between a good action shot and a great action image. It's as much a valuable tool as the camera and lens itself and I wouldn't pack for an assignment without my flash kit. I work with a number of different flash systems, and my main units are set up and slaved remotely (one of two remote flashes circled in the pic, thanks Glenn). This way, I can position the light where I need it, and sync them wirelessly. Other times I use a typical camera mounted strobe. Needless to say, my setup at the Dakota Flat Track, er, Magic City International Raceway was the same as it has always been at any other track I have worked, until that is when I was told by track management to kill the flash. That's right, I got about a dozen shots in until I was told in a not so friendly way to shut 'er down. They said "distracting the racers" was the reason. Can you picture the dumbfounded look on my face? Now, I have worked the guardrail the same way at many larger tracks all over the Pacific North West from Edmonton's Castrol Raceway to the infamous Firebird Raceway in Boise Idaho and every little place in between without any issue for years. I wasn't about to argue. It's important to respect the directive from the track management, but it doesn't mean I have to like it. I will note though that the flash is ONLY triggered after a launch and I'm very suspect that the drivers can even detect the flash during the day. Having said that though, I have never asked before so if you're a racer that I have photographed and you are reading this, I'd like to know if the flash bothers you. Feel free to leave a comment or drop me an email, a little less than scientific poll just can't hurt. However my future visits to Magic City International Raceway to see my friend Doug will be without my gear.

Dog Days of Summer

2008-08-17T06:19:00.000-07:00

Yeah summer is winding down, but that doesn't mean it's over yet! It's been so busy that I haven't had a chance to post a blog entry lately. There's been a lot going on. For example, yesterday, the Monte made it's very first trip down the highway for a special event in Regina. The 180 km round trip was uneventful and the new suspension was awesome, the handling is amazing and it seemed to work better the faster it went. Oh, I mean, I think it WOULD handle better faster, yeah, that's it. Any way, I wasn't invited to the annual Daley barbeque in Regina, but that didn't mean I didn't show up. I tried to sneak in, but the damn Pete Jackson whine gave me away. It didn't matter because Ken showed me a special parking spot just like I was a regular. Once I got out of the car, I realized that this was no ordinary barb-ee. There was some damn serious muscle parked all over the quiet neighborhood. You know, the usual stuff like a '72 Chevelle SS 454 4psd, or how about a '67 tri-power 435hp 427 4spd Corvette... Oh, you're a MOPAR enthusiast, no problem there was your run-of-the-mill every day Plum Crazy Purple 1970 426 Hemi, 4spd, Dana 60, Challenger, a '62 Plymouth with a 383, and '69 Dart. The Ford fans were represented too as I saw a '67 Mustang GT 4spd, a '65 Mustang convertible, AND just your usual Cobra kit car. With a host of awesome Harleys that came and went through the evening, this was definately NOT your regular party. It was WOW, just WOW. And thanks to Brenda, the crowd never went hungry, like there was more food than I could eat and I sampled the absolute BEST puffed wheat cake I have ever had. It was a great evening of terrific food, drink and bench racing! I think this was one of the best party's I have crashed in the last 25 years. I sure hope Ken doesn't invite me next year!

We did spend a couple of weeks R and R-ing at the begining of the month and I got a few outstanding odd jobs done around the homestead. We also had a chance to spend some time with good friends who live in the heart of the Rockies. We hiked, kayaked, water skied, wake-boarded, hiked some more, took the 4x4's to a real hot-spring high in the mountains, and generally kicked back and relaxed. Oh I did see a brand new Challenger SRT8 in the Walmart parking lot in Cranbrook, and a Ferrari cruising down the highway somewhere in between there and here. It's been an awesome summer.

There are only two more official Saskatchewan drag races left this season, and the biggest event of the year happens this upcoming weekend at S.I.R. with the Alcohol Funny Car feature event on Saturday. If you didn't know, there will be two Nostalgia NITRO funny cars trying to burn up the new concrete start line, so if you are on the fence wondering if you should come on down, remember someone said once... Just Do IT

NITROIMAGE Will Sponsor YOU! (If you hurry)

2008-07-11T16:15:00.000-07:00

That's right, for a limited time, or until our very limited stash of cool NITROIMAGE decals run out, we are ready to provide a sponsorship deal for all you racers out there. All YOU have to do, is prominently display two of our NITROIMAGE Photography decals anywhere (ok, so you should stick-em where they can be seen while you are racing) on your race car, truck or bike for the remainder of the 2008 season, and you will receive one 11"x14" NITROIMAGE print of your choice absolutely free! That's a $50 dollar value right there! This offer is good for the 2008 season only. The self-adhesive vinyl decals come in 4 wonderful colors (black, white, gold and silver, see samples above ) that will surely compliment your particular paint scheme. You can request your pair via email or come and see me under the NITROIMAGE blue-top at any regular S.I.R. points race.

Steamy Summer Nights

2008-07-07T18:41:00.000-07:00

If you stop by this blog on a regular basis, you'll probably know that I love nothing better than to capture a wheels up launching drag car. Ok, so shooting anything automotive static or at speed is one of my passions, but I will never pass up the opportunity to try my hand at anything else photographic. I have a close local friend who is a master portrait and wedding photographer who does it for a living, and when he's not shooting for a living, he's shooting for fun. That's when I get to learn and try new things. One of those things that James is really good at is storm shooting, and the other night he invited me along. Yeah I know, I'm used to battening down the hatches and heading for cover at the sight of a good old prairie storm, but the other night you would have found us driving like mad men TOWARDS the eye of the storm in search of the perfect location. Around midnight, we stopped short of the impending fury and quickly set up our gear to see what we could capture. It was a little spooky I'll admit, and once the lightning was almost directly overhead, just before the downpour, we hightailed it back for cover in the van. Here's the result. Man was it dark and when the wind completely stopped howling, we knew we only had a minute or so to get the heck out of dodge if you know what I mean. It definatley got the adrenalin pumping and now I'm finding myself logging onto Environment Canada's website in search of the Perfect Storm!

I have also been trying my hand at a little portrait photography. James once again is my mentor and he's been helping me learn location shooting and working with a real live human. There's definitely a difference dealing with a subject that can talk back, but I have been happy with the results. Here's Alysha putting up with the new guy trying to get her to pose like a model, but then again, she has waaay more experience at this than I do and I think she was humoring me.

AND since I'm shooting the summer nights away, I thought it was only appropriate to spend a little time with an old friend which in my mind hasn't looked better in over 20 years. With the Monte as polished as it will ever get, it was time to find a magazine type location and do a few portraits of the car. I didn't have to go too far in town to find the old and beautifully restored CN train station that made the perfect backdrop for the shoot. I know I mentioned earlier I was going for the sleazy alley urban type pic, but this backdrop was just too nice. Here's my efforts exterior and interior.

Hey it's back to work this coming weekend as the next installment of NHRA sanctioned 1/4 mile racing will make some noise at S.I.R. The cool image of NITRO working (that's me) compliments of Arlin Schaffel over at Fexd,thanks Arlin! I just can't seem to figure out exactly what the heck I was doing though... I'll see you all at S.I.R. in a few days!

Red and Black

2008-06-27T16:43:00.000-07:00

I'm close to two high performance build-up's that are progressing quite nicely. One, being built as a potent pro-touring Hemi car will see almost all of it's duty on the street with an occasional 1/4 mile blast, the other a purspose built drag car engineered in sanctioning body legal super stock trim that will see ALL of it's duty on a dragstrip of choice. Both cars left the paint booth within weeks of each other, the 1965 Coronet received it's first color coat to the underside and engine compartment, but won't recieve it's final coat to the body panels for a while later. The Sunfire rolled out of the paint booth just days ago, and looks amazing in it's red coat. I think both projects are way off their repsective owners anticipated completion schedules, but that's how it goes when you take on a project of each of these magnitudues and are going to do it right. I'm pretty excited about both, but then I can get excited about an engine transplant in a moped for that matter. I know, it's a sickness. Have a great Canada Day weekend!

S.I.R. Season Opener

2008-06-06T13:11:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time coming this year, but the Saskatchewan International Raceway's season opener is this weekend, Sunday June 8 with test-n-tune on Saturday June 7 (normally the season opener is the second last weekend of May). Why has it been a long time coming? Well, not to mention the excessively long and cold winters around here normally keep the drag racing season short to begin with, but the Saskatchewan Drag Racing Association, owners of S.I.R., have put a major improvement plan into action and some serious construction has delayed the official start of the drag racing season. But it's all good, as this weekend will more or less christen a new concrete launch pad (well, actually, there will have been two street legal shows that have initiated the new launch surface). This alone has created a huge amount of excitement among racers and fans of S.I.R. in the province, but wait, that's not all that's being improved around Saskatchewan's oldest continuously operating NHRA sanctioned 1/4 mile dragstrip, oh nooo sir! By the end of this racing season, a number of items will have been upgraded, some you will notice, like a new section of grandstand, new paint, new siding, etc, and some infrastructure items that you won't necessarily see but need to be done just the same like a new power service, new in-ground cabling and wiring, upgraded P.A. system and a new timing system are all being captured in the upgrades. Some have said this is long overdue, but almost everyone is in agreement that these are the right things to be done. It's amazing how this project seems to have renewed the spirit of the sport in the province. Personally, I have heard of more new cars being built and purchased than ever before. Hat's off to the S.D.R.A. members and executive for the courage to move forward with this major upgrading project at S.I.R. I know it will pay dividends into the future. Ladies and Gentlemen, the staging lanes are NOW OPEN!

The Erin Beck Memorial Season Opener at S.I.R. this weekend is a bitter sweet event for me. On one hand, it signifies the beginning of a brand new drag racing season after a long cold winter. I can't think of a venue that has brought more entertainment value to me (ok, maybe the early years of the NHRA National event at Brainerd MN, but that's another story for another time) More importantly however, It's also a time where I get to meet up again with a bunch of great friends, acquaintances and clients that I don't normally get to see through the winter. At the S.I.R. season opener 6 years ago, Erin Beck, a motorcycle drag racer, RCMP member, wife, sister and daughter, lost her life due to injuries she sustained in an on-track racing accident. I was there along the guardrail where it happened. I witnessed the incident first hand. I will never forget that day. But that's not the point. I think what's important, is that we not forget who Erin Beck was. As the years roll on, it's easy to forget. Erin worked in her capacity as a police woman to help get racing off the street and on the strip, she was a staunch advocate and promoter for the Street Legal Racing Program, and was setting an example as a motorcycle drag racer. I didn't know her, but I was compelled to attend her funeral in Regina afterwards. What I learned was that she and I shared a number of mutual friends and more than likely our paths crossed somewhere in our youth. It doesn't matter really. The S.I.R. season opener was soon renamed in her honor and memory. If you are at S.I.R. this Sunday, take a brief moment to remember who Erin Beck was, it will be meaningful, even if you didn't know her.

Gettin' The Gears, The First Drag Race And Other Weekend Stories

2008-06-01T22:09:00.000-07:00

It was a busy week and weekend in the NITROIMAGE shop. We replaced the fuel sending unit in the fuel tank of the Monte just in time to get the car to Moose Jaw Kal Tire for a wheel alignment. Thanks to the crew down there for taking such good care of the car and thanks to Blaine for getting the front wheels going where the steering wheel is pointed! That was on Wednesday, and Friday, it was up on the jack stands AGAIN! This time however, it was to install a posi carrier with brand new 3:50 gears. The car came with 3:42's in the 10 bolt from the factory (it was replaced with a 9" Ford c/w disc brakes) and until I'm closer to an auto overdrive, I wanted to come close to the original ratio, you know, I just might take this thing on a trip, doubtful, but ya never know. Thanks to Sheldon Ward at hiperformancetech for supplying and setting up the gear set and providing me with the synthetic. By mid afternoon Saturday, the rear was bolted back up and a road test confirmed that both rear wheels were gripping the asphalt equally, and the gear set is dead quiet at all speeds. Oh happy days! A couple of blocks later and I had a full tank of 94 octane and $80 bucks less in the bank account, I think I'm about as ready for a cruise night as ever. Now I have to find some sleazy alley and shoot some urban pics of the car. You'll see them here first when that happens.

Speaking of shootin' some pics, I made a trip to Yorkton this morning to check out the Kambuster's Car Club's open "fun day" at the Yorkton Municipal Airport. This is a smaller participant only event unlike their big event in July and this one is not necessarily open to the public. As I suspected there were more race cars than expected. This due in large part to the delays in getting on a track in SK. The rain-outs at Medicine Hat, and the construction at S.I.R that has postponed the season opening event so almost every SK racer hasn't had a chance to burn some rubber. What can I say about today's action, except that traction once again at this venue was pretty good today... just a minute while I illustrate what that means, let me see, I took a few pictures today and I think I have one that kinda shows some BITE on the airstrip... oh yeah, here's Arnie Josephson piloting his and Franks Cuda. Not sure, but it seems to be hookn'. Whadya think??

Thanks again to all the hard working Kambusters Car Club Crew for making the day very enjoyable. I'll be looking forward to seeing ya at S.I.R. next weekend for the Erin Beck Memorial Season Opener,

I can't wait!

The Monte Rolls...

2008-05-27T21:54:00.000-07:00

... out into the street for the first time this past weekend, just long enough to snap a pic and clean up the shop floor beneath where the beast sat on jack stands for the past 12 months. I took it for a drive around the block and think the new front suspension is going to work just fine. Even though I re-installed all the upper control arm shims exactly the way they came out, and duplicated the measurements of the tie-rods, a wheel alignment is still in order and scheduled for this week. However, it's release to the open road was short lived, as the fuel gauge was inoperable, and that just has to be fixed. So, after checking all the circuitry, and confirming all the grounds were good, the tank came out, and the sending unit was checked. It seems corrosion has gotten the best of the fuel level sensing device, although the inside of the tank looks nice and clean. What I hadn't anticipated, was that the sending unit isn't a stocked part locally and has been discontinued through GM (hey parts guys, it's not THAT OLD!), so once again the Monte is back up on jack stands while I wait for a new, jobber sending unit.

NHRA D6-1, Boise, Idaho

2008-05-11T06:25:00.000-07:00

If you have been reading along, you'll know that I had an opportunity to shoot the first scheduled 2008 NHRA D6 divisional race in Boise, Idaho a couple of weeks ago. This being my first visit to Firebird Raceway. Once again, traveling time to and from the event was spent in the good company of three respected NHRA personnel including D6 Tech Director Dave Schaffel, certification specialist Lyle Hetrick, and NHRA safety expert Steve Winik. No tom-foolery in this group, let me tell you it was all business-like and professional (Hey, what's said on the road, stays on the road, besides, I was sworn to secrecy!!) Crossing the border into the U.S. was going well until one of the crossing guards noted the "NITRO-image" decal on the van. I learned that NITRO is a main ingredient in making terrorist bombs, and for some reason, border patrol is on high-alert for these kinds of things. It took a little explaining, but they let us in anyway, I guess we looked like good kids. I might have to re-think the business name though if there are more trips to the U.S., or else I have to get clearance from HOMELAND SECURITY! Once in Boise, it was all work and no play, (you can vist the IGNITOR gallery here and see for yourself) I averaged about 4 hours sleep each day, and the ride home was straight through (4 drivers sharing the duties). You don't really sleep in a moving vehicle, you just drift in an out of consciousness as Lyle and Steve demonstrate in the pic to the left (geez guys, that looks too comfy!). In all, I think it took over a week to recover, but I will be looking forward to doing it all over again when I can. Oh yeah, the event was awesome! Check out Firebirds Nightfire event coming up in August!

Majestics Car Show

2008-05-04T16:22:00.000-07:00

I didn't attend this years annual Majestics car show Regina as I was loafing in Boise, Idaho, (more on that later), but from all accounts, it sounds like it was a good showing of some excellent iron. However, I did miss the debut of a certain '68 Hemi GTX, that I knew was undergoing restoration for the past couple of years. It turns out my old friend Jay R. got 'er done, with a lot of help from Mike A. "hey man, I was waiting for you to come down and see the car, I thought you would be there for sure". Was the voice on the other end of the phone a few days ago. And I probably would have been too. "yeah, sorry, would love to see the car", was the response. "no problem, I'll send you a couple of pics" See, I spent some time in this car in the late 70's and early 80's. In fact, I spent a lot of time terrorizing, no, no... cruising Regina's Albert street back then. The "X" in question, is the real deal, Hemi, four-speed, Dana 60 car, but back then, the Hemi had long been departed and a stout 440 resided on top of the K-member, the 4 speed replaced with an auto, and the Dana 60 swapped for an 8 3/4 with a gear set. Even with the non-original drivetrain, it went like hell, or so it seemed at the time. We probably didn't appreciate, nor could have ever predicted how valuable these things were going to become, but obviously Jay did the right thing and quietly tucked the car away while he raised his family. The car is now back, in most of it's original glory, and is creating quite a stir in the local muscle car scene, of course, rightfully so. Nice job Jay, I can't wait to see the "X" in person.

Where's The Snow??

2008-04-19T18:34:00.000-07:00

We canceled our annual excursion to Calgary to catch the NLL's Toronto Rock take on the Calgary Roughnecks (Even if you aren't a team sports fan, you HAVE to take in at least one NLL game in your lifetime, it's an amazing event) due to the reported and impending "massive" weather system and estimated 30-50cm of snowfall. It's been snowing in Calgary for a day and half, but it looks like we're going to miss the system here. Oh well, it just meant that I spent a little bit of time in the garage making some more Monte progress. Today, I assembled the new Moog steering components after washing the factory oily coating off and painting them. I decided since the rest of the entire front suspension is brand new, it made no sense to re-install the grimy, greasing original tie rods, center link and idler arm. I guess I could have cleaned the original parts up and detailed them as well, but I thought I might as well start this knowing everything was brand new up front. Once the billet tie rod connectors arrive, I will be able to install the entire assembly, and I can get the sway bar and frame braces back in. Speaking of the sway bar, I had a heck of a time getting one of the 4 sway bar bracket bolts out, and stripped the head in the process. These bolts have a small head, specifically for this application because they fit so close to the brackets. No problem, I thought, and called up the parts dept. at my local GM dealer. Without even thinking about how much 4 teeny weenie bolts could POSSIBLY cost, my friendly parts guys ordered them in and called me up when they arrived a few days later. When I arrived at the dealer to pick up my 4 (count them F-O-U-R) teenie weenie bolts, l was ill prepared for the dollar amount. CHOKE, COUGH, GASP... "you're kidding, right??" I was heard saying to the friendly parts counter dude. "Ah, nooo " the friendly parts counter dude countered. There was some further conversation back and forth, and I soon realized that there was no deal, discount or bartering about to happen, so I had to let them vacuum my wallet empty in exchange for these obviously very SPECIAL and rare bolts. I think they are too special to install, and I just might get them mounted, or framed and place them on the wall in my garage for all my friends to enjoy, instead of installing them under my car, where no one will appreciate them. They are after all, Genuine GM!!

NITROIMAGE Season About To Kick Off

2008-04-13T14:42:00.001-07:00

Just 10 short days from now, my official motorsports shooting season kicks off with a trip to Boise, Idaho, to work the 38th annual, NAPA Auto Parts NHRA Division 6 Ignitor, at Firebird Raceway Park. I will get a chance to work alongside my old friend, Rich Carlson, the official NHRA Division 6 photographer. Rich is in Las Vegas at the moment, working the 9th annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Yeah, and I'm still waiting for all the snow to melt so I can clean up my yard. This will be my first visit to Firebird Raceway Park. After a long winter, I'm looking forward to getting back to the wrong side of a dragstrip guardrail. As usual, we'll have all the imagery of the event in a special gallery after we return.

More Weekend Progress

2008-04-06T15:22:00.000-07:00

My free time during the work week is pretty scarce, and there's little time, if any at all to spend on the cold concrete floor of my garage. The weekends have been pretty busy most of the winter logging miles on the sleds, but the last two weekends were most productive on the Monte. I finished assembling the front suspension, and still am amazed at the quality of the QA1 coil over shocks. They were a breeze to install, no fighting with coil spring compressors, bleeding fingers from big hammers, nothing! Just a light coating of anti-seize, spin the spanner lock nut and spanner nut on the shock, and slip the assembly through the coil up into the coil pocket of the frame. Well, there was a little more to it than that, but you get the picture. In fact, it all went so well, that I had time to dial-in the ride height. So that meant it It was also the first time the newly refinished 16" IROC wheels were able to be bolted on at all 4 corners (Hey Precision Machine, I'm gonna need those billet center caps sooner than I thought) , and the car could come off the jack stands. Yes, it's been a while. I'm totally happy with the look of the wheels on the car, and I'm equally happy with the ride height. There are a bunch of small details on my list to pick away at until I fire the Monte up and pull it out of the garage. With new 3.50's getting set up in my posi carrier, I'm hoping this is going to be fun to drive again. Once that happens, I'll let you know.

HillBilly Tours and Hot Rods

2008-03-30T20:31:00.000-07:00

"The faces have been hidden to protect the guilty"

I think I went on a HillBilly tour to check out the Draggins car show in Saskatoon over the Easter weekend, but I'm not sure. I just wanna know if I'm gonna get a t-shirt. Really, it was an event. Just ask any of the four pictured above, that is if you can identify them.

I'll admit that I'm addicted to wrecking yards, or auto dismantlers, so when ever there's an opportunity to check out a new automotive resting place, I'm sooo in. During the latest tour, I came across what was left of one of the worlds most recognized sports cars. As I looked over the carcass, I wondered how excited the first owner must have been to drive this home from the dealership, and how much love and care must have been lavished in it's early days. How exactly did it's life spiral out of control after that? Obviously there was no INTERVENTION in this Corvette's life. Sad, but all too true.

Speaking of love, the Monte received some this weekend as a number of hours were spent reassembling the front suspension. The parts bench gave up a number of pieces during the wrenching. Which is good, because although they looked great on the bench, they weren't installing themselves either. It's all coming together and I'm hopeful I'll put a few miles on this thing in 2008.

HOPPY Easter

2008-03-21T06:53:00.000-07:00

Hoppy Easter everyone! This weekend is the official start of the countdown to the motorsports season in Saskatchewan. Ok, at least for me anyway. With the Draggins Car Show in Saskatoon today and tomorrow it won't be long till we're participating at or attending our favorite warm weather event. I hope you're gettin' ready, I know I am. It also brings to a close a great 07/08 snowmobiling winter. We logged more miles bouncing over the frozen prairie this winter than all the others put together, with no real casualties, other than some sore muscles that don't otherwise get used much (we're working on that though). I got to see some really cool places that I would have otherwise missed. You can see some photos of those places in the DIVERSIONS gallery over at www.nitroimage.ca Last weekend was probably the last ride of the season, and the machines are ready for some post season clean-up before they go into summer storage. Enjoy the little vid I threw together of us and some of our riding buddies. See ya soon!

The Cover Shoot

2008-02-10T21:40:00.000-08:00

Those of us that have lived on the prairies for a while should be used to a typical flatland winter, but even I have to admit that I'm getting a little tired of the bitter cold and wind lately. It's no consolation that daylight is prevalent longer and longer each week, the damn wind just won't let up, so really, what can you do outside, except run from your house to your car and vice versa.

I had an opportunity to visit a friends shop this past weekend with not one, but two serious MOPAR powerplants present. I was astonished by the sheer importance of each, one being the rare fore father to the mid 60's muscle car wars, and the other was the newest all aluminum version of an equal legend. It was then that I was struck by an idea (don't worry, I didn't hurt myself), not necessarily original, but I thought it might be fun just the same. Pick up any Car Craft, Hot Rod, or similar performance magazine and you'll see where I got my inspiration for our little cover shoot. After a few hours setting up the scene and choreographing the shoot, I had an image worthy of a magazine cover. A few more hours in the graphic design studio, and viola, welcome to the first edition of MOOSE JAW MOPAR!, This will make a nice addition to the wall of the shop, and a tribute to the serious MOPAR legends I had a chance to spend some time with.

Hey what else can you do in Saskatchewan these days???

Waiting For Spring

2008-01-27T06:38:00.000-08:00

While I'm waiting for the new racing season to get underway, there's usually enough winter activity around my area to keep me entertained. Of course I have an awesome "day job" that takes up most of it, (no, really, I love my job, I'm not kidding) there seems to be enough extra curricular activities to keep me from losing my mind before the racing season begins at the end of May.

Project "Hemi Nightmare" is progressing closer to the paint and body stage, as 80% of all the major fabricating and fitting is complete. I'm told that the car should be rolling under it's own 700 horse power by late spring with it's first showing anticipated at the Southey Mopar show in June, but this might be a little ambitious.

All the major sub assemblies have been assembled and fit, including drivetrain (all aluminum KB Hemi, Hemi 4spd c/w Gear Vendors o/d, Dana 60 c/w disc brakes) suspension (independent fully adjustable QA1 coil over fronts, tubular A-arms, rack and pinion steering, Cal-trac rear leafs and traction bars, Rancho adjustable shocks, I got to help dial in the suspension and ride height a few weeks ago, don't I feel special!) and exhaust (3" front to back). Fitting is underway of all the fuel lines, brake lines, e-brake cables, wiring and wiring harnesses and some interior components. Once all the sub assemblies are sorted out, the car will be completely disassembled and the body will be installed on the rotisserie again, and sent to body shop. Stay tuned for more!

We got into sledding as a winter past time a few years ago and we have logged more time on the machines this winter than all of the winters past. One thing you need to know if you are going to be the proud owner of a snowmobile, the sport costs $. If you think, (Like I did) that you can get "in" for a few dollars by purchasing an older machine, make sure your budget is double the initial purchase price. Talk about a high maintenance sport! Alright, enough about the disadvantages and how touchy a two stroke motor IS! Yesterday, we logged about 70 miles on a picture perfect winter day and there were two casualties in our group, one blown motor (not me thank god) and one injured rider (me). Ok, so I'm an amateur, I'll admit it. In the photo above, the son of a friend in our group illustrates the correct form jumping an embankment. I tried but had no form, I fell off... hard! No broken bones, but more importantly, no broken sled!! I'm so happy! (oh man, why does it hurt so much to be happy?)

Oh, btw, Christmas in the Dominican Republic was a blast! You should come next year!

No Snow This Christmas

2007-12-17T18:59:00.001-08:00

The NITROIMAGE offices are now closed for the festive holidays and the NITROIMAGE staff are preparing to depart on their first exotic Christmas vacation, a first without snow. Plans include spending some R and R on a warm beach, taking in some sun and surf and just plain being lazy at the Gran Ventana Resort in the Dominican Republic. This should be exciting.

We want to wish all of you a wonderful Christmas Season, filled with good friends and family, and I would like to personally thank all the past NITROIMAGE clients for your support as I look forward to working with all of you in 2008!

Blair

www.nitroimage.ca partly down

2007-12-17T17:35:00.001-08:00

Well it seems that my webhost is having some difficulty the past few days. In an announcement today, this is what they had to say:

"On Saturday, we lost 3 disks simultaneously in our main storage system which runs on NetApp hardware. This caused an 8 Terabyte volume to have some inconsistencies which have to be analyed and repaired before we can put the volume back online. Fortunately, the cause of the problem is something NetApp understands and they've provided updated firmware for the disk shelves to correct the bug responsible.
Right now we're just waiting for the file system analysis program to complete. At that time, we'll be able to bring the volume back online and all of your photos will display properly."

So, there you have it, there are some images in our galleries that won't appear until the host has this resolved.

Christmas Print Orders

2007-11-24T05:34:00.000-08:00

As we fast approach the Christmas "giving" season, it's always a busy time for the NITROIMAGE staff filling Christmas print orders. We'd like to take this time to remind you that if your thinking about getting that special someone on your list an original NITROIMAGE action print, please contact us as early as you can. We will be able to fill and deliver Christmas orders until December 10, after that, we cannot guarantee delivery before December 25.

You can contact Blair at NITROIMAGE via email at nitroimage@sasktel.net or call (306) 691-5432 to request a price list and order form, or we can discuss our options when you call. Remember, we now stock those very hard to find 8"x12" frames.

8"x12" Frames NOW In Stock

2007-10-21T07:29:00.001-07:00

We're pleased to inform you that NITROIMAGE Photography now stocks 8"x12" frames. This will most likely be the only frame product we will inventory, as they are just so darn hard to find off the shelf anywhere. Short of custom framing at a significant expense, there are very few options. What we looked for was a good quality, contemporary frame that we could pass on to you at a reasonable cost. Pictured above, we found a very nice, real wood, black square profile frame complete with glass and back that can either be displayed on a desktop or hung on the wall. Priced at $15.00 ea, taxes in. So if you need or know of someone that needs an 8"x12" frame, we can help you/them out!

SS Progress

2007-10-21T07:02:00.000-07:00

Progress has been sloooow , but there has been some just the same. Most of the front suspension has been cleaned and repainted, and the control arms will get new poly bushings and ball joints installed this coming week. The front inner fenders and frame have been cleaned and painted, but where does a guy stop? Every time I get under the car, I want to pull the body off and detail this thing right, but I barely have time to do what I'm doing, so I guess it's good enough for now. The wheels have been ready to bolt up for a couple of months, and my good friend Bernie at Precision Machine Works in Regina is whittling me some billet center caps. I think I'll get this rolling just in time to try and find some winter storage. Anybody know of a clean, secure storage place within 100k of Moose Jaw, let me know!

"Crops" Explained - And I'm Not A Farmer

2007-09-23T08:20:00.000-07:00

As an action photographer, I have honed a shooting style that doesn't necessarily pay much attention to "crop" factors, and for most shoots, I don't have a lot of time the think about it.

I recently encountered this very issue with one of my clients asking why they received 8"x12" prints when they ordered 8"x10"s (priced the same). Although I tried my best to explain "why", it became such a huge issue for this client that I'm doubtful we'll ever do business again, and that troubles me.

Therefore, I'm going to do my best to explain "crops", and not the harvested kind!

A 35mm negative has a ratio of 2:3. So too do most digital sensors. What does this mean? For every 2" inches of length, a print will be 3" wide, or vice versa. Hence 4"x6" prints are the most common size for proofs as they capture the entire negative or sensor and otherwise known as "full frame". The problem arises when a client orders an 8"x10", 11"x14" or 16"x20" print from a file where the subject in the photograph is closer to the edge of the "full frame". An 8"x10" will crop off a good portion of an 8"x12", and thus part of the subject. We certainly can't sell a print with part of the subject missing just because it fits in a standard off the shelf frame, right? (11"x14" is a crop of a full frame 12"x18", 16"x20" is a crop of a 16"x24" etc) Good luck finding an 8"x12" frame on the shelf at your local Wal-mart or Zellers too. You CAN find them at places like Don's Photo, or specialty frame shops, but they can be pricey and not available in as many styles as 8"x10" frames. It really drives me nuts as a photographer. It's kinda like why do you get 10 hot dogs in a package, and only 8 buns in a bag?? Go Figure.

Here are a couple of images to help illustrate my point. It's my hope that you will be able to understand the reasons why you might get an 8"x12" print when you thought you ordered and 8"x10". (NOTE: I normally try and communicate this to you in when you order one these enlargements and it has to be printed full frame)

Here's a "full frame" image. It will print just as you see here in all the "full frame" sizes. (I used 8"x12" as an example)

And here's what happens to the same image when it's cropped for an 8"x10" print. Not acceptable is it? In this case, I would need to print this image in all the standard full frame sizes.

I'm trying to source and will hopefully stock a basic 8"x12" frame which will alleviate this issue for our clients in the future. I'll post up once we have something in inventory.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me!

2007 SIR Season Comes to an End

2007-09-12T06:58:00.001-07:00

It's always disappointing to see the Saskatchewan drag racing scene come to the end of another season. However there is no doubt one of my personal favorite SIR events is the season final Stock/Super Stock combo race, (Be at SIR this weekend September 15/16). Unfortunately it seems that the S/SS car count at this race declines each year. I suspect that there will come a day when you'll only see the S/SS's perform at a major divisional, national open or national event, none of which are hosted in Saskatchewan. When the average Super Stock racer is dropping six figures + to be competitive, it's no wonder they're not wanting to travel for fame alone. I suspect there's just not enough incentive to flog these cars at the smaller events. Kinda sucks, but that's the way the game is played today.

I'm not sure about you, but I blinked and it's fall! The summer of 2007 will be remembered in a number of different ways for different folks, but we sure had a lot of fun once again. One of the many highlights was catching up with two childhood buddies in Calgary in August. Since the three of us reside in B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan respectively, it's not like it's easy to connect in person any more. It's been 14 years since we got together with our families so a commemorative snapshot of the BOYS with their boys in the hotel room was absolutely necessary. I think the "big BOYS" have all aged gracefully, no? (time has also erased the memory of what the three of us were doing the night before the pic in 1993, but from the "looks" of the photo, it probably shouldn't have been an all-nighter!! We're waaay smarter now eh!)

The HEMI Has Landed

2007-07-27T07:05:00.000-07:00

The testosterone was pumpin' last night upon the arrival of the motor-vation for project "HEMI NIGHTMARE"! Let me say that this is one serious looking piece of aluminum and iron, but mostly more than 500 cubes of legendary Kieth Black aluminum. Listen closely on the video and you'll hear that this monster, er, elephant, er, motor, is rated at 300hp. I think there's some sand-baggin' goin' on! More details on this at a later date, till then, enjoy the "arrival vid"!

Gone Fishn' Back Soon!

2007-07-25T11:47:00.000-07:00

Not exactly goin' fishn' (I might get to see a whale or two!!), but we are giving the hard working NITROIMAGE staff some time off and heading on a non-motorsports holiday. The NITROIMAGE Photography offices will be closed immediately after SIR's point's race #6, Sunday July 29, through Friday August 10. We will re-open on Saturday August 11 when we visit SIR for the Fastest Street Car Shoot-out sponsored by Performance Plus. The SIR points race #5 and #6 gallery and the FSCS and SIR points race #7 gallery will not be posted until the third week in August.

Please note that all orders placed during our time away from the office will be filled upon our return, but won't be shipped until the end of August, or delivered until the SIR Alcohol Funny Car and Wheelstanders race Saturday August 25.

I'll be sure to send you a postcard!!

Blair

One Wheel FOUND!

2007-07-19T14:27:00.000-07:00

Of course that's all I needed, finally! After a number of dead ends, and dead beat sellers who wouldn't ship across the country, I have a wheel on route and on the way! I have been less than motivated to get the new suspension in and bolted up because I had no shoes to put on it, but once I get the new (used) wheel refreshed to match the other three, watch me go! I hope! Well, time will be an issue for me now.

The countdown to the Kambusters event is underway, and the club has kindly extended an invitation for me to attend all three days of activities starting with Friday nights cruze, into Saturday's show-n-shine and competitors racing only through Sundays full blown show at the municipal airport! WOW talk about a full slate! It's gonna be another blistering weekend, but I'm coming prepared this year, I HOPE!

Our July 1st celebration was a few weeks ago now, but with all the chatter in the Regina area about banning residential fire pits, I wanted to show you how we do it around here... yeah that's right, BIG! When the neighbors complain about our backyard fire-pits, we just torch their vehicles, roast some wienies and 'shallows. Really, though, no one complains around here!

July's First (post)

2007-07-16T21:53:00.000-07:00

WOW, time flies by when your not paying attention! Our Saskatchewan drag racing season is in full swing so my free time has been spent at SIR, the short version of Saskatchewan International Raceway. I've had an awesome time to date, and am looking forward to the next event already. But as usual, before I know it the season will come to an end and I'll be complaining about another long, cold winter... but enough about that already!

The next event on the NITROIMAGE calendar is the 4th annual Kambusters 1/8 mile race in Yorkton Saskatchewan, this weekend, July 20-22. Friday night kicks off the weekend long event with an organized cruze down the streets of Yorkton, Saturday brings on the show-n-shine, and the racing begins and ends on Sunday in what is shaping up to be another weather perfect weekend. Just how do these guys get such awesome weather baffles me, but it doesn't matter, just as long as it's not as hot, hot, hot like last year!

Those of you who have a copy of my latest b-card know that I do not photograph weddings. Nor do I often photograph people in portrait type settings, but I did agree to capture a couple of friends' graduating young adults. Now I'm no portrait photog (right James!) but I sure did have a good time working with these subjects and I think I managed to get a few good images. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the time, but I'm still not going to take on the wedding market!

Salt Lake City, Utah

2007-06-20T21:42:00.000-07:00

Well I'm finally recovering from the West Coast Pro Mod Associations season opening race at Rocky Mountain Raceway in Salt Lake City, Utah last Saturday. I traveled with my good friend Wallyguy, who coordinated the purchase of a brand new race car in SLC with the race at RMR. Sorry I have been sworn to secrecy, so there are no pics of it available at this time. However, you will get to see it debut at SIR's jet car race on Saturday, where he will be licensing.

The trip was a ton of fun but I have a feeling that Wallyguy will try and spin some lies, remember, that's what they are, just lies! Come see me if you are looking for the real story. It was pretty cool hanging in the Pro Mod pits when I wasn't at the guardrail in +100f temps. What a treat watching Tim and Dan Vogt compete against each other in the final, Dan piloting the Vogt Bros. Racing Corvette, while Tim was driving the brand new McAmis built '07 Corvette for Snavely Motorsports based in Montana. What an amazing race car, complete with all the latest drag racing techno gear you can think of and more, including computer controlled rear shocks!! NO KIDDING! The final saw Tim trying to chase down Dan in the Snavely car in what was a nail biting bit of sideways driving. YIKES! When the smoke cleared, Dan had nailed the WCMPA season opening win! What a treat to say the least.

I also got to meet Dale Pulde who was in attendance helping one of the nitro funny car teams. Don't remember Dale?? Remember the War Eagle top fuel funny car from the early 80's? I do! Why? Well because one of my favorite drag racing photographs was of this car, not in action, but in a static double exposure shot at night, where you could see the chassis through the body, and the car was running with flames shooting out of the headers! I have always wanted to know who the photographer was on that shoot, and I got my chance to ask Dale on Saturday. He explained how the shot was set up, and then said the photog was Whit Bazemore! I knew Whit was a photog before landing a gig as a driver, but I didn't know he shot one of my all time favorite drag images! Thanks Dale!

Weekend's Work

2007-06-11T05:45:00.000-07:00

Between yard work, house work and a busy lacrosse weekend, I did find some time to work on the Monte Carlo. I have about half of the front end components cleaned up and detailed. I still have to dismantle the upper control arms and get them media blasted and powder coated before I'm ready to install all the polyurethane bushings and new balljoints. Actually the sequence will be media blasting, installation of bushings, ball joints, taping off of bushings, ball joints, powder coating. The interior has also received some updating, as I detailed all the factory faux wood-grain panels. Well the wood grain panels disappeared about 20 years ago as I painted all of them white to match the body color, it was chic then I guess. I was never struck on that look, so I disassembled all of the panels and changed the color to semi-flat (or is that semi-gloss??) charcoal/dark grey with a hint of metallic. I like this look sooo much better now! Could be a few weeks until the next Monte Carlo installment since I'm really busy with other events. I'm liking this project, as I have no real deadlines to get it back on the road for.

Regina Wheel Works have 3 of my wheels completed and they are gorgeous! I have followed up numerous leads on wheels in the past few weeks to no avail, (see previous installment, ONE WHEEL DOWN to find out why) and have found one (two) in Wisconsin. Hopefully this lead will pan out!

Road Trip

2007-06-09T07:17:00.000-07:00

I'm stoked! I have received media credentials to shoot the season opening event for the West Coast Pro Mod Association during the annual "Fuel and Fire" show at Rocky Mountain Raceways near Salt Lake City June 16. This will be Tim Vogt's debut (Vogt Bros. Racing, Regina) in the Snavely Motorsports Corvette after inking a deal this past winter/spring. This will also be my first visit to RMR, and my first WCPM event. I'm looking forward to a road trip since I couldn't make it out to the Canadian West coast for the Mission LODRS race this year. Good chance there will be a brand new NITROIMAGE WCPM gallery once we return!

One Wheel Down

2007-05-25T06:56:00.000-07:00

Years ago, I installed a set of first gen 16"x8" Camaro IROC wheels on the 'Carlo. It took a little bit of figuring in the day to make them fit, but living with a machinist at the time had it's benefits. I have always liked the look of this wheel. In todays world of BLING and DUBS, ("dude, diggn' u'r Big Homies"... aaach) there still isn't another wheel I would like more except a set of these. No substitutes please, hands down, the Fikse wheel is one of the finest aftermarket wheels manufactured. BUT, for the price of a small compact car, I can't justify the cost for a set (if you have to ask you can't afford it, trust me, I asked). The compact car would be more fuel efficient anyway! I had the wheels painted to match the car and I liked the look back then. Today, I'm feeling the look is dated, so off to Regina Wheel Works they went this week with instructions to restore the factory machined aluminum finish, and I'll change the color of the areas on the wheel that are semi-flat black to anthracite (deep charcoal).

Gord of Regina Wheel Works got right to work on them but he found one of the fronts (the front and rears have different offsets) was previously repaired, and not repaired very well. The wheel is a little out-of-round, and is not salvageable. It's been on the car for over 20 years, and I guess since it really never went anywhere, I never knew. Oh well, the search is now on for a replacement. If you've got one that looks similar to the sample on the right (or a pair) let me know!

A Couple Of Days In The Garage

2007-05-21T12:44:00.000-07:00

I have had a few "specialty" vehicles over the years, but nothing much to really brag about. From a '68 Chevelle, a couple of '70's Camaros ('73, '77), a '68 Ford 1/2 ton with a tilt front end, a '65 Meteor lowrider and even a '74 Corvette (small block 4 spd). Probably a couple of more, but nothing worth mentioning. Some more fun than others, one or two I wish I could have back (don't we all have a "one that got away" story). But for more than 20 years, I have had this 1984 Monte Carlo SS. It was a one owner low mile all original Sask car when I bought it. The plan was it was going to be my daily driver way back when, but I couldn't stand to drive it through the winter, so I never did. I lowered it with Bell Tech Spindles, KYB shocks, poly everything and added a set of 16" IROC wheels. I drove it a bit , but It has mostly been stored since, been for sale once or twice but I don't think I have been very serious about moving it out. Other priorities and commitments meant that I didn't really have much time for the car, I probably still don't, but yesterday, I brought it home from storage anyway. Not much has changed on this car in a long time, It still has it's original H.O. 305 (oooooh... aaaaahhh) and auto trans, but I did install a disc brake 9" Ford a few years ago. I was never really happy with the front suspension after I installed the dropped spindles, and I have changed front coils more times than I care to admit trying to find the right combination of ride height and ride quality (and let me tell you changing coils in this thing is one of the grunty-est jobs on this damn car). I really like QA1's coil over conversion shocks, and I'm ready-ing the front end in preparation for a pair of these. After a couple of hours this morning, the front suspension is now disassembled, and will get a little clean up and detailing, new ball joints, poly control arm bushings (would really like tubular control arms but not for $1k a set, YIKES) The wheels are going to get refreshed, and I'm gonna get this thing on the road, drive it hard and enjoy it! Well ok, I'll drive it as hard as an H.O. 305 will wind out... at least I won't get into trouble, I'm too old for trouble anyway! It's good to get dirty again!

Countdown To The SIR Season Opener

2007-05-16T21:50:00.000-07:00

With the 2007 drag racing season fast approaching, I know of a number of garages that are in full wrenching mode in preparation for the SIR season opener. I had a chance to visit with one such racer last night, who showed me a new gaseous power adder (can you guess what it is??) to his already potent 9 sec 8-71 blown big block Chevy. "I'm thinking this thing might just scare the hell out of me, but it will be fun!" Spoken like a true motorhead! This WILL be fun, watch for it at the season opener.

The parts are rolling in for project Hemi Nightmare (I made that up, there isn't a name for the project, but I think "nightmare" is fitting, and besides, I'm pretty good at making things up). From the Flaming River rack, QA1 coil overs, Willwood discs front and rear, to the tubular control arms and the rest of the bits and pieces of suspension components, it was like Christmas at another shop the other day. The car is on the rotisserie and stuff is gonna start happening pretty soon, I'll keep you updated as this project rolls along.

And speaking of fun, here's the kind of fun you can have when you have your very own stock car and enough property to take 'er out for a boot, er, test, yeah, that's it, we're just testing... Please, do not try this around your block!!

This Ain't Drag Racing!

2007-05-08T05:55:00.000-07:00

But boy are these kids having fun! The Speedy Creek season opener kicked off on Sunday with more than a bing, bang, boom, and the "new" car has the scrapes and ding's to prove it! A lot of hours were spent in the last week making changes after the test-n-tune of April 29, but it appears it was time well spent. The re-worked front suspension and installation of power steering helped to get the Charger through the corners better than before. The new cooling ducts helped keep the 360 from losing it's cool, and the re-worked wiring (thanks Chuck!) helped keep the spark where it did the most good! There is no question this is ONE DIRTY sport! I couldn't help but get caught up in the action when I had a personal fav running flat out bumper to bumper, door to door through the mucky banked corners, and although Brysen failed to finish the Hobby feature as a result of a string of tire failures, there is no doubt this 15 year old has an inherent driving skill that will see him in the winners circle in no time. The real treat was to see the old dog get behind the wheel for the Hobby Stock crew-chief's race. It's apparent that this once dominant dirt-track racer hasn't lost the driving touch, as he wheeled the overweight (get sideways in front of this girl and you're gonna get hurt!) NITRO IMAGE sponsored (major sponsors welcome) #4 Mopar into the winners circle once again! Nice work Felix! Oh, and on a side note, not one headlight got broken even through the bumps and scrapes. I am impressed!

Illusions

2007-04-28T07:05:00.000-07:00

I have been helping (mostly getting in the way I think) on the Bert Family Racing machine most evenings this past week. I have never been close to "stock car" racing, and in fact, I'll confess that I haven't had much interest in it ever for a number of reasons. As a kid in the 70's, I remember watching on my bike as one beat up metal carcass after another would flat tow down Winnipeg St. on Sundays to KPS (Kings Park Speedway) To me, that wasn't how a performance car should be treated, but at the time I didn't understand the concept and never took the time to figure it out till just a few short years ago. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not gonna be gettin' myself a stock car, I have no where near the resources to get into this sport, as I realized this week getting in the way at the Bert shop. I can see however how this dirt racing can be too much fun! You'll see a shot of the "young gun", "rookie", "left-turn-learner" in the "video". You should see this kid smile!

I was responsible for getting the grille and headlight assemblies installed correctly, and let me tell you on a car this bent up, it was a challenge... it took me two weeks but I think I got it right though, as everything lines up pretty good! I told the "kid" he better not smash the headlights or break the grilles, there's not many of them lying around anymore. HUH? What?? The mint assemblies are gonna get busted out on the first lap??? Say it ain't sooo! Is it live, or is it Memorex?? Neither, just an illusion!

Oh yeah, I thought I'd try out the neat video feature on my point and shoot, and captured the maiden voyage out of the shop, make sure you click on "video". Hey it's my first ever video upload, go easy!

This Weeks Dirt

2007-04-15T20:49:00.000-07:00

I must admit, that the last few years my motorsports interests have really broadened, and that's a result of some of the great people that I have gotten to know. One of those who has become a good friend, is a former stock car racer who dominated the dirt in superstock racing in southern Saskatchewan with a number of Cuda's and Dusters during the 70's through to the early 80's. As with most, the time and commitment to continue to be competitive and the focus on family and business, resulted in a hiatus of sorts, but the dirt was always in the blood. Fast-forward to 2007 and a new breed is being hatched in a shop near here. Now with a son ready to learn the left-turn-dirty, and carry on the winning Mopar tradition with an entry level street-stock 1973 Charger, it's gonna be a pretty exciting summer ... There's some thrashing going on to prepare for the Speedy Creek season opening test-n-tune at the end of the month, so don't get in the way! I'll keep you updated as a pair of NITROIMAGE Photography decals will live on the side of another race car !

It never ceases to amaze me what length a motor-head will go to realize their dream project. I'm close to the build of what will be one of the most wicked street Mopars in Saskatchewan. I've been told that the 700hp 426 Hemi and 4spd overdrive trans has been ordered, the Dana 60 is in the shop awaiting the final rotating assembly, and the body of one minty 4dr 1965 Coronet has been meticulously converted to a 2dr sedan! Lots of work yet till this one smokes the rubber on the 16" or 17" Torque Thrusts, but let me tell you that it's gonna be W-I-C-K-E-D!

Draggins Car Show

2007-04-07T09:40:00.000-07:00

I've been attending the annual Draggins Easter weekend car show semi-regularly since 1980 and this year was no exception. For a motor-head like me, it kicks off a new season after a long, cold, good old cooped-up Saskatchewan winter. I have always enjoyed car shows, but now if I had a choice, I would prefer an outdoor display over an indoor one. Granted, there weren't very many outdoor show-n-shines or organized cruises 25 years ago like there are today. The annual Saskatoon Draggins Car Club's show and Regina Majestics Car Club's show, a few weeks later are still fun to check out.

This year, the Draggins was not at the Credit Union Center, moving back to the Prairie Land Park Exhibition Grounds just like the first Draggins car show I attended in 1980 (my '68 Chevelle pictured here, was sparkling, "dig the metalflake dude", ready to hit the highway to S'toon for my very first Draggins roadtrip). I always liked the CUC in terms of the ambiance of the two level show. You just can't beat a presentation like that. I'm not sure of the the name of the building the Draggins show was in this year, but it was clean, brightly painted and well lit, so the atmosphere was nice. I did find it very crowded, and my good buddy Mity and I arrived just after the doors opened on Friday!(good for the Draggins!) There was the usual great variety of automotive genre's exhibited, I thought some first class builds and of course the latest "trends" like 'em or not. But the one thing that kinda bugged me in all the metal-n-chrome, were the number of vendor booths that seem to be infiltrating the indoor car show scene. Now don't get me wrong, I'm all about automotive paraphernalia, but I noted that these industries are occupying a lot of finite floor space at an indoor event undoubtedly limiting the number of automotive entries on the would-like-to-get-in list. Yeah I know they pay handsomely to peddle their wares, but when one vendor seems to sell similar trinkets, t-shirts, patches, decals and diecast like the next, it makes me wonder. Oh by the way, I love automotive art, but really, who's showing up at a car show to purchase a framed print priced in the thousands?? Maybe I'm just out to lunch, what do you think?

SIR was well represented once again with a number of over-horsepowered (I made that word up) vehicles in their display organized by Kurt and Pat Schultz along with a separate Street Legal display, thanks to Grant Miller, good job folks! I'm looking forward to Majestics in a couple of weeks!

Oh and btw, happy "Five OH (oh)" to my pals Mr. Graff and Mr. Daly... I know you dudes wanted the world to know!

My Contribution

2007-04-03T16:17:00.000-07:00

Living Sky Magazine editor Christine Lyon sent me a couple of copies of the latest issue of their mag the other day (thanks Christine!). Christine has been a great friend to SIR recently and has really stepped up the exposure in her magazine. We were introduced last year, and I have contributed images as often as possible in an effort to do my part to support SIR. You'll find a full page photo-graphic SIR schedule published in the latest copy. I'm particularly fond of the photography... and the graphics! Available free in and around the Saskatoon area.

The First Installment

2007-04-02T21:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the first installment of the NITROIMAGE Chronicals... we might as well begin with our latest trip to the Calgary Saddledome this past weekend for another rip-roaring NLL game, that's National Lacrosse League for the uninitiated... between the hometown Roughnecks vs the Portland Lumberjacks. It was cool chattin with team captain Tracey Kelusky in the lobby of the Delta, the official hotel of the Roughnecks before the game. Although he wasn't exactly jovial considering their loss to the Lumberjacks by one point in Portland on Friday night. Tracey did say that they would produce a win and he made true to his promise as it was quite enjoyable watching them pound the Lumberjacks into the Saddledome floor with a 21-11 whoopin' later that night to a hometown crowd of 12,000 ppl!!

I snapped a couple of pics of the boys and the team on the floor during the autograph session with our Canon point-n-shoot, as "professional cameras" were strictly prohibited!

Kaleb Toth, a hero of the young Alderton, after his 99th professional game shown here with, of course, the young Alderton!