It was an overcast Sunday afternoon and for once I had nothing to do so I was contemplating whether to stay at home to start reading a new book that I had recently purchased or venture out and take some shots of the skyline.
After going through various photos on Instagram (I spend far too many hours on there, is there such thing as an Instagram Rehab?) I screenshotted a few photos that had motivated me to get my camera gear out. For me, there’s something so magnetic about Instagram. I know it’s just another social media platform but it’s a source full of endless inspiration and incredible opportunities, plus I love that it can unite different people from all around the world!
I really wanted to get a few shots of my tail lights to mimic one of the photos from my first collection of Stay Driven stickers so after convincing myself that it was time to put my phone down and stop the contemplating, I decided to Stay Driven 滞在ドリブン as the sticker on my car says and just go for it, regardless of the clouds and regardless of how filthy my car was after all the rain we recently had.
Nothing is more enjoyable than the actual journey to the destination so with that in mind I decided to get some decent driving in and take the car up to the National Park at West Head. I knew the gates were closing at 8:30pm (just before sunset) so I had to use my time wisely.
Whilst keeping an eye out for a location, I blasted Flume’s new song with the windows down allowing the cool summer breeze to sweep through my hair. It is so ridiculously long (can you believe I haven’t had a hair cut in over 6 years) that once the wind touches it, it becomes tangled in a huge knot!
After doing a lap whilst attempting to keep my hair out of my face, I found ‘the spot’ and pulled over to the side ensuring both the car and I were positioned in a safe zone as I know how fast people go on this long, open stretch.
I hadn’t taken any one-on-one photos of my skyline in a while so it was nice to test my skills and have some alone time.
As I played around with the manual focus settings (usually I just leave it in AF), I looked up and to my discovery the grey skies had cleared and Sydney had delivered another spectacular sunset like the one I captured last year. If you had me on Snapchat (@Jazzabel) at the time, you would have seen just how incredible both of these sunsets were!
Along with cars, photography has always just been a hobby of mine and I love where it has taken me over the past few years.
It is something that I have become increasingly passionate about and the best part is I get to learn so much along the way.
Getting out and exploring with my camera is always so liberating, despite the challenges I sometimes face as I am self-taught, with still a lot to learn.
Yes I am my own worst critic (I should have stepped down on the above shot) but along with the challenges it pushes me to become better and forces me to step out of my comfort zone and learn more.
I’m looking forward to seeing where it will take me this year and the opportunity for further growth into this particular niche.
It just goes to show that if you stay optimistic and stay driven the results can be astounding. I wanted to take some dark yet vivid visuals of the skyline which focused on the iconic R34 tail lights and I think I achieved what I set out to do.
