Shrinking Universe

SCCA Double Nationals at Pacific Raceways, 5-24-09

noreply@blogger.com (ArminAusejo.com) — Tue, 26 May 2009 05:49:00 +0000

Special thanks to Joey for letting me chill with his crew and getting me on the track! Congrats on the 4th place finish despite the brake problems the day before! I'm looking forward to shooting on the track again.

All the pics: http://verdugo.smugmug.com/gallery/8335386_tMiam

Joey:

We weren't sure if this was anyone on NASIOC:

Badass Civic:

The Corvettes sounded super sick:

Got lip?

Some Formula Mazdas and a few others in the mix:

Being sponsored by Microsoft's gotta pay off...this Porsche was stupid fast:

Badass Cobra:

Go get 'em, Joey!

Time goes by too fast

noreply@blogger.com (ArminAusejo.com) — Wed, 06 May 2009 23:53:00 +0000

I swear, every time I figure it's time to put up a new blog post, I realize I'm at least a month behind. Argh! Anyway, quite a few new pics since the last set:

Erik and Tana's Engagement Ceremony

The Quad 2009

Mariners vs. Tigers, 4-19-09

Sakura Con 2009

Burger Madness Meet

New Photos of the M-Thrizzle

Smugmug Reorganizing and Photos from March

noreply@blogger.com (ArminAusejo.com) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 19:55:00 +0000

I don't know exactly what brought it on, but I did some reorganizing on my Smugmug, and probably will continue to do so at random intervals. I think it's for the best though, to make everything a little more organized. The big thing I did was reorganize the Events gallery, breaking it up into subcategories that should make things easier to find:

http://verdugo.smugmug.com/Events

I also lumped all my landscape photography into the big "Landscape" category:

http://verdugo.smugmug.com/Landscapes

As far as photography goes, here's a quick run-down:

Proper 275/30/19 tires on the Red Car

Bond of Bellevue Car Show

Project One PasMag Shoot

Alpers-Merani Engagement Party

That oughta do it for now...I'll be taking photos at the Northwest Nissans Annual Meet this weekend!

Armin

Rylan-Gabriel's Baptism and the Red Brick Road

noreply@blogger.com (ArminAusejo.com) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 01:13:00 +0000

This winter has been rather harsh for the Seattle area. We've had snow off and on and the weather overall just hasn't been very nice to photographers such as myself. Nevertheless, I do have some highlights from the past month or so. The first one is Rylan-Gabriel's Baptism. Shooting indoors in low light is always a bit tricky, and I wish I had remembered to borrow Eugene's D300 because of its lack of noise at high ISO.

All the photos: http://verdugo.smugmug.com/gallery/7174066_kTH7U

Selected:

Amazingly, a few weeks later the skies opened up and we actually had 60-degree weather! I gave the Bimmer a quick wash (even washing off ice from the night before) and headed out to the Old Red Brick Road in Redmond to meet up with a few Subaru peeps for photos. Here are a few photos of James' WRX and my M3 after that:

Blow

noreply@blogger.com (ArminAusejo.com) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 06:47:00 +0000

No, I'm not talking about cocaine in the blog title...but instead I've got some photos from the December snow storms here in Seattle and some new car photos. First off, the snow...from about the beginning of December and through the rest of the month, it was stupid cold. Berto's birthday was the first snow we saw, but it just got worse after that. It was so bad in fact that I missed a number of days from work because I simply couldn't get out of my driveway! AWD is nice but it doesn't matter when you're rolling on a few inches of ice. It was quite literally the worst snow Seattle has seen since the early 1990s. This is what I'm talking about:

All the snow photos: http://verdugo.smugmug.com/gallery/6898396_tKtx4

Selected:

During a break in the snow storms, I was able to head down to San Diego and spend time with my family for Christmas. It was only 4 days, but when I got back to Seattle, it snowed yet again. Uber lame.

Anyway, as the new year came, all the snows melted (except for one last hurrah on January 4th) and by the next weekend, I was back taking photos of cars again. My cousin Wence just bought our friend Fook's WRX, and Shaun came out to take photos with his S14 as well. I used this opportunity to debut my new watermark for 2009 to match my website:

All the photos: http://verdugo.smugmug.com/gallery/7076689_kZsb3

Selected:

Rylan's Baptism is this coming weekend, so I'll be sure to take some good photos for the de Leon family :)

Berto's Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (ArminAusejo.com) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:18:00 +0000

One probably couldn't ask for a better venue for a birthday. My friend Berto got the hook up on this nice recording studio to hold a private birthday party with about 100 of his closest friends. With a $10 cover going to fight autism, we had an open bar and just had to tip the bartenders. Berto asked me to shoot photos of the event to make sure he remembered the event and I think they all came out pretty good. It even snowed that night so we got some photos in the snowfall!

All the photos: http://verdugo.smugmug.com/gallery/6834466_voRsM

Selected photos:

Good times and good friends...happy birthday, Berto!

Stupid Subaru Owner: The Sage Continues!

noreply@blogger.com (ArminAusejo.com) — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 01:11:00 +0000

Hahaha this is great. After somehow getting linked to my blog regarding his rather short-minded extortion scheme, Mr. "CJ" has attempted to leave a couple threatening comments here on my blog, one of which I've published. I just recently received this message from him on MySpace:

From:
CJ Unit 328
myspace.com/cjfranger

Date:
Dec 12, 2008 1:32 PM

Subject:

whats up scammer

Body:
thats right i'm going to advertise that your a scammer with any type of work you do. Why, because you want to post that shit up on your blog about my personal problems you piece of shit. so for now on everything i have on the internet including sigs will have your info stating your a scammer. enjoy you piece of shit.

To which, I promptly responded with "Haha awesome! More fodder to post up! Thanks!"

I'm sure MySpace will love this abuse report, since making threats like this will most likely get him into more trouble in Virginia. What, are you trying to extort ME now? Hahahaha...good luck with that. My reputation precedes me just as much as yours does.

What am I thankful for?

noreply@blogger.com (ArminAusejo.com) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 21:02:00 +0000

"Thank you for direct-port nitrous injection, four-core intercoolers, ball-bearing turbos, and titanium valve springs." -- Jesse from The Fast and the Furious

I think I make a blog post about this every year, and well...it's that time again, so here we go. I'm thankful for...

...my family. I love my family very much. This year I've had almost a reawakening of how much my family means to me and how much they play a role in my life. A lot of this reawakening is thanks to my brother after his family's visit with us last August. It's not just my immediate or extended family either...it's the family of being of Filipino descent and the culture that's been passed down from generation to generation. Our Filipino ways have molded the way I am today, and the way I see the world as well. That isn't to say that growing up here in the United States hasn't shaped me either, just that being raised Filipino gives me a unique perspective that most other people can't really relate with.

...my friends, particularly the regular barcada that I hang with most of the time: Wence, Gabe, Hubert, Carlos, Kyle, Edelmar, Eugene, Alex, Sasha, Derrick, Ryan, and Nicoli. These guys are some of the best friends anyone could ask for. As much as they like to make me feel old all the time, they make me feel young at the same time.

...Garret, Dan, Wayde, Jeff, Esther, and everyone involved with World One that makes this an awesome place to work. Despite the hard times that the industry has been facing lately, it's my faith and friendships with my co-workers that keeps me optimistic about everything.

...Project One, the best car club and fellow car enthusiasts around. You guys really are the best, I wouldn't ask for any other different teammates to be friends with.

...Josh, Ryan, and anyone else associated with my photography. Even to this day they serve as a sort of inspiration and motivation to keep shooting and learning.

...Rock Band and Rock Band 2, for expanding my musical tastes and horizons. I don't think I'd be listening to Rush at all if it wasn't for Rock Band!

...Blue Scholars, who put on the absolute best performance at the Sasquatch Music Festival and being a voice that I can very much relate with thanks to our shared heritage and upbringing.

...The Cure, for finally putting out their bast album since 1992's "Wish." It's about damn time.

...Kristen Bell who plays "Elle" on "Heroes." I just think she's hot...haha

...Mary Ann and JayR for having such a CUTE baby!

I think that just about covers the main stuff. If I end up thinking of more, I'll post up for sure.

Tex's Ultimate RXinfx and Rolling Shots of Erich's Ings+1 WRX

noreply@blogger.com (ArminAusejo.com) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 21:00:00 +0000

My good friend Tex (aka "SubaruTex" on NASIOC) had me take some photos of his RX this past weekend. Fast car in great shape! I was most impressed :)

NOTE: I used a Velvia Film style action for most of these shots in order to oversaturate the blues a little. Tex wanted these pics to be a little more "artsy" so the action was nice and subtle way to accomplish that.

All the pics: http://verdugo.smugmug.com/gallery/6643822_8PcHZ

Selected:

Mod List:

1987 Subaru RX 3 Door

Engine/Drivetrain:
- EJ20G from JDM Legacy
- Haltech E6K
- Perrin BCS
- SS/XS power TMIC
- Cobb Cast Bellmouth downpipe
- Custom 3" exhaust w/ Flowmaster Muffler
- 5spd AWD 4.11 short ratio transmission
- Modified Transmission Crossmember
- Excedy Sport Clutch
- Hydraulic Clutch Conversion (car was originally cable)
- 4.11 Viscous LSD Rear Differential
- Group N Motor and Transmission mounts
- Go Fast Bits BOV
- Prodrive Y-Pipe
- Modified EA Radiator w/ Dual 12" Fans
- google.com Tune 175whp/200ft.lbs.

Suspension/Brakes:
- Full 5 Lug Conversion from XT6 (car was originally 4x140)
- XT6 Brakes front and rear
- XT6 Struts front and rear
- XT6 Swaybars front and rear
- RS 6 Spoke Alloys w/ 215/45R16 Falken Azenis

Exterior:
- Custom WRB Paint
- Last gold factory Decal set
- Last gold factory grill emblem
- Custom Widened Hood hump w/ mounting for 02/03 Scoop
- Carbon Hoodscoop (Eva-00 Take Off)

Interior:
- JDM GF Front Seats
- Custom Suede door panels
- Prodrive Shift Knob
- Custom Installed 6.5" Diamond Components w/ 10" Diamond Sub
- Pioneer HU
- Alpine Flex4 amp

Erich came with Tex and I to shoot Tex's car, and we had some extra time before the sun went down so we got some rolling shots of his WRX. This car was the top Subaru trophy-winner this 2008 car show season up here in the Northwest, so big congrats to him and all of Project One for a successful year :)

More photos of Erich's car: http://verdugo.smugmug.com/gallery/1877129_gT5uV

Video of Erich's car: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWoD9O67y00

Erich's modlist: http://www.prjct1.com/erich.php

And for those of you who want to know how to accomplish pics like these...it goes a little something like this... :rotfl: Thanks to Monica for the pic!

Quite possibly THE dumbest Subaru owner, ever.

noreply@blogger.com (ArminAusejo.com) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 01:50:00 +0000

My close friends and good customers of mine know that I tend to complain a lot about Subaru owners. Yes yes, we're all part of the wonderful Subaru community (and I really do mean that without any sarcasm), but every now and then, we'll get a e-thug or just a completely unreasonable Subaru owner that manages to piss everyone off. Anyway, on ClubWRX Off-Topic, I came across a thread that definitely takes the cake thus far for being completely and utterly stupid. Here is a link to the thread, but if you're not a registered member of ClubWRX, you can't see it:

http://www.clubwrx.net/forums/off-topic/134307300-moderators-admins.html

For those of you who aren't registered, I'll break down what transpires. The original post:

need my account banned. 04Adrenaline is also viaburn26 and C89ZX7R. thank you.

When asked why, he posts this:

sorry just so emotionally distressed right now due to the fact of a accidental felony charge i got the other morning so now i'm going around deleteing all my crap.

Which of course spurs the question:

how does one get an accidental felony charge?

After some investigating by my astute ClubWRX colleagues, we track down the guy's local forum, which leads to this link:

http://www.wric.com/Global/story.asp?s=9374230

That's right...his "accidental felony" was for trying to extort money from a grocery store chain! Best quote from the article from the police spokesperson:

"He didn't mention a specific dollar amount, he just said make me an offer type of thing, so they made him an offer, and he showed up and we arrested him."

HAHAHAHAHA! Words cannot describe how ridiculous this situation is, and how incredibly short-sighted this person is. What could he have possibly been thinking? This is probably the most epic fail I've read about in recent memory.

To Video Blog, or NOT to Video Blog?

noreply@blogger.com (ArminAusejo.com) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:47:00 +0000

To Video Blog, or NOT to Video Blog? That is the question. Since I got my new Macbook Pro, I now have a built-in iSight camera that has worked pretty well for video chats with my brother and his family. Obviously, I can use it to create video blogs (amongst other things), but would it be worth it? Is anyone going to care if they read a blog or if they actually want to see a video of me saying stuff? Please add a comment and let me know!

On another note, tomorrow is the photography seminar that Josh and I are hosting. I've tested out the projector and it looks like we're pretty much set. That said, I completely forgot to post up my photos of Patrick's car that I took at the first seminar. Here are a few noteworthy ones:

Finally, you'll notice that I changed the title of this blog to "Shrinking Universe," at least on my ArminAusejo.com blog and on MySpace. Why the reason for the change? Well, "Armin's Photo Blog" was pretty boring and I wanted something that symbolized how big things in our world, whether it be photos, politics, science, among others, can affect us in a more specific, personal matter...hence, the universe is shrinking. "Shrinking Universe" is a namesake from Muse's song of the same name, from the Hullabaloo Soundtrack. The song was also used in the trailer for the movie, "28 Weeks Later".

Anyway, let me know what you think about the video blogging!

Just One

noreply@blogger.com (ArminAusejo.com) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:18:00 +0000

With the weather turning for the worse (as is usually the case here the in the Seattle area), I had enough of a break to take one nice photo of my 08 STI before the rains came:

This also leads me to a photo class that my good friend Josh Mackey and I will be teaching on November 15th:

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1617942

Space is limited, but it should be a good time for those who can make it :)

Brian and Kaitlyn's Wedding, 9/13/08

noreply@blogger.com (ArminAusejo.com) — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 00:50:00 +0000

My good friend Brian got married last Saturday, and I happily volunteered to take some photos. I was not the hired photographer for the event, which left me very stress-free and happy to just mess around. Here's a few of the good ones:

All photos can be found here: http://verdugo.smugmug.com/gallery/6004631_XXAGy

Birthday Wishlist!

noreply@blogger.com (ArminAusejo.com) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 04:07:00 +0000

Well, it's less than a month to my birthday (October 10th) and my parents already asked what I want. Since I always tend to forget about these kind of things, I figured this is a prime spot to list it. Please keep in mind this is a WISHLIST! Chances are I probably won't get even one of these...haha. In no particular order...

The NEW Apple Macbook Pro -- Allegedly being release on October 14th, this would seriously be the best, most awesome birthday present I could get this year. My trusty Powerbook G4 is starting to show its age, but the past 3 years have been awesome. Moving over to OSX was the best decision I made in my geekdom, both from a productivity standpoint and from a reliability standpoint. But, with the new software available now, everything needs to run on faster hardware...such is the life of computers, and there's not much one can really do about it. If I want to become faster and more efficient in my photo processing, a faster machine is pretty much a necessity.

Nikon D300 DSLR Body -- I honestly thought long and hard about it...D3? D700? As badass as both of these cameras might be, the fact that I have 3 lenses that work best on a DX sensor pretty much logically dictates that the D300 is the best camera body upgrade for me. I played around with Eugene's D300 one night and I was completely surprised how much of an improvement it was over my D200. Plus, if I'm going to be shooting weddings, a second body is definitely going to be necessary. Of course, this kind of puts me into a chicken/egg situation, since the software I'll need to process D300 RAW files either 1) runs relatively slow on my current Powerbook G4 (Lightroom 2) or I simply don't have and need to get (Adobe CS3 or the upcoming CS4), which in turn will also run relatively slow. I'm also running out of disk space, which then leads me to...

MyBook Studio Edition II -- 2 terabytes of RAID storage goodness. I learned back in grad school that a person's entire lifetime can be captured on compressed video within 1 TB, so I'm pretty certain 2 TB will be more than enough for my storage needs for awhile. This one is almost more of a necessity than a new Macbook...I only have 20GB or so left on my Macbook and if I'm going to be doing a lot more photos (especially weddings) with a 12 megapixel D300, I'm going to need that storage space. Don't you hate it when things all tie together?

Sony Ericsson W960i or Sony Ericsson P1i -- I've been asked a number of times by different people why I don't have an iPhone yet. Well, besides the fact that I'm quite happy with my T-Mobile service and plan, I still very much love my Sony Ericsson W810i! It's been a solid phone since I've gotten it, it syncs perfectly with my Mac, signal strength is great, the 2 MP gets the job done, the flashlight is nice and bright, and I've had absolutely zero problems with reliability.

I think that just about wraps it up. I can't think of anything else off the top of my head. I guess we'll see what happens in less than a month!

Adobe Lightroom 2 FTW!

noreply@blogger.com (ArminAusejo.com) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:16:00 +0000

I recently started playing around a bit with Adobe Lightroom 2. This program definitely takes RAW processing to new heights for me. Still using Adobe Photoshop CS2, the amount of things I can do with Lightroom not only cuts down on the steps I take in Photoshop, but it's a whole lot easier too. It does run a bit slow on my aging Powerbook G4, but I think I'll definitely be picking this up when I get a new Macbook Pro :) Some sample photos:

New site redesign, new blog!

noreply@blogger.com (ArminAusejo.com) — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 00:36:00 +0000

Well guys, here it is...I'm moving my main blog posts here to my site, rather than using MySpace anymore. Why? Well, although more people I know are on MySpace (and consequently, Facebook), but using Blogger on my own site gives me much better control over things, and you don't need a MySpace or Facebook account to view it. I decided to go with Blogger since I already had experience with it in the past, and I didn't have to do much configuration on the server side to worry about. w00t!

As for the website, it's a fresh new look, thanks to the template from BluDomain.com. I've gotten some feedback from people already and changed a few things, but how you see it now is how I'm going to keep it, complete with the music. While some people have issues with the music auto playing, it's one click away from turning off and in my opinion, it's part of the complete package. Think what you want, but it's my site after all :) That said, enjoy the entire presentation, especially the photos of course ;)

Armin