Nat Twiss | Nat Twiss | Automotive Photographer

Sep

Wales Rally GB

Yesterday I had the pleasure of going to Wales Rally GB. My first time ever at a rally event of this scale. I’m used to going to the Pirelli International, and the Malcolm Wilson, but this was an entirely different scale.

It was also my first time seeing WRC-level drivers on stage.

Jari-Matti Latvala went on to win the rally today. He came in to SS8 with a huge lead, and acted like the thick fog that was covering the jump section didn’t even exist. Luckily, it cleared up after about half the cars had ran through, making my job much easier.

Sebastian Loeb went on to take the second spot from Petter Solberg on the last day of running, but actually looked quite slow on Halfway, in my opinion. I’d love to see him drive on a day where he’s at his fastest.

Matthew Wilson looked quick over the jumps. I guess growing up in Cumbria has some advantages for this event! He came home in eighth once the event was all over.

I decided to play around with slow shutter speeds partway through SS12. I think some of them came out really well. Recently I’ve been shooting much faster than normal.

I blame the 70-200 2.8, and it’s gorgeous bokeh.

This Skoda, driven by Hayden Patton, was probably one of the most photogenic of the bunch. One of the simplest liveries in the entire field.

With any luck, my full coverage of Wales Rally GB, as well as a tour of the M-Sport and Ford World Rally Team HQ should be coming soon on MotoIQ! Stay tuned!

Aug

The Joy of Re-Editing

Editing images after an event is a funny thing. For me, at least.

It’s actually a huge problem for me. I focus on having a lightning-fast turnaround. But I’m also no Larry Chen. I edit my images, like most photographers do. This means I don’t have time to review every image that I captured during the day; I usually go for the ones most relevant to the post.

This means I miss out on some golden images quite often.

And this is where the re-edit comes in. Although it serves no purpose editorially, I love digging through my archives, looking for those images that you had to ignore on the first edit.

They aren’t necessarily moments of great action – just bits and pieces that can capture the atmosphere of an event.

Aug

Thank You!

I know this isn’t everyone. I just wanted to thank everyone that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting, staying with, working with, for making the past two months so amazing.

I will see you all again, there’s no doubt about it.

To Romania!

Aug

Colorado to California

What an amazing drive back from Pikes Peak. We followed the Colorado River all the way from it’s home state.

Through Utah and Arches National Park, along some of the most amazing roads I’ve ever seen.

Through Monument Valley at sunset, and down through Arizona.

Through the Grand Canyon. At sunrise.

To the simply awesome Route 66. What an amazing end to two months in this beautiful country.

It genuinely hurts to say that this will be my last post from the United States. For now at least. Hopefully I will return very soon.

Tomorrow I leave for Romania, and Drift Allstars in Constanta. I don’t get very much sleep any more, but when I do, I know I’ll be dreaming of the day I come back.

If you want to see the route I took from Denver to Los Angeles, you can see it here.

Aug

Pikes Peak – Sunday

I’m glad Sunday is over. Intense does not accurately sum up what we endured at 14,000ft.

I think the bikes stole the show; they were fortunate enough to run with clear blue skies. The clouds rolled in quickly.

It made for some spectacularly moody images.

And the resulting weather hampered running considerably. Romain Dumas unfortunately fell in a bad spot of weather, hampering his run.

Less so than Jean-Phillipe Dayraut, in the Dacia Duster. He met his fate in the Boulder Park.

Rhys Millen had a safer run, and made it to the top slightly faster than Dumas. He took his first win, after many years of trying.

I’ll be back next year. I feel like the mountain has much more to give than it shown me on Sunday. Hopefully next year, the race to the clouds will be to fluffy white clouds, not a lightning storm.

Aug

Pikes Peak – Friday

What an experience this morning was. I showed up at Pikes Peak off of a last-minute flight, at 3am, with no sleep. I wasn’t prepared for anything.

The altitude made everything harder – the cold, the lack of air. It was a cocktail of human suffering.

My hands froze to capture these images. They still hurt now, as I type this.

And yet, with all of that said, Pikes Peak is the greatest event that I have ever attended.

The landscape…

The diversity of vehicles…

It all comes together. It’s perfect.

Aug

Urban Decay in Topanga Canyon

After surfing finished in Huntington, we bombed up to Topanga Canyon to check out some abandoned houses.

It almost felt artificial, it was that destroyed and torn up that it felt almost like a movie set crack den or something. There’s a bit of history to this place – it was abandoned by its elderly owners in the 1970s and was just left to decay. Over the years it looks like it’s had a number of residents using it for a few purposes.

The caution tape is the cherry on the cake.

So, house number two that we went and explored apparently used to belong to a band named Canned Heat, which was again left to rot over time. However, it made way for some stunning graffiti.

And it’s not historic – people still seem to come by to add to the walls.

It’s hard to really imagine what this place looked like in its heyday, but it remains inspiring. It’s rumoured that Jim Morrison wrote Roadhouse Blues about this place. You can see why.

Aug