Before You See It!

Here I am chillin in the studio, not really doing anything special. Window cracked, just working on some photo edits.. and then I heard it!

That special sound. The kind where you already know what’s happening before you can even process that you’ve heard it.

That's spring in Philly. You don't look at a forecast. You hear Mister Softee, You hear the dirt bikes And then you hear that sound of tires letting go screaming at the edge of their lives. and you know that's it, Winter's done.

I grabbed my camera and whatever lens was already on because it didn’t matter and ran outside. I wasn’t expecting anything I just followed the sound then I looked up and got hype because the sky was doing the absolute most.

I didn’t know them at all It just happened…The way things happen here.

The cars were out tho! White Durango SRT, blacked out wheels, rolling slow. Dark Charger Hellcat with a purple underglow because why not. A G63 posted up lookin like it was just there to supervise. All of it happening against a church in the background and a sky that genuinely looked fake. I promise it wasn’t post editing that got these colors it was crazy out there!

I’ve seen a lot of sunsets. This one showed up at the right time and made my job that much easier. 

Then the donuts right on American had the street filled up with smoke fast. A lot faster than you’d expect. At a certain point you couldn’t even see the cars anymore just the headlights moving through the smoke cloud, taillights glowing red, and the sound of tires screaming for their life!

I just blended in at first and shot it. There wasn’t much else to do. You don’t try to direct at first you just try to keep up and feel it out. After while I was lining shots up and making sure I got what I wanted. 

I stayed out until the light was gone. Once it got dark we exchanged info and the cars became silhouettes in the smoke and everything just kind of wound down the way it always does naturally.

I went back upstairs, put the camera down and that was it.  I wasn’t even out there that long but it felt like a full on production. That’s how you know spring’s here. Not because someone told you but because you heard some familiar sounds coming from outside of your window.

-Wave Lane