Random NightLife | Don't Steal, Don't Lie

December 21, 2011

Night Import: Photography and Words by William Lee







Today, I want to talk about an ongoing issue in the automotive community, as well as an incident that occurred few months ago and re-occurred yesterday at OC's Food Truck Meet in Westminister, CA. For those who follow my fanpage, you have an idea about what's about to be discussed, but for those who are new to the site, welcome! and please read this post through because it's something that I personally think is critical. I'm not going to try to keep this post professional because it pisses the fuk out of me when this happens.

Before I start, I want everyone to know that this story was told by multiple people and friends, and because every single story had the exact same storyline, I'm going to assume it is accurate.

Event Coverage | AutoCon 2011 (Pt. II)

December 13, 2011

Night Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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AutoCon is back! No no~ I'm talking about my coverage! But~! The next and exact date of AutoCon in 2012 will be announced through AutoCon's fanpage pretty soon so go ahead and LIKE their page. I've been seeing a lot of comments from those who missed out on this event because of work or family plans. That's why you need to mark this event on your calenders as early as possible and make an excuse just to attend AutoCon! If you have finals or something, that's a different story, but work? Come on~ missing only one day won't hurt you that much (^-^). Ok..I think I'm becoming those small Devils you see in cartoons where they sit next to your shoulders and lure you into the wrong direction, so I'll be the Angel and continue on with my coverage.

As mentioned in Part 1, AutoCon was more of a festival + car show. It wasn't only cars that took the spotlight, but also the attendance of more than 15 famous Food Trucks and side activities such as FREE Air Balloon rides all day long! How awesome is that? Have you ever been to a car show like this? I don't think so~~~~ I get a bit too excited after attending such an awesome event, so please excuse my over-exaggerations.

I personally think AutoCon was held at the right time and place because Christmas is coming soon and people will be going on vacations. It was sort of cumbersome to know that HIN was going to happen a week before AutoCon and I had to support both events as much as possible, but my priority was to fully promote AutoCon and that's what I've been doing since day one. I'm not saying I brought the majority of crowds, but out of all the events I've been helping out for this year, AutoCon was probably the 2nd event I fully supported after Sideway Sundays. I was very pleased to see the event packed with spectators and car show participants, and really appreciate those who kept the event threads I posted on forums active. Moving along, because we are all in the Christmas spirit, I decided to use the Domo display Kelvin made in front of his widebody Do-Luck Evo 9 as the cover. Tsuneo Gōda would be proud!

Random NightLife | Fatlace presents HELLAOCCUPYLITTLETOKYO

December 11, 2011

Night Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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I have so many photos to share with you guys this week, but I'll try to pace myself and the blog so that things can go smoothly as much as possible...Nawwwww~~~ I'll get to the AutoCon coverage pretty soon because I know some of you are waiting for it (^-^)v But before I get to that, I want to share a small coverage I did on Fatlace's 'occupy' meet today. I'm sure many of you SoCal guys know Fatlace opened up an Illest Boutique store in Little Tokyo. There were car meets at the HQ several times now and every single one had an overwhelming turnout. This meet though, was a bit different and pretty hilarious when you hear how it happend. Check it out.

Hello Guys & Gals! So in light of all the current events that’s been happening around the world with the whole #OCCUPY movement. Also with occupyLA just 1 City block away from IllestBoutique. I thought about a totally funny random scenario of what if we did that with cars?… Occupy a full city block square block of all modified cars… I laughed, Vince laughed & everyone I told got a nice kick about it… *10 minutes later* Lets do it!!!!

Literally taking every single parking spot surrounding the building was Fatlace's idea and sure enough (according to those who attended since 4:30am!) it was a success. I was exhausted after AutoCon on Saturday and really didn't want to wake up and go to the meet at 5:30am, so I overslept a bit and headed out later on.

Event Coverage | Race Day Car Show

October 19, 2011

Night-Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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After an awesome time at Lexus The Pursuit III with my boys Low N Slow, I went straight to another event that luckily wasn't too far from where I lived. A good friend of mine, Norman, was hosting his own event for the first time and I had to attend to support while doing coverage. Most of you guys who only show won't understand how much time and effort is needed in order to create an event. It might sound easy, but the cost, location, people you need to talk to, notifying the police department, etc., takes a long time. It's definitely worth it if an event has a good turnout, but not knowing what will happen really gives a huge amount of pressure. I really can't compare such situations to mine when I hosted a meet at JIC Magic few months ago, but even that was a PITA to manage. Either way, I gotta give mad props to Norman for hosting an event at a Go Kart Racing place (Racing Edge Karting) in Burbank. Thumbs up buddy!

Event Coverage | Nisei Showoff Car Show 2011 (Pt. III)

August 16, 2011

Night-Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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Finally the last part of my Nisei Showoff Car Show coverage.  Please do understand that this partly coverage is to avoid lags and complaints. I like to keep every opinions/advice in mind, which is how it came down to posting certain amount of photos in one part and then to another. Also, I do want to let you guys know that Night-Import is not a formal-college-smart-elite writing automotive website. I'm bringing this up because of comments and e-mails I've been receiving throughout the past months. Most of the contents are written by me and for those who've been visiting my site since day one, I cuss, joke around, and write some random ass shit to make a coverage enjoyable to read rather than a boring and 'scroll down and only check the photos' status. It might change up a bit later on, but the contents are mostly written in first-person so you guys get an idea of what I personally went through at an event. I do not make shit up to give someone a bad reputation! What I write is what happened and I do have witnesses around me to prove it. Enough said.
Additionally, the photos I take of cars at an event or meet are decided by what I favor. Sometimes I might skip a car, either because I unintentionally skipped it or I didn't like the overall execution. There are a lot more things to say about this, but let's just keep it to that.
One last announcement I want to make before I start Part 3. I usually go to an event early but will not always stay till the end to see who won what category at an event. Why? Because I'm usually the only one from my site doing the coverage and get pretty dam tired walking for 4~5 hours taking photos. I'm not being cocky at all but those who see me know how much work I put into when it comes to photography. I'm still an amateur, but try to take photos as professional as possible.
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There was and still a controversy about my Part 1 coverage of Nisei Showoff Car Show because of stating my own opinion/thoughts, which only a small part of it was not positive toward the organization. However, what was written in that article was not a falsified story but true.
I actually want to take this time to write about who I am, how I started this site, and why I'm doing it, just because I dislike those who act or talk like they know me when they don't .
I've been in this scene for about only a year now but have been to more events and meets than you can even imagine. While some of you guys took some time modifying your rides during the weekends, I was out there shooting. When some of you guys were at an event, I managed my schedule to attend 2 or 3. My site was not created to make a profit. No offense to anyone, but I dislike making decals, sell shirts, or other stuffs to make money out of all of this.. So why am I continuing? It's because I love cars and love the people in this scene. Once I go to an event or meet, I try to take the best shots instead of walking around and taking photos like it ain't meant to be. Yes, there are plenty of people who go to events and shoot, but how many sites actually write up a thorough coverage?
If I don't get accepted for a Media pass, I pay my way through. I respect those who create an event and believe they should get paid for what they do.
Lastly, I never expect myself to be placed higher than anyone because I'm an enthusiast like everyone else.

The whole point about the Part 1 coverage was not to talk about my complaints such as not getting into Nisei early or not being highly respected as a Media applicant, but how the small fairness that could have been given was not. I'm willing to face the consequences that will be hitting me pretty hard from now on, but I want to say to all future bloggers out there, don't feel restricted to say what you want to say.

Now!!!! Let's go ahead with the coverage...

Special Coverage: OC Food Truck Car Meet #4

April 20, 2011

Night-Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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The continuous success of OC (Orange County) Food Truck Car Meet since day one left a positive impression to every automotive enthusiast and the popularity of this meet reached its peak. It's more than the facebook invites, but the spread of word that makes everyone know about this meet to come and eat foods from the top Food Trucks in SoCal. As always, Johnny Ho hosted this meet, but for the first time, Team SupaStar collaborated with John to re-launch Tab Tuesday, a well-known car meet that started years ago. Because of the two teams helping out each other to create the 4th OC Food Truck Car Meet, the turnout was absolutely amazing.