Goodwin's Garage

I've been down Albany Hwy, through Vic. Park countless times with my dad over the years, and every now and again he would mention how his dad owned a workshop down near the Causeway many, many years ago. We would usually discuss how great the location would be today, then spend a few minutes discussing the motorcycle dealerships and the flash looking Monadelphous building, and that would be it for the next 12 months until we went past it again.

I never really thought too much about the workshop other than those brief conversations. I wasn't even really sure what kind of workshop it was to be honest. This afternoon, however, I was searching through Google trying to find a possible location, or at least somewhere to start looking for a location for a photoshoot. Somehow, I stumbled across this photo on Phil Schuberts Flickr Photostream - the only reason I really clicked on it is because I like trucks and other old vehicles, and I'm always fascinated about how things were done in years gone by. After reading through the comments I determined that this was some kind of brand new low loader trailer in the photo, and it was taken in the 1950's...then I noticed a comment that described the location as being Vic. Park...then I noticed 'Goodwin's Garage' in the background and it all starting falling in to place - was this a photo of the actual workshop that my grandad owned, that my dad had told me about? I called him in to take a look, and yep, that was the workshop on the corner of Oswald St and Albany Hwy in Vic Park! Dad told me a couple of quick stories  - he described the inspection pits in the workshop, a tank that was used to test radiators for leaks (that he used to sail toy boats in instead), and a big welding machine that would give him a boot every time he touched it.

I did a couple more searches on Google and found this article below from The West Australian in 1929. It describes a burglary at a workshop at 99 Albany Hwy, owned by William Asher Goodwin (my grandads name is Eric Asher Goodwin, 'Bill' is my dads grandad). The address is in roughly the same location as the photo above.

I have to admit, I don't know an awful lot about the history of our family name, but after accidentally stumbling across these links to the past i will certainly endeavour to find out more.

Leigh Fallon's Wheelstanding XW Ute

This photoshoot of Leigh Fallon's 9 second XW ute is the first photoshoot for a magazine that I was commissioned to do - everything i'd had published prior to this had simply been an incredible stroke of luck!

Anyway, I turned up to Leigh's workshop (Fallon Fabrications) with absolutely no idea how I was going to shoot this thing. Leigh had his workshop at my disposal, so I envisioned a series of photos that drew influence from some of my favourite photographers - look up Easton Chang and Chris Thorogood's work, and check out their shots taken in dark alleyways and sheds. 

Full of confidence, I whipped out a couple of umbrella's, my speedlites, and set up my tripod. 

FLASH! 

Bugger...not enough light. Move flashes...bump up power. 

FLASH! 

Still not enough light...remove umbrellas. 

FLASH! 

Still not working...light is way too uneven...need more power. Shit!

After scratching my head for a solid 20 minutes, and realising that my original plan was not going to work with the equipment that I had, I decided to take my chances simply shooting with available light, and setting longer exposures on my tripod. There were some interesting colour casts being thrown around from the combination of the workshop lighting and the limited light coming through the skylights, but with a bit of tweaking in Photoshop I managed to put together a set of photos that were consistent.

Every time I shoot a car I learn a little more about how light works, and I gain an even greater appreciation for the guys and girls that do it so much better than I do. Understanding how light works really is the key to photography, and its something that you will never stop learning about for as long as you are a photographer.