#IAMTHESPEEDHUNTER: Meet Luke Huxham…

My name’s Luke Huxham, I’m 27 years old and currently living and working full-time as a freelance director/cinematographer under the name of Maiham Media in Japan. Born in New Zealand, I was like most kids – I enjoyed climbing trees, playing with ninja turtles and causing havoc. I can honestly say I was never into cars when I was young. I spent most of my days skateboarding with friends; cars were only needed to get from one skate location to the next. But ultimately it was skateboarding that led me to get into filming. Every skateboarder knows how to use a video camera to some degree – how else can they film their mates throwing themselves off high ledges and down sets of stairs? Cameras and skateboarding just go hand in hand.

morohoshi-face

This is the now infamous Morohoshi-san from Underground Hero: Love To Hate Me. Unlike videos where you can rely on a narrative or sound to enhance your imagery, a photo is just one click. The challenge of telling a story or expressing an emotion in a single photo can be a refreshing and instantly rewarding break from video.

My most popular film of 2013 – Underground Hero: Love To Hate Me. I really took a cinematic approach to directing and shooting this film. At this point of my career, I was looking to really push myself and get noticed. With 400,000+ plays in the first five days, I reckon that’s mission complete. One-man-crew films like this are some of the most stressful, but rewarding projects one can do.

endless-gtr

I was never really interested in school. I’m not the type of person that soaks in information from reading about it in books or being lectured at by a teacher. I wish I was – I would be much smarter for it! But nevertheless, we all have our own style of doing things and the hands-on approach was for me. I ended up just not going to school and focusing all my time on subjects that I felt mattered to me. I never studied cinematography or photography, I just enjoyed watching films and tried to approach all my subjects from a different angle. I try to think about how to make something interesting for someone who doesn’t particularly have an interest in what I’m shooting. I enjoy documenting humans and their interactions, be it with cars or anything else for that matter.

jzx90

After taking a holiday in Japan to meet up with some of my car friends, I decided to sell up, leave everything and move over. I spent my first year in Japan drifting cars with friends two or three times a month – living what some would call ‘the dream’. It was a great time having no responsibilities and spending every last cent I earned on cars. This is me drifting my old Toyota Chaser JZX90 at Ebisu circuit, Minami course. Thanks for the photo Pete!

I decided to give driving full-time a break and got my hands on a friend’s Canon XH-A1. I had so much fun drifting and meeting so many awesome people, I thought why not try and capture some of this on film? This is where I started to learn about cameras and video editing. I spent the next couple of years travelling around Japan, filming drift events and working two jobs, day and night to support my new-found filming addiction and the costs associated with it. I said to myself, ‘I’ll give this hobby four or five years and see where it goes from there.’

morohoshi

I think the worst thing you can do in life is to blend in. Don’t be afraid to stand out, no matter the costs. Morohoshi-san was never afraid to show his true style, leaving a lasting impression everywhere he goes in his Lamborghini Diablo.

rocketbunny

I think it’s important to note here that nobody should expect to get paid while they’re still learning how to film and making mistakes; this type of mindset can really discourage some people. Put in your three to four years of hard work, learn everything you can by yourself and from others, and learn how to take criticism and improve from it. If you can do all this while holding down jobs, having no sleep and paying bills, I think you’re in good form to pursue it as a possible career option.

bee-r

This was one of the first ever BRZs in the world to sport the Rocket Bunny kit. The Bee-R BRZ is now sporting a bright yellow coat of paint but I quite liked it in its pre-finished state.

vip

After editing in Corel VideoStudio for many years, I finally outgrew the program and luckily enough found a job editing videos for a Japanese hobby company which allowed me to switch over to a Mac and start learning Final Cut Pro. Now on my fourth year of filming and still working full-time, I decided to try and take filming seriously, finally feeling comfortable to take on small, paid, client projects. This was a major step for me, as being bit of a perfectionist meant never feeling my work was worth getting paid for. This attitude meant I would systematically rip apart my work after it was complete and figure out how I could make something better the next time around.

The next time around was not too far off, as I got hired to produce what was the first interview video with Nakai-san from RWB at the time, an introduction to the mastermind behind these insane Porsche creations. After the release of this video, it got featured by quite a few websites, including Speedhunters. After watching this film, I felt like the four years of grinding away at this video hobby had started to finally pay off. I was happy with a project for the first time. I got a real buzz from capturing someone’s story and emotions on camera; this was the catalyst behind my video style. This was also the first time I storyboarded and put pen to paper for a film. I found out very quickly that being organized instead of just winging it, made the whole filming and editing process much easier.

rwb

RAUH-Welt Begriff 993 attacking the night. Believe it or not, this is basically straight off the camera. The camera’s white balance was confused by the headlights and the whole image turned orange to match the car. Sometimes these unintentional things lead to some of your coolest shots.

bulletproof

(Above) Matsui-san from Amuse taking a brief moment to appreciate some of his work on a collaboration Scion FR-S project with Bulletproof Automotive. Cars are not just point A to point B transport, they can become personal.

I took this same passion with me every time I clicked the shutter, always trying to incorporate people into my shots, provoking a story or feeling. I never had enough time to dedicate to taking photos but I loved the immediate results so much that I wanted to build on my skills as a photographer. I barely even knew how to use a DSLR beyond manual mode for filming.

bozo

(Above) Shake nose Z20 Soarer: nothing screams classic ’90s Japanese automotive culture quite so loud.

Every time I would shoot a project, I would try and spend a couple of minutes taking photos, trying to learn how to use my DSLR as a photography tool but still all in manual mode. I must mention that I hate reading manuals, so the aperture/shutter priority modes went unnoticed for a good year or so. My bad! Trying to capture spur of the moment photos in manual mode all the time proved quite hard.

attack

(Above) D1GP Odaiba, learning the art of low shutter pans in torrential storm weather with my new-found shutter priority mode.

After attending the Nagoya Showdown with Dino, I asked him how he took photos so quickly without adjusting all of his settings. He mentioned the priority modes. “The what modes” I said. He looked at me like I was an idiot, then explained to me how to actually use my camera for taking photos. An idiotic life-changing moment, it felt like IDDKFA (Doom reference god mode) had been activated on my camera. These modes really allowed me to spend more time composing my photos and trying to adapt my style of cinematography shooting to the situation. Creating your own style after all, is what will set you apart from all the static on the web.

bozo-bike

Oh look, spur of the moment photo opportunity – no problem in aperture priority mode. Bosozoku biker kids: extremely entertaining, sometimes annoying but most usually pretty happy when you point a camera at them.

laurel

Did I mention how much I love working in black and white? This classic Laurel is bit of a family affair; mum and dad at the back while their son rides shotgun up front in the passenger seat.

bugatti

Fast forward ten months or so. By this time, I had picked up monthly video work and had finally made the big decision to quit my full-time job and attack my new career as a freelancer head-on; the biggest but most rewarding decision all full-time freelancers must face at one point in their life. This led to getting to work with some pretty cool cars. Bugatti Veyron – not a car; simply put, it’s a teleportation device. In the blink of an eye, you’re travelling at 300km/h and you didn’t even feel it happen.

tsukuba

I also got to travel around Japan and shoot at some of the world’s most famous circuits. Tsukuba circuit: I think by now we all know this circuit like the back of our hand after playing it on our gaming devices for years. There’s nothing like experiencing it in person for the first time though, soaking up the sights and sounds. This is where records are broken…

mill-s14

Not only circuits but plenty of unique locations. Satomi-san’s famous military Nissan S14. Truly a work of self-expression and what better backdrop – a local temple in Nagoya.

kanjo

Unique people. The famous and truly crazy Kanjo racers from Osaka.

767b

Unique projects. Like one of my most recent film projects: a scene from Car Maniacs: Life with LeMans. Hoshino-san’s 767B being loaded onto the transporter.

962

Yes, more black and white! Moroi-san’s famous Porsche 962C, pictured here in Hiroshima.

mr-x

By now you might see a pattern forming of close-up, powerful face shots. This is Mr-X, the Jaguar XJ220C high speed bandit.

For those of you who’ve not already seen the film…

arvou-s2000

(Above) The supercharged, 426hp Arvou Honda S2000: truly a corner-attacking monster.

My life thus far in Japan has been a journey, with large amounts of stress and four years filled with 18+ hour back-to-back work days, holding down two jobs while pursuing my filming hobby. Even now that it’s my full time career, I still find myself having sleep comas at my keyboard, operating on four hours of sleep every day with no signs of it slowing down any time soon. But like anything in life, if you want something bad enough, you’d better be prepared to work for it. Standing around waiting for things to happen is going to get you nowhere.

streetdrifter

I’d like to thank Paddy for the opportunity to share a little insight into my life and Speedhunters for supporting media creators and allowing us to be put in the spotlight for a few brief moments. Speedhunters has been one of my largest inspirations over the years – the content produced by their team serves as motivation to work harder and hone my skills. I’m humbled to be featured on here.

Hopefully I’ve answered some questions for those of you who contact me about this type of stuff on a regular basis. I would also like to thank everyone who’s ever watched my videos, hated them, loved them or told me how rubbish they are. Your feedback and clicks have helped get me to where I am now.

Many thanks,

Luke Huxham
Maiham Media

#IAMTHESPEEDHUNTER

About #IAMTHESPEEDHUNTER

We created #IAMTHESPEEDHUNTER to allow you the opportunity to share your skills and car culture experiences from around the globe with the rest of the Speedhunters audience. Now, it’s your chance to prove you have what it takes to join us on our adventures.

How do you get involved? It’s simple…

E-mail – This is the most reliable method of contact. If you’ve been to a cool event and captured some amazing images, be sure to e-mail them to us on iamthespeedhunter@speedhunters.com and tell us a little bit about the event.
Flickr - Join our #IAMTHESPEEDHUNTER Flickr Group and share your favourite photos with us and others.
Instagram – Follow us on Instagram at @TheSpeedhunters and tag your own car culture images with #IAMTHESPEEDHUNTER
Twitter – Follow us on Twitter at @SPEEDHUNTERS and share your tweets with the #IAMTHESPEEDHUNTER hashtag.
Tumblr – Visit our Tumblr page to view the latest #IAMTHESPEEDHUNTER tagged images.

All submitted images must be 1920px by 1280px before they are considered.

Have you submitted already but not yet been featured? Here are some tips to help you…

DO – Tell us your name
DO – Read and understand the brief
DO – Submit only your best work
DO – Take your time shooting and consider each detail
DO – Submit each image no smaller than 1920PX wide
DON’T – Put a huge watermark on it. We’ll make sure you’re credited
DON’T – Send us huge image files that kill our e-mail system
DON’T – Send us scary ZIP or RAR files. We won’t open them

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64 comments

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1

Awesome, awesome work

2

Big fan of your work Luke. Particularly love the colours and your choice of music!

3

Good stuff.

4
ADimitriRoumeliotis

Z10. not 20.

5

I LOVE your work. Always looking forward to seeing your next project!

6

Life with Le Mans is my favourite from you. Got all nostalgic when i saw the cars in Hiroshima. Last year i was taking photos in that same location.

7

You guys should hire him with your articles bring video to your articles with a story followed by pictures .... Awesome hmm i can see it now every article has a video at the beginning with a soft voice of the owner tell his story (rehearsed of course) then followed by the speed hunters crew with photos to give an in dept look of things that was not seen and couldn't be seen with writing of course of the photographers view etc..... try it time to step ahead as u guys always do ..

i dont know the guy ....but seen all the videos that i could that he did and i must say its different in a good exciting way ... his videos with your articles and pictures with story telling ..time for another version of speed hunters in the making

8

Been a big fan ever since I watched the street drifting videos, keep up the quality work!

9

I found you since I found the Satomi military S14 and been forever watching your videos. I love the atmosphere and music you put into the videos. Your camera work is amazing (it's like Top Gear UK quality). Keep up the work and can't wait to see your future projects!

10

Keep up the good work.  Passion + hard work pays off always.

11
SebAgentOrangeBetts

IDDQD :P

12

Luke is the man. Plain and simple.

13

great job man. can't wait for the next new vid to come out!!! your like my hero... i wish i could quit my job n just do i what i want n get paid for it... u make it sound so easy!

14

One word: Dedication.

15

The work pays off, you've consistently delivered some of the greatest video material on the web for a while now!

16

ADimitriRoumeliotis  ha beaten to it!!

17

Great work Luke. Underground Hero is a masterpiece.

18

Pure passion from a maestro!!

19

Best.Post.Ever.On.Speedhunters.About.Japan.

20

This is just GREAT!!!

21

I have been following Maiham Media on Facebook for a while now and I'm huge fan of your work thus far; I've lost count of how many times I've watching the "Living with LeMans..." video.
Great to see you featured on Speedhunters: please keep the videos coming!

22

RBJKT  Loved it so much that it was our re-launch story (sort of). :)

23

Nice one Luke. Love your videos - and thanks for having good taste in music and knowing when to let the cars provide the soundtrack! Keep up the good work!

24

greenroadster  you're right. altough I've got some bad sense on yakuza and bosozoku..

25

Simply amazing, no matter how many times I see their work, it still amazes me.

26

Awesome!

27

SuzyWallace RBJKT  Ha ha ha! Absolutely :D

28

Great work! Big fan!

29

This has to be my favorite SpeedHunter of them all. The quality and style of the cinematography and photos is excellent. keep up the good work Luke Huxham.

30

I would've never thought you were doing all of this alone! Each of your videos seemed to be so well thought through and meticulously scripted that it couldn't just be one person behind it ... AWESOME and i salute! 
Keep up the work - and allow yourself some sleep from time to time ;)

31

SuzyWallace This so much..can't tell how many times i've seen a car video where they just put dubstep over all of it..HATE

32

you related to xcar channel??

33

Fantastic work!

34
LukeEVOLUTIONVIII

Not bad at all!

35

I really enjoy your style Luke, in cinematography and photography, it has that sort of real feel to it. As weird as it may sound, the lifestyle you mention of long hours is and little sleep is one I'd love to have, and hope to in the future!

36

Does anyone know how to get a hold of the rocket bunny guy ?
I want to see if he can make 1993 - 2001 Subaru impreza GC8 2door coupe fender flares ???
Anyone with info ?

37

Luke you are a god among film, keep it up.

38

Great video, real story..keep up the good work and I wish to see more in the future!Ganbatte!

39

MatthewDear  Thanks for your kind comments. Little sleep can start to get to you after 12 months, I have no short term memory besides work related tasks and I often don't know what day it is as they all seem to roll into one.

40

gatoonik  I use to do some video work for them.

41

SuzyWallace  Thanks Suzy.

42

tbtstt  Thanks for following us, hope I can continue to keep making awesome content for you!

43

muhammadilham greenroadster  They're harmless to the everyday normal bystander.

44

SuzyWallace RBJKT  That was a fun project although it was missing a lot of planned content that could not be filmed due to the difficulty of some of the characters in in the film. It still came out well but could of been far better! Re-launch story? You guys posted it on here?

45

SMRacing  Bingo.

46

SebAgentOrangeBetts  IDKFA - all weapons

47

AviFischer  The picture I took with Matsui-san was really nice, glad you guys liked it. The video is even better!

48

MichaelBruce  Yes Hiroshima is a really special place. Being near ground zero is very surreal, marking 3 LeMans' cars next to it even more surreal.

49

azmedaj  Thank you, I pride myself on colour grading.

50

@LukeHuxham I have been following your work for a little bit now but I never knew you are from NZ.  Its nice to see Kiwis achieving.  Your videos are world class.

51

neurite  Yes born in Christchurch, lived there for 10 years before moving to Australia for another 11 years or so then finally now Japan.

52

this is z10 Soarer

53

Great Great Great... That is all i can say

54

Keep up the good, I'm full of envy.. maybe one day I can do the something like you, in Japan :) btw, godmode in Doom2 is IDDQD :D

55

Nico Leone  retro a kit from another car

56

LukeHuxham

Love your work keep it up! But what I think is most awesome is how you said you just sold and left everything to move to japan, would love to do the same when the time is right, but what is it like with language and culture changes to take the plunge and just move?

57

I got hooked to your work after the OsakaJDM/Car Craft Boon collab with XCAR. That video, that video alone inspires me to have a Kanjo style build as my first and upcoming car. It's just so interesting, the music chosen, Furukawa-san, the cinematography...

Thanks for making these amazing videos.

58

Swonz  Thank you!

59

Can_Domo_Drift  LukeHuxham  Stressful is the word I would use. Nothing worth doing is ever going to be easy as they say.

60

Milan Nilles  In Doom 1 god mode is IDDQD and all weapons is IDKFA.

61

Luke, I've been following your work for a while. I'm a huge fan of your photography and cinematography style. As a fellow photographer (currently not working in my area unfortunately...) petrolhead and JDM car enthusiast, I found your story truly inspiring and it's making me want to pick up my camera again and finish the portfolio I've been planning for years. Thanks for that!
Japan and their car culture are amazing, I'm planning to go there soon on a short holiday and try to find amazing cars like these and their owners to document them in a similar style as yours (don't worry, I'm not going to plagiarize your work ;)

Unfortunately, here in Holland where I live, the car culture is not as big as Japan's, so it's more difficult to find subjects to shoot...


All the best Luke! Keep producing good "car porn" :)

62

Huge fan. Keep up the good work.

63

Great pic bro LukeHuxham

64
Daniel P Huneault

They already have this its called petrolicious!

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