Erica Magda Photography

Into the Night— Midnight Race

2011-11-14T14:11:00.000-08:00

Father prepping daughter at the start line.

Rockstar, through the night.

The Silver State

2011-11-05T17:47:00.000-07:00

Photos from the off-road race in Nevada from April.

The Riot Racing trophy truck at the finish line.

Boys watching the start of the race at the truck stop in Alamo, Nevada.

Leaving a pit after getting gas and tires.

Josh brings the truck to the finish line.

Driving along in northern Nevada.

Lining up for the start.

B.J. Baldwin, sliding into the pit.

Riot Racing leaving the start line.

Driver and co-driver at the finish line.

First car off the line.

Just keep driving straight!

Homeward bound.

Alamo, Nevada

Flying a kite in Jean, Nevada

The Mint 400

2011-09-25T18:56:00.000-07:00

Stills from the Mint 400 in March. The hour-long TV show of this event just aired on Fuel TV.

Riot Racing awaits their start in the dust.

Time Trials start line.

Mad Media flies above.

Waiting for the truck to pit.

Riot Racing finally makes its way to the finish after a trying race day. The co-driver greets them.

Riot Racing at the finish.

Cameron Steele's truck at the finish. Scott Long greets.

Marc, the Riot Racing driver.

GoPro cameras getting a little love on the truck.
The Riot Racing crew. How cute.

Battle at Primm— Nevada

2011-07-18T16:46:00.000-07:00

Marc's daughter peers at the camera as he is interviewed for a 2nd place win.

New season begins in Parker

2011-06-12T19:44:00.000-07:00

The first race of the 2011 season started in Parker, Arizona in February. Here's a few shots from the Time Trial.

Race morning— Sammy warms up the truck.

5 a.m. is beautiful.

Scott Long— Keeping a sharp eye.

New team addition — Josh Daniel

Riot receives reports that the truck is overheating.

The truck is out of the race now. The crew must wait for it to return.

The truck is towed back in.

Rage at the River - Laughlin, Nevada - Dec. 2010

2011-06-12T19:14:00.000-07:00

Season Finale

2011-02-24T23:04:00.000-08:00

Casey Folks, race organization owner

Pop watching his son on race day.

Finish line!

4th place for the season.

BlueWater

2011-02-12T21:20:00.000-08:00

Ian Bobby D.Lite.

The boys

Testing and Sombreros

2010-09-15T20:08:00.000-07:00

Doing a little testing. Mike Lucey and his sombrero!VBF doing their thing. Plotting...

Fourth on the Lake

2010-08-29T17:11:00.000-07:00

Herb skiing on Lake of the Woods. Photos of me by Herb Magda. Thanks!

Justin on our boat during the fireworks show on the Fourth of July.

Ink-blot firework!

Long exposure of the lake that night.

Silver State 300

2010-07-18T18:20:00.000-07:00

Time trials in Apex, Nevada on the Thursday before the Silver State 300 race.

Race morning. Getting prepped at the shop.
Alamo, Nevada Caliente, Nevada Crossing the finish line for 2nd place in Alamo, Nev! Ira Conn, Co-Driver Rick Geiser, Riot's truck builder and the stand-in driver for Marc Ewing at this race. Big thanks to Rick for a great finish!Jordan Poole, Drives the truck onto the bed after the race :)

Mint 400 2.0

2010-07-11T18:21:00.000-07:00

March 2010. The Mint 400 was the first off-road race I attended with Riot Racing back in 2009. Being there again a year later provided an interesting and new perspective. The team has come a long way since their last appearance at this race. It was exciting to have my parents and friends from home make it out there as well. Thanks for coming!

Video: Riot Racing at the Mint 400

Setting up the tent with the new spider graphics. It's massive.

New Riot stickers at the Mint 400 Fan FestElaine at the Fan Fest!Riot truck at Time Trials The truck had some issues and didn't complete the time trial.Race morning outside the Riot tent.Ian doin' his thing!Herb, my dad, watching the race from atop the Riot trailer. Thanks for recording with two phones at once! Pure talent.Katie, hanging out with Di by the trailer.The Riot driver, Mr. Marc-E-Marc laughing it up with Skylatius after the race.

Testing in Jean for the Mint 400. I messed around with the Lens Baby a bit.
Video from Riot's test session here.

Some randoms from Henderson.

Lollypop Sunset

2010-07-08T21:38:00.000-07:00

Outside of the shop in Henderson, Nev.

YZF on Dry Lake Bed

2010-07-08T19:02:00.000-07:00

Braxton riding his YZF 450 at a track outside of Vegas.

Doing some tricks on the dry lake bed in Jean, Nev.

Out with the old, In with the new

2010-07-08T18:15:00.000-07:00

Some photos I missed from January.
Tearing off the old Riot graphics on the trailer. Times were changing.

Back to when we had endless issues with the rear differential. The team standing around after it failed once more.

We believed that all the issues were caused by mislabeled gear oil. We were trying this new oil hoping it would solve our months of costly problems.

Bean cont'd

2010-06-27T20:27:00.000-07:00

Bean

2010-06-08T22:17:00.000-07:00

Kristina sporting the Riot apparel in a tree.

Peoria Sunsets

2010-06-08T22:11:00.000-07:00

Driving out to shoot a football game back in the fall.

Battle at Primm

2010-05-21T13:45:00.000-07:00

A two-day race in Primm, Nevada from the end of February. Watch the video of Riot at the race here.

Falco. I miss this puppy.A little trim a the shop.Oscar.Watching some Riot videos.Testing in Jean.Space boots!Some other people out testing.Love Ian.Race day. Harvey showing off some videos.We had some problems and didn't finish. Either days. But the race was still a blast to watch and shoot!Day 2 of racing. Contingency love.
Braxton's sister Kitty and her boy.

Auburn fog

2010-05-16T20:38:00.000-07:00

Parker 425

2010-05-03T19:37:00.000-07:00

Parker, Arizona from February, 2010. This was Riot's first race of the season, and they took 5th.

Making friends out at the Fan Fest.

Time trials

Race morning, warming the truck up before it heads out to the starting line.

Camera A to Camera B... The Riot truck pulling into the pits after finishing. It was a bit muddy.

VitaBrevisBoyz
Riot's new Jesse Jones truck.

Rage at the River

2010-04-04T21:50:00.000-07:00

Here's photos from Riot's race in Laughlin, Nev. in December. Since there have already been three races since then, I thought I'd post some stuff. This was a two-day race. On the first day we did very well, but on the second we had a rear end fail and ended up taking third when it was all done. You can watch the video VitaBrevisFilms did on Riot at this race here. This course was a blast to shoot. Here's the massive tent we were setting up in our pit.

Laughlin, Nev.

Harv outside the tent.Warming up in the tent.

Henry helping Skylar wire the cameras to the truck.
    Ira, Co-Driver   A videographer in training... He was so excited to play with the cameras- it was adorable.     Marc, the driver and Henry's dad.
    Vixia vs. Red... Harvey and Ian     This tent will be the death of Harvey...    Brax
    Skylar in the heli.    Time trials    Race day shots of Riot and others. I had a ton of fun out there with Ian!

After the first day of racing, they noticed the rear end starting to fail. So we spent the night replacing it for the race the next day. Kevin took a nap. Matt working on the truck.

Day Two- The view from my hotel room. Shortly after this shot the rear end failed, and we were done. Braxton went out to retrieve the truck, pissing off the BLM along the way because he ran over some precious desert bushes.

Family fun in the desert

2009-11-18T20:29:00.000-08:00

Flying back out to Vegas to do some video and photograph Marc taking the kids out for rides in the truck.
A lake shaped like a bird.
Landing at 5:30 p.m. So dark and shiny.Oops too much oil. Looks more like Harv had another accident...
Test run behind the shop.
Some boys stopped to watch.
The electrical SOS tape from the SNORE race.
Out in the desert to take the kids for some rides.
Braxton
Harv
Father and daughter
Harvey cracking Ira up.

SNORE 250- Stranded in the desert

2009-11-06T23:28:00.000-08:00

Prepping the pre-runner for the next race, SNORE 250, also in Primm, Nevada. Gotta find the one wire causing the battery to drain...
Here's that tire that got torn up in the last race. It's a keeper.Ira, the I can't believe it's not butter Handyman.An upside-down view of the reflection in the pool.
My pretty black widow again.
She's flicking TJ off because he tried to spit on us. (Note spit on left)
A new tail light.
Rick Geiser, one of our truck builders. Him and that trail mix.
Getting ready to practice some tire changes.
Ready, set, go.
We love contingency and tech.
Will someone take off with the trailer in the middle of the night?
This is what everything looks like at 5am on race mornings.
At pit 2, waiting for the truck. And waiting. And waiting...
We never saw the truck because the motor died at mile marker 12. To make matters worse, we had no radio contact with the truck. So Marc and TJ spent an hour or so trying to fix the truck on their own. When they realized it was a lost cause they tried to communicate with other racers to get word back to us. At this time we were only hearing rumors about where they were and that the hood was off and they were sitting on top of the truck. They had spelled out "RADIO" on the underside of the truck's hood with random pieces of electrical tape. I wish I had a pic of that! We gave another race truck some new radios to give them. Finally we had some communication. But the race officials wouldn't let us go onto or near the course to get them, so they had to navigate back to the main pits on foot. It was about an 8ish mile hike through the desert and a nice steep mountain (the ridge in the picture below), and they hadn't eaten and only had some water left after being stuck out there for hours.
A closeup with a 400mm lens of the tower that they passed on their descent. I thought I could see them and then realized there was no way...So we waited around.
"Hmm... why did the motor die."
Braxton stole my lookout lens to take some sweet action shots of other trucks at the finish.
"We were so hungry that if we saw a lizard, we were gonna eat it!" TJ
So we got the racers back, but we couldn't go out onto the course to get the truck until the race was over. And I had a flight out that night that I couldn't miss, so I had to leave before they went out to go get it. I was so pissed. But I've got some pics of it taken by Matt Stanger, I believe. They didn't have power steering because the truck was dead, so it took hours to get through the course and out to the flatbed to tow it back to Vegas.
Below photo by Matt Stanger
Harvey forgot his helmet. Look at that face!
Photo by Matt StangerBack at the house. Waiting for my dumb flight... Until next time.

Wedding and water

2009-11-06T23:25:00.000-08:00

Some pics from the Riot Racing driver, Marc Ewing's "wedding" at his house in September.
Cheers! We're already married!
A precious little moment.
A little bathroom trouble.Marc's pool slide was so awesome. You blaze down that thing. It's really tall and windy.
Harvey shoved me into the pool because I was too lazy to put a suit on. So I swam in my clothes. It was a blast. But then Harvey had to pay...
Look at that technique.
Flawed.
What a tool.

Going back to the desert

2009-11-04T17:12:00.000-08:00

By mid September we were back in the desert for another race. It was tough going back out there, but these guys made the best of it. Riot ended up getting 7th place at the race in Primm, Nevada. What do we do when we're not racing and waiting for the truck to arrive- get haircuts apparently. Here's Harv. More pics at http://riotracing.com/
Ira
Matt
Below photo by Matt Stanger. Gee, thanks.
We met out in the desert the next morning for TJ to go for a quick ride in the truck- the first time we've seen it since Vegas to Reno.
Our Riot mother hens.
Now it's time to fix everything still off with it.
Getting ready right before the race.
Marc
TJ
The clouds were so fun.
It was crazy windy and dusty out. Kevin was holding down the fort.
"So, Kevin, you're going to do the fuel?" (as he lights up) "Yup."
Rockstar sluts. Love um.
The Riot truck headed in toward the finish. I heart Braxton (right).
That tire took a crazy beating. It's so sweet.
After the race we went to a restaurant. Naughty.
It's beer o'clock again.
You don't give a bunch of guys who came to a restaurant directly after a race hot towels.

Beecher City

2009-11-01T01:07:00.000-07:00

At the end of July we had a little photo reunion at Roxy's place in Beecher City, an awesome small town in southern Illinois.
Photo of my frog I caught by Josh Birnbaum
Since Josh never updates his blog, here's his photos he took of us.
Photo by Josh Birnbaum
Photo by Josh Birnbaum Below photo by Josh BirnbaumMeowzers was very jealous.Below photo by Roxana Ryan ;)

Chi town flowers and edamame

2009-11-01T00:35:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love dirty suckers! They're too cute.

Yia Yia's knee surgery

2009-10-29T22:08:00.001-07:00

Back in August and before Vegas to Reno my grandma had knee replacement surgery. Fun times.Pouli and his fake tattoo.Back at home- time to heal.Bean, the knee expert.

Michigan

2009-10-20T17:48:00.000-07:00

I missed a few photos from the summer in Michigan apparently. Here they are.Diane, Katie and Jess visited! We left them on shore. Ha.
The joy before Katie's tears after they fell.
The sweetest pic ever... if only she wasn't falling. Nice Bean!Below photo by Nick Escobar Below photo by Kristina Magda
Below photo by Kristina Magda. I'm such a loser.
Below photo by Kristina Magda
I miss these Michigan stars...I'm not allowed to do star trails without Brad, apparently. Fail.
Outside a greenhouse in Michigan- Elaine.Driving home Doggie driving
A little drinky fun at the trailer.

SLC

2009-10-18T09:52:00.000-07:00

Tony's funeral was held in his hometown of Salt Lake City. Those of us not from there flew out for a few days. It was good to see everyone again and to hear all the wonderful things people had to say about Tony. Although it was odd to see everyone dressed up and in suits. The city was really neat, and I wanted to climb those mountains. I didn't want to leave because I knew I had to move down to corn-filled Peoria in like two days and start working.The view from our hotel room at the hotel Monaco. They offered us a goldfish when we checked in. "I can't be trusted with a fish."
Ira the boat captain. Ira and Harvey
Harv and his wife LindaThere was lots of tasty food at the hotel.Lights from the bar in the hotel.I went exploring the town one night and found some neat places and fun hobos (not pictured).I stopped at a bar to listen to some open mic music, and the guys were happy to let me take photos.
The next day at some park area.

Vegas to Reno

2009-10-15T03:06:00.000-07:00

Here's photos from the Vegas to Reno race from the end of August. The guys had been working on the truck non-stop for weeks before we got there and continued to do so when we arrived. It was going to be a three-day race beginning in Vegas and eventually ending in Reno, and we would have camped out at night in RV's at various locations in Nevada. But we only raced part of the first day due to Tony's passing on Aug. 20. As painful as this all has been for everyone, I feel honored to have known such a great person who basically got this race team started and held all the pieces together. I'm glad I was there to capture all the fun moments we shared. You can see lots more photos on www.riotracing.com from this race because I can't put them all up here- and other races if you want to beat my blog updates. Thanks for looking. Rest in peace, Tony. Below, Tony is pictured to the right.
Ira, always climbing on the truck.
From under the truck. TJ's shoes. Fun cleaning toys.
Kevin's mother's meat... enough said.
The truck's back end jacked up.
Harvey's velcro mustache- to mock TJ of course.
A female black widow outside the shop. She's so beautiful. Certain people better leave her be!
Derral, Tony's brother, peeking out from behind the truck's hood.
Harvey, messing things up in the truck.
He's so acrobatic.Riding out to Primm in the RV for qualifying. Riding in RV's is fun!
Riot tattoos. Nothing but love.
Tony on the flatbed with the truck.
Braxton against the fence waiting for trucks to go through the course.
At contingency (aka cunt-tingency). It was so hot that parts of the camera were burning my hand. Thank god for Starbucks. I almost cut someone. Below is Marc and his son Henry who came out for the race.
Such a ham.
Leaving Vegas and headed out to Beatty, NV where the race was starting the next morning. This is through the window screen in the bunk bed of the RV as we drive out. I was sweating like a pig and almost puked but it was fun lol.
"This is beautiful country." Brad "Where?" Harvey
A quick pit stop. Brett on the tele...
Harvey and Chef Dennis. Two peas in a pod. Making camp at a RV lot called El Sueno in Beatty.Chef Dennis cooking up some meat.
The view from the top of the RV. You could still see some of the Perseid shower. I think I counted 6. "I'm looking for the black hole." Harvey Chef Dennis woke at 4am and started cooking up a storm.
Ira decided to sleep on top of the RV.I lured this puppy over to us. Chef Dennis was not happy with me. "I like dogs. Just not in my kitchen." Dennis
Harvey and Tony chatting.
TJ getting the truck ready.There was crap everywhere.
Kristin getting Tony ready in the truck.
TJ and TonyHenry and his grandma as we wait for the truck to reach the start line.
Marc's dadOn the road with the chase truck. I wanted to stop in some of these towns so bad. They were crazy.
We were ahead of the truck, so we decided to join some people as they watched vehicles go by.
We met this awesome man who was a rodeo champion. He was so cool. Waiting for the truck to arrive at pit 6- the last time we saw the truck.
Another truck coming in to pit next to us.Matt keeping an eye out for the truck.
The Riot truck pulling away.
The next morning in Tonopah, NV as we get ready to head back to Vegas. I never want to see that town again.
A reflection of the truck in an RV mirror.
Back at the shop.
We decided to sign some Riot posters.
Back at the crew house.
Ira goofing off. Below photo by Harvey Knapp
Below photo by Harvey Knapp (you got one in focus!)
I had some weird tuna poke thing for dinner.Flying back to Chicago with Harvey and Dennis. He's too funny. He made this trip bearable. Thanks so much Harv!

Tribute to Tony

2009-08-27T13:40:00.000-07:00

On August 20, Tony Sorensen passed away during the Vegas to Reno race. It was a bittersweet day as it was his first time driving the truck in a race, and with his son TJ as his co-driver. My heart goes out to TJ, his daughter Kristin, wife Wendy, his buddy Harvey and the Riot Racing crew. He was an amazing racer, a great father and friend. He will be with us always. "Get in that truck. You're gonna shit kittens."

Chanute

2009-07-30T17:50:00.000-07:00

Fourth of July

2009-07-27T08:29:00.000-07:00

Here's some fireworks from off the lake in Michigan. Nick was finally with me this year and he got better photos, so check those out.

Funeral

2009-07-26T10:11:00.000-07:00

My grandpa hates people taking photos of him, so I snuck a few. Here you go Opa.

Salsa

2009-07-21T09:13:00.001-07:00

aka Chelsea. I was messing around with my new 24-70. It's bulky but sharp.
I tried to redo the photo on my web site, but it didn't work so much. Still fun.

To Columbia

2009-07-21T09:02:00.000-07:00

My sister is going to Columbia College in Chicago in the fall so the fam and I went to orientation last week downtown. It was long and boring so there aren't any photos of that, but still an exciting day. Yay Bean!

Turtles and the moon

2009-07-20T20:12:00.000-07:00

Deck assembly

2009-07-20T17:51:00.001-07:00

We got a new trailer and with that a new deck that was a major project to take apart, move, and reassemble. A bunch of people from the campground helped out.

Bun

2009-07-20T17:46:00.000-07:00

Wedding day

2009-07-15T20:06:00.000-07:00

Nick and I shot a good friend of mine's wedding in May in Joliet. Thanks to Babcock for letting me use his 70-200 and Lensbaby.

PFunk at Canopy

2009-07-06T14:49:00.000-07:00

A while back I shot Parliament Funkadelic at Canopy in Champaign for Face and Heisig's blog Illinois Hi-Fi, using Face's 50D, which was awesome. I almost didn't get in because of some mess up, but I met George Clinton's nephew who took us backstage.

Flea market and 5DM2

2009-06-29T21:53:00.001-07:00

Here's some pics from 5DMarkII at the flea market. Animals plus 5dizzle!

Stormy night

2009-06-29T20:16:00.001-07:00

At night off the lake after a storm blew through.
Storm did some damage to the trailer...

Pretty light

2009-06-29T20:13:00.001-07:00

Grilling tribute

2009-06-29T19:32:00.001-07:00

From my buddy Rob to my other pals. Thought you could drool a bit.
My dad thought this would be a good advertisement.

Flood

2009-06-29T19:12:00.000-07:00

Some pics from Champaign flooding in May.

Sprinkler

2009-06-29T18:48:00.000-07:00

A family friend, Katie, plays in the backyard with my cousin Stephanie.

Let's go racing

2009-06-07T17:51:00.000-07:00

It seemed like you could basically shoot from wherever you wanted. The next three are of the Riot truck. I only got a few because the truck got stuck in the dirt in like the second lap of three. When we went to rescue the truck in the track, we got the wrong directions and went on the opposite side of the highway and got stuck in the desert for an hour or two since we couldn't just turn around in case a truck was coming the other way. They got the truck out, but it wasn't running right so they took the DNF- they would have finished fifth if that didn't happen. It's ok, though, the race wasn't for points.
Larry and I drove around the track on the highways trying to stake out a spot that we could grab the truck. We kept trying to get him coming around this stretch, but kept missing him because our truck would only go 70 mph (and that was crazy enough going through dirt).This sweet photo isn't mine- it's by Eric Record. He got it the moment the roof of the truck got destroyed. Had to show you. So they raced the rest of it without the hood. A little brawl after the race. So and so says he hit him. Blah blah. That's all folks.

At the pits

2009-06-07T17:10:00.000-07:00

The radios were basically down the whole race, so they had to guess when they'd show up at the pits.
Setting up the gas tank dump.
You can only see a few miles of the 95-mile track from the pits.It really doesn't look like that guy is strapped, but he's gotta be...The Riot pit stop.