Classic Cars

For anyone who has read this post for the last several months or who has browsed the last several months worth of posts, I am a classic car fan.  Not necessarily a nut on the classic cars themselves, but a nut about photographing them.  Now, I think this is beginning to lead me into becoming a fan of the cars themselves.  I am a huge 1970’s Chevelle Malibu SS fan, but I have yet to run across one at a local car show.  As I sit here writing this, I am dreaming about my last car show and beginning to formulate plans for my next visit to some Classic Cars.

Over the last few shows, I have learned a few things:

1.  Try to get a good feel for what is going to be at the show prior to going.  The first show I decided to go to this year, I had other plans that day and was just going to stop for a few minutes on the way to complete other tasks.  However, when I drove by, there were only a few cars and none of them looked like good subjects.  When I came back by a couple of hours later, the entire selection changed.  If you get there early, plan to stay long because sometimes it takes awhile to get the cars there.

2.  Photograph the car closed up.  At most of the shows I have been to, owners open the doors and hoods to show of their pride and joy.  I don’t fault them one bit for that, I would too, but you don’t get a feel for the car and it’s lines with the doors open and hood up.  I have yet to have an owner deny my request to photograph the car with it closed.

3.  Pay attention to the crowd.  Several show I have been to were quite crowded.  It makes for a hard time getting good shots of just the cars, and sometimes, you just have to deal with it, but if you pay attention to where the majority of people are, you can go to another spot in the show for some clean picture taking.

4.  Get close and drop the depth of field.  When crowds are heavy and it is hard to take a photo of the whole car, take some shot of the details.  I have yet to find a car at any show which was not a plethora of fine detail and a good subject for some close-up work.  Shortening the depth of field gives a creative look to the close-ups.  Shots of trim, lettering and engines make for good subjects.

5.  Get low.  I find that most cars photograph well from a low angle.  This gives the car a larger than life feeling to me.

I know you are just after the photos, so I will stop writing and let you see…

Today’s Photo:  The BelAir, a symbol of freedom