Today’s Post by Joe Farace
Good cars get you from Point A to Point B. Great cars just get you into trouble.—ANONYMOUS
Automobiles come in many different sizes, colors and shapes making them ideal photographic subjects and on almost any weekend day you’ll find a car show somewhere in your area. There’s impromptu shows not associated with any organization and are staged on a regular basis at a local donut shop or burger joint and is a growing phenomenon within America’s car culture. These kinds of shows can be harder to find but you should make the effort because they’re usually smaller in size and attract different kinds of cars.
The good news about car shows is that often hundreds of cars can be found at the same place. The bad news is that often more than hundreds of people gather there too making photography more of a challenge that if you had one car all by itself. While almost all good car shows are crowded, the people attending are unfailing polite when they see you’re making a picture and it doesn’t make any difference if you’re using a point-and-shoot camera or a high-end DSLR.
Owners like to display the cleanliness or sparkling chrome in the engine bay, but that’s not the best way to photograph any vehicle because it breaks up the car’s lines. One of the best ways to get to know the owner and ask if they would lower the car’s hoods—bonnets if they’re British—while you make a photograph. In exchange, offer to e-mail them a photo.
Most owners can talk for hours about their cars because there never was a restoration project that didn’t have some interesting twists and turns. While chatting ask them to also remove any show placards such as the identification cards placed on the dash or under the windshield wiper. Don’t do it yourself! Always ask the owner before touching any part of his or her car! It’s best to have them do it, so ask politely. If the owner is not around and the light is perfect, just shoot it as it is.
Along with photographer Barry Staver, Joe is co-author of Better Available Light Digital Photography that’s available from Amazon for $21.50 with used copies starting around five bucks, as I write this. The Kindle price is expensive for some reason (not Barry or me.)