Today’s Post by Joe Farace
I never rode in an automobile until I was 12. —Loretta Lynn. This was also true for myself and I didn’t grow up in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky.
Hopefully it won’t be too long before I can attend the next Cars & Coffee in Parker, Colorado. There was a show last Saturday but Mary had to work and I’m not able to drive for a while, so I had to sit that one out. Maybe next month? Here are some answers to questions that came up from people I talked with during the last event and wanted to share my thoughts with those who couldn’t make it tthere. Hope to see you in September…as the song goes.
- Tip #1: To make interesting photographs at a car show, you gotta love cars. A passion for the subject you’re photographing is always a plus and enables you to look beyond the surface of a car to see its essence, its soul.
- Tip #2: Before making any pictures try to talk to the car’s owner. Most owners can talk for hours about their cars because there never was a project that didn’t have interesting twists and turns.
- Tip #3: Do not make photographs with the hood of the car raised. Many owners like to display the cleanliness underneath the hood but that’s not always the best way to photography a vehicle because it breaks up the vehicle’s lines. If the owner is nearby, ask them if they would please close the hood so you can make a photograph of the car. In exchange, offer to e-mail them a JPEG.
- Tip #4: It’s also a good idea to ask owners to (temporarily) remove show placards such as the identification cards placed on a dash or under a windshield wiper. Again, ask the owner before touching any part of his or her car!
- Tip #5: Be sure to make images of parts of cars. Don’t be frustrated by the lack of space and crowded conditions found at many shows. Use that to your advantage by finding small details and capture them in sharp focus.
How I made this photograph: When it comes to my influences vis-à-vis automobile photography, I wish I could say it is the brilliant motorsports photographer Regis Lefebure but I lack his genius and just don’t see the automobile world the way he does. Maybe my influence is David Hockney, the legendary English painter and I certainly feel it in this photograph. I love that how in this image made at Cars & Coffee nobody is looking at the beautiful McLaren. Maybe my influence include the films of Wes Anderson, although I freely admit to only liking one of his films The Grand Budapest Hotel.
This particular McLaren was photographed at a Cars & Coffee at The Vehicle Vault in Parker, Colorado with my Olympus E-M5 Mark I with Olympus M.14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 II R lens at 42mm (84mm equivalent.) The exposure was 1/640 sec at f/11 and ISO 250. I made six exposures while standing in the same spot, including one with no people in the frame but I liked this one best,
- Tip #6: Get close to the car. Start by working in close and gradually back off until extraneous non-car details or people start appearing in the frame. Wide-angle lenses or wide angle zooms help you fill up the frame with part or even the entire car while making sure distractions are eliminated.
- Tip #7: Explore unconventional views of the car. Tilt the camera to add some dynamics or shoot a Hail Mary image. The crowds at most car shows—although some of the most polite you’ll find anywhere—make it almost impossible to use a tripod so I seldom bring one.
- Tip #8:Dress comfortably and wear the kind of clothing you won’t be afraid to get dirty by kneeling on the ground when trying to get an interesting camera angle.
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