point....click...shoot

For the car nuts out there, you know who you are the guys and girls who get excited at the sound of a powerful engine or an awesome paint job, the 2008 Charleston Doo Wop and Rod Run was held this weekend. This year Matthew and Alexis went with me as I explored the show. I didn't take as many photos this year, mainly because I was to busy gawking at the cars. The kids took a bunch and I will be placing them into their galleries online soon.

I did however take about 60 images that I liked and you can find those here: http://www.ukvphotos.com/gallery/6143228_AarpM//386744579_MZWpF

Then of course I have to share some of my favorites. This being one of them. Hood ornaments, particularly old one fascinate me for some reason. Last year at the show I spotted one, and shot it with sky in the background. Later I played with it in photoshop, and replaced the sky with black, creating a great image. This year I did not spot a single hood ornament, in fact I was not even looking. That was until Lex pointed out this blue winged angle, just as we were about to leave. I shot off several frames of it and later that evening I played around and came up with this as one of several takes on the ornament.

The processing is simple, I replaced the blue sky with black and then went in and brightened the wings a little to make them pop. Nothing fancy but it does make a great presentation I think.

This shot was one of those rare finds, the owner of the car had hung a coonskin cap on the mirror of his car. Lex and Matthew were attracted to the cap. Me I saw the while thing as a reminder of an era gone by. I framed up a half car shot with the cap and the engine. The only detraction was the inspection sticker. Which in hind site can be taken out in photoshop. The only processing I did to this images was to age the image digitally to make it look like an older image. I think when I get time I will remove the inspection sticker and see what it looks like.


I've been a fan of Chip Foose for while now, and I love the Over Haulin' show, though i rarely watch it these days. I spotted this set of rims on one car and worked on taking some shots. If I was doing it in studio or on a location shoot I would have worked to make sure that the reflections was free of other cars. I took a few others but had a hard time making sure I was not in the reflection. I also noticed it had a blue cast from the light, I started to B&W the whole thing but decided I liked that cast and left it alone.


I was a fun outing and Lex and Matthew both had a good time. I look forward to next year. I am also considering trying to find some folks who wants images of their car made, I find I enjoy this kind of photography and would like to do more of it.