Pontiac GTO The Judge - a very famous car - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-bracket HDRClassic Car Shows are a fantastic opportunity to photograph cars, almost. The benefit is hundreds of amazing classic cars all in one walkable space. The main disadvantage is that there are hundreds of classic cars all in one very small space. This means there is no lack of subject matter, but there is a severe lack of space and clean backgrounds to photograph the cars. So when I shoot a car show I often choose to only show a portion of the car in order to be able to fill the frame with just the car I want to include in the shot as much as possible.
The Pontiac GTO Judge was the first classic car I photographed that afternoon and one of my own personal favorite classic cars. I cannot think of a better nickname for a muscle car than "The Judge." I just love it!
A red hot rod engine - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-bracket HDRAs soon as I saw this hot rod I knew I wanted to shoot it in a way that highlighted the exposed engine. I considered an even tighter crop on the engine itself but decided to show it more in context for the final edit. I like to look at hot rods, but personally they do not do much for me from the aspect of ever wanting to own one.
1960 Corvette convertible - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/2.8 ISO 200 7-bracket HDR
Now this first generartion era Corvette convertible (1953-1962) is my absolute favorite classic car and the one I would personally most like to own. It is the best looking roadster there ever was. It looks best in profile, but there was no space to photograph it that way unfortunately.
Vivid red Packard - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-bracket HDRI chose this perspective for photographing this Packard because of the wheel repetition. Also, it provided the cleanest background as well. A Packard is a very classy looking car appropriate for showing up at black tie affairs.
A blue 1965 Mustang Convertible - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-bracket HDRI think the most interesting thing to me about classic cars are their interiors, even over the exterior body work. The purity of the analog dashboard really fascinates me. I cannot help but think that the first time the owner sat behind the wheel, they thought to themselves, "this is as modern as a car looks." Now, as with this 1965 Mustang, 46 years later the interior looks ancient, or rather, classic. It really makes me think, as modern as car interiors look now with large LCD displays, even color LCD gauges and info screens, plus carbon fiber interior trim, in twenty years how dated will they look? In forty years? Most importantly, how high tech will interiors have to be to make today's look as quaint as this Mustang's?
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