Trusted With a Special Race Car in a Remarkable Setting
I was excited to get contacted by Bonhams again to photograph another local car here in the Monterey Peninsula area that will be listed at the upcoming Laguna Seca Auction during Monterey Car Week 2026. And, it was not just a car this time, it was an actual race car! Then the location was not just any location, it was outside a private hanger at Monterey Regional Airport! This combined to allow me to make car auction photos unlike any others I had done before. It was great working with Jim, who took care of this race car for the owner for 20 years. The race car is so light, we never started it up to move it. Jim and I were able to easily push it to turn it around as needed. Thank you to the team at Bonhams for continuing to choose me as a local Monterey car auction photographer and to Jim for his help during the shoot.
A networking event at Monterey Airport was winding down. I was about to leave with fellow PG Chamber Ambassador VJ (owner of Monterey Car Company) when he said let’s go check out this area down a long, empty hallway. We discovered a viewing deck to the runway! In the twilight light passengers were boarding a plane. The railing was pretty high, so I had to hold my camera up over my head to get a clear photo. After a couple of attempts, I was able to get this one with the composition I wanted, a level horizon and since I could not clear the railing in the frame, I decided to use it as a leading line into the photo frame itself.
I have only flown once in the past 16 years, and it was in fact from Monterey Airport, but I do not remember seeing a viewing deck or my own plane boarding experience so this all felt like seeing a secret world I had no idea existed in the Monterey area. It is also a good feeling that “finding” a photo like this can still excite the old photographer side of me. I am glad to now share it.
A view from Tampa Jet Center with Raymond James Stadium home to the Bucs in the background - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 5-exposure HDRI have had the chance to attend several events at the Tampa Jet Center in Florida. Most of my photographs focus on the cars and people at those events, but I liked the airport setting itself and as one cannot exactly stroll onto a runway and make photographs legally in most situations, I appreciated the unique opportunity I had to shoot on the tarmac. Luckily Mother Nature provided a nice background as the setting sun sent some orange light into the clouds at dusk that evening.
