Cars

Bugatti Veyron Super Sport Blue St. Petersburg Florida Car Photography

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Bugatti Veyron Super Sport in blue carbon fiber at St. Petersburg Florida car showThe current fastest car in the world is the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport.  There are no challengers.  It is so dominant that just saying the word Veyron ends any discussion.  Seeing the Veyron at speed makes me feel like I am looking at something supernatural.  The sound it makes, the unblinking performance, the methodical cornering, it all happens in absolute dominant fashion . . . yet with no hard edge.  It is like a benign apex predator.

Bugatti Veyron Super Sport in blue carbon fiber - view from above with crowd in St. PetersburgThe crowd at the car show in downtown St. Petersburg either were all very aware of the mystique of this car, or the crowd itself around it kept drawing an ever new crowd.  I believe it was mostly the latter.  Therefore, it was impossible to get any clean shots of it without someone getting in to pose with it as if it were some celebrity.  Using the cloning techniques on this Ferrari photo to clean up the shots was not really possible even.

Bugatti Veyron Super Sport in blue carbon fiber rear view - St. Petersburg FloridaWhat struck me about seeing the Veyron in person for the first time was how small it was.  It has a 16-cyclinder engine in the back after all.  Yet it looks no bigger than a Porsche 911.  You could easily park it or drive it down any road (without speedbumps).  It is really compact.  There was a guard making sure this $2.8 million hypercar was too fawned over.  I spoke with him at length about this particular Veyron.  Since it was the Super Sport version and had special blue carbon fiber body work, it demanded that higher than the usual $1.5 million or so price tag.  The car was actually just purchased that morning.  I was told that a buyer had been interested in it for awhile and finally pulled the trigger on it.  

Bugatti Veyron Super Sport gas cap with blue carbon fiber detailIn blue, the carbon fiber body really stands out and looks striking.  Underneath the lightweight exoskeleton, the engineering behind the car is mind boggling.  It is extremely hard to create a car with air conditioning and blinkers that can also go over 260 mph.

Bugatti Veyron Super Sport wheel and brake caliperAfter watching many videos of the Veryon, to see it in person gave me a new appreciation for it.  It is kind of like seeing the Eiffel Tower or any other engineering marvel.  The difference with the Veyron though, is you can take it home.  

Photography Tip - selecting and cloning a clean Ferrari 458 Italia

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2011 Ferrari 458 Italia at a car show in St. Petersburg Florida

  • Learn this digital photograph editing technique from Jason in a 1-on-1 lesson, reserve today!

Car shows are great places to see a large number of awesome cars in a small space.  However, that small space and numerous other car fans walking around create a nearly impossible situation for photographing the cars in full.  Detail shots are usually what I focus on, but still I want to have at least a few full car shots as well.  Some of you may know that the Ferrari 458 Italia is my current favorite car in the world.  At a recent St. Petersburg, Florida car show I had a chance to talk with the owners of the above 458 Italia who were very nice people.  I photographed their Ferrari at length.

I could not get a shot like I wanted to while there due to other cars being parked so close to the 458 Italia and of course because of many other people coming to peek at Ferrari's latest mid-engine super car.  So I had to settle for the best angle I could get taking into account the sun's position and just the space I had to shoot in.  Photoshop CS5 helped with the rest.

Too clone out things from complex surroundings, quick select them then clone stamp in safetyIn the above screen shot you can see how I first used the Quick Select Tool (W) to put a protective fence around the objects I wanted to remove (silver car, people, etc).  I do this because the Clone Stamp Tool (S) is very temperamental and very hard to use along a distinct edge like the front fender of the red Ferrari and the silver Ferrari.  Basically, containing the unwanted object in a quick select field allows me to not worry about coloring outside the lines, so to speak.  You can see I selected some grass from the foreground and already started stamping it onto the silver Ferrari.  The sharp edge of the red Ferrari fender will remain perfectly intact.

Likewise for the people above the red Ferrari.  I will clone some of the trees and stamp them on top of the people to complete the illusion that the Ferrari 458 Italia is alone in a field.  To close the quick select areas hit CMD-M (on a Mac).

Using this quick select and cloning method will allow you to cleanly and easily remove objects from complex surroundings.

St Petersburg Florida Commercial Photography - Suncoast Electric Vehicles Richard Nimphie

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Suncoast Electric Vehicles Personal EV electric car - St. Petersburg Florida commercial photographyI was excited this week to get a commercial photography job photographing Suncoast Electric Vehicles and its personal EV car and green van, as well as to meet the dealership owner, Richard Nimphie.  My supercar passion is well known, but for my about town car I would definitely also have an EV car of some kind.  I am surprised with all the people of means that live in my neighborhood, I have only seen one Chevy Volt driving around and no totally EVs at all.  I guess EVs are still pretty rare and hard to get no matter what car budget one has.

Richard Nimphie of Suncoast Electric Vehicles St. Petersburg Florida inside the Personal EVI have unknowingly driven by the Suncoast Electric Dealership on 4th Street North I estimate at least 180 times since it opened earlier this year and never noticed it, and I am a very observant person, especially for cars!  The signage is small and low and the building is surrounded by trees.  I might suggest to them to somehow making the dealership much more visible to passing cars.

Personal EV plug with body graphic leaving no doubt where to put it!Mr. Nimphie and his staff were very friendly answering my questions about their EVs and helping me setup photographs highlighting the features of EV cars, which of course are their lack of a need for gas and electrical outlet for a gas cap.  Thinking now I guess in the future there will be something like sold laptop docking station built into the walls of garages that everyone will just connect to when they return home in order to recharge.  Maybe that will not even be necessary as some sudden, burst recharging technology could be invented along just a few seconds of plugin time to be back on the road.

The GREENVAN EVC1000 at Suncoast Electric Vehicles at 2401 4th Street North St. Petersburg FloridaIf you drive less than 40 miles a day and stay on roads with speed limits 40mph and under, which would be nearly all roads in St. Petersburg, then the Personal EV would make a great way to start the future in your garage today.

SUNCOAST ELECTRIC VEHICLES official site

2401 4th Street North St. Petersburg, FL 33704

Lexus IS F - Tampa Commercial Car Photography

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2008 Lexus IS F in black - 7-bracket HDR in Ybor City, TampaWhen I was contacted by ISG (In Sixth Gear) to photograph a black 2008 Lexus IS F, my third favorite car in the world, it was rather easy to say yes to that job!  In fact it would be harder to have a more fun commercial car photography job in Tampa.  A few days earlier I went to Ybor City to scout locations (photos without car) and found the above brick road by rail road tracks spot, which was what the client had requested.  

2008 Lexus IS F black showing custom carbon fiber front spoiler - Ybor City, TampaThis was the client's own daily driver car.  He had a number of customizations added to it including a very low profile front carbon fiber spoiler, special 20" black wheels and perhaps most noticeable was the throaty prototype exhaust system.  The V8's could be heard rumbling loudly even at idle.  When revved you can hear it two blocks away.

2008 Lexus IS F black - 7-bracket HDR in Ybor City, TampaAll the locations I found in Ybor City were within a few blocks of each other in the same old brick warehouse district.  The client mainly wanted shots composed in a way so they could be used on his website, which meant leaving space on the left side for a vertical menu and space on the bottom of the image for text overlay, as can be seen in the above shot.

2008 Lexus IS F black - single exposure processed in Topaz Adjust 3 - Ybor City, TampaWhile waiting for the sun to go down a bit more, I took a few tight shots of the IS F for the client's own personal use, as well as to use as wallpaper on my own desktops!  The IS F has a unique, angled quad-exhaust system that is at an even sharper angle with this prototype exhaust system than the stock tailpipes.  

2008 Lexus IS F with custom carbon fiber front spoiler - Ybor City, TampaThe client's customized IS F looked especially menacing from the front.  The car overall was lowered with an even lower profile front carbon fiber spoiler.  Needless to say one has to be quite careful going over speedbumps!  

2008 Lexus IS F - 7-bracket HDR - Ybor City, Tampa warehouse districtThe client is actually selling this car and replacing it with a BMW M3.  I hope the photographs help him remember his time with his IS F.

Monster 4x4's of 16th Avenue

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This will be a very practical vehicle once the ice caps fully melt.

A few months ago I first drove past a pair of jacked-up monster 4x4 trucks.  I thought it was pretty unusual for such vehicles to be seemingly left for naught at a rundown looking garage.  I felt bad for them in a way.  My business the past few months took me past them maybe a dozen more times, and I said each time I passed them, "I've got to photograph them when I get a chance."  Finally today I had the chance.

This monster 4x4 could be the most intimidating tailgater on the road!

It was fun to stand next to these sky high trucks and think about what it would be like to drive one, heck what it would be like to just try and get into the driver's seat!  Two guys walked by me while I was making these photographs and we chatted a bit about the trucks.  They said the trucks were definitely weekend only vehicles, and not something you want to take your girl out in!  

The intricacies of the lift kit.

As a photographer, it always feels good to check something off your personal list of things to photograph, and I highly recommend making and having a list of things in your neighborhood you want to photograph.  Now the next time when I drive past these trucks on 16th Avenue they will feel like friends since I made the time to introduce myself.  I think they liked having someone pay attention to them again.  

Outdoor Classic Car Show in Saint Petersburg in brief

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This real (not replica) green Ford Cobra was a real show stopper.

I really like to photograph cars, but I very rarely get to do it on purpose.  I had no idea a classic car show was going on just a few miles from my Saint Petersburg home until I happened upon it as I was leaving a meeting about an upcoming HDR gallery exhibition.  I was very glad I did though.  There were some real beauties at the show, but I focused on the Ford Cobras and a 1963 Chevrolet Corvette split window.

This Ford Cobra was a replica, but from this angle looked pretty true to form.

Lately I have been thinking about how only old things have any value.  For cars, to me, it is absolutely true.  These classics are beloved works of art.  I think of the cars rolling off robotic assembly lines today and think, how many will be in car shows 40 years from now?  Probably not any.

Staring up the nose of a beautiful 1963 Chevrolet Corvette split window..

The 1963 Chevrolet Corvette split window is one of the all-time classics and a rarity.  It's a truly beautiful car with so much character that one cannot even compare it to any car of today, not even another Corvette.  

The split rear window of the famous 1963 Chevrolet Corvette as seen at a Saint Petersburg classic car show.

I just hope there are enough of these classic cars in good condition still around by the time I can afford one of them.  What a feeling it must be to cruise down the street in a piece of motoring history!

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If you have a classic car, get it professionally photographed today!