Chevy Master Deluxe Grape Soda

Chevy Master Deluxe Grape Soda, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

Kathy took me to this car show at the Fuddruckers in Lakewood. It was right next to the Best Buy where we bought our very first DSLR, the Sony A700. We now own two A700's and a A850 as well along with a pretty nice collection of lenses and tripods. So it was sort of a little homecoming for that first camera which has been to London, Washington DC, Virginia, Arizona, Nevada and all over California. It's been repaired and put back in service after more than 100,000 shutter actuation's. Ah the memories.

Anyway, this was a really cool car. I was shocked the owner hadn't left the hood open like most owners of custom cars tend to do. I almost never make photographs of a car with the hood open. I think it just ruins the lines. I completely understand that car owners are proud of their engines but I'm not really interested in photographing them. Kathy recently posted a very similar shot of this car on her blog. I think her version turned out better. You can see it here: www.tweakedpixels.com/whats-up/2012/6/4/luxe.html

Low Down '57

Low Down '57, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

I saw this killer '57 Chevy at the Ruby's car show in July of 2011. I made several sequences of it. This one was shot with the Lens Baby Composer using the Sweet 35 optic. This manual focus lens allows you to specify an area of sharp focus and everything moving away from that area becomes more and more blurred. It provides an interesting effect I like a lot. Given the reduced size of the focus sweet spot, I would guess this was shot at an aperture of about f2.8.

Separate but Equal?

Separate but Equal?, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

This slammed 1951 Mercury was a favorite of mine from the 2011 Uptown Whittier Car Show. The show organizers made what I think was a stupid decision to exclude lowrider cars from the show, saying that they would hold a separate lowrider show later in the year. Well you guessed it, the lowrider show never happened. The upcoming 2012 show is open to lowriders once more, and I for one am glad they aren't going to repeat their mistake again. I previously posted another shot of this car you can see it here: www.bigpixelpushing.com/journal/2011/9/11/1951-flamed-mer...

Big Woody

Big Woody, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

In September of 2011, my co-worker Michelle told me there was going to be a car show in South Pasadena. Kathy and I drove over and found it was a really big car show. I made a lot of images that day but this is the first one I have processed. I was taken with this 1939 Ford Deluxe Woody as soon as I saw it. It had killer wood work, completely restored. All that was missing was a surfboard sticking out the back.

1951 Flamed Mercury

1951 Flamed Mercury, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

This was from the 2011 Whittier Car Show held in August. As I mentioned on a earlier post, the organizers decided not to allow low riders at this show, and will instead hold a low rider - custom car show next year. So of course since Kathy and I love photographing low riders we were bummed. After we had walked around for a while she noticed several low rider owners had parked there awesome cars just outside the show limits so of course we spent a lot of time there.

This was probably the most spectacular of all the cars I saw this day, and I took quite a few HDR sequences of it. While I usually choose low angles when shooting cars, in this case given the spectacular flamed hood, I extended my tripod nearly to it's maximum height to better capture it. The only disadvantage was I was unable to look through the viewfinder. I'm 6'-5" tall but my camera was at least 7' above the ground. I took a couple of test shots to be sure I framed this up properly before capturing this sequence.

Take Me With You

Take Me With You, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

"...nowhere together with you is better than anywhere apart"

Pontiac Hood Ornament

Pontiac Hood Ornament, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

I really have a strong attraction to vintage Pontiac hood ornaments. I've posted other examples here before and I'm sure I'll post more. When I saw this one, I called Kathy who was also at this car show, and asked if I could borrow her 100mm macro lens which is very fast and sharp. It produces beautiful bokeh as well. I really like how colorful the out of focus areas are.

Uninvited Guest

Uninvited Guest, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

What the hell are the organizers of the Uptown Whittier Car Show thinking? They very neatly have cut the annual car show in half. Segregating low riders and "custom" classic cars to their own show to be held next May. Because of this, this year's show attendance was much reduced. I spoke to a couple of shopkeepers who commented that business which is usually very good on car show day, was quite slow. Not good. The main reason to have the show is to promote the business in town. My favorite part of the show? About a dozen of the banned low riders and classic cars like this 1947 Chevrolet Fleetmaster, arrived early and located themselves in a parking lot which was officially outside of the show but very close to show center. Needless to say, I took most of my photos in this parking lot. Whittier car show organizers, get a clue and do it right next time.

10 shot HDR, 1ev bracket spacing, Merged and tonemapped in Photomatix Pro. Post processing in Photoshop.

Sunrise Over the Port of San Francisco

Sunrise Over the Port of San Francisco, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

In San Francisco to work on a proposal and staying at the Hyatt Regency on the Embarcadero, I had a great view of the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge. On this particular day I got up around 4:30 AM, showered and went to get some breakfast. From the street level, I could see that the sunrise was going to be spectacular. I went back to my room, grabbed my camera, tripod, ExpoDisc and off camera shutter release. From there I headed for a secret balcony that I had discovered a few years ago on another visit. There's no sign that says "hotel employees only" or anything similar so in any case, I got the shots I wanted and nobody was the wiser. It was very windy on the 19th floor so my tripod shook a little during the long exposures, but not enough to ruin the shot. 10 Exposure HDR covering 10ev. Post processed in Photomatix, Lightroom and Photoshop.

'Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky

'Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

This is the Sefton Grand Atrium in the San Diego Natural History Museum. It's a big space, 4 stories tall with 5,000 sqare feet of floor area. It's often used for special events like corporate parties and concerts.  When Kathy and I walked into the Museum, I looked up and knew I would want to get a shot from the top looking down. Just before we left the building, we took the elevator up to the 4th floor to take this shot. I had to do a 3 shot vertorama with my 14mm lens and I still couldn't fit it all in. Each of the 3 HDR shots was created from 10 individual exposures and then photo merged in Photoshop to create this composite view. I like the unique viewpoint of the Allosaurus dinosaur on the bottom center of the photo.