i am sometimes asked this question when people see me down on the ground, right up next to a car with my camera. the answer is obviously, taking some pictures. really. lots of them. i think this year so far, i have taken over 10,000 images, and of that, several thousand are just from car shows. i easily take more than 300 a show, and that is not even taking pictures of every car there.
so then, you may wonder why i do not have that many cars posted here or on my flickr site. i want them to look better than your typical snapshot. if that's what you want, there are other websites to visit where people just basically upload their camera cards.
these cars are rolling pieces of art and history, and i dig them. so i try to capture what i saw, which one exposure just can't do. (exception: the close up macro images i usually don't do a thing to — nothing beats a prime lens, baby.) this takes disc space, time and some work. but i think it's worth it. contrary to what some may think, i'm not adding anything to the images, though i do sometimes get rid of a shadow or a light pole, and i will touch up your paint chips. i'm combining multiple exposures into one image, to get all the detail i can, to match what my eye sees at that moment.
let me show you this average shot of a car:
before
it's just kind of...a car. and a shot you see every day, albeit, i took it from down low, which isn't the average point of view. now here is what i get from doing my thing, and more interesting, thanks to the sunset:
after
some may wonder how i choose what i put up here on tweakedpixels.
- i have to like your car; mostly like them older than 1970. it doesn't even have to be perfect; some of my favs are all dinged up and rusty; somehow they have more character sometimes.
- have to have the hood closed—it ruins the lines of the car for me, and i don't need to see what you've done to the engine, though it may be very impressive (i think its a guy thing). i don't know what the parts are, and as long as a car runs, i'm happy for you. if i'm tired or already have a similar car in my collection, i'll probably just walk on by it; if i'm not, i'll ask if you could close it for a few minutes.
- the shot has to be interesting; i take a lot of angles, try to catch the car at different times of day, to find the shot that just makes the car look good
couple of other reasons a car makes it here or on flickr:
- you said hello. and i like your car. i'm shy by nature, and i am really trying to be more open. this hobby is really forcing me to get out of my shell, which i guess is a good thing, but it's difficult.
- you want to buy/bought a print.
so what the hell am i doing? i'm having fun. and now i'm off to the broiler for even more fun... :)