Shot my first outdoor car show

Thumper_6119

Senior Member
Contributor
A buddy of mine owns a 1971 Chevy Corvette and is a member of the Top of Texas Chevy Owners Group. He invited me out to one of their shows yesterday. It was at a local park that is next to an amusement park. I decided to take my camera with me and try my hand at shooting automobiles outdoors at a venue like this one. Oh my, what a learning experience that was!! Had I searched for and read this thread prior to going, I would have been better prepared. As it was, I did learn a lot, and I had a great time. Out of the 157 shots that I took, I was able to "salvage" around 70.

Here are a few of them. (I won't torture y'all with all 70 of them).

GordoVette4-L.jpg
Carshow1-L.jpg
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Thumper_6119

Senior Member
Contributor
Carshow41-L.jpg
Carshow46-L.jpg
Carshow51-L.jpg
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Carshow9-L.jpg

Some things that I learned (most of which were mentioned in the thread that I linked to above, the one that I wish that I had read prior to attending this function). CP filters are our friends. I had mine in my bag, but I never thought to take them out. As a result, I have glare and hot spots all over my shots. The show ran from 10am-3pm, so I had the sun overhead most of the day. But some of the owners had their cars parked partially in the shade of trees, so that became an exposure nightmare.

It was nearly impossible for me to get a "clean" shot of any of the cars. They were parked so close together. And being that it is a car show, people are walking around or the owners are sitting right behind or next to their rides, so I found it difficult to get shots that didn't have something or someone in the shot, usually in the background. Also being that the cars were on static display in a parking lot, the backgrounds were.....well.....what they were.

I tried to be courteous to the owners. If the owner of a car was sitting near it (or in it), I asked them if they minded if I took photos of their beautiful rides. Every one of them were all too happy to let me shoot their cars. I made sure to not get too close, and I never touched them. One guy started opening the doors to his 56 Bel Air so that I could shoot the inside (after I refused to do so myself after he told me to "go ahead and open her up"). The owners do indeed enjoy the attention of people who appreciate their passion and efforts to keep this wonderful machines in the condition that they are.

Wide angle lenses are our friends too. I shot all of these with my 10-24mm.

Overall, I had a fantastic time, and I learned a lot. I especially liked talking with the owners about the work they put into their cars as well as the history behind the work and machines. Great day.
 

Sandpatch

Senior Member
Great shots Thumper! I enjoy the conversations at the shows as much as the photography. As a careful viewer, I always take my keys off my belt and put them in my pocket to prevent paint scratches and keep my camera carefully in hand, so that it doesn't swing out from my neckstrap and hit something.

I bought a polarizing filter some months ago and keep forgetting to use it -- thanks for the reminder and again, thanks for your posts!
 
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