Tri-Lakes Cruisers 14th Annual Car Show

I don’t normally go to these things. However, I had a pretty bad day Saturday. Well, not that bad considering all the ills in the world. OK, OK . . . just mildly inconvenient. One of my drives, the one housing all my Lightroom stuff, called it quits. No warning, no sign that it was on its last legs. In fact, not two days ago it registered as “healthy”.

Instead, just another fine Seagate product barely making it past the three years mark. 

I seem to remember hard drives lasting 5+ years, but now their lives barely make it past the terrible twos. Because it is one of a pair of matching drives, I will prudently replace both . . . and also my internal data drive. In fact, I need to now rethink my whole storage solution since it’s been three years. In truth, this system has served me well and without a hitch for those three years, and that’s more than I can say for any politician I care to think about.

Anyway, as a relief to my irritation, yesterday I treated myself by attending the Tri-Lakes Cruisers 14th Annual Car Show.

That, of course, is not the car show. It is a test shot. You see, it’s a bright day (the first since a series of overcast days) and I thought I ought use my circular polarizer.  

HERE is a link explaining how polarizers work, but if you are just a casual reader, THIS link might serve you better.

I also set the camera to save JPG files in addition to RAW captures since my normal workflow is temporarily disrupted by the untimely death of my storage device. The following are the JPGs out of the camera with light touching up and the occasional cropping. Note: I did not use the phone at all; all of these are with the D7000 and Sigma’s 17-50mm f/2.8. For close-ups, I used Nikon’s 105mm f/2.8 Macro lens.

Oh, I should mention one other thing . . . this is just a quick introduction to the 730 photos I took. I’ll be covering the entire set over the course of a number of posts (even I am not crazy enough to do a post with 730 photos).

The above car and this next one . . . 

. . . were not even part of the show. These were parked a half a block away. They look like kit cars to me, but let me stress I am not a “car guy”. I am a guy with a camera taking photos of cars that are lovingly cared for by “car guys”.

This one was also not part of the show, but it did look nice enough for me to snap a photo of it.

I should also mention . . . I normally compose photos with some awareness of what’s behind and around the main subject. Unfortunately, there was a crapload of stuff (including . . . people!!!) around these cars. Therefore, I resolved to just get the angle I wanted and not worry about the surrounding stuff.

Right! . . . on with the show proper.

Most of the cars, unfortunately, had their owners show them with hoods open. How inconsiderate! Don’t they know I prefer to just photograph the exterior lines and colors and could not give a hoot about what’s under the hood? . . . apparently, they don’t.

Oh, finally, I should mention reflections . . . there are a crapload of reflections from the buffed bodies and trim. Take, for instance, the above shot. Reflections of the car next to it, of the street, of the sky . . . you can hardly make out the paint job. Plus, you know, I had to make sure I did not end up reflected on the finish; that would really mess up the photo. 

. . . and yes, if you know what to look for, you can figure out where, in some shots, my reflection adorns parts of the photo. 

Black is especially bad when photographing in full sun . . . and with a porta-potty in the background.

Chrome is another thing that screws up photos . . . the sun just loves bouncing off it and blind photographers.

Every car had a sign on it with information as to the make, model, year, and owners of these beauties. Some I know just from having worked and lived in a car culture for 26 years.

I think that’s a Thunder-something-or-other. It was in great shape. The emblem reminded me of a bird.

There was a side street where people who organized or sponsored the show had their cars on display. 

Obviously, these are just a few. Some of the cars on display I’d already photographed when out shopping, so I assume those are owned by local people who actually use them as everyday cars.

This next car had an interesting paint job . . . 

I worked the show by walking from car to car on one side, then walked back from car to car on the other side. That first pass was to just capture the total car with the wide-angle lens. 

I then mounted my Macro lens and repeated the walk. I’ll show here the close-up of the paint job for this car.

That’s not my shooting . . . it was actually drawn soft and fuzzy.

Anyway, back to the wide-angle shots. One of the things I distinctly remember from both the 1960 Cadillac I learned to drive in and from my first car, a 1965 Chevy Impala, is the distinctive, ornate, and tactile instrument panel. I snapped photos of a number of them, but here’s just one.

People seem to have an affinity for Mustangs. They also like the cars by the same name.

Can you guess what year this one is from?

This next car impersonated the definition of bare-bones utility . . . 

. . . while this one screamed “fun” . . . 

“Roadsters” were well-represented in the show, with a number that differed only in color.

But, for me, this was my favorite. A one-owner car and the owner was constantly in demand from people wanting to know about this vehicle (I had never seen or read or heard of this car before). 

It is a 1962 Chevrolet Corvair Greenbrier; rear engine, three rows of seating plus additional cargo space in back.

Sorry; I wanted to get more interior shots, but people were always around it. This is all I could manage and it’s not even a good shot.

I would drive that now if, you know, they made it with modern safety features. 

I mentioned my second walk-through was with the macro lens . . . guess what I was shooting?

That’s right! Macros; how did you know?

I fully intended capturing every emblem on every car, but it quickly got repetitive. Plus, did I mention many people had their hood open? Not being seven feet tall, it was a little difficult reaching most of them. 

Even more annoying, some had the trunks open as well. But not all . . . 

Still, after a while I concentrated on design details . . . 

I kid . . . the truck was in good running order, but the owner had left the wear and tear on the exterior as a badge of honor and a reminder of the vehicle’s long life.

 . . . one more emblem.

Fun side fact . . . our swimming pool at our Harlincin house (Franklin, MI) was in the approximate shape of a Chevy chevron.

Image courtesy of Google Earth.

Alright, I do admit some of the engines offered decent photo opportunities . . . 

I thought this was an interesting shot . . . 

BUT WAIT! . . . on my third walkthrough I took photos of the event itself, including . . . GASP! . . . people!

Don’t be misled by the scarcity of people . . . there were plenty around. I waited until a lull in the passing crowd gave me a chance to see more than swinging arms, slouching shoulders, and sagging guts.

By this time the sun had gone away, and I almost wanted to reshoot everything, but I had already been away from Melisa for over three hours and was getting a little antsy. My last walkthrough was pretty fast, and with a corresponding lack of care in setting up the shots.

Although, I did catch a few cars whose owners had closed the hoods.

One comment about the owners of most of these cars . . . many were engaging, friendly, and willing to talk about their “babies”. Others looked downright unfriendly; surly, even. At least toward the spectators. They sure chatted each other up, though, and it seemed to me as if it were a closed clique where the spectators were a bothersome, but necessary, inconvenience. 

The show was a couple of blocks long on one street and another block on a crossing street.

I should mention the regular posts will have SmugMug galleries associated with them, but for now, clicking on the photos will have a larger version of them open up in a new tab or window.

To wit, here’s another panorama shot (stitched from a number of shots).

Least, but not last, for my British friends and readers . . . 

That’s right! People with hands in their pockets. More specifically, guys with their hands in their pockets . . . and two cars many people love beyond any reasoned understanding of why.

That’s it. This post has ended . . . except for the stuff below.

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