Photograph.

Because it's what I do.

Lebanon Valley Speedway 8.13.2011

I got caught up in some paid projects and never posted my dirt track shots from August. I had planned on going upstate to shoot at Lebanon Valley more often this summer, but it didn't pan out; I ended up going only once. I love shooting there, and next summer I want to go as often as possible and work on a real photo essay. The best part of going up? I realized that it's family; I went with my uncle, who has been involved with many aspects of racing there for much of his adult life, and I got to see some cousins, one of whom is a flagger. Even if I wasn't shooting, it was just great to be with people I don't see often enough.

Line-up order posted:

Lining up for a heat:

I was really concentrating on trying to get some good shots of the bog-block modifieds really kicking up the dirt. Why? BECAUSE DIRT TRACK:

Great corner drift in this shot, though ultimately he ended up spinning completely around:

Kenny Tremont, who went on to become Lebanon Valley's 2011 Modified Champion:

This car flipped over a couple of time before landing on the roof; the driver was extracted and walked away:

Elvis and Pink Cadillacs

I love me some Elvis and the kitsch that comes along with fandom. I've got random Elvis stuff around my apartment - beach towel, Christmas ornament, dish towels, and I even used to have an Elvis clock (it broke.) So whenever I'm at a classic car show, I'm immediately drawn to pink Cadillacs; as you may or may not know, in the mid-50's Cadillacs weren't offered with pink paint, but Elvis bought one to drive his band around in, and had it painted pink. It got wrecked, and he bought another, had it painted pink, and gave it to his mother as a gift. She didn't drive, so... well, he drove it. Then he bought another...

Some classic Cadillac owners seem to love Elvis too, and within weeks of each other, I found two Elvis-themed pink Caddies.

This past August at Woodward Dream Cruise, I wandered around Pontiac on the Friday. As I wandered, I blissfully ignored the sign at the entrance to a small group of cars that said "Private Party." I swear, I didn't see that sign! There were some cool cars, but since I didn't see that sign, I tried to stay as unobtrusive (and clueless) as possible. I snapped a few shots of the Elvis details on the pink Cadillac in the private zone.

A few weeks later at Serino's Block Party in Long Island City (my 'hood), there was this pink Caddie. My friend Luci (another Elvis freak fan) and I admired the car and the Elvis memorabilia, then the owner opened the trunk for us - to reveal Graceland. Graceland! In a trunk! How awesome is that!

So there you go, a gushy Elvis post.

__________________

There's another reason for this post. I needed to do something on my Mac tonight. Back in 1999 or 2000, I bought my first Mac so that I could use it to create a website to promote and sell my photography. I know Steve Jobs didn't invent the computer, but the Macs are such intuitive computers for the creative set. So thanks, Steve Jobs, for making my career path infinitely easier.

6.25.11, Governor's Island

I've been working on a series of retro photos; I use a camera manufactured in the 40's and 50's, re-rolling 120 film onto the 620 reels that the Sabre 620 requires. My goal is to create a series of photographs that, at first glance, seem to be from the 50's or thereabouts. I took the camera with me to Governor's Island this past summer for the Jazz Era Lawn Party - and while these shots won't make it into the series (wrong era shot with the wrong camera) they are kind of fun. All scratches and light leaks added at random by the camera.

What I Did This Summer

Wow, I haven't written a blog post since July. Pathetic! It's been a crazy summer, and I've been shooting the whole time. Here's the run-down of what I've been up to:

I went to Alaska do drive and shoot a Chevy Volt with an Olympus EP-3 camera.

I hung out with my uncle and shot some dirt track - then went to a classics show with him. Those shots in a future blog post, because right after that...

I went to the Detroit area for the Woodward Dream Cruise.

When I got back, I went to Citi Field for the 2012 Toyota Camry launch. And an earthquake.

Full speed ahead, I tried my hand at shooting a little tennis at the US Open and tried out another new Olympus PEN camera while doing it.

Aaaaand this past weekend I took lots of pictures at a rare local cruise-in - at Serino's block party. A few shots are up on my Facebook page, and I need to do a blog post on that as well.

All in time though, because I'm currently procrastinating. I need to pack for yet another adventure...

Sprocket Rocket in Alaska

...because I can never shoot with *just one* camera: I brought along my Sprocket Rocket too.

All Photographs ©2011 Megan Green, All Rights Reserved. Do not download or copy without my permission.

Volt Alaska!

I got to take a lot of cool shots in Alaska, but I think this is one of my favorites of the Volt.

More shots and the whole story is here on CarReview.com.

Astoria Cars - 7.4.2011

I'm a little typed out. So I'm not going to write about cars or shooting cars today, I'm just going to post the shots. I finally ran into S. with his Challenger and P. to give them the prints of the shots of their cars. I still had the Olympus E-P3 that I was testing, so I tried out a few shots of the Challenger (P. didn't have his '55 out) and his buddy J.'s Corvette in some art filter modes. While I shot, they told me more stories of the halcyon days of hotrodding in Queens...

It's Mid-June already.... Astoria Cars 6.18.11

It's mid-June already. Amazing. I felt pretty stale and burned out after NY Auto Show and Viva Las Vegas. I've been going down to Shore Boulevard pretty regularly to talk with car people, document the car culture, and ultimately take pictures of cool cars - and while there have been cool cars, I just wasn't taking great shots. In May, I got a few more shots of a Corvair that I've photographed before. Here's a cool-ish one of the badge:

I haven't seen my buddies on Shore either, and I've got some prints of the Challenger and Pete's '55 Bel Air that I want to give to each of them. While I've seen Sean in his Challenger drive by, he hasn't parked, and I haven't seen Pete at all. Hey Pete! If you see this, I've got a cool print of your '55 for you!

Last Friday I hopped on the train and met some friends out in New Jersey for Somerville Cruise Night. There were a lot of muscle cars from the 70's and 80's, and even a few current Mustangs, but there were also some pretty cool classics and hot rods. When I went through my shots, I was pretty disappointed, again, in my work. But then I realized that when I shoot at these events, I need to slow down. Just slow down and See... not rush through and dryly document the cars. It's not a press conference, I don't have a deadline, I'm not shooting for a client and having to get the standard car shots for them, so just slow down and photograph for me. There are a few good shots from the night:

On Monday (June 13), I wandered out into Times Square for my lunch break from my on-site temp job. I've always got at least one camera with me, and it paid off big-time! MHN, I suppose in order to lure guys over to their booths to encourage them to get prostate checks and all, had three classic cars roped off. The first was this gorgeous Buick from the 40's. I somehow deleted the photo with the sign containing model and year information - argh!

...and shot this really incredible shot of a 50's Packard ornament (I was shooting RAW and had very little room on the card - so I deleted the pic of the sign again with the model and year information by mistake.) (The other car was a 70's era Porsche 911T.) I'm going to start offering some shots for sale on RedBubble - more on that when I actually do it. This will be one of the shots offered.

I sat on the boardwalk along Shore for awhile yesterday, and saw about three classics drive by, but no one parked - then they all turned down the same street. So eventually, I just got up and started walking down that street. I didn't find where they were all going, and Serino's was closed, so it was only a long walk. However, I saw this beater Cadillac along the way, and the cracked paint, rust, and utter disrepair of the car inspired me to take it's picture.