Houston Garages, December 2010

Houston, TX

As soon as I bought my plane tickets to visit my family, my mom got on the phone and told me that her friend John had invited me over to visit and shoot at his garage. The day after I arrived, we piled in the car and drove out to meet him at JLD Classic Enterprises, where he does stainless steel restoration as well as restores his own cars. He keeps everything as period-correct as possible.

John and his '41 Olds:

The ration sticker was still stuck on the inside of the windshield:

Detail and engine of his other Olds:

He took us for a ride in the '41, and I just kept shooting. There were no seatbelts as they weren't required yet in 1941... the seats were nice and bouncy. The car had some pick-up, and you felt invincible speeding down the road. It's huge!

Come on, if you grew up in the 70's like me, you know I had to take this shot as John Travolta sang "Greased Lightening" on my internal soundtrack:

After we admired the Olds', he uncovered the Packard:

The walls were covered with parts, as they should be:

And then the Studebakers:

We took the '41 down the street to his buddy George's shop - GAP Racing - to see the muscle cars he was currently working on:

Are you drooling yet?

Then across the street to another to see a Skorpion Crosley in the process of being restored.

Special thanks to John Doerfler and his friends from the Gulf Coast Region Antique Automobiles of America for sharing their enthusiasm for classic cars and their history. I *will* make it to Houston on the second Monday of the month for one of your cruise nights. Thanks also to George Palazzolo of GAP Racing for letting us poke around and generally get in the way of his mechanics while drooling over his Chevelle. And, of course, Mom, for bragging about me taking photos of cars and getting us invited in the first place.

_____________

I hope you like my shots. I prefer to keep my shots realistic, bordering on documentary, and don't do any special post-processing; I'll leave the HDR and desaturated shots to those who do it well. I think real is what I do well. I took over 200 shots in an hour and a half on this day, and it was hard to edit down to 20 for this story. If you want to see more, please visit my gallery on SmugMug by clicking this link.

Series in Progress - Classic Cars with a Retro Camera

Last spring, I started throwing one of my many old/antique cameras in my camera bag when I went to car events - a Sabre 620. In order to use it, I have to re-roll 120 film onto 620 reels - yes, I roll my own. Film! I wanted to shoot classic cars with a camera that is about as old as they are, and I really dug the results when I developed the first rolls. I've seen a lot of digital photos post-processed to look "old" or "retro," but actually using film gives it an authenticity that can't be replicated in Photoshop.

Last night, I was hosting a friend who was a JFK Airport refugee - she was stuck here because of the blizzard, halfway to her destination. Before she arrived I had been scanning some film I shot at a restoration shop in Texas, and the roll hadn't turned out all that well. It was way too dark in the shop for a simple box camera with no exposure control. I left the one frame that was salvageable open in Photoshop, and when she woke up my laptop to check her flight status, she exclaimed, "Wow, I like that!" Great, all was not lost. If Lecia from my art school days likes it, I guess it's got some merit - I am my own worst editor and critic.

This is a series-in-progress - I'm still not sure what it will ultimately be or when it will end (maybe a Blurb book?), but I'm having fun with it for now - and it will go to Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend with me! I bought the tickets months ago...

12.23.2010, Houston, TX:

6.12.2010, Rumble in the Country, Terryville, CT:

8.21.2010, Woodward Dream Cruise, Detroit, MI:

11.3.2010, SEMA, Las Vegas, NV:

10.9.2010, Riff Raff Riot, Greenlawn, NY:

If you "Like" my Pony Car Girl facebook page, there are a few more shots there. Looking at these, I realize I need to shoot more rat rods! I'll post more as the series goes on... but right now, all of the cool cars are in hibernation here in the cold, snowy Northeast.

Outtakes from LA Auto Show

Nov. 17-19, 2010

This year's Los Angeles Auto Show proved to be more frantic than last year, possibly because (as the NY Times reported) there were 50% more journalists there this year than last year. There just didn't seem to be enough time and space to get the more creative and interesting shots I wanted to get (or, in some cases, the basic shots that I needed) without other photographers in the way - and it seemed we were always in each others' way. After three days (two press days and the first day open to the public) I was exhausted; my feet hurt for a week. One journalist announced in the press room, "My pedometer says I've walked 14 miles today!" It took me this long to get to the task of finding my shots for the blog because of the sheer number of photos I took.

There were few surprises, least of which was the 2011 Chevy Camaro Convertible.

I think the car I loved photographing the most was the Jaguar C-X75 concept. My camera loved its fluid lines. Just look at the way the cover hangs on it...

Yes, drool-worthy. Jay Leno apparently has one already.

Porsche was fun with models dressed in retro fashion. (Two other Porsches here and here.)

Here's a great example of what NOT to do when going in for a really cool reflective shot (of the 2012 Ford Focus) - get your Fiat swag in the picture!

_______________________________________^^white bag of swag

While this shot isn't perfect, I think it's my favorite shot from L.A. This is a detail of the back of the Dodge 2011 Charger. I wish the Charger plate was lit better and a bit brighter; this was the rare occasion where, for a few moments, no one got in my way at Dodge. They tweaked their interiors a lot, which is good - I was in the backseat of a rented Avenger from Dallas to Odessa, and it was a bit... firm.

Kia is always fun to shoot - yet another hybrid choice:

The Mazda Shinari concept was just as exciting as the Jaguar C-X75 to photograph:

Love that snake eye headlight:

Things were less rushed on the second day at Audi, and I was able to slow down and get some nice detail shots such as this one inside the R8 GT.

While waiting for the press conference to begin, I played around with the camera to try some unique shots of the event. I like to flex that creative muscle to keep things fresh, even if the shots fail in the end. There's something about this shot that I dig.

Before the show opened to the public, I had five wonderful minutes alone with the Boss 302. I had a list of about 15 different shots that I wanted. I couldn't get them all - the doors opened to the public way too soon.

Yes, kids, I'll be asking for a pony for Christmas too.

_______

All Photographs ©2010 Megan Green, All Rights Reserved. Do not download or otherwise copy without my permission.