Tag: street rod nationals

Cadillac Abstract

Posted on by Nick Roberts
Cadillac Abstract

This image is a macro of the glass in a 1931 Cadillac Sedan I saw last year at the NSRA Streetrod Nationals. This particular car was impecable in every way but the owner had chosen not to replace any of the glass in the car. These early cars had a type of safety glass that was made by taking two layers of glass and fusing them together with a clear plastic membrane that was sandwiched between them. Over time the membrane will sometimes start to delaminate and the result is an amber looking pattern usually at the edges of the glass. This car’s glass had done that at the bottom of every piece of glass in the car and the restorer had kept it in the car. I couldn’t resist the abstract patterns and colors and took several photos of it though I’m not sure I took any of the car itself.

I processed this image in Topaz Adjust which allowed me to intensify and enhance the colors in the delamination. Once again I took a subject that I had seen and photographed innumerable times and found a new way to interpret it. Keep your eyes open when you are looking at something you have photographed many times before and you just may stumble onto a gem such as this image.

Homage to the Renaissance

Posted on by Nick Roberts
Reflections in a Chrome Eye

Sometimes the simplest things can yield surprising results. As I searched the Streetrod Nationals for reflections in cars I came across this car parked in the grass which was a great mirror for the two red vehicles parked nearby. I thought about the way the painters of the Renaissance used convex mirrors in their paintings to capture distorted perspective and decided to go with that concept.

I would call this a radial composition due to the many concentric circles which focus the viewer’s eye on the image within the image though it also conforms to the rule of thirds. The colors in the image are primarily red and green which are complimentary colors and lend harmony to the scene and further strengthen the composition. I also enjoy the way the colors in the wheel are inverted from the center section where the green grass and blue sky are revealed; to the outer portions of the wheel where the green is now on the upper side and the blue has moved to the bottom. The reds of the reflected vehicles benefit too from the red jewel on the tire’s valve cap which adds a small foreground element to the image.

I first processed this image with Aperture 3 where I cropped it slightly to remove extraneous details that were interfering with my initial concept for the photo. I then I opened it in Topaz Adjust for the final enhancements which intensified the colors in the chrome and the scene within the center cap, along with the sky.

Then and Now

Posted on by Nick Roberts

This image was taken at the 2010 NSRA Streetrod Nationals in Louisville, Kentucky. I titled it “Then and Now” because of the juxtaposition of the modern form of travel, the jetliner, with the Buick which would have been the way many people travelled in comfort and style in 1948.

I liked the big green Buick in the foreground and wanted to use it as the foreground anchor. The diagonal lines on the pavement serve to reinforce the angle the cars are parked as well as directing the viewer’s eye into the scene. I saw the jetliner making it’s approach to the airport and knew immediately that I wanted it in the photo. I shot several frames as it descended for landing and this one caught the airplane in the spot I liked best because it is framed by the clouds.

When I’m working at a car show the size of the Streetrod Nationals, over 10,000 cars typically, there is no way to shoot when the sun is low in the sky. The gates don’t open until well after sunrise and they are closed by early evening. Since I am shooting in some of the most unflattering light a photographer can get I must rely on subject matter and composition to get memorable shots.

I used Topaz Adjust on this image which helped bring detail back into the shadows while preserving the highlights. Topaz Adjust also does a fantastic job of accenting the texture in an image. In this image it enhanced the pavement texture as well as the clouds while punching up the colors of the entire image.

LaSalle Lenses

Posted on by Nick Roberts

I’ve always been a fan of automotive designs from Harley Earl who was the first Vice President of the Art and Color Division at General Motors. His most ambitious work began with the LaSalle line of cars which set the standard for opulence and refined design during the short life of the line. As an offshoot of the Cadillac line many considered it to be the “baby” Cadillac and that in itself was the seed of it’s eventual demise. People were buying LaSalles because they were less expensive than Cadillacs but were built using virtually the same chassis and driveline as Cadillacs.

There aren’t many LaSalle in the streetrod scene so finding this early 30’s LaSalle at the Streetrod Nationals was a real treat. I loved the way the builder had kept Harley Earl’s design details intact and created a modern car within the framework of a classic LaSalle.

I chose to use NIK HDR Efex Pro to produce this Black and White version. This composition relies on repetition of form to build it’s foundation along with the strong diagonal lines formed by the headlights and grill. The black and white effect also emphasizes the clouds and adds texture to the image.

 

REO Speedwagon

Posted on by Nick Roberts

This REO Speedwagon was at the NSRA Streetrod Nationals last year. It was powered by the Buick Fireball Eight Engine I featured a few days ago. I’m sharing this because I think the way I chose to shoot it really worked out well. I was using my 18mm-200mm Nikkor VR lens and I got down on my belly to frame the shot. I shot at f8 with the lens set to 18mm. I wanted to accent the wheel and tire in the frame while including the Cadillac “Lady” hood ornament. I really dig the way she is soaring into the clouds while the wheel heads straight at the viewer.

I processed this in NIK HDR Efex Pro from a single frame image. I first did some minor cropping in Aperture 3 then adjusted the exposure and vibrance before finally sharpening the photo slightly. After doing this I saved a virtual copy with my Aperture 3 adjustments which I then took into NIK Hdr Efex Pro for the final version you see here.

One additional note: as with all the images I post here; if you click on the image it will open in another window at a larger size.