Tag: street rod nationals

Reflections of a 1946 Mercury

Posted on by Nick Roberts

Last year I decided to shoot reflections at the Streetrod Nationals here in Louisville. As I worked that weekend I noticed that many times I was a part of the scene before my camera. I started playing with the idea of producing a self portrait within the reflections on the cars. This particular car caught my eye because when I was a kid in high school I owned a 1946 Mercury Coupe. My car was a deep green color but before it was painted green it had been maroon in color. I thought it would be fun to see what possibilities this particular car offered for utilizing the reflection to create a self portrait. I settled on this image as the best of the lot with this car.

My point with this post is that when I take my camera in the field I like to have some concept or theme when I’m shooting a subject that I’ve photographed literally thousands of times. By making reflections the overall concept of that weekend’s shooting I was able to take a cliched subject and give it new life. So the next time you are stumped about shooting something that you love, and have photographed many times, try thinking about another way to interpret the scene; you just may surprise yourself and walk away with an image that you really enjoy

 

Color In Composition

Posted on by Nick Roberts

Sometimes color is all you need to create a memorable image. By using complimentary color this image is balanced and moves the viewer’s eyes into the frame. This image is pretty much straight out of the camera. I used a polarizer to avoid glare from the sun’s rays in this image which I shot during the middle of the day at the NSRA Street Rod Nationals. Since I took care to make a good image in camera the only thing I needed to do was to sharpen it in Aperture 3.

1948 Buick

Posted on by Nick Roberts

This Buick caught my eye at the Street Rod Nationals here in Louisville last summer. I decided to use Topaz Adjust to make a Black and White version and really like the way it came out. By getting down low with my camera I was able to create a dynamic composition that emphasizes the lines in the car.

Here is the same car processed in Topaz Adjust. The Spicify preset really brought out the color in the car and enhanced the clouds. I got in low and close to the car to compose this shot. I like the way that the car seems to be moving out of the frame, the details inside the headlight, the reflections of the sky and the way the metallic paint sparkles in the sun.

One tip I have for shooting these types of images is to use a polarizer. Using a polarizer intensifies the colors and subdues the glare that shooting at midday causes. The other tip I have for you is to get down on the ground and shoot up at the car. Don’t be afraid to get dirty lying on the ground; in the end the results are usually worth it.

This final image is of another 1948 Buick I found down in Alabama. It has been given a faux HDR look with Topaz Adjust. I took this shot early in the morning and shot it from a low angle to emphasize the grill and the massiveness of the car. The sky was very hazy that morning which resulted in it being nearly colorless but the Spicify preset brought a little color back into it. The halo around the tree is a result of pushing the preset a little too far but even at that I like this image.

Patina Pickup

Posted on by Nick Roberts

I love hot rod, street rods, motorcycles, choppers, customs, dragsters, etc… the list just goes on and on. I am the son of a 1950s hot rodder and whenever these machines are around I’m out there with my camera recording them for posterity. One day these folks will be gone and the passion for the hobby will pass into history as so many other things have over time. I hope that my images will remain to document the creativity and engineering knowhow that make this such a unique piece of Americana.

Every August Louisville host the NSRA Street Rod Nationals. The city is filled with amazing vehicles that show so many different interpretations of what a street rod is. When the first street rods hit the street in the 1970s the cutoff point was that nothing newer than 1948 was considered a streetrod everything else was labeled as a muscle car, kustom or street machine. In those day this Chevy pickup probably wouldn’t have been entered in the Street Rod Nationals because it was too new. Times change and with the rise of the Goodguys events that allowed later model cars in the NSRA changed their rules to allow these later model vehicles into their shows as well. There was some initial grumbling, change never goes well with some folks, but for the most part the NSRA members accepted the change and started building later models too.

This little Chevy pickup is part of a movement to present vehicles that show the wear and tear of time but perform flawlessly due to modern drivelines and safety equipment. I really dig the stance of this truck and the background in the shot makes it really pop. I used TopazAdjust Spicify preset to bring out the warm tones in the sky and accent the headlights. Placing the truck diagonally in the frame and at the bottom helps reinforce the lowered stance of the vehicle while allowing the sky to spread majestically over the entire scene.