Thanks for the 'B-Roll' shots, they are very good. I miss the time it was free to walk around during set-up and be able to shoot with-out 500 heads and butts in the way. But also as you talked about, I am rethinking my shooting. My need to shoot commercial/digital is fading, and as such I have pulled out the old Nikon 35's, Mamiya 645 and my new favorite - my collection of 100 year old Kodak Brownies and ordered film off of Amazon. I am going back to the dark side of photography - black and white film. So it will be my eye to focus and gauge light and remember every shot is one dollar, not no cost electrons. And what lasts longer, film or the cloud? Hey we drive old traditional cars, is it time for old traditional photography?
So, when that technology is finally implemented I would expect to see that called out as the "scratch and sniff" option. How many of you geezers remember when that first appeared?
I think I do..But I am thinking of the Rolling Stones album cover; never did find one I could sample.....
Tony, Hope all is well with you. I have thought about all the photo albums that NO longer exist in a persons life. Pictures on the digital camera today and poof, gone tomorrow. Guess it is no big deal as I look through my folks picture albums and wonder who some of these people are...But it IS History and I feel a lot is going to be missed, without a picture in hand, eh ? Randy
yup. millions of picture taken now at car shows will not exist in 15 years. I have photos on CD that are failing that are about that age. i am putting them on an external hard drive in hopes they will last... I may have to make prints of them all
For every photo printed, there's probably a hundred negatives that didn't have the right "look". Digital, we're losing the "trained eye" to programs that can correct almost anything. I was a graphic artist/draftsman until CAD/CAM took my training and threw it in the trash. I wish I'd taken up photography instead.
digital photos and computer manipulation are the best things to happen to photography. "trained eyes" are actually people who take lots of pictures of the same thing and pick the best one.
Now thats just cruel posting a small cross section pic of DOHC flathead engine like that even in the name of art! but thank you for posting,we wouldn't know it existed without your pics Johnny
Hello, Those “B side” photos are probably better than most of the “I got the photo with 30 people milling around shots.” In a different post, I commented that the set up days were just perfect for an aspiring photojournalist. The only competition was from other photojournalists/staff people from the actual magazines. They had an advantage, just because they were wearing name brand shirts exposing the magazine to everyone. So, the approach was talking about the build or an aspect of the design. Then, the idea of their hot rod or custom could be in a magazine for all to see, was a draw for them. Free mounted 11" x 14" color and B/W photos did not hurt to be mentioned, either. Sometimes, it was an offer that could not be denied, except when a staff photographer or editor, steps in and offers a color page or even a magazine center spread in their photo deal. (If they accepted the magazine offer, then of course, those custom free mounted photos and extra color slides were not part of the deal) Digital photography loses some technique as that little button allows 10-15 shots to get it right. If a mistake is made, the delete button is not far away. Back in those old days, the supplies had a few extra rolls of Ektachrome slide film lurking in the bag and a ton of "roll your own" Tri-X and Plus X film canisters for free photo shooting. (Sometimes, it was one camera with Ektachrome and another one with fast, Tri-X for the indoor shots) The cost of B/W was so much lower than color slides, but the magazines wanted that elusive color shot for a possible cover, center spread and/or insert pages. The modus operandi was the color set up shots first, then the B/W detailing photos for the complete story for the mags. Writing the story after talking about the hot rod came naturally, of course, with experience. If my wife happened to be at the set up day and along side during the photo shoot, that brought a commonality to the whole car/bike/show scene. The hot rod builder's wife or girlfriend was not left out during the initial talk or during the photo shoot. That conversation helped in securing the contract. (even using the girlfriend or wife as a model helped tremendously) Jnaki The car shows were fun to go to for the cars and trucks. But, the entry into the early Thursday mornings paid for itself, in the people we met and talked to during set up days. As the shows got bigger, those Thursday entries got tighter and the people were a little more on edge with the prestige/notoriety of the show. Soon, the rush to get into the set up days became overcrowded with the general public. Somehow, we noticed that they got in without photo/magazine credentials we all had in our wallets. Thanks for the cool coverage and different aspect to the big shows.
I have to take some umbridge with that statement, a 'trained eye photographer', as I call myself, will see the scene, look for the shot and take it. This came from the day when I paid for all film and developing and 'hoped' a magazine would like my stuff. Push the shutter watch a dollar bill go away. I had to retrain myself for digital to realize I can hit the shutter again for another shot because it is not 'costing ' me any more. When I shoot at Bonneville I will wait for my shot while around me I heat the staccato of 'machine guns' in rapid fire mode. 'Gee I've only shot 200 images this morning', is heard commonly. And though I use the computer for my 'art' shots and I say tell they have been manipulated, my calendar shots are only converted to black and white and have the contrast fixed for offset printing. Too much relying on the computer was like in the old days ' I'll fix it in the lab', if its good it doesn't need to be fixed.
well I guess it all depends on what you are doing. I have photos from the drags at Bakersfield that took 5 or 6 shots manipulated together to get both cars smoking the tires and no people, ladders, chairs or other distractions in the photo. a person could have 8 trained eyeballs and spend a whole day at the drags and get very few quality photos without a pass to go down to the guardrail and shoot... same with car shows. if there is something I really like I will take several of the same shot and remove all the people walking around. sometimes the lighting is in the wrong spot and you need some digital manipulation to make it look right... all sorts of good reasons for using the computer I say being an artist using photography as the medium if you are not also playing with the photos on the computer you are missing out. it would be like using a full on whizz-bang modern camera in the point and shoot method only. I have cheap photo editing software, it was only like 40 bucks and I do all sorts of fun stuff with it.
The Jalopy Journal
