Event Coverage 2012 Hot Rod Reunion (Photographs)

Another Hot Rod Reunion has passed. This is one of my personal favourite events as I find the combination of swap meet, cars/trucks, racing and great people to be damn near perfect. The weather this year was pretty close to perfect, though another 5-10 degrees cooler would have been even more awesome.

I got to meet even more great people this year including some of the guys from the Burbank Choppers. Thank you to all for building some really great stuff and being all around cool people.

I shot exclusively film this year, medium and large format, on cameras from the 1950's. For those of you interested in the technical details, I shot Kodak TMax 400, Kodak Portra 160 and Harmon Direct Positive paper. There are no filters or effects on any of these images.

Enjoy.


Tim


Hot_Rod_Reunion_2012-26_WM by ScottPhoto.co, on Flickr


Hot_Rod_Reunion_2012-12_WM by ScottPhoto.co, on Flickr


Hot_Rod_Reunion_2012-8_WM by ScottPhoto.co, on Flickr


Hot_Rod_Reunion_2012-19_WM by ScottPhoto.co, on Flickr


Hot_Rod_Reunion_2012-6_WM by ScottPhoto.co, on Flickr


Hot_Rod_Reunion_2012-29_WM by ScottPhoto.co, on Flickr


Hot_Rod_Reunion_2012-16_WM by ScottPhoto.co, on Flickr


Hot_Rod_Reunion_2012-17_WM by ScottPhoto.co, on Flickr


Hot_Rod_Reunion_2012-21_WM by ScottPhoto.co, on Flickr


Hot_Rod_Reunion_2012-5_WM by ScottPhoto.co, on Flickr


Hot_Rod_Reunion_2012-11_WM by ScottPhoto.co, on Flickr


Hot_Rod_Reunion_2012-27_WM by ScottPhoto.co, on Flickr


Hot_Rod_Reunion_2012-24_WM by ScottPhoto.co, on Flickr


Hot_Rod_Reunion_2012-25_WM by ScottPhoto.co, on Flickr


Hot_Rod_Reunion_2012-23_WM by ScottPhoto.co, on Flickr


Hot_Rod_Reunion_2012-3_WM by ScottPhoto.co, on Flickr


Hot_Rod_Reunion_2012-2_WM by ScottPhoto.co, on Flickr

You can find a few more here: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjCASxVj

Cameras used:

Graflex Crown Graphic by ScottPhoto.co, on Flickr


IKOFLEX_IIa_1 by ScottPhoto.co, on Flickr

 

Timmy, You are an artist! Great pics. Now get busy on the '52!

 

LONG LIVE FILM!!!!

Fantastic shots and thanks for the coverage.

 

WOW. Nice work.

 

Very nice photos.

How do you get the film on to the computer?

 

Great shots, Great perspective, Thanks!
.
.

 

The film was all scanned post processing.

 

Awesome. Would love to see more coverage done this way.

 

so why or how did you get the red tint on the photo of the flathead?
The only way I know of getting that look without after-effects or a filter is to have let in a light leak....is that what you did?

 

On the bottom of the Ikoflex there is a little slider with a red window to assist with initial loading of the film. You load the spool, start the advance, close the back and then open the slider and advance the film until it shows the 1 on the backing paper of the film. I forgot to close the slider before I made this shot and it resulted in the red tint. Happy accident.

 

The reason I ask is that I spent 50 years using a twin lens Graflex 120, a Crown Graphic 4X5 and assorted 8X10's, Deardorffs, Eastman Kodak rail cameras, etc. and the only time I got some of these looks was by accident and they were usually considered "opps", aka mistakes.
After many years, the old negatives now look kind of "cool" with these old "oops" but at the time...NOT.
Clients don't like "oops".
I've kept all my negatives, but my light-flares and so-forth were thrown away (sadly).
The hundreds of negs that I've kept are mostly "OK", aka normally exposed and focused.
Another shot looks like the neg or the film has dirt on it. Again, we've all had those "moments", but to actually create that look would require fore-thought.
It would be a fun challenge to try to do again.
It is a somewhat new hobby for film guys to make a photo look "old" and there's some neat techniques to try to "master" what we all did as mistakes.
Good for you to give it a whole-hearted try to use film. Most people today are too impatient. We live in a "we want it now" sort of world.
People today don't understand what we had to do "to see if we got the shot". We'd sweat bullets all the way back to the lab to see if we'd get paid.
Sheeeeesh.
Glad those days are long gone.
There was a guy at Bonneville in August using a 5 X 7" Whizner...
Yikes...the guy gets ONE shot and the car is gone. Vanished.
I would have no interest in making that perfect film image again, but it would be fun to make some shots "look old" again.
The digital age shooters just need to realize that the look of the photos looking like they are old is not actually how most photographs looked.
Most all early photos from Hot Rod Magazine were perfectly focused and perfectly exposed....as they should have been.
The "romance" for lots of people is to make photo look like something found in Uncle Bert's old closet....wrinkled, faded, some dirt specks,.....maybe a little soft-focused (Aunt Harriet wasn't very steady), etc., etc.
That's where "the look" comes into play and that's what people love to see.
A perfectly done B&W can be done with a digital camera, but to make a photo look like a "find" or an "heirloom" takes some craft.
So...good for you.
You have more patience than I do.
I shot 120 film and 4X5" sheet film at the drag races from 1959 to 2007.
I'm done with it.
I now have a Hassleblad as a doorstop.
Have fun,.....!!!!
Doug

 

Great picture of Bones in the Big John car.

 

Nice job !! Awesome pics !!

 

Thanks for the comments Doug. I completely agree with you. One of the reasons that I can't fall in love completely with digital is that it's too "perfect". Everything looks the same and has a very sterile and unrealistic feel to me. I shoot for me. This means that I look for the things that make me feel something about what I'm seeing. The "imperfections" of film work just feel much more real to me.

I've been shooting since the 70's so I know what you're talking about with the race for the "perfect shot". I work in advertising and all of our clients expect the perfect shot for things we work on. That's why I only do this for me.

On the image with the dirt that you referenced I actually completely underexposed the image and then dropped it on the floor while was processing it. I wasn't going to use it at all but after adjusting for the underexposure I actually liked it, dirt and all. To me, that's real life, never "perfect" but it's the imperfect happenings that make it interesting.

That's why I think old cameras and old cars work well together. There is a craftsmanship and attention to detail that is so overlooked in things today. It's not easy and it takes time and money to create something worth having. Now if I could just finish my 52 F1.

If you ever want to get rid of that Hassy let me know. I'll put it to good use.

 

Great photo's of that recent CHRR. Film photo's, how much longer will that media be available.

 

dam awsum pics! i didnt get to go this year. thanks for posting!

 

I know what you mean....I had two mentors, Tom Thompson and J. Allan Hawkins, both very respected commercial photographers.
Mr. Thompson shot nothing but 8X10" negs and I still have over 500 of them.
His shots were "perfect" because that's what his clients wanted.
No grain, no dirt, etc.
And, they did what they were supposed to do...sell products.
The younger guys today are more moved by the photos that display some "character"...movement, something other than a properly packaged 100% perfecto something-er-other...
Sure, I don't blame them.
The whole idea of hot rodding os to be transported into another era and escape "today" and it's "pre-packaged" world which is too readily available in our "Dial 1-800" era.
I still have a Cirkut camera with a focal-plane shutter. For those that don't know, that's the type of camera that gave really old photos of racing cars the wheels that would look oblong, like an egg.
I'm going to have to dust it off and give it some exercise. I haven't used it in 40 years...
Who would have thought that photography with light leaks and dirty film would be desirable?
Yet, here we are....
Carry on....



that big gear goes on the tripod and that's how you regulate the shutter speed

 

Great pics thanks!

 

Okay, who's the dope that gave this thread a one star?
.
Ha, I just voted, now it's 3 stars.

 

Tim: Thanks for the photos, they are beautiful. Doug thanks for all the photos you post also, excellent work, much appreciated.
On a side note reading your words made me pause for a moment.
I worked at EK for many years before they sold us off. We were not in the film division but it was a tight family. Meaning you knew many people from all around there and we would share resource's at the time. It was a great experience. We had 2 pro Photogs just for our group. Use to talk to them all the time when they were around to try and learn.
You are so right when you talk about peoples just experienced in Digital and the differences in thought and use. I remember very well shooting extra shots and waiting that week biting nails to see how they came out. People nowadays just look at you funny when you talk about that.
Also with the equipment out now its just amazing the images, but being of older stock, sometimes they seem cold to me.
You should see Kodak now. Its just a mere shadow of itself. They have torn down many buildings to cut the tax base. Just sad but time moves on right?!. Kind of reminds me of Mattel out there Doug. Lots of big buildings that held production now off to China.
Couple things I have seen that may interest you. When they shut our building down they took most of the Photo lab equipment and threw it in the Dumpster( about time digital was coming to play). I once held a breadboard camera in my hand that was going to take shots right to a CD. Doesn't sound like much right???> But this was when CD players were only owned by the rich and Radio stations.
Was in the lab were they were making the first detector plates, that was becoming production for Digital cameras.
Had to do some fab on a test bench at research labs, they needed help and we had some body's available. Talking with the scientist-engineer in the lab. He was showing me this little screen he was working on. Said it was the future as it needed little power and image quality possibilities , etc, etc. It was the first OLED display. This was in 1998 .
These are just a few of my experiences, Kodak was an amazing company, full of very talented and hard working people. They had huge technical advances that were never able to market effectively. But that's another story.
Really appreciate the work with film. Cant be duplicated in my eye. But shooting all the shots you want and just buying another 16 gig card for 20 bucks is a bargain ,right??!!.............
Thank again and take care
Luke

 

Great coverage..........thanks for posting.

 

being a photographer when i was in the Navy...i eally miss the romance of film.............

 

Reading this thread, is a history lesson in film based photographic art.

I feel more than a bit, obliged sirs!

 

Wow! Great stuff. I apreciate the work and the black and white is my favorite. Thanks for sharing.
Later,
Dick

 

Stunning.
I to am an analog junky...Mamiya C 330 and a ton of 35mm...
Problems getting film and chemicals?
It's getting difficult here in Canada.
Thanks again, what a pleasure to view!

 

Thanks for the great pictures.

 

Thanks everyone for the kind words. Much appreciated.

Luke, the issues at Kodak make me sad. Such an example of corporate greed and poor decision making. Thanks for sharing your story.

This post is in no way a digital vs film competition. I own and shoot both. To me it has a lot to do with the same thing that the HAMB is all about. I have a newer car and I have a (couple of) older vehicles. I choose to own, drive and work on my old trucks because I love the feel, craftsmanship and pride of working to create and own something that takes work and care to make. It's not easy, it costs money and every part of the process combines to create something unique; to make something that YOU enjoy. That, to me, is what all of this is about.

There are a lot of photographers here that are making great images, Doug, Lowtech and too many others to list. I love seeing the images that they share. I only create my images to inspire myself and hopefully a few others along the way.

Again, thanks for all of the input.


Tim

 

Thanks for the photos and comments. You are right on the money in my book.
Lynn

 

Yup your right Tim. Digital is great and think of all the sharing because of it.
Imagine this site without digital photos....
Great work and hope to see more of your stuff sometime
Sorry to have sidetracked the thread.
thank you
Luke

 

wonderful photography! inspiring indeed.