Photographer: Murray Boone, San Antonio, TX
Car: 2001 Chevy Corvette Z06
Camera: Canon G2 Powershot
Murray Boone grabbed this shot of his Z06 from his brother-in-law's balcony. That's a great vantage point when you can get it. The Canon point-and-shoot camera Boone used is also an affordable, yet effective piece that we like for its value and quality.
Kudos: Pavement this good (concrete actually) is hard to find, and a great vantage point is even harder to find. Finding them together is almost impossible, but Boone put it together with his pride and joy. A nice diagonal thrust across the frame gives the image some power.
Gripes: There's just too much light on this car and the concrete is blown out in places. We're guessing this is 3 o'clock light, which is at least three hours too early. We suggest hanging around for twilight and getting the money shot then. Still, not too bad for a beginner.
Photographer: David Patterson, Akota, TN
Car: 1972 Olds Cutlass convertible
Camera: Kodak digital
David Patterson tells us this back-country road turned out to be not as quiet as he thought it would be. Besides the grazing cow nosing into the picture, he had to move his car, camera and ladder over a dozen times to let cars pass. Now that's the kind of dedication we like! This high-angle shot was the best of David's entries, and features a nice clean patch of pavement with little to intrude the car's space.
Kudos: It must've been a chore transporting a ladder inside an Olds convertible, but it really made a difference. Rural Tennessee isn't known for its vast vistas and distance horizon lines, so going vertical and shooting down was a good call. The slight camera tilt and great framing works nicely and the rural theme (fence, trees and cow) lends the image a strong, undistracting sense of place.
Gripes: The white car combined with a dark graduated-filter on the background pushes the contrast (the usable range between dark and light) to the absolute limit. Some art directors might refuse to use this image. A half stop darker on the exposure would be ideal.
Photographer: Keith Cooper, Pensacola, FL
Car: 1965 Ford Mustang
Camera: Canon EOS digital Rebel
Taken on an old seaplane dock at the naval air station in Pensacola, we're kind of jealous of Keith Cooper's location, because that's probably the most ideal setting, at least in Florida anyway. Having completed a fresh restoration and racing the clock to beat hurricane Ivan, Cooper had to be a little apprehensive when these photos were taken.
Kudos: The low angle shows a great stance, which shows all four wheels just like we asked. There's great color saturation in this shot with a great juxtaposition of the blue sky to the red paint. A clean foreground and uncluttered background put the car at center stage.
Gripes: Why couldn't we see this view of the front of the car? The front is always the strongest view of any car and packs the most emotion. The windows are open again (what's up with that, people?), and no reflectors were used to fill in the rear valence (probably because the photos were taken before the contest was announced).
Photographer: Jason LaPlant, Perinton, NY
Car: 1999 Pontiac Trans Am
Camera: Canon Powershot A510
Indoor and nighttime shots are particularly difficult due to light balance issues, and photographer Jason LaPlant decided to meet that challenge squarely in order to get a unique point of view. We took the liberty of attempting to digitally correct many of the color/contrast issues as best we could in order to show you what might be possible with this composition.
Kudos: This low-angle shot shows Jason's T/A coming out at night like a black panther stalking its prey in the shadows. The animal-like persona to the car is captured in a voyeuristic way, as if the viewer is spying from afar. Jason has artfully avoided a tangency in the background where a diagonal conduit frames the car and forces the eye into the subject. Lights on and wheels posed are a good touch, too.
Gripes: Shooting at night with Mercury-vapor lighting means the light spectrum is shot to hell, skewing everything over to green. (Sodium lighting alternately turns things orange, so you can't win.) Without auxiliary off-camera flash fill lighting, it can't be fixed in the digital afterlife.
Photographer: Andy Larsson, St. Ignatius, MT
Car: 1939 Chevy truck
Camera: Nikon D70
Photographer Andy Larsson shot Darrin Care's '39 Chevy truck in Sarasota, Florida, but encountered difficulty when two mating alligators decided it was time to investigate. Florida's a handful, with nothing but trees, telephone poles and typhoons, so we understand how hard it is to find an ideal location there. Andy provided lots of information on his shoot, including his use of reflectors, a polarizing filter and even graduated filters.
Kudos: Careful attention to exposure yielded an image that takes full advantage of the available light range. The low stance and wide-angle lens emphasizes the proud and tall nature of this classic Chevy. Care seems to have been taken to match the point of view with the personality of the vehicle.
Gripes: With the implied knowledge of the photographer, it seems unconscionable that the truck isn't even framed squarely. Also, a better job could've been done to use the treeline to frame the shape of the cab. Instead, the trees cut into and out of the vehicle profile haphazardly.
Photographer: John Rush, Plano, TX
Car: 1956 Chevy 210
Camera: Olympus E-10 digital
Professional photographer John Rush specializes in nudes (if you can handle it, go to his site: www.nudeartistry.com), but he decided this time to take up our assignment and combine the automotive curves of a '56 Chevy with softer female curves. We like the result just fine!
John Rush shot his model inside the Chevy, but the pose looks a little awkward with a cropped hand and cropped feet. She's a beaut' though, so we've got to show her--at least the parts we can see.
Kudos: Great quality image with a great camera, great color and great lighting. There's a nice horizon line down the side of the car and the model is attractive and relaxed. Sunset/sunrise light is the best quality and you can see it here. It's tough shooting cars with models because adding a model compounds lighting and composition issues to another level of magnitude. It's a great first try for a photographer not accustomed to shooting cars.
Gripes: Rather than try to shoot the standard eye-level angle, the shot could be so much more dramatic if looking down from above or from ground level. Having the model interact with the car (like washing it or working on the engine) would be far more interesting.
Photographer: Todd Ray, Campbell, CA
Car: 1967 Chevy Chevelle Malibu
Camera: Kodak DCX6490
Todd tells us there aren't many empty roads in Silicon Valley, but that didn't stop him from finding a vacant parking lot up in the hills. The wind played havoc with his homemade reflectors, but Todd and friends held them in place long enough to get this well-lit shot of his red Malibu.
Kudos: We really like this backlit shot, which lights up the red paint like a Christmas tree. Todd posed the car just like we suggested while lighting the grill with a homemade reflector. (Very few people took our advice on this, but it really makes a big difference.) The color and contrast is visually stunning and the front wheels are posed nicely. A slight camera tilt using a wide-angle lens is a nice touch.
Gripes: The light is still too early in the day. This shot taken 90 minutes later would look twice as nice. The parking lot lines are very distracting and negate much of what is good about this shot. The Bay area of Northern California is one of the most location-rich areas in the nation, so there's no excuse.
Photographer: Mike Yamada, San Jose, CA
Car: 1970 Chevy Camaro Z/28
Camera: Nikon D100
Car owner Mark Frazier is indeed lucky to have a friend like Mike Yamada shoot his Camaro. We would've liked to see a front view of Frazier's Z/28, but we can only judge what we get, and this is it. Yamada is an aspiring Pro photographer who professes a desire to specialize in automobiles. We think Yamada has promise, and this shot is proof.
Kudos: A clean location and an inspiring car combine with a great pro-level camera to yield this image. We like Frazier's green paint, which really pops off the page here.
Gripes: What, no reflector, from a pro? The rear valence needs one badly. The front view would've been far more powerful too (just rotate the car 180 degrees). The windows need to be rolled up and Yamada needs to hang around until sunset to get the best light. Since virtually none of our tips were followed, we're guessing this shot was taken before the contest was announced. Take our advise in the future, Mike Yamada, and there may be hope for you in the pro ranks.
Photographer: Jimmy Pilgram, Shreveport, LA
Car: 1969 Chevy Camaro
Camera: Nikon D70
We don't know much about this shoot other than it was done on a boat ramp in Shreveport. We've used boat ramps before and that's a good call. With water nearby there's usually a good, clean horizon, and lots of extra light reflecting up from the water. Some of our best magazine shots have been taken at boat ramps.
Kudos: A Nikon D70 is a camera we're very familiar with and lots of pros use it for car photography. This image is sharp, clean, and has a very large file size, meaning it can be blown up nicely if need be. The angle is low enough to see all four tires, yet manages to avoid a tangency between the roof and the treeline behind, which frames the car nicely.
Gripes: This shot was taken far too early in the day in the harsh sun. You should've hung around to sunset, Jimmy, because yellow is the most bitchin' color for car photos. It's also over-exposed by at least a full stop. The white areas are so blown out that there's no information in the file, so it can't be restored digitally. Also, throw away the starburst filter ASAP.
Photographer: Mike Bellis, San Ramon, CA
Car: 1969 Dodge Super Bee
Camera: Nikon Coolpix 8800
If you recognize this car, it's because it has been featured in sister publication Mopar Muscle (True Street Challenge) and has even starred in a Dodge TV commercial for the Rumble Bee truck.
Kudos: The high quality of the Nikon image sensor and the 8.3 megapixel image size is a plus. Mike has used this to his advantage to capture the bright-yellow paint and the interesting coastline of Northern California.
Gripes: The pavement in the foreground is pretty torn up and could be vastly improved by moving the car or kicking away some rocks. The windows need to go up too. The location is breathtaking, but the tangency of the ridgeline intersecting with the roofline is distracting and takes away from the photo.
Photographer: David A. Petersen, Grand Rapids, MI
Car: 1994 GMC Somona
Camera: Sony digital
David Petersen photographed his Chevy small-block powered Sonoma on the west coast of Michigan near sunset. We've shot in the region before and can vouch for its beauty. This location at Grand Haven State Park, however, may not have been the best choice with all the traffic, but this shot at least was a winner.
Kudos: A long telephoto lens, low on the deck, wheels posed, and all four tires showing is a great recipe for a standard shot. It's nothing fancy and it's pretty simple to do, but Petersen followed our directions and didn't try to get too smart with it. This truck shows some attitude thanks to the mean point of view.
Gripes: The truck needs to occupy more of the frame. This could be done by moving closer or using more of a zoom lens. A slight tilt to the camera would've been nice to see. When you're shooting digital, there is no film cost, so don't be afraid to try a bunch, both tilted and not tilted.
Photographer: A.J. & Colter Dell, Emporia, KS
Car: 1967 Ford Mustang
Camera: Fuji E1000
The brother team of A.J. and Colter Dell sent us this shot of Colter's '67 Mustang coupe. Their letter tells of many attempts to shoot the car while trying to cope with reflections and contrast problems. To answer the lads' question: "yes," it is difficult to shoot a white car. The reason is that the camera's light meter will always try to read white as medium gray (black usually comes out overexposed for the very same reason). Next time, try over-exposing a white car by a full stop. Bracket in half-stop increments over a two-stop range until you have a handle on it.
Kudos: A lot of work went into this shot, in spite of an average-looking result. The enclosed letter went to great lengths explaining the trial and error these brothers went through, including an abortive shoot with an ancient Pentax K1000 film SLR. Persistence pays when it comes to shooting cars and these boys didn't give up.
Gripes: The shot we got was strangely framed, so we took the liberty of cropping the image and rotating it to give it more impact (the tilt is ours, not the Dell brothers). At least they gave us the room to crop--which is always better than not enough room.
Photographer: unknown
Car owner: Keven Kyser, Fort Worth, TX
Car: 1986 Ford Mustang
Camera: unknown
Perhaps reader Keven Kyser didn't understand the assignment, but sometimes a 175hp shot of nitrous can cause the occasional bout of confusion. We'll let it slide this once. We were pretty excited about this photo of Keven's car launching, but only later realized he couldn't possibly have taken the photo if he was driving his car. (Nobody's that fast. Just try opening the 'fridge before the light turns on...)
Kudos: This unknown track photographer (probably working at the Motorplex in Ennis) gets credit for capturing Keven mid-wheelie, which is pretty hard to do on a car that's only packing 462 hp (as per Keven's enclosed dyno sheets.) The '86 Mustang is sharp as a tack and the color saturation, thanks to what we're guessing is a lens-mounted polarizer, is superb.
Gripes: We really would've liked to give credit to the photographer and know what his camera was. When you get your PHR shirt Keven, you need to do the right thing and pass it on to the rightful owner!
Here's the box of swag we rounded up for winner Keith Kanak of Scottsdale, AZ. There is some cool stuff in here like a year's worth of back issues of PHR, some cool books on hot rods and artist Von Dutch, some T-shirts, Mother's car polish, and various PHR chachka raided from Zinke's closet.