2007 PHR Reader Photo Contest - Photo Finish

The Winning Shot
"Here's the breakdown on this year's shoot: Canon 20D set to 200 ISO in aperture priority with a circular polarizer. I used mostly my 17-85mm IS [image stabilizer-ed.] lens, but also my 70-300mm IS. I also used my tripod, a ladder, and two friends holding reflectors. The location is the site of the Barrett-Jackson auction and Goodguys SW Nationals. It is known as West World of North Scottsdale. It has large, open areas with no lines, and not too many obstructions. My model's name is Amanda Pille, an ASU freshman studying pre-law. I shot about 300 pictures, and it was tough narrowing it down to just 10."
-Keith Kanak, winner

The name of this year's winner, Keith Kanak, might sound familiar to readers. That's because he was a finalist in last year's photo contest, and was also the winner of our 2005 contest. Our decision to award first place to Keith was an easy one: Years of practice and following our advice have resulted in a set of awesome photographs of Art Soucek's stock '70 Olds 442 convertible. Since last year's contest, Keith decided to step up his game in anticipation for this year. "I set out to do whatever I had to in order to improve, so I took two semesters of photography classes at my local community college," Keith says. "I have also purchased the gear that should give me the ability to do many things. Good camera lenses and accessories-all Canon-are as expensive as good car parts! It is my goal to secure a freelance position with one of the top car magazines, PHR being my first choice, as automotive photography is my passion."

After being runner-up in last year's photo contest, Ryan Fultz almost hung it up for this year, but decided to make another appearance after we called him out in our contest announcement story (August 2007). Here's what Ryan wrote: "After last year's entry and all the work that went into shooting at multiple locations, I wasn't going to enter again ... that is, until you ran my photo in this year's 'Tips For Better Photos,' and baited me by saying you hoped to see more from me in '07. So I ended up ditching the Finepix S5000, and stepping up to the Nikon D40x. Thanks. That one sentence cost me almost $1,000. After stepping up to an SLR, I now understand what a circular polarizer can do for a shot. I could never see what it was doing with a point-and-shoot."

It's a shame this is a photography contest and not a car-building contest, because Tim Coon would win hands down. From the time a 14-year-old Tim resurrected the old hulk in his dad's barn (and doing doughnuts with his friends in a field) to the present, Tim has built virtually everything on his '60 Impala. Among the highlights are cutting up the frame, transplanting a C4 Corvette front suspension, fabricating his own coilover four-link rear, learning to perform major bodywork, sewing his own upholstery, building the small-block Chevy, installing and tuning the ACCEL DFI fuel injection, painting the chassis (but not the exterior-too big for his garage), reassembling the car (using a '60 station wagon parts car as a template), then beating on it at the drag strip. Oh, and did we mention that Tim's photos are freakin' awesome? When you work on the same car for 25 years (Tim's now 39), you really fall in love with the lines of the car, and Tim has captured the '60 Chevy perfectly with his point-and-shoot Kodak.

Best Of The Rest

Second-generation Firebirds make excellent project cars because they have great styling, they're legit musclecars (being made prior to 1973), and you can still get one relatively cheap. Hugh Howel picked his up for $650 back in 1988, and has been addicted to Firebirds ever since. (He has five of them.) Although he claims to be an avid photographer, Hugh opted to let Amy Madden take his contest shots. They came out great, and here are the best of the lot.

Tom McConnell discovered one of the automotive photographer's most closely guarded secrets-shooting in a new home development. The perfect time to go is just after the roads are paved, but before home construction begins. And if you go on the weekend, security won't even hassle you. Tom's had his dream car for five years, and is working on a larger 454.

Pontiac fans remember the '70 T-37 Tempest as being the ultimate "sleeper." It had all the GTO's running gear without the gingerbread or fancy paint. Leticia Sotelo's dad had one, and she was so impressed at an early age that she would steal it and go joy riding. And her first car? A '68 LeMans. That was replaced by the '69 GTO seen here, which she painstakingly restored with her husband (and photographer) Enrique. Leticia says her GTO was meant to be driven: "I drive my car everywhere, to get groceries, appointments, weekends, shows, and cruises." She's even taken it to the drag strip, running a best of 13.58 in the quarter-mile.

Danielle Crooks' late-model V-6 Camaro might not be tearing up the drag strip, but thanks to plenty of styling mods (like stripes, spoilers, emblems, ground effects, hood, wheels, and grille), she manages to turn plenty of heads anyway. Lots of color, a great location, an eye for composition, and lots of hard work sets this shot apart from the others.

The photos of David Patterson's '72 Cutlass make us really want one bad. They look great on their own, but David's photo really does the shape justice. David entered his '72 in our 2005 photo contest, and it looks like he's sharpened his photo skills even more, trying his hand with a graduated rose-colored filter.

Herb Spanheimer has owned this car since new, originally purchasing it at Walden Pontiac in St. Petersburg, Fla. It's got 141,000 original miles, and the only parts that have changed are the color (originally red, now black) and the period-correct Cragar S/S wheels. We liked the photo for its ambiance. We can easily picture it in the exact same spot 40 years ago. Don't let the total cost invested fool you. Most of that $10,000 is in 1965 dollars!

Airports are great places to shoot car photos, and Susan Reynolds lucked out on a beautiful sunset at the municipal airport in Lincoln, Calif. In the process of shooting, Susan discovered how difficult it is to get the true color to stand out (it's actually Blue Onyx, not black or dark green). That's OK, because even the most highly paid pros have a hard time with correct color in low light. Susan is the sister-in-law of both owners, and also helped with much of the restoration.

Chris Wells spent so much time and effort packaging his entry in a fancy notebook that he forgot to fill out the entry form. Luckily, he included car owner Don Hosler's phone number, and we got it straight from the proverbial horse's mouth. Don regularly autocrosses his Camaro, and it's packed with the goods needed to crank through those corners. It's fast, too, with a best e.t. of 13.40/101. Our favorite shot (shown) wasn't Chris's favorite, but he'll get over it.

Action shots are difficult, especially if you really want to capture the motion, and Ken Hawkins captured the feel of driving a Mustang convertible on a summer day perfectly. The only downside is it's not him behind the wheel, because he was the photographer. To get the shot, Ken mounted his Nikon SLR to the back of the photo vehicle via a Sticky Pod suction cup. A 24mm wide-angle lens is perfect for showing the swirl of the surrounding countryside.

Thankfully, the Mopar crowd didn't completely boycott our photo contest. Our single Mope this year was plenty nice to put it solidly in the top 20, and it's a killer car, too. Thor Harland originally bought the '69 Barracuda for his son, Ron Johnson, who used it as a daily driver for several years before doing this sweet rodification. If we were going to build an A-body g-Machine, this is pretty much exactly how we'd do it!

There's no mistaking the lines of a '67 Chevelle, and Brian Froslie captured those on his Malibu flawlessly. We've been preaching about shooting in the afterglow of sunset for years, and Brian found the perfect spot at the perfect time of day. A freshly paved stretch of asphalt and just the right angle to reflect the horizon line shows that it really isn't that hard to shoot a black car-provided you're paying attention to the contest instructions like Brian did.

Shooting inside an aircraft hangar isn't the easiest thing in a post-9/11 world, but Jason Wyrick pulled it off. The only problem with his shot was he forgot to turn off the hangar lights, so there are hot spots all over it, which would be a deal-breaker for a regular PHR feature shoot. (Rookie mistake.) But standing on a 15-foot ladder to get the shot couldn't have been easy, so we give Jason an "A" for effort. Jason did all the work on his Camaro himself (except the paint), and he says a 427 big-block is waiting in the wings.

Girls, Girls, Girls!
It's inevitable that a magazine read predominantly by men is going to get quite a few photo entries of women, many of them hot. Some of them too hot, in fact. This being a family-oriented mag (some advertising notwithstanding), we can only publish those photos in good taste. Our rule of thumb here is that if the clothing passes muster in a public place (i.e., a crowded beach or a car show), then it's fair game. We got quite a few entries that weren't suitable for publication, so our advice is this: If it can't pass a "dentist office waiting room" test, don't bother sending it in.

That said, this isn't Sunday school either. Most of you are grown men, and it's likely you want to see as much as we can show you. If it's still a problem, we put 'em all conveniently in a two-page spread for you to tear out.

For additional specs, visit www.popularhotrodding.com.

With the clock running out on our contest deadline, Matt Stephens pretty much abandoned all our photo tips, and snapped his picture in bright sunlight in his driveway. Fortunately, his model, Anna Fibbe, made up for it, and looks great in spite of minimal attention to photographic detail. (Some of the other shots look even better, but random body parts were cut off.) We hope Matt tunes up his technique for next year-since he certainly knows where to find the girls. The TA is a real runner-its 537-inch Pontiac engine was built by the Poncho experts at Butler Performance. Once owner Jeff Taulbee gets his steering woes figured out, he says the "Bandit" is going at least low 9s.

For additional specs, visit www.popularhotrodding.com.

Costa Rican-born model Natasha Jonsson really looks super in the Nevada sun, and Jennifer Brown captured her pose impeccably. According to Jennifer, the idea for the photo shoot came from the car's owner, James Allen, who is a friend of Jennifer's husband. Jennifer took photography in high school (doing black-and-white prints-you can guess how long ago that might've been) and was recently reintroduced to digital photography through a friend. (We say thanks for that.) Most of Jennifer's shots were of the rear of the car (a no-no), but this front shot stood out. We hope to see more of Jennifer's photography next year.

For additional specs, visit www.popularhotrodding.com.

Daniel May bought his 2002 Trans Am new while still in college, and he says he's never getting rid of it. Good thing, because the Pontiac Trans Am is a thing of the past. Daniel has collected 137,000 miles on it, and now that the payment book's empty, it's time to play. An LS6 intake has been fitted, along with a set of Kooks long-tube headers and a GMMG stainless steel exhaust. These modest mods make 347 hp to the wheels, which is more than enough to clean the clock of any new Mustang GT. If and when Daniel does lose, he's still got the girl, so who cares?

For additional specs, visit www.popularhotrodding.com.

Were it destined for the race track, Richard Little's '83 Cutlass would haul ass, but for now it will remain a show car. And Richard has every right to protect his Olds from the rigors of racing, since he built virtually all of it (with help from his friend, Shane Mock) by himself. Richard estimates about 900 hp at the crank, which sounds about right for an ATI-blown 408 with a reasonably good tune. Most of the photos were taken in Wichita, Kan., which probably caused quite a stir, considering the stunning good looks of model Kayla Roberts. Yes, it is really hard to look at the car, but try you must. We really dig the stance of the car, too.

For additional specs, visit www.popularhotrodding.com.

We've not heard this excuse before, but photographer John Huneycutt says a sunset shoot wasn't possible due to conflicting work schedules. Fortunately for him, the photos came out good anyway, but could've been better with that liquid sunset light. As it so happens, we're familiar with NC Highway 29, and he's lucky that the pretty Caroline Wirt isn't wearing some of it right now. Moe Zaghari's '95 TA has some proven LT1 bolt-ons in the form of the LT4 Hot Cam Kit from GM Performance Parts. The worked stock heads make the cam really flow, putting it well into respectable LS1 territory. Moe enclosed the chassis dyno graph (347 rear-wheel horsepower), and this thing is a real monster for the money he's got in it.