Critique Welcomed Hot Rod & Custom

[Chris Dodkin]

Spring in California brings out the custom cars and hot rods - and last weekend we had the big annual Good Guys Show at Del Mar, as well as a small local show in San Marcos.

I packed the Blad, along with a 'gun' grip which I'd blagged on EBAY for $19!

Weird shooting left handed - but they want you to hold and trigger with the left hand, and focus with the right hand.

I shot three rolls of Kodak TMAX 100 - one using a Red 25 Filter to see how that effected the tonality.

Here are a selection from the weekend:

In your Grill

Hot Rod

DeSoto

Woody

SURFCTY

White Hot

Flame Out

Divco Van

Tail Light

Get in and Drive!

Furry Dice

 

[Ralph Thornton]

Nice collection with lots of compositional variety. tail lights is my favorite!

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Nice collection with lots of compositional variety. tail lights is my favorite!

Thanks Ralph - Tail lights was one of the shots I hoped to get - I had an idea of what it might look like before heading out for the show

 

[Beth Carter]

love the last three, esp. the tail light and the steering wheel.

 

[David Mitchell]

Those all look awesome (camera included) how did the red filter affect the images?

 

[Chris Dodkin]

love the last three, esp. the tail light and the steering wheel.

Thanks Beth - I think I was getting my square on by the last few - it's quite a challenge, even though Pete has been 'coaching' me for years

 

[Brian Moore]

Lovely set, Chris. Which one with red filter? (If I were to guess I'd pick "White Hot.")

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Those all look awesome (camera included) how did the red filter affect the images?

Thanks David - if you look at White Hot and Flame Out - the flame graphics on both cars were red and orange, and the red filter has made them much brighter/lighter.

I've been recommended to use it for architectural shots, so will have to give it a try.

Here's a table showing how color filters effect black and white tonality in general

I've only used a yellow filter in the past - but shooting more film is making me take a look at the various filters to get the look I want.

When I was last out in Arizona, I took some black and white shots of red rocks against a blue sky, and was surprised when the final image showed them to be pretty much the same shade of grey! The shots looked terrible

So filters would be required, probably Red - no surprise to find that Ansel Adams used filters extensively.

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Lovely set, Chris. Which one with red filter? (If I were to guess I'd pick "White Hot.")

Thanks Brian - you are spot-on, White Hot and Flame Out were both with the Red 25 filter. Hot Rod and Grill were also shot with the Red 25 filter in place.

 

[Dave Green]

Superb pix - and interesting info above too!

 

[Nihat Iyriboz]

Wonderful set, Chris. My favorites are Hot Rod, Flame Out, Tail Light. The last one '60 Impala? I hope TMAX film stays.

 

[Pete Askew]

Superb set Chris. Difficult to choose (and why should I? Oh, go on then!) but I really like the first. Those Zeiss lenses do have a very distinctive look I think. And that filter chart is brilliant, I've never seen it presented in that way before.

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Superb pix - and interesting info above too!

Thanks Dave - the whole filter thing just went from being of mild interest, to key for me - I've been spoiled by digital for too long it seems!

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Wonderful set, Chris. My favorites are Hot Rod, Flame Out, Tail Light. The last one '60 Impala? I hope TMAX film stays.

Thanks Nihat - I love the look of TMAX, it's got a really different feel to the Fuji B&W I've been using - both are wonderful in their own way, but the TMAX really suits the Zeiss contrast I think.

I hope they keep it as well - has there been talk of it being axed?

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Superb set Chris. Difficult to choose (and why should I? Oh, go on then!) but I really like the first. Those Zeiss lenses do have a very distinctive look I think. And that filter chart is brilliant, I've never seen it presented in that way before.

Thanks Pete - I like that first one as well, it has a very 3D quality, and the Zeiss lenses seem to deliver that in spades.

 

[Steve Boykin]

Flame Out and Fuzzy Dice are my favorites, but these are so incredibly good it would be pointless for someone like me to comment on them. I will rather sheepishly add the square really works for me.

 

[Glenn Clabo]

Ok...enough... Both camera and car porn in one complete set. What is happening here?

 

[Paul Lange]

Ok...enough... Both camera and car porn in one complete set. What is happening here?

This is actually fine art nudes. It only becomes porn once you put gold stars over the headlights and exhaust pipes and use slogans like "Big n' Bouncey" (tires) and "Leather" (interiors).

Fantastic set Chris and so crisp and sharp. Funnily, I saw that same colour chart a few days ago, really helpful.

 

[Nihat Iyriboz]

Kodak Lost $1.38 Billion in 2012, Hopes to Leave Bankruptcy in Mid-2013
Let's hope what happened to Agfa Scala, Efke IR820 Auro, Kodak Tech Pan 25, Lumiere and Kodakchrome does not happen to TMAX.

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Flame Out and Fuzzy Dice are my favorites, but these are so incredibly good it would be pointless for someone like me to comment on them. I will rather sheepishly add the square really works for me.

Thanks Steve - I'm getting quite partial to square myself!

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This is actually fine art nudes. It only becomes porn once you put gold stars over the headlights and exhaust pipes and use slogans like "Big n' Bouncey" (tires) and "Leather" (interiors).

Fantastic set Chris and so crisp and sharp. Funnily, I saw that same colour chart a few days ago, really helpful.

Thanks Paul

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Kodak Lost $1.38 Billion in 2012, Hopes to Leave Bankruptcy in Mid-2013
Let's hope what happened to Agfa Scala, Efke IR820 Auro, Kodak Tech Pan 25, Lumiere and Kodakchrome does not happen to TMAX.

Fingers firmly crossed - and I'm doing what I can by buying more!

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Wonderful series there. Chris, and a beautiful-looking camera. In good hands.

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Wonderful series there. Chris, and a beautiful-looking camera. In good hands.

Ta muchly Rob.

 

[Elizabeth Smith]

This collection of vintage cars is really an exotic one. I like the car with tail lights a lot. I am an avid car lover and thanks for sharing such beautiful pictures of unique cars.