My Start in Making Pictures of Automobiles

Beautiful! The shiny exhaust pipes on a 1937 Cord. I saw it at my first Culver City Auto Show back in 2008. It's still a favorite picture of mine.

Here's another detail shot. This one is a Plymouth. I called the picture "Dew Drop."

So how come I focus on the details and don't take many full-body automobile pictures as most people do? Frankly, I find only full-body pictures without the follow-up detail boring.

But the real reason goes back to 2008. I took a photography class in Hermosa Beach CA. After the introduction that covered basic camera information and scene selection, the instructor gave us a practical - go down to the main street in Hermosa Beach and make pictures at the car show there. The instructor said that there were many design details (headlights, logos, mirrors, wheels) that photographers usually overlook. He said that we didn't have to make pictures of the whole body. Don’t have to make pictures of the whole body? Is it possible?

Yes! And I was hooked. So here are a couple of my close-ups.

Hermosa Beach Pontiac:

Many circles (the car is a Rolls Royce):

Just in case you were wondering, I do make full-body pictures. Back to the 2008 Culver City Auto Show to see a Lincoln Continental and a Studebaker Champion:

Here’s another close-up. Not of an auto but it’s a close-up of one of the attendees at the Hermosa Beach show

Here's one more picture because we are all

I always go to this website for information about car shows (http://www.socalcarculture.com/events.html). You can find auto show events all year ‘round on that site, but springtime really showcases the classic cars.

This was my first exposure to making pictures of autos but it wasn’t my last. Every year I return to the Culver City Auto Show hoping to see if the beautiful 1937 Cord is back, but I never saw it again.