Long And Low At the Hot Rod Show - with Fuji and Nikon and Metz

The great experiment conducted over the six months regarding a camera for hot rod photography has yielded results. The Fuji/Nikon/Metz lash-up does pretty near everything that the Nikon/Nikon/ Stroboframe outfit did, and it does it easily enough that an old guy can carry it round in the sun all day.

If I am prepared to carry a second Nikon SB 700 on a little Manfrotto stand I can get great illustration of the front grille and the side panel of even the long cars. Of course, if you are dealing with something white like the '59 Impala you can get a lot more value out of those flashes.

How does this help you? If you are going to go out and climb Bluff Knoll with a camera kit bouncing in your backpack, consider whether you want that camera kit to weigh 3.5 Kg or 1 Kg. It's your back going up and it's your back coming down, and it's your back sitting in the chiropractor's waiting room...And those of you who have spent a fortnight on Ibruprofen and Voltaren can back me up...

Also consider whether you need to go to a shoot with 5 lenses. I used to do just this in the dear dead Hasselblad wedding days. Everything in the HB box including the 250mm tele lens in case the bride escaped and I needed to shoot her before she got over the horizon...My assistant, Igor, used to hump the bag and the tripod and the extra flashes and the film and the bag of rocks...( I never actually told him about the bag of rocks...) and never complained. Fainted occasionally, but never complained.

Eventually I discovered that I was using two lenses for the whole wedding. An 80mm and a 50mm, and the 50 only came out of the massive case for 5 exposures. I eventually rationalised the whole thing by leaving out half of the glass and most of the fancy little accessories. It freed up a lot of space in the case...for more rocks.

That is history - the Hasselblad outfit is long retired and recently sold, and the new owners can risk their vertebrae at their leisure. Weddings still need extra gear for back-up safety, but this can be hauled in a roller bag. Lithium AA cells power all three flashes and these are light weight. Igor looks healthier, and after-shoot processing is so much faster.

I still pack a bag of rocks but these are only in case the bride proves sluggish. And I never throw rocks at hot rod shows. Some things are sacred, you know...

Moral of this tale: Buy right, pack light, allow for wind direction when throwing rocks.

Begone Dull Care - Begone Dull Car

 Did goe to Gillam Drive yesterdaye for to see the hot rods and was greatley entertained.

This follows upon a visit to a celebration of the motor car on a previous weekend. The venues could not have been more different, nor the visitors, nor the cars. Indeed the photographers were similar, but with an important difference.

The venue is a strip of street that is lined with panel beaters, spare-parts yards, and chop shops. If you know what a chop shop is I need say no more about it. The street is hot in summer, cold in winter, and dusty withall. There is a lunch bar, that serves Chiko rolls and pies and pasties. With sauce.

The people who frequent the Gillam Drive show are variously described as rockabillies, rodders, rednecks, bogans, or motor-car enthusiasts - depending upon the prejudices of the observer. They dress well, and not so well, and badly, and appallingly - again based upon the observer. They wear caps, and hats, and mullets. Sometimes all three at once.

They are invariably cheerful, and well-behaved. They respect each other's cars and conditions. They appreciate the opportunity to show and see and cooperate with each other. They may not have as much money as the classic-car enthusiasts who gather under the gazebos of the expensive venue...but by God they have a great deal more style.

On to the photography - several Black Rapid rigs seen. Several people using battery packs - at least three of the experienced hands using fill flash. Lots of mobile phones and one iPad being aimed clumsily. No Hoodman loupes in use, but they were needed. I am still puzzling over the chap with the extreme wide angle lens and the 64X ND filter over the front of it...

For most shows I recommend a wide-range zoom but this time I experimented with a single focal length - the equivalent of 35mm on a full-frame camera. Had to frame tightly in small spaces, and would have appreciated a 28mm for that but still happy with the results. Not having to haul a big rig has advantages, particularly when you are trying to juggle a Chiko roll and a choc milk as well.

Ah, the taste of grease in the morning...

Don't Look, Don't Look....Ahh...Too Late...

Did goe to the " Celebration of The Motorcar " at Cottesloe Civic Centre yesterday and was greatley amused.

The first point of note was the method of entry - the cash desk was unprepared for the hordes who assaulted them. $ 20 to get in - money to charity - but so many bank machines issue $ 50 notes that you need a big float to cope with ticket sales. It is a point that catches many small traders at markets, too. You only need one $ 100 note man at the start to screw up sales for the rest of the morning.

Once in, I assembled my professional-quality internationally-famous state-of-the-art image capture system ( Also known as my Fuji X-10 and a Nikon SB 700 on an old Metz bracket.) out of it's high-tech carrying system ( An old Tamrac bag and a spare woollen sock.) and started to take pictures of the cars. Then it started.

It always starts. Whenever I am out with other photographers I start to notice what they are carrying - and what they are doing with it. I try not to look - but the instinct of the sales trade is too strong. I MUST look...

I can look with some degree of pity - I have been where many of them are now, and I can recognise the symptoms. I know what impels some of them - like the man with the Black Rapid double harness and the two battery gripped DSLR cameras depending from the straps. I saw that in the shop and I saw myself as the sportswar correspondent running through the shell craters with two rigs...Fortunately I snapped out of it here in the shop before I did myself an injury. I hope the gentleman is similarly lucky - I admire his fortitude in the sunshine. And I was amazed when he pulled yet a third grip-equipped DSLR from some other portion of his person for the fisheye lens. I stopped myself from following him in case he had an 800mm telephoto and all my concepts of space and time would have been voided.

The other end of the equipment spectrum was much in evidence - the mobile phone camera. Held at arm's length and waved in the sunshine. I have been assured by mobile phone salesman that this produces a file fully as detailed as that from a full-frame DSLR with full studio lighting plus you can order pizza on it. This is patent nonsense - I tried calling Domino's on a Canon 5D Mk III and got nowhere. The man with the iPad was wrong - just wrong.

Somewhere in between were the small DSLR users  - I saw plenty of APSC Canon and Nikon cameras and the users were doing pretty well in their framing and angles. But not a one of them popped up their integral flash for a bit of fill. In some cases it would have made all the difference to a shot into dark wheel wells and the shaded side of a car. But they will get better and good on them.

One enthusiast was using a Leica M digital camera - with what looked like a 28 mm lens. He had on the correct lens hood and was focussing, squaring, and settling himself for his shots. I think he will have some good results from that Leica lens.

Later in the day I believe that Thorsten Overgaard and Saul took a number of their Leica enthusiasts to the show with a lot of the new equipment. With Mr. T's instructions they should have gotten some very good shots - particularly as the light would have been settling in from the west. Of course I still say "fill" but that is just me.

One final note for car show photographers. Car shows are crowded affairs and you sometimes want to get an undisturbed view of a car but are continually being baulked of your desire by people wandering into the frame. There are two methods of dealing with this - a pea shooter and a pocket full of small pebbles to blast them away from your front - or the Jedi Mind Trick.

For the latter, you just position yourself where you need to be for the car and stare at it. As the oicks wander in you direct vibrational mind messages to them that this is not the car they are looking for. Eventually they move away - be pre-focussed and ready for a snap shot when it is clear. May the Force be with you.