For those looking only for the photo gallery, you can reach it directly here: 2012 World of Wheels Show

It’s that time again, the first post of the new show season and as usual I’m going to start with the World of Wheels show at the David Lawrence Center in downtown Pittsburgh, PA.

This is the third year that I’ve shot the show, and as always it was brimming over with a large variety of cars and exhibits to enjoy. Last year, I only had a short amount of time to shoot due to the weather and the AFC Championship, but this year the weather was fantastic and the Steelers weren’t, so I was able to make it to both levels. Needless to say, the extra work was worth it.

With any show, there’s always a mix of old and new, and World of Wheels is no different. As you go through the photos, you’ll see more than a fair share of return vehicles on display. That’s OK I think; I like seeing the repeats and many times they’ve been updated in some form or another, so it can be fun to follow that progress. On the flipside, shows this early also have a higher chance of fresh metal showing up for their first outing, so it’s exciting and fun to see what projects were under wraps through the winter and are just now coming into the light. It’s also fun that people love to talk about said new projects. After all, they’ve put in a lot of time and sweat, so it’s only natural to be excited to share that with the world.

With that said, I’ve included below some of the new rides I came across from the first batch of photos uploaded tonight. With big shows like WOW and the Cleveland Autorama, it’s easier to upload photos in smaller batches as I process them than to wait and post them all at once. This way I can get photos up earlier to share than I could if I waited to post them all at once. That’s better for the viewers and fans of the show, and also for me as it takes some of the pressure off of getting images out in the public eye. In any case, definitely hop on over to the gallery to see this first batch, while in the meantime I’ll also post a few faves below just to whet your appetite in case you don’t have the time to view the gallery now. Thanks as always for looking, enjoy!

First up, this incredible Corvette-themed trike. Unlike a ‘Vette, no fiberglass was used – it’s all hand formed aluminum instead. Powered by a ’69 Camaro 6 cylinder engine, I think it’s an amazing scratch-built vehicle, and it’s owner/builder should be proud.

Adding to the fresh metal, how about this beautiful vintage Vega funny car? If you keep your eye out for it you may see it run at a track near you this year.

And for something really unique, check out this custom bike made entirely of Knex. Yeah, it’s not a legit ride, but the amount of time and design that went into it is pretty impressive. Plus, I’ve never seen anything like it before at any show ever. In fact, the whole display was a real standout.

Nice mini-mural on the tail of this very clean Mustang.

Speaking of Mustangs, how about this pink beauty? I was told by the owner that this was an original limited edition color given to Playboy Bunnies. Dealers only got six cars – 2 vinyl tops, 2 std. hardtops, and 2 convertibles, and that was it. This one has has been in the family since its purchase.

And finally, a nice 5.0, just because.

Posted up the second half of the 2011 Cars In The Park show at Boardman Park in Boardman, OH. The main gallery is here, but I’ve posted some of my faves from this batch below for a quick look.

This next one is a bit nostalgic for me. Years ago, we used to have a ’77 Ford LTD II that basically had the exact same front end as this Ranchero and was like driving an easy chair with wheels. Fun car, but got beat to hell in Chicago winters and died an inglorious death from rust and age.

For the 80′s, Grand Nationals were totally bonerific, and they still hold their own today too, I think.

And finally, a Fiero GT! I remember wanting one of these so bad when I was in high school because it looked somewhat Ferrari-ish, but instead I got stuck with a POS ’73 Toyota Celica that was painted with house paint (the paint was in the trunk when we bought it), and started up in the middle of winter on the first try with only about a quart of oil in it and after having sat for nearly half a year in the same parking space before being sold. It was rough, but that car had character. Would love to have a restored one.

Posting up the first batch of photos from this past weekend’s 2011 Cars In The Park show at Boardman Park, in Boardman, OH.

For those that want to skip straight to the gallery: 2011 Cars In The Park Gallery

First show in August I’ve had a chance to shoot, and it was quite a good one. This is the second year that I’ve shot the show and both times I’ve really enjoyed the variety of vehicles and ease of access to them that this show provides. Last year, I shot it casually with a little Canon Canonet rangefinder film camera because I wanted to experiment a bit with a vintage camera and film. That was great fun, but this year I shot it like I do most shows with my D3, mainly because I didn’t have any film handy and also because I didn’t feel like ponying up for processing this time. Cheapskate? Nah, just had some other priorities that needed funding first (framing prints for a show).

If you’ve read my post for this show from last year, then there’s really not that much to add to it. What I like most about it is that there is a wide variety of vehicles to look at – everything from a 1909 REO to a 2010 Z-06, and they also have a habit of arranging the displays in groups of similar vehicles, i.e. Mustangs in one area, Corvettes in another. This makes for ease in shooting and also can give some clever group shots of similar vehicles that I can’t get at many other shows. Plus, on a non-photographic level, Boardman Park also has a fantastic playground for kids, so you can take the family too and they can go play while you take in the show at a more leisurely pace. The atmosphere is pretty friendly too, and most attendees seemed easygoing and truly enjoying themselves. Wrap all of that up, and add in the fact that there are a ton of restaurants, stores, and entertaiment spots nearby, and you have a winner.

Some highlights from this first batch of photos:

And finally, this handbuilt one-off roadster that caught my eye because of the somewhat longish hood and overall style. Gotta show respect to anyone who can design and build their own car.

Posted the remaining photos from the 2011 Back To The 50′s Weekend just now. You can go straight to the gallery here: 2011 Back To The 50′s Weekend Gallery

Here are my picks from this batch. I luvz me some smokey burnouts, so that’s what you get this time ’round, plus a surprise bonus at the end. Enjoy!

And for today’s bonus – remember these?

For those wanting to go directly to the gallery: 2011 Back To The 50′s Gallery

Posted up the first batch of photos from last week’s Back To The 50′s Weekend tonight. For those not familiar with the show, it’s one of the largest in the region typically spanning four days over the weekend leading into the 4th of July, and is held at one of the local parks here in town, Cascade Park. This year I heard unofficially that they had in the neighborhood of 900 cars, so it’s a show worth attending if you live in the region.

One of the nice things about the show is that it’s very consistent – the layout stays the same more or less from year to year, the participants contain a fair number of regulars, and there’s always a large contingent of quality vehicles to look at and enjoy. I have mentioned before that I like it when shows have a lot of turnover in vehicles because it keeps things fresh and interesting, but in the case of the BTT50′s show I’m not so bothered by the consistency because there’s enough cars attending that you get fresh metal each year, yet also have the regulars which give the show a happy family kind of atmosphere. There’s always something to enjoy on display, so it’s a good balance I’d say.

Regarding shooting the show, this is the 4th year I’ve done so, though last year I kind of only skimmed through it because it was so hot and the light so poor the day I attended. With so many cars on display, my typical approach is to shoot it pretty casually as I make a lap around the display circuit. Now, I suppose I could try to shoot every vehicle and give complete coverage of the event, but in truth it’d be too exhausting and I also only can attend for a day as I have limited time, so I tend to snap what catches my eye and go with that. I do this with other shows too to some extent, but here more so I’d say. I also make it a point to catch the burnout runs as they tend to put on a decent show and it makes for some great photos. I think it’s a club that does it because the cars are consistent from year to year, but not 100% sure on that.

With that, I guess it’s best to show some pics, ne? As usual, these are my highlight picks out of the batch that got uploaded. There’s often no rhyme or reason as to why I choose the ones I do, but mainly it’s cars that are a bit unique in some way or have some element to them that just appeals to me. I usually try to only post ten or so here due to space concerns, so definitely take the time to look through the gallery and find your own favorites.

This Merc only has 28,000 original miles on it, and with the original paint and interior too!

It’s a purple Nova, what more can I say?

Showin’ the love.

This is interesting. I didn’t catch it at first until it was pointed out to me. It’s a Chevy Panel Truck converted into a pickup, all steel, and with an HHR grill. It works, and quite well.

And finally, I like red.

More to come shortly!

Been a while, huh? Yeah, sorry about that. Since my last post things have been pretty quiet around here, but that changes tonight. Tonight, I ran across a local cruise night on the way to dinner. I had heard about it before in the past, but never got a chance to photograph it, and after a while it just slipped away while I got tied up in other things. Luckily, I had a camera with me, my new Canon G12, and this ended up being a perfect test for it under some real-world shooting conditions.

The G12, so you know, is the replacement I picked up about a week back for the Ricoh GR-D III I had that got put up on eBay. You can read why it got sold here in detail, but the gist is that the focus wasn’t very reliable for my needs, so away it went (though I liked it a lot in a number of ways anyway). The G12 so far has been super – very reliable focus, great colors and contrast, quick and easy to handle, and overall a very transparent camera to shoot with. Image quality is top-notch for a compact camera, and if I never said what camera I used for these you’d probably never guess it wasn’t my D3 from looking at the photos. It’s a little bulky size-wise (a LOT compared to the GR-D), but it’s manageable and still smaller than any DSLR I own. I bought it to use as my “go everywhere” camera, and it paid for itself tonight when I came across this get together.

Regarding the show, unfortunately not much to say. I had the family in tow and I only had time for a quick pass-through to take the snaps that I did. Everyone looked like they were having a good time chatting and hanging out, so what more can you ask for on a comfortable, sunny Wednesday night? I did recognize a few cars there from other shows in the area, but never got a chance to speak with any of the owners. Still, some interesting rides nonetheless, and some I had never seen before, so it’s a win.

Here’s a few of the cars that caught my attention the most. The full gallery is here. In the future I’ll be going back I’m sure to check up on things, but for now enjoy these snaps from what otherwise could have been another boring weeknight. Cheers!

Haven’t seen a Prowler in quite some time. I still can’t believe they had the balls to put it into production, but they’re very cool and always grab your attention, even after all these years. The 90′s was a cool decade for cars in many ways I still think.

Love this sweet Olds, especially the interior.

And how about a Ford with a Chevy engine? Works for me.

Today’s highlights:

A very sweet Ford hot rod:

A fantastic ’57 Chevy Bel-Air ratty dragster:

A beautifully restored ’65 Jag:

Haven’t seen a DeTomaso in quite a while, especially one this nice:

And an 80′s Porsche 930 Slant Nose to go with it:

And to wrap up, a Chevy-powered BMW 325e:

Still more to come, so stay tuned!

This is the second time I’ve shot it and this time I was able to pretty much cover the whole deal, barring a few cars that weren’t convenient to shoot at the time. Like last year, this show had a good mix of vehicles and vehicle styles, and overall the quality level was quite high. In some ways I like it better than the Pittsburgh World of Wheels show because there seems to be a larger number of unusual vehicles on display, plus there also seems to be a bigger crop of new entries and not as many repeats. It also has a good sized swap meet/flea market and lots of miscellaneous vendors, which WOW doesn’t, so it makes for a wider variety of attractions. That said, they’re both good shows, just different, so definitely go visit them both and decide for yourself.

This year saw some interesting rides that I hadn’t seen before. They maybe were around before and I just missed them, but more than a few times while shooting I had participants tell me they just finished their car and this is the first show for it. That’s good, because I like to see fresh blood coming out and displaying their rides; it makes for a bit of excitement and something to look forward to each year. Perhaps it’s the timing of the show, what with being so close to the end of winter and people rolling out their fresh winter projects that causes it to be like this. In any case, it makes for a good show and one fun to shoot. I came home with over 200+ photos after about 6 1/2 hours, so there was no lack of material, that’s for sure.

Hard to say what my favorites were this time through. All of the cars were very high quality and very clean and well presented. Usually, I tend to gravitate towards the rat rod/drag cars as a personal preference, but not many rats to be found this year compared to last I think, so I was a bit disappointed. Drag cars were plentiful, same as before, so there was some solace in that. More than explanations, though, I think the best thing is to just show you what caught my eye out of the lot, so here’s my highlights and notes from the first batch of photos posted.

This Chucky inspired Charger is pretty sweet. I have a soft-spot for Chucky because Child’s Play was filmed in Chicago where I grew up, and we went to go see them film it for the scene where they blow up the toy store. That toy store BTW, was a dance club we used to go to in High School, so it has extra nostalgia value packed in. Anyway, the car’s cool.

Next up is this Joker inspired ‘Vette that has some of the best paintwork and airbrushing I’ve seen in a while. The 3D layering effect is flawless and really adds dimension to the car (bad pun I know). The rear rims are also some of the deepest I’ve seen ever. And, it’s got eyes, and you know eyes are badass.

On the extreme end, you have this beastie sporting some serious cat-killer rims. There isn’t an animal in town that could escape those. For reference, I’m 5’9″ and the rims topped out near shoulder height. I feel sorry for the brakes.

This was by far the best display at the show I’d say. Modelled after a gas station and garage, it’s the first time I’ve ever seen anything like it. Apparently, the owner runs a dealership, and the details show it. Very original and well put together.

This seriously blown ‘Vette also caught my attention. Would love to see and hear it run, I’m sure it would be spectacular.

And finally for today, a stand out set of His n’ Hers Ford Mustangs, covering not only the gender gap, but the generation gap as well. Most excellent!

More to come shortly!

Introducing the 1983 Canon (New) Sure Shot, or Autoboy 2 as it was called in Japan. This little devil I picked up for a grand 50¢ at a Pittsburgh thrift shop a few weeks back. As you can see, it’s in fine shape with just some minor wear here and there, and pristine optics. Functions perfectly and even has the original strap and pad. To show you what kind of deal this is, these cams went for about $125 USD in ’83, which now is equal to about $265; in Japan they went for a whopping 42,800 yen, which converted to current values and then to dollars equals an amazing $729! Ne?! A deal and a half at 50¢ any way you look at it, which in this cam’s case is via a brightline viewfinder very similar to most older rangefinders, except it’s AF, so no focus patch to deal with. Lens is a 38mm f2.8 that’s quite sharp it seems, and similar to the old Canonets’, though not quite as quick. Interestingly enough, these were the direct replacement for the old Canonets, and you can kind of tell that because it feels quite a bit sturdier than Sure Shots made towards the end of the film era. It has a heft and presence of quality to it that is easily discernible and feels good in hand quite honestly, even though it’s plastic.

Shooting it is entertaining and simultaneously slightly aggravating because the AF works a bit differently than later cams, though par for the course for other similar cams from the time period. Basically, it literally is a P&S – you frame your composition, push the button, and it focuses and snaps the shutter in an instant. Not a problem really, but the focus point is centered, and if you want to focus on a non-centered subject things get a bit tricky. Nowadays, you can focus on your subject, half-press the shutter button to lock the focus, recompose, then snap the shutter. Pretty quick and convenient. With this cam though, you have to select your subject, PULL THE SELF-TIMER LEVER DOWN(!), press the shutter once to focus and lock it, then recompose and press the shutter AGAIN to complete your shot. If you don’t press a second time, the the self-timer will do it for you in about ten seconds, whether you like it or not. As you can see, it takes two hands and two shutter presses to accomplish what you now do with only one finger. We’ve made serious progress, huh? The AF has other quirks too, but nothing terrible that can’t be easily dealt with. Still, it’s a fun camera and, somewhat not surprising given its original quality level, it takes damn good pics actually. And it’ll get you noticed too – both for the nifty 80′s retro throwback look, and the fact that it is LOUD in operation with gears that whine at top volume with every shot, film rewind, and lens cover opening/closing.

So there you go, fun, fun, fun for half-a-buck. Look around a bit and I bet you can find some cheap Sure Shot love for yourself without too much effort. I recommend it highly!

(All photos are from the first test roll. No art, but exposure and focus were spot-on every time, which is what’s important. I did VERY little touch-up to the scans.)