The Gathering Light

Kathy and I went to the Ruby's car show tonight which has recently resumed after a long winter and spring hiatus. Summer is around the corner and the evening light was beautiful. I spotted this fantastic looking Pontiac and shot a bunch of photos of its iconic hood ornament since the light was hitting it just right, illuminating the inside of the amber colored Indian head very nicely.

Drinko-de-Mayo

I was in Boston in June 2012 for the HOW Design Conference. My coworkers and I had the opportunity of touring several local design studios. It was interesting to see the work each developed, their clients and design aesthetic. While touring Stoltze Design I saw this cool paper cutout for what seemed to be a promotional piece for a celebration called “Drinko De Mayo”. Pretty cool and funny.

Flaming Heart

Flaming Heart, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

Here's another shot of the "tattoo" motorcycle Kathy and I saw at Buddy Stubbs Car and Motorcycle show in Phoenix Arizona. I had already taken a bunch of HDR sequences of this bike, packed up my camera gear and was waiting in the shade for Kathy to finish when I remembered I had my lens baby with me. I decided to go back and get a few more shots.

Live Here and Now

Live Here and Now, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

Another Tea Party band shot. I think there are 3 or 4 people that "play" each part in the band. I've seen this guy with two different band configurations so maybe he's the go-to guy on guitar. He's really good and was definitely better than his band mates on this night. This was shot with a Minolta 100mm Macro lens at f4.0. ISO 400. Post processing in Lightroom and Photoshop, The NIK Viveza and Alienskin Bokeh 2 plugins were used too.

I Dream of Fake Bokeh

I Dream of Fake Bokeh, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

My Sigma 50mm f1.4 is a good lens but it doesn't hold a candle to Kathy's Minolta/Sony 100mm f2.8 Macro lens in the sharpness and bokeh departments.

After seeing some of her great photos of these amber colored Pontiac hood ornaments, I've been on the lookout for them at every car show I go to. She usually finds them first and lets me know where I can locate them.

In this case, Kathy and I had been at the 2012 Uptown Whittier car show for a while with each of us going our own way to seek out whatever treasures the day might bring. Later when we met up again, she told me about this Pontiac hood ornament she had come across. We walked down the street so I could make a few images of it too.

I've noticed that the older the hood ornament, the more cracks it is likely to have. Here it was possible to orient the camera in such a way to capture the sunlight illuminating it's internal structure which had a lot of character.

Later when I went home and was reviewing my images in Lightroom, I could see that the bokeh in my shots left a lot to be desired. Luckily I own Nik Software's Bokeh 2 plug-in. It works great as long as you have a good selection isolating what you want to be in sharp focus from that which you want to be blurred. In this case I think it improved the existing bokeh nicely.

Low Down '57

Low Down '57, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

I saw this killer '57 Chevy at the Ruby's car show in July of 2011. I made several sequences of it. This one was shot with the Lens Baby Composer using the Sweet 35 optic. This manual focus lens allows you to specify an area of sharp focus and everything moving away from that area becomes more and more blurred. It provides an interesting effect I like a lot. Given the reduced size of the focus sweet spot, I would guess this was shot at an aperture of about f2.8.

I Dream of Bokeh

I Dream of Bokeh, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

Here's another image taken at the 2011 Uptown Whitier Car Show. I have posted images of these iconic Pontiac hood ornaments before. They always captivate me, especially if I can get a shot that is back lit by the sun which always shows off the internal structure of these amber colored jewels. I once again borrowed my wife Kathy's incredibly sharp and contrasty 100mm macro lens for this. In addition to being sharp it has the ability to create amazingly smooth bokeh (a Japanese term meaning "beautifully rendered out-of-focus areas") which contrasts so beautifully with the in-focus areas in a shot. To see more of what this lens can do check out Kathy's blog at www.tweakedpixels.com.

Come Roaring Back - Flower Power

Come Roaring Back - Flower Power, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

Been gone a while. Glad to be back.

I've had never seen a more impressive motorcycle than this particular one. I took several 10-shot HDR sequences of it before walking away for a while to look at other cars and motorcycles at this particular show. A bit later I was sitting on a curb packing away my camera when I remembered I had my Lens Baby with me, so I put it on the camera and returned to this bike for a few more shots.

Although I've had the Lens Baby Composer for a couple of years I still struggle with getting accurate focus. Three things have helped with this process. First was the purchase of an L type focusing screen. It more readily shows the difference between in and out-of-focus areas than my camera's normal screen, second I purchased an angle viewfinder/ 2X magnifier. This allows me to magnify my optical viewfinder by 200% to confirm focus is sharp, and finally I learned a simple technique from www.lensbaby.com about bracketing focus. Once I think I have obtained a sharp focus setting I will move the manual focus ring back and forth slightly while taking images. This gives me several shots to choose from with slightly different focus settings. One of these shots is almost always sharp.

Using the LCD display on the back of my camera isn't an option since it does not have a live view function. I am hoping to purchase the Sony A77 SLT Camera which features live view with 14x magnification as well as focus peaking. So soon I may be packing two cameras to car shows and trips just like my better half does now.

Pontiac Hood Ornament

Pontiac Hood Ornament, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

I really have a strong attraction to vintage Pontiac hood ornaments. I've posted other examples here before and I'm sure I'll post more. When I saw this one, I called Kathy who was also at this car show, and asked if I could borrow her 100mm macro lens which is very fast and sharp. It produces beautiful bokeh as well. I really like how colorful the out of focus areas are.

Not Fade Away

Not Fade Away, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

The setting sun's golden light creates bokeh highlights and casts long shadows across these classic Chevy's at Bob's Big Boy Broiler in Downey.