Hot Rods Photo Effect Applied

A person seeing my photography for the first time usually pauses for a moment, gazing, trying to understand just what it is they are looking at. I start to smile, knowing what is coming next. I say, “No…It’s a photograph”. The reply is almost always, “Really, I thought this had been airbrushed or something.”

The beauty of a well-designed automobile, truck, or, motorcycle inspires me to photograph them. I have a true appreciation for all the time and effort needed to bring a vehicle to a prime conditioned state. I see photography as a means of permanently recording that beauty.

When I first began searching the internet for a more artistic type of photography, I came across a series of photographs from Trey Ratcliff at the website: www.flickr.com/photos/stuckincustoms. Trey produces amazing photographs with HDR, a computer generated enhancement tool. To fully understand all the nuances of HDR, check out the website, www.HDR.com.

The HDR technique I use blends several photos together bringing to life the color and texture that is seen, but not recorded by a single photograph. Every reflection, color, and shadow is enhanced to a degree that emulates what the human eye comprehends.

To produce a finished photo, I begin by taking a minimum of three shots of my subject from a tripod, each at a different exposure setting. During bright days, the exposures are set at a full stop apart; and on more overcast days, I work with about a 1/3 stop. (in case you’re like me and needed to know more about “f-stop or what’s a “full stop”, check this wikopeida reference)

These 3 shots show the three variations of exposures:

See the finished photos and all the text… and more Hot Rod and Pinup Blogs at MyRideisMe.com

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Thanks to Alan57 for writing this post.

Alan’s Home page:www.alan57.com

Kim Falcon – MyRideisMe.com August Pinup

Hot rods and pinups are like peas and carrots, so I’m starting a new feature at MyRideisMe.com called Pinup of the month. I’m lucky to have the lovely Kim Falcon as our first for the month of August.

In Kim’s own words and from her website kimfalcon.com

“…but for dad, he’s slipping you an extra couple bucks for gas money.”

“I Love music. Pin-up modeling, Photography, ROCK-N-ROLL!! Vegetarian food!!, Driving around town in the 64 Cadillac Hearse listening to the Misfits, My children! Love Rockabilly!!!! Love Tiger Army! Absolutely obsessed with roses!!!! I love to travel the world.”

Read more of this story… and more Hot Rod and Pinup Blogs at MyRideisMe.com

Open Invitation to All Car Types – Lowriders

Visiting MyRideisMe.com you’ll notice that it’s pretty heavy on Hot Rods. What can I say? That’s what I like most, that’s what I photograph most and hot rod shows are my scene. But… MyRideisMe.com is NOT limited to any one type of car. Not at all. It’s more then a URL, My Ride is Me is the theme of the site. What is it about your car that describes you? It’s always something! You didn’t just HAPPEN to like lifted Jeeps or 1970 Chevelles or 64 Fairlanes. There’s a reason you say, “That’s my ride.”

Lowriders and custom cars: Read more here

2 Pinup Model Secrets Revealed

Pinup models go with Hot Rods like whipped cream on pumpkin pie. That’s why you’ll find hot rods, muscle cars and even some hot bikes shot with the much finer sex in the pinup photo gallery at MyRideisMe.com. It just seemed like the right thing to do! Then, with the popularity of the killer photos of one of my favorite models, Zoe Scarlett done by Photographer: Dirk Behlau and, the most popular blog at MyRideisMe.com about the Hot Rods and Pinups II book shot by David Perry, I start thinking… why don’t I shoot some pinup pictures?

Piece of cake, I’ll let you in on the secrets:

Sorry, you’ll have to get the rest of the story at MyRideisMe.com.

Click HERE

Black 32 Roadsters don’t all look this good!

So what looks nicer? This super black 1932 Roadster painted by Squeeg’s kustoms or Doug Jerger’s wife and founder of Hot Brods: Apparel for Hot Rod Brods. Come on over to MyRideisMe.com to have a look at Melissa’s garage.

More Hot Rod Pics from Car-N-Art.com

I met Keven Carter doing what I do best… surfing the web for the best Hot Rod and bike sites out there. Keven’s been sharing his work at Photobucket where old ladies looking for pics of grandkid and quilting pics browse. I talked him into letting MyRideisMe.com have a few. It’s a cool mix of black and whites and color shots of mostly period correct style hot rods and kustoms with a few pinups mixed in just for fun.

Read More:

Car-N-Art.com

Book Review: Build Book – From Concept to Reality

You’re walking around a show and when you see a car cruise in that makes you stop in your tracks. You’re stunned and instantly curious. You’re hear it and feel it as it drives by. Time for a closer look. Cars that make you feel that way have alot to see, but it’s all skin deep. What’d he do for the rear axle setup? Are those custom engine mounts? Unless the builder took great pics and brought them, it’s tough to fully appreciate what it took to bring that car to the show.

That’s where Build Book comes in. BuildBookUSA.com has published 5 books covering 5 cars built by some of the top builders in country. I met Scott and BJ Killeen (long time auto journalists) at the Grand National Roadster Show and they were kind enough to let me preview the complete series of books. You gotta check these out!

To see the rest of the story, click the link below:

If you like this story, please join MyRideisMe.com. It’s all free! We’ve also got KILLER GARAGES to browse through and more blogs to read.

WERA, EMRA, CCA, SCCA, and ASRA Alphabet Soup

Check out the debut of our newest guest photographer, Bubba Harmon from West Virginia. Bubba’s gonna help us hit some of the eastern shows, races and get togethers that we’d otherwise miss while the company jet is being repaired. (yea right!) After you’re done checking out Bubba’s pictures in the gallery, you can take a look at his website: Bubba’s Toy Box or have a look in his garage here at MyRideisMe.com (Bubba’s garage space). He’s got a wicket Hearse!

Written by Bubba:

Summit Point Motorsports Park, located 70 miles west of Washington, DC, in Summit Point, WV is host to many club and specialty racing events. With three tracks to choose from there is something happening almost every weekend for sports cars, motorcycles, and/or karts. Summit Point seems to be the Mid-Atlantic area’s place to go for club activity with Porsche, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Corvette, and even Morgan sports car clubs holding events at the park. The schedule can look like alphabet soup at times with WERA, EMRA, CCA, SCCA, and ASRA all holding events here. Want to learn to drive? BSR, Inc. (the owner of the facilities) has you covered with recreational instruction programs such as Friday At The Track (F.A.T.T) and Drift classes (not to mention anti-terrorist driver’s training… no kidding!). Check out the schedule on their website.

And don’t forget to look for event photos in the picture gallery!

Please take a look at our sponsors:

Pinup Pinstriping

Sometimes, this is easy. I’ve made some great new friends thru MyRideisMe.com and one of them is Justice Howard at JusticeHoward.com. I got to chatting with her today and she let me in on a new set of pictures for her Diva Dolls Promotion.

What is it about this picture that makes me want to be a pinstriper?

Hot Rods, Pinstriping and Pinups… click here

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With Liberty and Justice for YOU!

I hope you’ve made it over to the MyRideisMe.com picture gallery by now and checked out the growing events pages and even better the pinup model pages!

I’ve been contacting pinup model photographers to see if they’ll share their pics with MyRideisMe. I post their homepages and contact info in hopes that they’ll get more traffic at their site in return for the pics. I got lucky finding an ad for the “Diva Doll” Pinup package in the pages of Car Kulture Deluxe. Justice Howard, a professional photographer, is offering a special “Photo Fantasy” that includes a CD of your professional photos complete with hair, makeup and styling service. Justice offers these photo shoots regularly, but you’d better sign up to make sure you get your spot.

Contact her at her website: www.JusticeHoward.com. It’s worth a look anyway cause there’s some pics at her site that I dig, but they’re , “… a wee bit spicy”. Thanks for the support Justice!

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