I discovered last spring that I enjoy photographing interesting cars. I visited some car shows in Scottsdale Arizona and discovered that vintage cars make good photo subjects. I have two friends in Canmore who have very nice cars.
Rob Wagemakers leans to the classic vintage cars; a 1939 Chevrolet Business Coupe Master 85, a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air and a 1956 Ford Thunderbird. They photograph well, featuring many of the classic design elements of the day, some tail fins, some running boards, swooping lines and chrome galore.
Jamie Perkins has a preference for the modern, sporty, high tech, performance vehicle packaged in leading edge design. He’s the proud owner of a 2015 Z06 Chevrolet Corvette, 58 years newer than Rob’s newest and a striking contrast to the great cars of the past.
I had a good time photographing all these cars and I’m pleased to share them in today’s blog post. I begin with Rob’s ’57 Bel Air, photographed in its showroom, annexed to Rob’s garage. This convertible has been meticulously restored, inside and out.
You can see in this close-up the intricate grillwork and beautifully polished chrome that is characteristic of car design in that era. One of the other distinctive features of car design in the late 1950’s was tail fins, visible in the upper photo. The fins on this model were quite restrained in comparison to those seen on other cars of that time.
The Bel Air was photographed using a combination of ambient light from the adjacent garage and an off-camera flash with a Gary Fong diffuser.
This next automobile remains a classic to this day, the 1956 Ford Thunderbird. This one actually belongs to Gloria, Rob’s wife. This angle offers a good view of the clean, straight lines that characterized this model.
I had to show this rear view to display the amazing spare tire enclosure and the elegant two-seater cockpit, beautifully finished in custom, monogrammed leather bearing Gloria’s name. Photographing this car outdoors introduced a lot of interesting reflections in the chrome, most noticeably on the spare tire enclosure.
Switching eras (somewhat like Back to the Future) here are two of my favourites shots I took of the Corvette. I think this is truly an amazing car, an opinion shared by General Motors (not surprisingly) who state very poetically, “Located at the intersection of Le Mans and the Autobahn, you’ll find the 2015 Corvette Z06. A true world-class supercar, Z06 was conceived on the track and is engineered with a lightweight and rigid aluminum space frame as well as a supercharged 6.2L aluminum V8 engine delivering an SAE certified 650 horsepower and 650 lb.-ft. of torque.”
I chose to photograph Jamie’s car after sunset in the period of diminished light before darkness sets in. I was hoping to keep the reflections to a minimum but that proved difficult with the high gloss black paint. With Jamie’s guidance, I was able to capture an interesting reflection of the forest skyline in the rear panel. I like it! The picture is about the car but you can’t help notice the full moon emerging from behind a cloud in the background. The mountain setting is a good one!
This next shot was taken from the opposite corner, offering a good view of the striking styling of the Z06 Corvette.
The final car featured in this post is another one of Rob’s, a 1939 Chevy Business Coupe Master 85. This is the oldest car in the set, 76 years senior to the 2015 Corvette! This first view gives you the overall look of the car, sporting many of the popular design features from the pre-war era.
One interesting feature is a two-piece hood that opened from both sides of the engine compartment.
The photos of the Business Coupe Master 85 were taken in the late evening with natural light, augmented with an off-camera flash with a Gary Fong diffuser.
My thanks to Rob and Jamie for giving me the opportunity to photograph their beautiful cars.