Time Out for Some Bokeh

I found that taking photos of hood ornaments was a nice break from using my tripod to create HDR sequences at the Car Show by the Sea in San Pedro. While having so many cars packed closely together makes creating a nice HDR composition difficult, it makes macro photography of hood ornaments and emblems a joy. The cars surrounding the object being photographed are for the most part very reflective, with fantastic paint and lots of chrome. This means that when shooting with my macro lens using a very shallow depth-of-field, these reflective background objects are rendered out-of-focus very beautifully.

Chief Pontiac

I've photographed a lot of Pontiac Indian head hood ornaments but I've never seen one made of clear material before. This example was very striking and I took several exposures of it from many viewpoints. This one was a favorite.

It's What's Up Front that Counts

Another cool hood ornament from the Point Fermin Car Show by the Sea in San Pedro. Loving the Bokeh on these shots!

My Favorite Photographer

See this photo on Flickr

Last April, Kathy and I spent the weekend in San Diego to attend the annual Chicano Park car show. We got there early and found 50+ cars had already arrived with what seemed like 100 more vying for parking places. After the show we walked past a small market with an interesting and very colorful wall mural. I convinced Kathy to pose for just a few shots. She hates being in front of a camera but as usual, she looked lovely. If you'd like to see Kathy's photography head over to www.tweakedpixels.com

Goddess of Speed

Kathy, her brother Kevin, his son David, and I all met very early on a recent Saturday to attend the 2013 Uptown Whittier Car Show. It was really fun and I'm glad we were out early because by 2:00 PM the show was very crowded and the temperature had exceeded 95 degrees. The scene was quite different at just after 6:00 AM that morning. The show wouldn’t officially open until 9:00 AM so there were only a handful of spectators and the organizers kept all of the cars waiting in three long lines at the far end of Greenleaf Avenue. We were able to take some great pictures of the cars there. This Packard hood ornament was taken later that afternoon with my 100mm macro lens.

Bokehlicious

Southgate California car show. I love my 100mm Minolta macro lens. Nuff said.

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.