Shiny Things

[Texas Dave]

Took a walk through our local car show this weekend and snapped a few shiny things.

#1-I love the vintage car emblems.


#2-


#3-Timeless


#4-A pic of myself


#5-She looks happy to lead the vintage buick she's riding on.

[deetheturk]

Very nice series Dave, well captured bud!

[Rebel]

Nice shots Dave, I particularly like the two monochrome ones - #3 and #5.

[thegman]

Excellent series David, sometimes the small details are more interesting than the whole car.

[IzzieK]

I like #1 and #4 ... #1 is a work (photo) of art and #4 -- even though I have problem with the logo of the Chevrolet facing the other way. It would have been nice if it is facing down or towards you instead of against you. Nevermind, admit it...it is not yours... I have a question though...your avatar has a hat, your selfie has a hat, don't you ever take it off???

[Texas Dave]

Excellent series David, sometimes the small details are more interesting than the whole car.

In this case, it was.

The tractor show I went to last weekend wasn't as bad as this one but they had all the cars parked so close and with so many people hovering around, this was about all I could do. Most of the people were so weird anyway that it would have just been distracting even try shooting the whole car. I have however lined up a photo shoot of a friend's "hot rod" that I think I'm going to try and light paint at night. (we'll see).

Regardless, this is fun for me, and the camera and interest in these old cars just makes for some good conversation with the owners and friends. It was so much fun!

Thanks y'all.

Isabel, that is a new hat from the old one but I always have a hat on when I'm in this Texas sun. The older I get the hotter it feels. I'm probably a couple of years away from a 3 foot sombrero!

[GBO25]

What a great series and yes, I like those old emblems, they don't make 'em like they used to. Bring back Harvey Earl.
Love the valve cap on the Chevy wheel in #4 and the peek back to the shooter.
All very well done.

[Shadowman]

Nice concept.

[wtlwdwgn]

Good eye and good imaging too. The lawyers would have a field day if you put some of those on today's cars.

[Barbara Ponder]

Great shots!

[bnnrcn]

Great series

[Loose Canon]

Great thread Dave for a couple of reasons!

First, personally I’m a big fan of vintage automobiles. Always wanted one! Told the Wifey-Poo that one day I was going to pull up in the driveway in something cool and all I wanted to hear from her was “Awesome honey! Take me for a ride!”

Well, she’s still waiting in the driveway! And what would I do with one if I had it! Kind of like a dog chasing a car I guess!

But from a photographic standpoint? How does one photograph a shiny, glossy subject so it looks like what it is? Which, of course, is shiny and glossy!

This may be more relevant in a studio setting, but your examples certainly apply and it’s easy to tell in your photos that they are all shiny, high gloss subjects.

Of course, there is the mirror image reflections which actually reflect recognizable images of the surroundings, such as in the hub cap shot. This is a great way to shoot a mirror in a studio setting so that it looks like a mirror with obvious visual cues. With a recognizable mirror image in it. It seems like a “duh” moment, but is very often overlooked. Maybe the mirror photographs either matte or with a whoppin’ specular blown glare! Either way is really unacceptable. So even though these were shot in the field where no to little control is available, this is what we want to (have to) emulate if in a controlled environment.

But what about if the subjects are small enough or shaped such that no recognizable mirror image is possible? Such as shots #1,2,5? How can we tell that they are high gloss?

They have reflections that run the gamut from deep black (clipped or almost so) to dead white (blown or almost so) and the tones in between. This provides the visual cue of glossiness. Though #1 & #2 are color, the same applies. If you were to simply de-saturate these, those tones would be present. Of course, this is still a result of what is reflecting on the glossy surface.

#5 is a most excellent example of this. Conversely, the Bel Air clock and its glossy trim (assuming it is glossy) in #3 almost doesn’t meet this criteria and thus could almost be seen as matte if viewed by itself, away from a “Shiny Things” thread and if the viewer didn’t know whether it was actually glossy or matte to begin with. I say “almost” because it does have some aspects of the entire tonal range and probably enough to get the cue and was just holding it as an example. There are some parts that, when viewed in isolation, actually do look matte.

Interesting what makes a glossy object look glossy in a photo and this is why. Especially since I have seen so many glossy objects photographed that don’t come across as glossy at all or are so poorly photographed as to be pure glare.

Excellent examples Dave. On both the cool vintage auto and glossy object levels! Even without the thread title it is obvious that these are shiny, high gloss objects!

[Plumcrak]

Oh back in the days when cars were rolling pieces of art!! Very nice series!!