1938 Darracq/Talbot Lago T-150
by James Howe on Jul.24, 2013, under Automobiles
(Olympus E-3, 14-54mm @ 19mm 2x Crop Factor, Exposure 1/400 @ f/7.1, ISO 100)
The Concours d’Elegance at St. John is coming up this weekend (July 28th) and in preparation I thought I might post an image or two taken at some past shows. This image was taken at the 2010 Concours d’Elegance held at Meadowbrook Hall near Rochester Hills, Michigan. The Concours was held at Meadowbrook for years, but for various reasons the event shifted to a larger venue at St. John near Plymouth, Michigan. The car in the shot is a 1938 Darracq/Talbot Lago T-150-C Roadster by Figoni & Falaschi. The T-150 was introduced in 1934 and several variations were produced. The T-150 was Talbot’s racing car. Only about 60 were produced and half of them had custom coachwork. There were fourteen Talbot-Lago T150C cars created by Figoni & Filaschi from 1937 until 1939. This particular car was featured at the 1939 Brussels Concours d’Elegance. The current owners gave the car a complete restoration in 2000
As I’ve described in other posts, shooting cars at car shows can be a challenge. The cars are not often presented in the best light, it can be hard to get a good angle, and there are always people in the shot. One way I deal with this problem is to try and de-emphasize the surroundings and bring more attention to the car. Often times I do this by simply focusing on a small detail of the car. When I shoot the full car, I’ll process the image to create a more abstract background. My favorite technique is to use Topaz Simplify to create a ‘simplified’ version of the image, generally using the ‘Buz Sim’ preset. This preset creates a chunky, more abstract image. I then carefully paint on a layer mask to bring back details of the car.
If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to leave them below.
All images available for sale or license. Please visit my Imagekind Galleries, Fine Art America Galleries or contact me for more information.
Copyright ©2013 James W. Howe – All rights reserved
1936 Cord Convertible Coupe
by James Howe on Jul.22, 2013, under Automobiles
(Olympus E-3, 14-54mm at 19mm – 2x crop factor, Exposure 1/60th @ f/5.6, ISO 250)
One of my favorite cars of all time is the 1936 Cord. It has really great lines, cool chrome exhausts and I love the ‘coffin nose’ hood. This particular Cord is a 1936 Cord Convertible Coupe and it one of many vintage Cord’s that are on display at the Auburn, Cord, Dusenberg Museum in Auburn, Indiana. Not only does the museum have Cord automobiles of different vintages, they have a wonderful collection of Auburns, Dusenbergs and other classic automobiles. The museum is housed in the original Auburn Automobile Company factory and headquarters. The main floor of the museum occupies the old showroom. This particular cord is displayed on a rotating platform, much as it might have been when it was on display in the original showroom.
Taking pictures of cars in a museum is about as difficult as taking pictures at car shows. Unless you have special permission, you really can’t do much to control the light or other factors. I was pretty fortunate with this shot that the car was being displayed in a ‘natural’ environment for the car and there we’re too many distracting ropes or signs surrounding it. There was one cable, or something, that appears in the original image which required removal. For the rest of the processing, In Photoshop, I used the Topaz Simplify filter on the ‘Buz Sim’ preset to create an image which looked more like an abstract painting. The filter removes details and gives the image a slightly hand crafted look. Since I wanted to emphasize the car, I used a layer mask to remove the effect from the car itself. I also reduced the opacity a bit on the sign which appears just outside of the building on the right. The sign is a historical marker which talks about the building. I wanted the text to be readable, but I wanted the other exterior elements to be more abstract and less of a distraction.
If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to leave them below.
All images available for sale or license. Please visit my Imagekind Galleries, Fine Art America Galleries or contact me for more information.
Copyright ©2013 James W. Howe – All rights reserved
Aqua Tower #4 – Chicago, Illinois
by James Howe on Jul.19, 2013, under Architecture
(Nikon D800, 28-300mm at 52, Exposure 1/500th sec @ f/8, ISO 160)
If you’ve been following my blog for the past week or so you’ve seen me post some close-up shots of Aqua Tower in Chicago, Illinois. Today’s post was taken a few weeks earlier when I took a day trip to Chicago just to do some city photography. Compared with the other images, this one shows more of the building but still highlights its unique texture. To my eye, the combination of the black and white processing with the way the light hits the building, makes this look more like a plastic model than an actual building.
If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to leave them below.
For more Aqua Tower images, please visit my Aqua gallery at Fine Art America.
All images available for sale or license. Please visit my Imagekind Galleries, Fine Art America Galleries or contact me for more information.
Copyright ©2013 James W. Howe – All rights reserved
Aqua Tower #3 – Chicago, Illinois
by James Howe on Jul.17, 2013, under Architecture
(Nikon D800, 70-300mm at 300, Exposure 1/125th sec. @ f/16, ISO 200)
Continuing my exploration of Aqua Tower in Chicago, Illinois, I present this image taken almost directly below the building and shooting up towards a top corner. Once again my focus was on the interesting shape created by the varying floor designs, as well as the varying highlights and shadows created by the surface of the building. Like the previous images in this series, conversion to black and white was accomplished in Adobe Lightroom 5. I added a bit of contrast as well as darkening the blue sky to accentuate the lines of the building.
If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to leave them below.
For more Aqua Tower images, please visit my Aqua gallery at Fine Art America.
All images available for sale or license. Please visit my Imagekind Galleries, Fine Art America Galleries or contact me for more information.
Copyright ©2013 James W. Howe – All rights reserved
Aqua Tower #2 – Chicago, Illinois
by James Howe on Jul.15, 2013, under Architecture
(Nikon D800, 70-300mm at 220mm, Exposure 1/160th sec. @ f/16, ISO 200)
This is the second in a series of shots of Aqua Tower that I took on a recent trip to Chicago, Illinois. The most distinctive feature of this building is the undulating surface created by the irregular shaped floors. The building was designed by Studio Gang Architects, and on their website they have a video which illustrates the concept behind the design. The building is located in an area which contains several other tall buildings around it. However, there are still angles from the building which provide views to some interesting areas of Chicago. The various bulges in the building provide views from balconies that would not be possible without the extra ‘bump’. Of course, the bulges also create a unique piece of architecture as well.
This shot once again focuses on the undulating shape. The conversion to black and white was fairly simple and done in Lightroom 5. To my mind, the converted image gives the appearance of a computer generated topography, possibly on the moon or some other planet. Of course, your mileage may vary.
If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to leave them below.
For more Aqua Tower images, please visit my Aqua gallery at Fine Art America.
All images available for sale or license. Please visit my Imagekind Galleries, Fine Art America Galleries or contact me for more information.
Copyright ©2013 James W. Howe – All rights reserved