Posted 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

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One Comment

  • I don’t think I have ever seen a car be awarded a ribbon like they do at horse and other animal shows. I like you methodology for minimizing the background distractions. I have tried some equivalents myself but never used this particular Topaz pre-set. I shall have to give it a try on the next car show image I process.
    Mark Summerfield recently posted…Liberty Furnace Mill

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