Another old abandoned vehicle in the field. I’m slowly creating a series of them. This one was in the hoppin’ town of Ash Fork, Arizona. It caught my eye as I was driving by on the freeway, and I had to weave through town to relocate it once I got off the freeway! As luck would have it the first time I drove by, the gates were closed to the property. But the second time, a construction guy was there with the gates open and he let me in to capture this one, with a warning about Mojave green rattlesnakes. Yikes! But I stomped into the field, in pursuit of this faded blue gem of a car. It reminded me of one my friend’s Dad had. They might have been ‘tanks’, but these old cars had personality, and all have great stories behind them, no doubt.
The unexpected bonus of seeking out old trucks and cars like this is that you get to meet the locals in the places you find them. All of them ‘characters’ in their own unique way – of course I’m a ‘character’ too, to them – they probably think I’m nuts, runnin’ around photographing old beaters with excitement…but the social exchange makes my life experiences richer…
P.S. I ran this photo through Nik HDR Efex Pro as it’s part of a series I’m working on of old car/truck portraits. I chose the default preset, then adjusted my structure, contrast, saturation, whites, etc. globally. I selected the “Crisp” HDR Method and set the strength to about 45. With the method selector and the strength slider, you can create so many different results.
Don’t forget! – I’m giving a webinar for Nik on November 18th, at 6 PM PST. “HDR Efex Pro: From Realistic to Artistic“. Sign up here!
Beautiful car, great shot! I like the looks of Efex Pro, definitely retains the HDR look without going over the top. It took me a few seconds to realize it was HDR.
Thanks Charlie! Yes, I like that Nik’s HDR software allows you a finer adjustments for varying the ‘look’ of an HDR image.
I’m mostly a landscape guy but I’m starting to really like photos of old stuff. Old buildings, old machinery, and especially old cars. The older and more beat up the better.
I like your HDR treatment here. It’s natural looking and not over done. The car looks to be in pretty good shape. I bet there were some interesting close ups to be found.
I’m seeing more and more people talking about the Nik HDR software. Must be some pretty good stuff.
It is good stuff, Richard. There’s something about those ‘old’ things that have interested many of us over time.
I too love photographing nature and landscape, but for some reason I’ve always had an interest in many other areas of photography, too. The Late Ernst Haas never wanted to be ‘pigeon-holed’ by creative directors at agencies and design firms. He was drawn more to the light, color, texture and shape/form of an object or scene rather that what the object or scene was. I resonated with that a long time ago. And as an editorial photographer, I found that it was good to be a generalist in some ways. thanks for visiting!