[ratpack] Re: Car show photos

  • From: Ray The Rat <RayTheRat@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: ratpack@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Fri, 29 Oct 2010 05:21:19 -0600

Thank you  Ray.

 

When the lighting is bright and harsh I do bracket a lot.  I may not use them all later, but if I need to at least I have them.   I would rather take up a lot of extra space on my memory cards/hard drive than find out later I had a potentially great shot that is washed out or too dark on part of it and not savable.   I do use Photomatix and also various techniques and filters such as Nik Color Efex, Viveza and Topaz Adjust and Detail.


I sure understand the value of bracketing.  Hard to do with a flash, tho.  Yeah, I know it can be done, but it's a pita to reset the flash unit between shots, whereas it's pretty simple to set an auto bracket in the camera and just hold the shutter down for 3 shots.  Unless there's a way to set the 430EX for bracketing that I haven't found yet.

 

Since I am trying to create fine art car images, I would rather have fewer really nice images than cover the whole show in most cases.  


I understand.  I'm tryin to work with the promoters and for the car owners...but that seems to be falling on its face...or maybe it's just cuz the season was drawing to a close.  I've given away coupons for free 11x14 prints at the last few shows, passed out a million business cards and not a single person has contacted me, even to get their free prints.  I understand that many "giveaway coupons" are never redeemed...just like rebates.  Still, when a guy moves his car to position it just right in the light, spends 30 minutes looking at my portfolio, goes gaga over one of my special effect shots and tells me that's how he wants his done...well, I at least figgered to hear from him.  Not a frikkin word.  It might be cuz that's the show I'm scurrying to finish up isn't on the web yet, but I can only do so many things at once.  Here's what I cooked up for him:



(Yes...there's a mismatch between the door and rear fender color.)

It's a single image Photomatix Tone Compression rendering.  I think it'll live.  Matter of fact, I printed one in 8x10 form centered on an 11x14 sheet by accident.  I ended up matting it in an 11x14 frame and it looks pretty good.  I was gonna give it to the show promoters Tuesday nite, but I didn't feel like driving 75 miles round trip to freeze my ass off for only a coupla hours of shooting...and people who don't give a shit about 1) free photos they've been given and 2) following thru with their promises about calling to set up a private shoot.  I otta know by now that ya can't believe anything ya hear and only half of what ya see...but when someone makes a real big show of getting business cards, finding availability dates, looking for photos and settings to put into a poster...well, you'd think they were halfway serious.  Sorry, I'm ranting again.  I guess that framed photo will look very nice on my wall.

Oh...and the dude I ran into at that show who was real excited about this list, asked about working with me on future events, made sure he got my card, plus plugged my number into his phone...I haven't heard a peep from him.

As we all know, there are tons of great cars that you just cannot get a decent, fixable picture of due to where its parked, amount of junk around, behind and reflected in the car.  So I skip them unless I think I will be able to fix them later. 


Boy, you got that right.  There are so many different things that can get in the way of a good shot that it's amazing we ever get a clear one.  I dunno about where you live, but around here, if the show/cruise nite isn't in a park, it's in a parking lot where the cars are parked about 2 feet apart and about all you can get is a very shallow 3/4 shot. 

I generally only shoot what I like and what's "reasonably accessible."  For the last few shows, I've tried to shoot the larger percentage, if not all cars, especially since I've been working with the promoters.  I wish I could say I was gettin wealthy off it, but...well, I'm glad the season's over cuz I wasn't making anything at all.  I just did a little calculation using minimum wage as a basis and I'm not coming close, given the number of hours I work...that includes the income from the Salt Flats posters which have been selling very well.

I've gotta re-think my strategy for next year.  Maybe asking for donations to help cover expenses for the great unwashed who hit my server a quarter-million times a month.  I dunno.

This brings me to the next statement that I've been mulling over for the last week or so.  If things stay as they are at Miller's, I won't be going out any more.  I'm really not all that excited about motorcycles, ALMS and Grand-Am (and presumably NASCAR West, too) are gone, there hasn't been any historic racing other than the AHMRA Cycle fest for or 4 years....well, that only leaves MPRA and the off-road stuff...which doesn't do anything for me.  Ohh...I forgot NASA nationals and some SCCA stuff but they usually overlap with salt flats stuff for me.  Last year I rushed back to get coverage of the NASA thing and made next to nothing from it...matter of fact, less than nothing.  I sent a CD to one racer who didn't pay me and hasn't responded to my emails.  Don't sell anything to James Rowan...or Randy Mitchell, for that matter.

I'm reminded of corporate decisions where a high-level decision is made to close a plant or store and then tells the line workers, we're looking at how this unit is functioning.  High performance is the key.  Then they get all they can out of the staff, but give them zero support and in the end, the unit fails because it can't get what it needs from the highers-up...who already know that it is scheduled for closure...then they say, "See, we gave you a chance and you failed.  We're closing the doors."  If I was a fly on the wall in the Miller board meetings, I bet I'd hear things like, "Well, let's see how it works with the off-road stuff, but don't try to get high visibility series in here.  They're not worth the cost." 

If I was only doing it for fun, that would be one thing.  But it's gone beyond that for me.  I know I need to have a source of income in 2 years or I'm gonna have to walk away from my house.  The only part of that that bothers me is where to put my stuff.  I'm not attached to the house.  (The value has gone from $350k to $212k since 2007 and I owe so much on it that I'd make some spare chaynge if I could find a buyer...but no houses have sold in this neighborhood in the last 90 days.)  So if it comes down to the nitty-gritty, the factors to be considered are 1) I don't make much if anything from car shows; 2) Miller's appears to be  dry hole; 3) I don't like living in Utah, anyway and 4) I could go get a damned redneck trailer in Beaver Dam, Arizona (just a coupla miles from Mesquite, Nev) and still not be that much farther from the salt flats than I am now.

Maybe I'll see this in a different light if I can ever get caught up on sleep...which seems like a good idea since I've been up since 1 ayem after 3 hours sleep.

RtR

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