The Last Days of Summer

Today’s Post by Mark Toal

If you read this blog regularly you know that both Joe and I love to photograph cars and outdoor car shows. I’ve been waiting all summer for the light to change where we get these beautiful long shadows on late summer nights.

Every Wednesday night at the Portland International Raceway, car owners gather to show off their old cars. Hundreds of cars gather in a field next to the racetrack while motorcycles drag race on the track. There are a few trees to filter the light making for excellent photography. I tend to shoot towards the sun on the shadow side of the car or motorcycle. I love the backlight on the people and machines.

I carry my lightweight Panasonic Lumix G7 with the extremely wide Lumix 7-14mm lens. Since people move in and out of the scenes you have to shoot quickly so I leave the G7 turned in Program mode with the ISO set at 400. The camera’s battery can easily handle being left on for the couple of hour that I’m shooting and I’m always ready to lift the camera quickly and shoot. Don’t hesitate to ask owners to be in the photos, they love to show off their cars.

You can look for local car shows by doing a Google search of your area. It’s a great way to spend a summer evening. If you’re in Colorado, check Joe’s automobile photography blog/site , JoeFaraceShootsCars, which often lists PhotoWalks held in connection with local car shows.