My first import car show

Featured above, the TRANSFORMER MOTORCYCLE. Model: Princess.
NOTE: mass amounts of photoshop done to this picture

MY FIRST IMPORT CAR SHOW...

there's a first for everything right?

So last weekend rolled around and I was wedding free. On the books for Saturday was to attend an import car show with a friend of mine who also freelanced as an import car model. I was asked to be her personal photographer at the event and I happily accepted the invite and the new challenge. At 34 years of age, I had not attended one import car show in my life, let alone, been given the opportunity to stalk a woman with a camera.

The import car show was very interesting for me. The car show exhibited amateur street cars like those found in the movie, "Fast and the Furious." I had to shake my head at some of the featured cars though.

I'm really sorry to have to say this, but some of these kids or adults that decorated their cars, they really need to take a class or two on design.

I thought I had seen it all, but drapes on a car? Really?

DJ table in the trunk, LED lights everywhere, rims that are too big for it's tires.
Am I getting too old to think this is not cool?

Angry bird dolls on the dashboard and tiger pattern rugs....
This car can star in the movie "Need for Cheese..."

Hey, you can poke someones eye out with that exhaust...

Never got low rider bikes...

Now this Scion was interesting. It has little nooks that were custom made to fit Ramen, odd sized soda, and multiple cartons of cigarettes. I guess the owner of this car smokes a lot and wants to make saimin in his car?

I had to take a picture of this. Some of these guys look scary.

The true highlight of the evening though was the challenge to photograph my model for the night around a handful of exotic cars. Lately, I have been trying to photograph more than just weddings as I felt as though I needed to re-boost my photography skills. Photographing my model around cars proved to be quite challenging as there was always a crowd to work around. More so, the background of the convention center wasn't the greatest. And to make things worse, the convention center was quite dark, so I had to use a low shutter speed and a higher ISO that I wanted too.

I liked my model the best out of the girls there. Conservative with class and a golden smile. Some of the models I thought showed off too much skin. And yes, that's Optimus Prime's face...

So here is my model next to a Ferrari that I will possibly never drive. This picture is okay, but I just didn't care for it. There were people in the background, trash cans. People have no idea how important a background is to a shot. In fact...it is the shot...

Same girl, same car; but in snow? It's all fake by the way, probably figured that out right? But like I said, background is everything. If only they would have had snow at that import car show....

Overall, I think the shots came out good. Not my best, but good enough that I could use the computer to manipulate them to look interesting. Yes, for a change, I also greatly enhanced my photos in the computer to make things look a lot more interesting. As you may already know, I am not a big fan of using the computer. But in this case, I did....

1958 Chevy Impala, truly a work of art...

So after attending my first import car show, and having fun, I would probably have to say it would most likely be my last. I think the import car scene, or even import cars, are just not for me. I just don't see the art or beauty in import cars, and I think a lot of that has to do with my age. At 34 I'm too old for this stuff! haha.... Man, how I wish car designers would make cars how they used to be. Back when my father was younger, cars were considered pieces of art, not just transportation vehicles.

Well, for this weekend, I am busy. Starting from September 1st, Thursday, I will be busy with weddings until the 5th!. Yikes. I think I have a total of 8 weddings...? Too much to count. Anyway, I'll catch you all later.


Steve Young
The Car Show Photographer Guy?