Film Noir Nostalgia Series, Old Cars

I took all these shots at the Okotoks Kinsmnen Show'n'Shine, it was done in the Olde Town a very charming venue for this kind of event, the old architecture gave a great backdrop to shoot old cars.

It’s not easy to get the shot during an event, dealing with the crowed, the space, all the signage, advertising, vendors, name it, need to be persistent and wait for the perfect timing.

I always bring my tripod, wait to get the point of view I am looking for, set my camera, sit and wait for the perfect moment. I always bracket my shot in an event like that, you may have only one chance to catch that moment and you want to make sure you got the perfect exposure, not only that you can also use some of the shots for HDR later on, HDR and old cars are a great mix.

Early morning Olde Town Okotoks doing my spotting walk, before the cars and crowed arrived,Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 24mm, f4, 1/60sec, ISO 200

All the shots were done using my Canon 5D Markii, and most of the time my Canon 24-105, on a tripod when possible, I like to use the 24-105 for event, great range, and great image quality, during this shooting I also used my Canon 70-200 and Canon 16-35.

For this post, I used only black and white in Film Noir, Film Noir in French for Black Film, first applied to Hollywood film in 1946 it was great for melodrama, way before that Film noir was associated with a low-key black-and-white visual style .... of the 1910s and 1920s that involve theater, photography, painting, sculpture.

Using HDR and Film Noir a great mix, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 24mm, f4, 1/42sec, ISO 200

For me Film Noir is a way to add a bit of drama, and nostalgia to my story teller project.

When I photography car, I always try to get at least one side and and angle of the front or tailfin of it, but sometimes the lack of space render this practice impossible especially in event, to face that situation I try to get a good angle with great details and info about the make.

In a perfect shot adding old buildings in the background to add to the story is great, I had the chance to get few shots like this during this event, but I never expect to get this kind of opportunity during event, I don't want to end up very frustrated, when it happens it’s a bonus.

Having the chance to shoot the building as a backdrop Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 32mm, f7, 1/128sec, ISO 200

Great point of view, HDR and Film Noir combination, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 40mm, f7, 1/198sec, ISO 200

All post production were done using Nik Silver Efex Pro 2, preset Film Noir 1, I change the grain per pixel for 250 to 350, the preset comes with 92 that is too low for my taste, I also in some case change the border or took it out, same thing for the burn edges, what is interesting with Nik Silver Efex is that you can control every details of the preset, same for all black and white plug ins programs like onOne, Alien, and Topaz.

No tripod space, sitting on the side of the sidewalk in between cars, angle front and side view, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 40mm, f5.6, 1/160sec, ISO 200

This is one of my favorite, angle front mid side shot, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 24-105 at 24mm, f7, 1/125ec, ISO 200

Angle front and full side shot, HDR and Film Noir combination, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 16-35 at 23mm, f2.8, 1/125sec, ISO 200

When there is no space at all, angle mid front and side front whell, Canon 5D Markii, Canon70-200 at 170mm, f6.3, 1/160sec, ISO 200

Another squeeze situation, angle mid front, full side, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 16-35 at 35mm, f5.6, 1/160sec, ISO 200

 Don't stop at the front only, some have beautiful tailfin design, like this one, angle 3/4 back and full side shot, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 16-35 at 35mm, f5.6, 1/160sec, ISO 200

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