WARNING: MORE TECHNICAL STUFF BELOW!!! READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
More photos from the Webster (Where Life is Worth Living) show. The last post had some information on the making of these photos but it certainly wasn’t complete. One important thing I failed to point out in that post was that I do not strive for any accuracy in any of the photos. In many cases, color accuracy is not important to me. The owners of some of the cars spend a lot of time and money on the finished paint colors on the cars. Some owners go to a great deal of trouble to get accurate paint colors that match the original factory paint. Most of the time they are rewarded for their efforts. In these photos, though, I’m not concerned about color accuracy. The Olympus camera and lens combination usually provides good color but I sometimes find that the photos require a little help to achieve the best look I can get.
At the Museum, I try to achieve the most accurate color of the objects we’re shooting. I use a color check card or gray card to balance the finished photos. Most of the time I have the objects that were shot in the studio with me to double-check color accuracy. I don’t use this method or any other method to get the colors right on the cars. I take lots of liberties with color. I change the TEMP and TINT sliders until I’m pleased with the result. I’m constantly using the HSL sliders all the time, too. I use the little target icon in the HSL panel on almost all the photos and a lot of the time it’s mood dependent.
Having written all of that, I seldom will make any drastic changes to color. I have never changed a blue car to red or green or yellow – yet.
click on any photo to enter the gallery
2clicksaway 
Ken, these are soooo wonderful. I imagine that the people who designed these cars would love your photographs of them. The photos depict something more like ideas of things than things themselves. Still, they evoke the beauty of materiality itself.
Thanks, Linda. When I was a kid, I collected literature handed out at car dealerships. They were filled with photos of cars, many shot in a studio in such a way that the photos were better looking than the cars themselves. I thought that would have been a great job. Some of the photos remind me of those days. Working on my own like this removes any restriction, so I’m able to use my imagination a little more.
Cool shots. In the main image I like the off kilter look and the contrast of the white with the orange red!
Thanks, Howard. My father had a similar car with the same color combination. . This car obviously had a lot of work done on it.
Awesome gallery of outstanding captures and impressive presentation.
. . . makes me want to find a classic car show. Although, around here, it’ll likely be a classic tractor show.
Really, really nice photos. Thanks for sharing them.
Thanks, E. To find a show, just follow an old guy on a Friday evening.
Wait . . . I’m an old guy!
. . . someone following me would likely travel from my office to the bathroom and back . . .
Sorry. I miswrote that. What I meant was for you to follow an “older” guy! Emphasis on “older”.
I don’t know . . . he might get the wrong idea.
How about if I just follow the smell of carnauba wax?
Great set, Ken!
Thanks, Harri.
What you say about your processing sounds pretty similar to what I do, which is interesting, since our subject matter is so different. I like the balance you strike between faithful reproductions and aesthetic images. Love that subtle reflection in the corner in #4. Also the zany feeling of #15 is great. The angle on #30 is beautiful. The comments are fun to read, too. Can I ask which lens you usually use for these?
Thanks, Lynn. I’m glad you like these shots. Some can be challenging and I sometimes have to resort to angeling the camera to get the subject in and leave out surrounding clutter. I only have two lenses – Oly 14-42 kit lens (all shots are taken with this lens) and the 40-150. I use the 40-150 with a 10mm auto Extention tube and it works fine. I almost never remove the tube. I use the Nikon D510 at the museum because of the variety of lenses and flash unit. It’s a great studio camera. The Oly is so much nicer to use in the field.