On old cars and trucks, HDR, and nostalgia

The Old Ford #3. Found near Happy Jack, Wyoming, 2013

What is it about old trucks and cars? People seem to love photographs of worn out, decrepit, rusting, decaying versions of these jalopies. To me, though, I have a hard time figuring out a way to “see” these vehicles, then photograph them, that is any different from the way thousands of photographers before me have made such images. Maybe making images of old cars and trucks is not really my thing. Still, I am compelled to do it.

There is something about an old, busted, red rust bucket, abandoned out in a farmer’s field, weeds growing up around the rotting whitewalls, seat springs showing through the mouse-eaten upholstery. Most all of us own automobiles, we use them every day (oh, the American curse!), and many of us have a nostalgic Samsonite full of memories associated with them–indeed, even memories associated with an exact make and model. For me…a pink 1957 Chevy sedan (my grandmother’s–learned to drive in it), a piss-yellow 1967 VW Karmann Ghia (my first car bought at $250…never changed the oil–ever–and it faithfully took us up steep 4-wheel drive roads, loaded with brothers and hang gliders), and a 1969 Chevy Impala with plastic seat covers (Mom’s car…broke the antenna four-wheeling with it in the Arizona desert…and well, uh, then there was Carolyn…).

Yes, there is something about old cars and trucks that calls out to us.

I tend toward monochrome–black and white, if you will–with a lot of my imagery and so it is with ancient vehicles as well (although the one above I present in color for an easier comparison with the HDR version below). Many, though, seem to think these machines need to be photographed in over-the-top-knock-your-jocks-off HDR mode. Here is an example of what I mean–based on my image posted above:

The HDR effect.

Note the unnatural, oversaturated colors, the cartoon clouds with the dark blue halos in the sky. For me, this is too much. I have seen a lot of these old vehicles done in this gonzo HDR style and it gets old pronto. Some versions, if done with finesse and sensitivity, can actually look quite interesting, but one must be vewy, vewy, vewy careful. Many images are way overdone as the photographer gets carried away with those fun post-processing sliders and the pictures soon turn into crazy caricatures. The subject then gets lost in the effect.

Old cars and trucks. I’ll keep photographing them–as will you, everyone else, and their great aunt. Maybe someday something will click for me (very punny, Daniel) and I’ll find a unique way of seeing them that will translate into imagery unlike the millions of photographs already out there on Facebook.