Story Behind the Shot Model A Roadster (Click to read the story)

This shot has become a favorite of mine over the last few months. I take my camera to every car show I got to, which is a given, but a lot of the times I wont shoot all that much. The difficulty of finding a new angle or an alternative shot can get pretty stressful. For me, I’m not a fan of a picture of a car in a row of other cars. I also don’t quite like have more than one car in a shot at a time. If I think about it, more often then not my car photographs are rarely of the whole car. I’m more interested in pieces of the car or an area of the car that is attractive.

In this photo, this Ford Model A roadster ticked all my boxes. Vintage, original, period correct, style I loved everything about it. Not to mention it’s been on the beach for the Race of Gentlemen, which is a vintage car show / drag race that takes place in Wildwood New Jersey. A car show I have been going to since 2016. This photo was taken at a local car show that happens every year on Fathers Day. So in tradition my father and I were walking around and looking for some cars to shoot. As the crowd grew this Model A showed up and instantly drew a crowd. I new of the car and had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to shoot on the car so we tried to act fast. As I was getting my camera set the crowds got closer as if bugs drawn to a porch light. I was shooting with my film camera a Minolta SRT 202 with a 50mm lens. It takes a minute to set it up and as I was getting ready to shoot I hear, “Hey, could ya hold on one second.” I look up and now my dad is directing traffic. I wanted this shot to be more of a portrait and I guess my dad noticed I wasn’t taking any shots. He asks what the problem is. I didn’t want people, cell phones, any distractions in the shot, which at any car show isn’t going to happen easily. So we waited a little while and when people started to disperse the camera went back up. I didn’t want to bother people to ask them to stop or wait, but on fathers day and your dad starts directing people no one’s guna bat an eye about a dad trying to help his son get a shot. Thanks Dad & happy Fathers Day.

Shot on: Minolta SRT 202 35mm / Film: Porta 800 35mm