The Rant: Black wheels

This is my first rant post, and I know I’m in the minority on this, so bear with me.

A hugely popular trend in performance cars recently is black wheels. I don’t know if the reason is in homage to competition wheels, or folks wanting to give their cars that sinister “Darth Vader” look, but I don’t like them—at all. Part of it might be generational, but there’s more to it than that. Let me state my case with a few points.

As a kid with a budding interest in cars, I grew up in an age of wheel covers, and when a car had black wheels, it was probably missing its wheel covers. To this day, I see a car with black wheels, and my initial reaction is that something is missing, or that the car is unfinished. Sure, it’s my background and age shaping my opinion, but it’s not the only reason for my distaste of black wheels. There are a couple of very good reasons from a design point of view.

Obviously, wheels are the most important external feature of a car, and because of that, they are critical to the design language of a car. When wheels are black, they recede, when they should be emphasized to communicate that transfer of power from machine to road. The other design problem with black wheels is that black hides the shape of the wheel. The definition of the spokes, transition to the hub, and rim lip, are all lost on a black wheel. 

Are their exceptions? Of course! I’ve seen some sports and exotic cars with a very competition-centric look that have amazing, almost neon paint jobs, and the black wheels are a nice contrast and help break up the color. Another exception is a nice, clean set of black Fuchs wheels on a ’70s or ’80s vintage Porsche 911. That five spoke look with a bright lip just looks so cool. It’s how to do a black wheel right, at least in my opinion.

Elements: 1931 Chrysler Roadster

This car is another example of why pre WWII luxury cars are becoming some of my favorite cars to shoot. They’re so mechanical and analog, but at the same time, very elegant and artistic. This early Chrysler was so stunning in its yellow, black and orange palette. The use of the colors and chrome shows both boldness and sensitivity. It’s striking, but very tasteful. 

2016 Pinchflat Poster

This May brings the 6th annual Pinchflat: Bike Poster Blowout, in Columbus. This is a great event started by Jeremy Slagle of Slagle Design, and includes 30 posters by 30 local artists, for sale throughout the month of May. The common thread is that they all carry the theme of bicycles and riding. This year, I finally committed to including a poster in the show.

Back in 2011, I photographed the chainrings of the 1972 Schwinn Sports Tourer that I was restoring. I loved the pattern created by the beautiful, French-made pieces. Fast-forward to March of this year. The Pinchflat submission deadline was extended, so after a few years of putting it off, I decided that this time I had to commit to turning that photo into a poster.

I converted the photo to line art using a very coarse halftone screen to echo the mechanical feel of the image, and to work with the traditional letterpress printing process that I chose. Igloo Letterpress printed the poster using silver and bronze inks on French Speckletone Black paper stock. I’m really happy with the final poster. The folks at Igloo did a fantastic job, and I couldn’t be happier with the print quality.

Pinchflat begins on May 7 at Wild Goose Creative. They’re an outstanding Columbus arts organization that helps organize the event. In addition to displaying the posters, they host performances and bike related activities throughout the day. The show then moves to Paradise Garage that evening as part of the Short North Gallery Hop. The posters remain on display there for the rest of the month. If you’re local, be sure to stop by. At $30 per poster, it’s an easy way to pick up some great original art.

1958 Chevrolet Biscayne DIY custom

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Some custom cars are crafted, others are built. This ’58 Chevy 2-door sedan is without question the latter. It’s a build-what-you-have, cut-off, bolt-on, and weld-up, street beast. I just love the presence of this car. Not only does it have the attitude with it’s looks, it sounds loud and amazing. I think of it as the automotive equivalent of a Social Distortion gig.

Elements: 1963 Chrysler New Yorker

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After all of his outrageous finned and jet-inspired designs of the late ’50s and early ’60s, one of Virgil Exner’s last designs for Chrysler was almost conventional. The 1963 Chryslers were very conservative compared to just a year before, but they still had some really amazing details. The “New Yorker” script is one of my favorite type badges. It would make such a great starting point for script typeface.

Endorsement: The Darkroom

When I tell people that I still shoot film, the first question (besides “why?”) is always “Where do you get it developed?”. Up until two years ago, I had one reliable local source. Then, they shut their doors. I was surprised, but I shouldn’t have been.

After some searching online, I found The Darkroom. They’ve been processing film since 1976, and have really nailed offering the service online. Their process is set up to be as easy as possible. Their online forms are simple and clear, and they generate ready-to-print postage. All you need is your film and a padded envelope. With a little patience, you’ll be sent a link with scans of your images. A few days later, they’ll send back your negs, with options of prints, and your scans on physical media. Done. Most of the turnaround time is in the mailing. They usually provide the link to your scans within 24-36 hours of receipt.

I just order processing and scans, since I like to make my own prints. There’s one drawback with their scanning. For medium format 6x6 film, like I shoot, the scans actually end up being smaller files than scans for 35mm. Because of this, I always opt for the Super Scans. The quality is excellent, and the negs are spotless, if I choose to re-scan myself. I also ordered one of their canvas wraps recently, and it turned out great, with good color and tight finishing.

The bottom line: If you want to keep shooting film, the folks at The Darkroom might just become your best friends.

1941 Willys Americar gasser tribute

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This particular Willys is one of my all-time favorite hot rods. The concept, unexpected color, and amazing attention to detail make it a truly unique build. When I saw this car in 2013 at the Goodguys PPG Nationals, I had the opportunity to meet the owner/builder, Mark Renko. He showed me around the car and pointed out some of the car’s hidden features, like the routing of the HVAC and stereo. The beautifully adapted microphone gear knob and bass drum accelerator pedal were references to his other love of music and drumming. A year later, I learned that Mark had passed away the previous November. While I only talked to Mark for a few minutes, I found him to be extremely nice, infectiously enthusiastic about the car, and ridiculously talented. I was crushed to learn of his passing. I hope this car lives on to carry his legacy for as long as possible.

1967 Fiat Dino Coupe

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Every year in July, The Arthritis Foundation sponsors a car show in Dublin, OH. It features the best automotive variety of any show in the area. I’ve seen everything there from 1914 Detroit Electrics to late model Lamborghinis. 

My “car of note” from last year’s show is a 1967 Fiat Dino Coupe. This was the first Dino Coupe I’d seen “in the steel”. While it may not look exotic, it’s powered by the same V6 as the mid-engined Ferrari Dino of the same era. Ferrari had to build enough engines to qualify for F2 race competition, so they partnered with Fiat and contracted them to build enough to meet the requirement. To complete the package, the coachwork was done by Bertone. With it’s taut lines and great proportions, I think it’s one of the best looking small 2+2’s ever built.

Industrial Hot Rod

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It’s hard to beat the story behind a good hot rod build. How the car started, the pains behind the build, and the origins of the components are always interesting. Some are more interesting than others, like the origin of a certain first generation Hemi.

This 1947 Dodge truck includes several cool features including a sectioned body and made-from-scratch frame. What’s interesting about the engine is that it’s not a “FirePower” Hemi, or a “Fire Dome”, but a “Chrysler Industrial”. What were Industrial Hemis used for? Why for powering air raid sirens, of course! As the cold war was ramping up in the 1950s, Chrysler fulfilled their military contract obligation in part by supplying power plants for giant nuclear air raid sirens in about 100 locations throughout the country. Read more about these sirens here.

 

Showroom stock Camaro

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Go to any vintage car show or cruise-in of any size, and you’re guaranteed to see multiple early Camaros tweaked to various degrees. But think about how often you see a first-gen Camaro that’s absolutely showroom stock. They’re damn near as rare as Barracudas and Javelins of the same vintage. This 1968 example is striking not just for it’s black and white on red color scheme, but for it’s time-capsule appearance. It’s a one-family car that was purchased new in the fall of 1967. Driven in high school by it’s current owner, then stored for 30 years. When the owner “dropped the bombshell” on her then fiancee that the car existed and would he help her restore it, his answer was an enthusiastic “I will”. The one stipulation was that when finished, it had to be as close as possible to how it was when her father purchased it. The only variance is the set of redline tires, which I think are a nice fit to the color scheme.

I'm not gonna lie. I’m not a big Camaro fan, but when I see an early example as it was when new, I can really appreciate how folks fall for these cars. They really are beautiful designs.

Shooting Neon

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Photography is all about capturing light, so shooting Neon signs should be easy, right? Well, not so much. When the light source is the subject, they way your eye sees the subject, and the way your camera sees it are very different. The light meter in your camera is essentially looking for mid-tones. When what you're shooting is so high contrast with lots of shadows, most of the time, the camera will blow out the neon tubes and render the shadows a grainy dark gray. The following is my approach. YMMV, depending on the look you're going for. 

Underexposing is what you want. It keeps the shadows nice and black, but holds the detail in the neon tubes. I stick with manual exposure and usually ignore the meter. My method started with a lot of trial and error, but after enough practice, I've narrowed my settings to an ISO of 400 or 800, a shutter speed range of 1/90 to 1/180, and an aperture of f4.5 to f8. I usually start with ISO 400 and 1/125 at f5.6, then adjust to taste. 

For post-processing, My goal is to hold the highlights of the neon tubes, and correctly represent the colors as I saw them. First off, I always shoot in Raw format, and process using the Photoshop Camera Raw module. If it's true neon (orange-red with yellow highlights), my goal is to hold the yellow highlights, and the detail of the surface directly behind the tubes. Adjustments to contrast, clarity, and color hue adjustments to reds and oranges, but go easy with the hues, or things get out of whack quickly. Lowering the highlights a bit can also help. These adjustments are to taste and can vary depending on the shot, so plan on doing a bit of tinkering, and save those settings once you get the results you want.

Why I still love film

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I'm a firm believer in the advantages of digital photography. It opens up so many opportunities for creative experimentation. For professional work, It virtually eliminates much of the risk that comes with film photography. So why do I still shoot film on occasion? For one, it forces me to slow down. I shoot medium format film, so I only get 12 images out of a roll. That means I have to make every frame count. My camera is also all manual, so there's no "shooting from the hip." That slow approach helps me concentrate on the subject. The other reason I still shoot film, is the different look the images have. With the larger image area of the 6x6 frame, the relative depth of field is less than with my dslr, so there's an almost 3D look to the images. The way that film captures color, or the grain of black and white film, also gives the images a distinct look compared to digital. It's just another way of "looking at things." My hope is it will see a resurgence similar to what's happened to vinyl records.

Welcome

The G-Man is me, Gust Smith. I'm a graphic designer by training, a print design production expert by trade, and a photographer by passion. The focus of this blog, and this site, will be my passion for photography and the things that I shoot. Some of my favorite photography subjects are vintage cars, vintage signs, and urban details. Objects and places that show a human creative imprint and that have a history, are the most photogenic to me.

My posts will vary, but they will all have some sort of visual, photographic, or design angle dealing with my subjects of interest. I'll also include any shooting tips that I think might be helpful to other photographers, and even the occasional photographic tool review. The posts will be heavy on visuals, and quick reads. I'm no man of letters. I'll just include short blurbs to support my images. 

My plan is to post as often as possible, and by including my 365/366 project images, there should be something to check out every day.

Unless noted, all images will be mine. If you see something you'd love to hang on your wall, or give as a gift, give me a shout. Any of my images are available as prints for purchase. I'll even mount and frame them if you'd like. If I find that there's enough interest, I'll add a store to the site and make the purchases even easier.

Thanks for visiting,
–Gust