Chevrolet Bel Air: In 1959 I purchased my first car. A 1056 Chevrolet Bel Air, light blue paint job. What a lovely machine it was and just right for the pocket book of a poor man...

jim hill Loc: Springfield, IL

In 1959 I purchased my first car. A 1056 Chevrolet Bel Air, light blue paint job. What a lovely machine it was and just right for the pocket book of a poor man attending Millikin University on the G.I. Bill. I could have photographed the entire thing but I think depicting what I view each time I got into it would be a little different.

I think the spatial aspects have been handled fairly well. A slight touch of Topaz has been added for enhancement.

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Dave Chinn

jim hill wrote:

In 1959 I purchased my first car. A 1056 Chevrolet Bel Air, light blue paint job. What a lovely machine it was and just right for the pocket book of a poor man attending Millikin University on the G.I. Bill. I could have photographed the entire thing but I think depicting what I view each time I got into it would be a little different.

I think the spatial aspects have been handled fairly well. A slight touch of Topaz has been added for enhancement.

Oh the memories !!! I reminisce everyday about something Jim. A shot of the whole car would have been nice but I do understand your point.
Dave

larryzplace Loc: Elk Grove Village Illinois

jim hill wrote:

In 1959 I purchased my first car. A 1056 Chevrolet Bel Air, light blue paint job. What a lovely machine it was and just right for the pocket book of a poor man attending Millikin University on the G.I. Bill. I could have photographed the entire thing but I think depicting what I view each time I got into it would be a little different.

I think the spatial aspects have been handled fairly well. A slight touch of Topaz has been added for enhancement.

Certainly brings back fond memories... My first car was a white 1959 Chevy Biscayne 6 cyl with 3 on the tree....

I like the way you presented yours :)

jim hill Loc: Springfield, IL

Dave Chinn wrote:

Oh the memories !!! I reminisce everyday about something Jim. A shot of the whole car would have been nice but I do understand your point.
Dave

I know about those reminiscences. Keeps me thinking about what there is left to do - if that makes any sense. This shot was taken at an auto museum in the upper Chicago burbs.

jim hill Loc: Springfield, IL

larryzplace wrote:

Certainly brings back fond memories... My first car was a white 1959 Chevy Biscayne 6 cyl with 3 on the tree....

I like the way you presented yours :)

The Biscayne fostered a little jealousy on my part. It had better lines, in my opinion, than the Bel Air. It was one of those eras when an elegant style was important. I don't see it today. Maybe the Lincoln??? The Jaguar!

Thanks for your remark. Much appreciated.

Frank2013 Loc: San Antonio, TX. & Milwaukee, WI.

Interesting perspective Mr. Hill.

jim hill Loc: Springfield, IL

Frank2013 wrote:

Interesting perspective Mr. Hill.

Thanks, Frank.

Not too sure ho to use the new site yet but I'll learn.

neilds37 Loc: Port Angeles, WA

Thank's for bringing back some old memories. My first car was a 1929 Chev, resurrected from a farmers barn. Had low oil pressure until I found and removed a piece of straw in the oil line. 14 high school mates in it at one time going for lunch.

jim hill Loc: Springfield, IL

neilds37 wrote:

Thank's for bringing back some old memories. My first car was a 1929 Chev, resurrected from a farmers barn. Had low oil pressure until I found and removed a piece of straw in the oil line. 14 high school mates in it at one time going for lunch.

1929 Chevrolet Series AC International. My father owned one and crashed it to a heap in 1939. What a beautiful piece of machinery it was.

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

Ah yes. I remember that view! When I learned to drive my dad had a 1956 Turquoise Impala. Sweet. He was a car guy.

Mark7829 Loc: Calfornia

The image is balanced. Lots of circles. If you wanted it to be perfect, you would need to move to the right a bit so that gauges are fully visible. T in temperature is cut off, as is the E in the fuel gauge. In moving to the right a bit you would have released tension on the Bel Air logo on the dash. As far as the tonal qualities, it is too dark and appears moistly grey. A simple tweak would solve that. As for the perspective, if you wanted to highlight the type of car, I would have focused more on the logos either on the steering wheel or the dash. There was an opportunity to use the mirror to capture people in the background if they where available.

BTW my favorite lens when shooting autos is the fish-eye. I love how its distortions accentuate the focus point.

Lovely image regardless.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

jim hill wrote:

I know about those reminiscences. Keeps me thinking about what there is left to do - if that makes any sense. This shot was taken at an auto museum in the upper Chicago burbs.

Volo? You probably drove right by me on your way up. I can feel that hard, skinny steering wheel in my hands. And the horn ring. I remember those rear view mirrors which always got knocked off and you could screw a new one on.

I love the composition. Very intimate. I would like to see the picture slightly brighter with a greater tonal range.

Thanks for posting.

jim hill Loc: Springfield, IL

AzPicLady wrote:

Ah yes. I remember that view! When I learned to drive my dad had a 1956 Turquoise Impala. Sweet. He was a car guy.

Is it just me, or do autos these days seem more a less the same. Impala - another great Chevy.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

jim hill wrote:

Is it just me, or do autos these days seem more a less the same. Impala - another great Chevy.

Not just you. I feel the same way. If you want to see variety, go to Europe.

jim hill Loc: Springfield, IL

Mark7829 wrote:

The image is balanced. Lots of circles. If you wa... (show quote)

Thanks Mark, Lotsa good ideas. However, as you may know, I rarely try for perfection as by the time it would take to achieve it my feeling for the subject would have been gone along with myself. I'll leave that kind of stuff up to you guys who care about it. My methodology is a kind of a "quick reaction" form of shooting. Where I think it might be helpful I will also use Topaz to varying degrees. In this case it helped create the feeling of the Bel Air logo on the steering column which I felt should be a kind of hazy memory sort of thing. I see and seek a different reality than so called "straight" photographers. The things you have mentioned would probably be of great value to that kind of photography.

However, I am happy to have your comments as they may be of value to other photographers.

I have never used a fish eye lens. Probably never will as I don't see in those terms.

Thanks for looking and commenting - much appreciated.