It's called Garage Art for a Reason!

The Print-On-Metal: Why do I call it Garage Art again?

Some of you have seen a recent offering of mine, the "Print On Metal" from Pounds Photo Labs (see Pound's description here for more info, or just email me). Its a really cool product that's PERFECT for the car guy. Not only is the image very vibrant, very colorful and detailed, it is also very durable. In fact Pounds claims it is the "soundest archival product on the market today". So, if you are like me and you hang car photos in your garage that's a pretty big deal. Garages can get very hot, very cold, very humid, and none of this is going to effect a print on metal like it will a paper print. Especially not a paper print behind glass, which in high humidity can be a problem.

And then there is another problem with framed paper prints: the glass. I call the print on metal "garage art" for a reason: its perfect for the garage. No frame to buy, no glass to break. Oh yes, that breaking glass thing. Has it ever happened to you? It did to me just recently:


This was not staged! It actually happened. That door closed a bit too hard and that picture fell to the ground. Broken glass where I drive and park my car is NOT a good thing. Fortunatley of the two framed pictures on that wall only one fell. The print-on-metal above it also stayed up, but if it had fallen there'd be no broken glass to worry about!

The print on metal is noticeably more expensive than the same sized print. The cost to me is noticeably higher as well, and its only natural the extra cost of materials is passed along. But considering there is no frame to purchase, and the peace of mind, and the durability, its a great value when all is said and done.

Available in sizes up to 16x20", either as a straight print, a customized print, or even a multi-image collage. Order yours today!

Remembering Uncle Joe

Sometimes you see an old photo that brings back old memories. That's what happened to me a few months ago. My parents were moving, and in the process of packing and sorting they found two very old photos, one of which I've attached here.

This is of my neighbor from my earliest years, Joe Scopa, or Uncle Joe to me. He's the guy in white, third from the left. By the time I knew him he was a retired Indy crew chief, and that to me was and still is very cool. The photo is one he gave me when I was probably 7 or 8 years old.

Uncle Joe had a very large garage in the back of his house, and on occasion an Indy car would show up like the one above, or more often a Sprint or Midget car would show up. Later on the house was sold to a sprint car racer named Lonnie. I grew up in Indianapolis, not too far from the track, and I grew up next to a retired crew chief and then a current race car driver, and with a father who used to drag race. No wonder I love fast cars!

So this photo and another showed up in the mail one day and it reminded me of why people love photos. Because years down the road you look at a photo and it brings back memories and allows you to share your memories with others. This photo reminded me of growing up next to Uncle Joe in Indianapolis, and now I'm sharing that memory with you. Thank you.

Tilt-Shift photo effects and car racing

I've been having fun recently with a plug-in for Aperture which is meant to mimmick the effect of a tilt-shift lens. This is useful if you do not own a real tilt-shift lens, or if photographing in situations where the real tilt-shift lens would be difficult or inappropriate. In my case, both apply. For one, I do not own a Tilt-Shift lens. And in this situation it would not be very desirable to use anyway. This was shot with a 200mm focal length (you can't get telephoto tilt-shift lenses in the first place!) at a relatively slow shutter speed to show some motion in the wheels and the background. And it was shot from a somewhat high vantage point, about 20 feet above the track surface. The high vantage point (higher would have been better) and the large amount of background in the shot made this an ideal candidate for the tilt-shift effect.

The tell-tale sign of a Tilt-Shift is that it should give the shot a bit of a miniaturization effect, making the scene look like a model rather than real-life. This effect gets amplified with higher vantage points. Next time I need to bring a ladder to the track! :) The other tell tale signs are the very shallow depth of field (which could come from a large aperture) that is not parallel to the film plane (which you cannot get from a normal lens). In the case above the plane-of-focus is tilted in the direction the car is travelling, sloping up from bottom left to middle right. An unusually large amount of saturation and contrast is thrown in, and a bit of vignette as well. And voila. Thoughts? The car's owner was thrilled. :)

Not all shots lend itself to this treatment, but those that do often turn out great!