ISO100 25mm f/8.0 2.5sec
I must say, so far this year I have been somewhat disappointed by the quality of cars at our local hot spots. The last couple of years have been a bit dry when it comes to the turn out of friday and saturday night hot rodders, both old and new.
Tonight on the other hand, this was not the case, as our local Sonic Drive In was packed with hot rods, muscle cars, tuners and bikes. It was a great turn out and I definitely took advantage of the vintage settings and rides with my camera. I was a bit nervous about this shot at first. For one it took me forever to get because people kept walking in front of the camera haha (To be expected when everyones attention is on the cars and not the crazy photographer laying on the ground behind them). Next it was the lens flare that worried me, which actually turned out to be a great happy accident, as it added to the dreamy retro background. Lastly as we were packing up and the car was taking off I realized that I had forgotten to turn my autofocus back on during the whole time I was shooting the car, so it was up to chance on whether or not the shot would be sharp or not. Well luck was on my side tonight as it turned out to be a sharp shot with a certain flare to it (get it.. cause the lens flar… alright). Either way I racked another HDR auto shot to add to my collection 
love it Nick gorgeous car and a fantastic capture
Thanks Rob!
Nice shot but I’m just not convinced by HDR. It’s a bit like ketchup; it masks what’s there rather than improves it.
Roger, Id like to Challenge you to see HDR in a different light! When using our eyes we have a much Wider Dynamic Range, and are able to gather more information in seeing then we will typically capture in a single shot through the lens. Granted I left this picture a bit overly processed to give it that dreamy retro look. But you would probably be surprised at how many of my regular shots get a touch of hdr in order to open up the details in the highlights and shadows like we would see with our natural vision. Personally I use it as a useful tool to bring a scene back to the range I remember it at, and typically try to eliminate that HDR look that so many overly saturated, halo induced photos have been known for in the past. Think of it like Ansel Adams zone system back in the day and you will start opening up new possibilities to really make your images pop
Thanks for the compliment, hope this helps to “expand your range” (get it hahhaa) in photography!
Love the reflections in the car. What a super ride!
Thank you Rachael
I agree completely, shes a beautiful machine!
What a gorgeous shot
Thanks Bashar
Great shot Nick…The use of HDR really makes this shoot IMO. I often make the same error of forgetting to switch back to auto focus, glad it worked out for you on this shot
Thanks Martin! Yea its a simple mistake to make when your jumping from shot to shot. Thanks for the kind words
This is such a great shot and I like the HDR in this. Cool colors. Love the new look of your website
Hey thanks Inga
Great photo! Vibrant colors and yet has a retro feel.
Thanks again Carissa! I enjoy how it turned out
I like it!
Hey thanks Russel
Fantastic shot Nick, I got to learn how to do some real HDR sometime.
Thanks Matthew. Maybe Ill do a write up or tutorial on it soon
This is a great shot!
Thank you Mona
I agree with couple of the other posters. I shoot almost entirely HDR and think there is a time (like when shooting cars) that ‘overdoing’ it is almost appropriate. As you responded earlier you intended to make it a little bit dreamy retro in feeling. Photography is in the eye of the beholder so to say – with all the tools we have now (filter packages, photoshop, etc…) we have the ability to create things that would have been nearly impossible in a darkroom. Why not use them to our advantage and create something we think is ‘cool’ or looks good.
I like what you did with the post processing and think you captured the feeling well – even if it isn’t exactly how it looked in real life.
Well said Justin
Thats the beauty of art in general, its not going to please everyone, but it also doesn’t need to. We are artists, its up to us to create what we want and feel works best. Thanks for the kind words and comment!
Great shot Nick, Captured very well, as you said in a reply to one of your comments, HDR does bring back the photo to how the human eye remembers the image, I think personally it gives it a certain character which you tend to loose with a standard non processed shot
I agree Steve, at times it can be used to bring out a certain depth of character in an image! Thanks again
beautiful!!! Where is the “like” button on page?
Thanks Sassy! Unfortunately I havent been able to put the wordpress like button back on yet since making the switch to self hosting. However you can like it through facebook which is sooo much cooler