While I have been to Cuba a few times, this would be my first visit to the capital city of Havana. Almost as soon as we exited our 1955 Chevrolet taxi we were faced with a photo shoot as a young lady was celebrating her fifteenth birthday by modelling for a photographer with an assistant and stylist!

Within one block, the poor conditions of the local residents of Old Havana was apparent as many apartments and small shops did not have glass windows while classic cars scoured the streets.

Within a few more blocks the Plaza Vieja was a surprising sight as the buildings encompassing the perimeter have been refurbished as part of a significant UNESCO project.

Unexpectedly, a gallery overlooking the square hosted an exhibition of photos by National Geographic photographer, Steve McCurry, which we visited. The gallery had a balcony that provided an excellent vantage point to take a panoramic photo with my Fuji S1. As I walked down the stairs from the gallery the entrance to the “Laboratorio Fotografico” stared me in the face. It reminded me of the hours I used to spend in the darkroom…

As we exited old Havana to meet our awaiting Chevy taxi, the parking lot was filled with classic Cuban cars—this was the photo opportunity I had been waiting for! Most of these cars are not as mechanically original as expected. The Cubans have to make use of whatever they can obtain and, as such, most of these classic cars are powered by Russian and Chinese-built diesel engines. What the Cubans lack in resources they more than make up for with ingenuity. All photos were made with a Canon EOS 7D and EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens.

John Larsen is located in the Greater Toronto Area, whose PhotoGraffics website contains samples of motorsports and hot air balloon photography from numerous Canadian balloon festivals

Most people get their love of a particular car marque from their parents. My Dad was a Chevy man but I’ve always liked imports and for American cars, preferred Fords. I think it was because Dad was a strong union man and worked at Bethlehem Steel, which wasn’t far from Baltimore’s Fisher Body plant that produced Malibu’s and Chevelle‘s. While I’m not a bow-tie super fan, I still enjoyed Classic Chevrolet Muscle Cars: 1955-1974.

The book’s official title is Complete Book of Classic Chevrolet Muscle Cars: 1955-1974 and was written by Mike Mueller, who also wrote The Complete Book of Ford Mustang. Let me start by remarking on the book’s end-papers, which feature a clever photograph of a Nova nee Chevy II convertible, always one of my favorite GM cars. And it just gets better and better after that…

There are just five chapters: In “When Big was Best” looks at big block Impalas that’s illustrated with great-looking photographs along with some charts with enough technical specifications that will make even the most geeky reader happy.

In Chapter 2 we look at the Nova SS and legendary COPO cars. In addition to specifications for different models there are also informative sidebars which go into Nova variations, some of which, like the Rally Nova, I didn’t know existed. You also get to see how the Nova grew over the years and, to my taste, not always for the better. But while later models may lack style, they make up for it in performance, such as the 1968 COPO Novas. Yenko variants are here as well, such as the 1970 Deuce.

Chapter four takes a look at mid-sized cars, including Chevelle, El Camino and Monte Carlo, including the SS454 which I think is the best combination of style and performance for the money. Funny, this is considered a “mid-sized car” for the era but it probably wouldn’t even fit in my garage. How times change. This chapter also features the Camaro, which my wife totally loved especially the 1967 model. The chapter includes the COPO Camaros with theie impressive performance while the Z28 gets its own Chapter, deservedly so.

Classic Chevrolet Muscle Cars: 1955-1974 represents a love fest for these cars celebrating a time when cars were created for style and performance without government regulations turning them into identical jelly bean shaped blobs, slaves to aerodynamics, full economy and safety. These cars were probably unsafe at any speed but for pure visceral enjoyment, we will never see their likes again. Author Mueller has delivered a valentine to this era of Chevy performance cars. Bow tie fans will want to have this lushly produced coffee table book on their coffee table.

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Motorbooks (May 12, 2017)
• ISBN-10: 076035233X
• ISBN-13: 978-0760352335
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 0.8 x 11.2 inches
• Price: $25.47

The 2016 Rolex 24 at Daytona will run on January 30-31, 2016

caption: Canon EOS 30D, 70-200 EF 2.8 L Series lens @ 200mm.  Exposure:  1/250th sec. at f/7.1  and ISO 100

After recovering from a stroke, my motorsports friend, Larry, and my brother, Allan, and I decided to finally cross one of the major international races from our bucket list and go to the annual Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2007. While they were enthused about spectating, I was more interested in taking photos. Having been a contributor to a number of Canadian motorsports magazines previously, I contacted the Toronto Star and learned that there would be a local team competing in the top class in the 24 hour event. I mentioned this in my email, along with a link to my website and tear sheets of previously published motorsports photos. The next day I received a favorable response asking if I required any assistance in obtaining press credentials!

caption: Canon EOS 30D, 17-55mm EFS lens at 38mm. Exposure:  1/6th sec. at f/5.0  and ISO 400

I was late in converting to digital as I had been shooting with Olympus 35mm gear for many years and had been holding out for a digital Olympus body that would allow me to use my assortment of Zuiko lenses without adapters but I could not wait any longer. With the potential for coverage in a national publication I purchased a Canon digital SLR with the kit lens, an EF 70-200 f/2.8 L series lens and a speedlite, along with some memory cards. I managed to try the new gear a few times before our trip but could not practice any motorsports photography.

caption: Canon EOS 30D, 17-55mm EFS lens at 18mm. Exposure:  0.4 sec. at f/6.3 and ISO 400, with Canon EX 430 speedlight and second shutter firing.

Due to delays with our flight and sorting out our rental car, I missed obtaining my press credentials the first day at the Daytona International Speedway. However, the three of us stood on a small grandstand in the infield and took in the sights, smells and sounds of our first visit to this classic event as night practice was in progress under the lights of the famed Speedway. After taking it all in for a few minutes I grabbed my camera and took my first photo of the action on the track. As soon as I looked at the image I realized that I had to change a number of settings to get the result I was after and almost deleted this blurred image. Thankfully I did not as it truly replicates the speeds and lighting that we witnessed that January evening in Florida. Surprisingly, it has become my most successful image in my stock photo portfolio!

John Larsen is located in the Greater Toronto Area, whose PhotoGraffics website contains samples of motorsports and hot air balloon photography from numerous Canadian balloon festivals.

However, the Copyright Office declined to provide the exemption to third parties who diagnose, repair or modify a vehicle on behalf of the vehicle owner. The Copyright Office concluded that extending the reach of an exemption to cover third-parties requires a legislative amendment undertaken by Congress. Access to a vehicle’s telematics or entertainment system was also specifically excluded from the exemption.

Earlier this year, in support of the industry and consumers, SEMA provided comments to the Copyright Office seeking an exemption from the DMCA for circumvention of controls on vehicle software for the purpose of vehicle diagnosis, repair or modification by the vehicle owner. “The issue of copyright affecting the ability to diagnose, repair and modify vehicles has come up recently due to the proliferation of advanced vehicle technology, specifically software, in modern vehicles,” said SEMA CEO and President Chris Kersting.  “SEMA has always maintained that the right to access vehicle systems to utilize, maintain and upgrade vehicles is legal as fair use under copyright law, as are activities undertaken to achieve interoperability with aftermarket products.”

The DMCA was enacted in 1998 and prohibits the circumvention of measures put in place by a copyright owner to protect copyrighted works. The law also includes a provision allowing the Copyright Office to grant exemptions from this anti-circumvention provision, and the exemption for vehicle repair, diagnosis or modification was granted under this provision.

A copy of the SEMA comments is available on the Copyright Office website.