One question that I often get via the Contact page (and your questions are always welcome there) is where do I find some of these car museums that I’ve featured here from time to time?

Let me start with a confession: I’m not a person who enjoys vacations so sometimes when Mary twists my arm or I join her on a business trip, I look for car museums or collections to visit. When we went to Las Vegas for our anniversary, I looked around and found the Shelby American Museum that gave free tours once a week and was (formerly) collocated with their factory. The Museum has since been moved to a separate location and from what I hear is slightly smaller but is still worth a visit.

I would have never been to the Unser Racing Museum or got to meet and talk with the late Al Unser, Sr. except for accompanying Mary on a business trip to Albuquerque.

Here’s what I do: I use Google to find car collections or museums that are located in the area where I will be traveling. After looking at their website, I contact them asking if they have any rules related to photographing their cars. I’m interested in learning if they have any rules, such as about using flash or tripods (never use’em in museums) or monopods (maybe sometimes.) Occasionally I get lucky and even collections that are only open for rental purposes or events, invite me to make an appointment to shoot photographs, as happened with a private collection in San Diego. And if you’re in San Diego, don’t miss the awesome San Diego Automotive Museum in Balboa Park. So always ask for permission before popping int the door and always be polite.

Tips: To avoid crowds, I try to visit any museums or collections during the week and many times I am the only person there, so the staff is almost universally wonderfully open and friendly. At the (now closed) J&R’s Vintage Auto Museum, the owners invited me into their restoration shop and showed me some of the projects they have ongoing.

The point of all this is to do a little research, ask about visiting and go during the week and I expect that you will have a great time meeting some wonderful people and get to photograph some amazing cars.

If you enjoyed today’s blog post and would like to treat me to a cup of Earl Grey tea ($2.50), please click here. And if you do, thanks so much.

When my friend Mark Toal visited Reno, Nevada, he also visited the National Automobile Museum. Like Mark, When I travel I  try to find a local auto museum and spend some time looking at cars that I might not otherwise get to see or photograph.

At the Unser Racing Museum on Albuquerque I not only got to see some beautifully restored classic automobiles and race cars but got to meet and talk with Al Unser, Sr. And the only Talbot Lago that I’ve ever seen in person is the one in the Cussler Auto Museum. That’s the good news. The bad news is that sometimes museum lighting is not that great and you’ll end up using high ISO settings and the noise these setting can produce—depending on the camera you’re using—might be concern. Although the high ISO capabilities of newer DSLRs and mirrorless cameras get better and better.

Often the space between cars can  be a challenge to photographing them. That’s why you may need to change the way you shoot and not worry so much about getting a perfect shot of a particular car but making the best possible photograph under the conditions you’re working. Case in point: I once visited the J&R Vintage Auto Museum in Rio Rancho, New Mexico where there are more that 60 antique cars and trucks on display! During my visit to J&R, I brought along a Canon EOS 50D and a Tamron 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC lens. Here’s a few tips:

Tip #1: Stanchions along with their ropes and chains can sometimes get in the shot but you can avoid them by sitting on the floor and shooting under whatever is strung between the posts. A wide-angle zoom lens helps and I’ll always push it a bit by sliding a little bit more under the ropes, when sitting on the floor. So far nobody has ever asked me not to do that but if they did, I would apologize. That’s why you should…

Tip #2: Don’t wear your Sunday-go-to Meeting clothes, just something that you don’t care if you get a little dust or motor oil on them—just in case. Like many car museums J&R Vintage Autos had spotless epoxy painted floors and like everything in the museum was squeaky clean but you never know what to expect around old cars.

Tip #3: Be sure to make images of parts of cars. Don’t be frustrated by the lack of space and crowded conditions that are found at some museums. Use that to your advantage by finding small details and capture them in sharp focus.

Tip #4: Get close to the car. Begin by working in close and gradually back off until extraneous non-car details start to appear in the frame. Wide-angle zooms let you fill up the frame with part or even the entire car while making sure distractions are eliminated.Make sure your lens allows close focusing.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: It is with great sorrow that we announce the road for J&R Vintage Auto Museum has come to an end. After more than 25 years of memories They closed thir doors on March 30, 2019.

Barry Staver along with myself are co-authors of Better Available Light Digital Photography that’s out-of-print with new copies available from Amazon for $21.50 or used copies for giveaway prices, starting at nine bucks as I write this. Kindle priced, for some reason, can be really high.

Back when I was only shooting with film, I would never have gone into an assignment or make an important image before testing the concept and the gear that would be used for the shot. For medium and large format shoots, I used expensive Polaroid film to make tests before clicking the shutter with real film or shoot test rolls of 35mm film before trying any new technique or new gear.

Along comes digital capture with its instant feedback though LCD screens and everybody thinks that testing isn’t required anymore; the idea being that you could just test as you went along. This has created a secondary phenomenon where some shooters thought they no longer needed any back ups. After all any problems would be immediately visible but some of us never thought about what would they do if there was a problem. And believe me gear failures occur, even with new equipment.

And not just functionality—the camera and lens may work perfectly. But not all LCD screens are accurate as far as color, contrast and brightness, especially not as accurate as the color correct monitor on your desk that you use to process images in Photoshop or Lightroom. Surprises constantly lurk, so you need to test if you want to get correct color SOOC.

Let me tell you a story: Prior to making an out-of-state trip, I tested a new wide-angle zoom lens at a car show but discovered in actual shooting that the widest setting was so wide—how wide was it?—that it was impossible to shoot any of the cars without getting too much extraneous detail, including people walking into the shot. The camera’s LCD also showed there was some slight vignetting even with the lens hood off but when I looked at images on my monitor the vignetting was much worse than I thought. This lens was not going to make the trip with but I found out now, not when I was on the road.

Testing also helps you plan ahead for the inevitable moments of stupidity or what I call “stupid photographer’s tricks.” When photographing a car show in Golden, CO I brought along a pinhole camera that shot a wide aspect ratio for fun. I was happily shooting away up until Mary and I took a lunch break and where I accidentally knocked the camera onto the floor. The camera’s back popped off! And yes it was loaded with film. It landed on the back side, so I slapped the back on and went into the Men’s room and turned off the lights to securely fasten the back. What this unplanned test showed me was more than exposure or the angle of coverage but that I also needed to bring some gaffers tape to keep the back securely closed. I did lose one and a half of the wide panoramic frames but at least I had some images.

There’s an old expression: Experienced carpenters recommend that you should measure twice and cut once. I think that we photographers should test twice and shoot once.  And remember, while there are no perfect photographs, that shouldn’t stop us from trying.

PS. It’s more than a good idea to bring a few extra memory cards too. Here’s one of my sad stories about that…

If you enjoyed today’s blog post and would like to treat me to a cup of Earl Grey tea ($2.75, Starbucks has raised the price of Earl Grey), please click here. And if you do, thanks so much.

Along with photographer Barry Staver, Joe is co-author of Better Available Light Digital Photography that’s out-of-print but new copies are available for $21.49 or used copies for giveaway prices—less than six bucks—from Amazon, as I write this. The Kindle version, for some reason, is expensive.

When photographing a car show or in a museum, I think it’s a good idea to make some close-up images of parts of cars. Don’t be frustrated by the lack of space and crowded working conditions that are often found at cars shows. Use that to your advantage by finding small details, such as the delicate nature of a classic’s grille or the sensuous lines of a street rod’s fender and capture them in sharp focus.

Wide-angle lenses or wide angle zooms let you fill up the frame with part or even the entire car while eliminating background distractions but make sure your zoom lens allows close focusing. Wide-angle zooms let you get close during crowded car shows but during some events you’ll need longer zoom lenses to bring the cars closer.

The large crowds at most car shows often make it impossible to use a tripod so I seldom use one but be sure to ask one of the show’s officials before schlepping any kind of support to a show. Image Stabilization or Vibration Reduction lenses or other kinds of in-body anti-shake technology are an alternative and let you hand hold slower-than-normal shutter speeds while maintaining small enough apertures.

Tip: Always get permission to use a tripod when shooting in a museum or a private collection.  Some museums don’t permit their use without some kind of permit but monopods can provide a steady platform for your camera in low light conditions, including museums or end-of-day outdoors shots and you may be able to get by using a tabletop tripod for on-the-ground low angle shots. Although I occasionally bring a tripod most of the time it stays in my (if I had one) car’s trunk. Right now my green Manfrotto tripod is in the back of Mary’s new Subaru Crosstrek.

How I Made These Shots: The above photographs were made at the J&R Vintage Auto Museum in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. During my visit to J&R, I brought along my Canon EOS 50D and my former do-everything lens, the Tamron’s 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC lens, that’s designed for cameras with APS-C sized sensors. The lens has VC (Vibration Compensation) that lets you use shutter speeds much slower than otherwise possible, under challenging lighting conditions like museums. This lens will also focus down to 19.3-inches throughout the zoom range.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: It is with great sorrow that we announce the road for J&R Vintage Auto Museum has come to an end. After more than 25 years of memories they closed their doors on March 30, 2019.

Barry Staver and Joe are co-authors of Better Available Light Digital Photography that’s currently available for $21.44 with used copies starting around five bucks. The Kindle version, for some reason, is expensive—not Barry or I.

Other than a few year-round Cars & Coffee events, the local car show season is over. And so is most motorsports, even amateur events, especially here in Colorado where we’ve already had some snowfall in the mountains.

Nevertheless, I hope to attend the LA Auto Show and we also hope to be at the Vehicle Vault’s October 8 Cars & Coffee event. I’m testing a Nikon D810 and AF-S Nikkor 105mm f/1.4E ED lens for Shutterbug magazine and will be bringing it along to make some phonographs—maybe some that will appear in the magazine.

As we move into fall, one of the projects I hope to get launched is the “Your Car; Our Website” concept. Staring in October I will be actively looking to interview the owners of interesting cars and feature them on this site throughout the Winter.

And before you get to thinking that this is just for owners of Duesenbergs or Lamborghinis the answer is no. All you have to do is look at John Larsen’s RX7 (featured) and read his story and you’ll know what we are looking for—and interesting car with an interesting story

I would like to feature your car in the same way we did with John’s. Click on the Contact button and tell us about your car in a sentence or too. We’ll make arrangements to photograph the car and sit down and talk with you about it and it will be featured in an upcoming blog post. There is no charge for this; this is just a way of showing the kinds of cars that readers of this blog drive.

There is one caveat—and you know there would be—and that is people living in Colorado will get photographed first. Your have two options if you’re out-of-state:

• It may take me while to get around to photographing you car but this is going to be an ongoing series. When I will be out-of-state, I’ll post a travel notice and make it easy for you to get in touch with me when I’m on the road.
• If you have a good picture of your car and can write your story about the car, we’ll treat it as a guest post. But, check first (click Contact) for details on how many words to submit and image file sizes.

If you like to see beautifully restored antique and classic automobiles and find yourself in the Albuquerque area be sure to stop by J&R Vintage Autos. In 1995 Gab and Evonna Joiner decided to construct a building to display their cars. It started out as just a place to display the cars and has since grown into a museum displaying approximately 70 vehicles, along with auto-related memorabilia. Including mementos from Joiner’s participation in The Great Race.

Oh yeah, the Joiners drive these cars and they even drove an antique Marmon on one of the cross country classic car rallies. In 1988 Evonna and her friend Melba Anderson entered a 1931 Ford Cabriolet and drove from Disneyland to Boston, becoming the first all-female team to finish The Great Race. That car is on display as is all of the other cars the Joiners have entered in the event including everything from a Marmon (there are other Marmons on display) to an antique Packard. These cars like the rest of the cars in the museum are both lovingly restored and displayed.

The cars here range from a 1912 Buick to a 1969 Mercury Cougar that was their daughter Melvonna’s first car when she was a sophomore in high school. There is even a rare De Vaux here. Everything in the museum is sparkling clean—even the floors. There are no rusty, dusty relics here, all of the cars are beautiful to look at but may be a challenge to photograph since they are parked close together. But don’t worry about making pictures—you can shoot some great details—just soak up the environment and enjoy looking at some amazing automobiles. There are even some cars for sale or trade, so ask or you can check the website for details

J&R Vintage Autos also has a bookstore with mostly motor-related books, die-cast toys, and porcelain signs. Gab also has a large restoration shop where you can often find him tinkering with his cars. It was raining when I was there and after touring the museum, poked my nose into the shop and Gab invited me in for a chat. There were six cars in various stages of restoration, the newest being a beautiful 1953 Chevrolet convertible and the oldest being an antique Ford (Gab likes Fords) but there was also a Mack pick-up truck undergoing restoration.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: It is with great sorrow that we announce the road for J&R Vintage Auto Museum has come to an end. After more than 25 years of memories we will be closing our doors on March 30, 2019.

If you enjoyed today’s blog post and would like to treat Joe to a cup of Earl Grey tea ($2.50), click here.

Along with photographer Barry Staver, Joe is co-author of Better Available Light Digital Photograph that’s available from Amazon for $21.50 with used copies starting around six bucks. For some reason, the Kindle price can be really high, not Barry or me.

If you ever find yourself in Las Vegas, you need to tear yourself away from The Strip and make the short drive to the  Shelby American Museum, Showroom and Gift Shop.

Not only do you get a guided tour of the museum by a Shelby employee but they take you into two factory areas but alas no cameras are allowed. The first stop is where continuation series Cobras are made and when work was underway on three models, one in Fiberglas and two in aluminum. Shelby actually uses the stamped aluminum bodies produced in Poland by Kirkham Motorsports. next stop is the much larger Mustang facility while many different Mustangs and Super Snake models are assembled. Throughout the tour questions are solicited by the knowledgeable tour guide, so come armed with a few. Then it’s off to the museum. The cars in the museum are always changing and includes some of the most famous cars ever produced from the first Cobra CSX2000 to prototypes of the Series 1, Shelby GT-H, Terlingua, GT500KR, and others. But no Shelby Daytona coupes but ya never know.

Don’t miss the gift shop. I may never be able to own a real Shelby Cobra (but my fingers are crossed for owning a Shelby GT sometime) but I can afford a T-shirt or two and I bought a jacket as well. Best of all the people who work at the Shelby American Museum, Showroom and Gift Shop are some of the nicest people you will meet in Las Vegas.

Update: Things have changed since my visit. Latest information is below.

Shelby American, Inc.
6405 Ensworth St.
Las Vegas, NV 89119
Toll Free: (844) 9 SHELBY (844-974-3529)
or call (702) 942-7325

Free Guided Tours:
Mon-Fri 10:30am and 1:30pm
Saturday 10:30am (No Guided Tours on Sundays)

If you enjoyed today’s blog post and would like to treat me to a cup of Earl Grey tea ($2.50), please click here. And if you do, thanks so much.