Calendar Photos

GuardsmanBlue

GuardsmanBlue

Member # 004
Location
O'Fallon, MO
First Name
Clyde
Last Name
Johnson
The end of 2012 is approaching quickly and I've been tasked with taking the photos for the 2013 calendar (wish I had gotten into automotive photography back in February/March!). I'm really excited about taking shots of the beautiful cars in our club, but I'm going to need some help scouting locations.

I have a few shots in mind, but am definitely open to suggestions. Here are the thoughts I've had so far:
  • Motion shot at a track, anyone with contacts at Gateway?
  • Vintage garage/gas station, anyone know of one?
  • Interior shot of garage, who's got the nicest garage in the club, preferably with some room to shoot?
  • 50's diner, not sure if this would work with a Cobra, more of a hotrod shot.
  • Train tracks, train in background?
  • Brick road, Main Street in St. Charles?
  • River road by Grafton, moving shots from a chase car.
  • Scenic shots from Pere Marquette.
    We could probably shoot both of these on one of the cruises. Preferably shooting the Pere Marquette shots in the early evening and then cruising down the river road around sunset.
  • Shot from above, anyone have access to a bucket truck?
  • Curvy road, anyone know of a seldom traveled curvy/hilly road?
  • Golf course, speak up golfers, best looking course that you can get a car close to?
  • Graffiti on a wall or train.
  • Oil refinery or power plant
  • Brightly colored car in front of a drab industrial background or rock quarry.
  • There are quite a few photo opportunities in Old Town St. Charles.

Speak up if you have any other suggestions, or know of a location for the shots mentioned above.
 
I can help a little.

[*]Vintage garage/gas station, anyone know of one? - DeSoto, MO - fully restored station

[*]Train tracks, train in background? - Kirkwood, MO train station

[*]Brick road, Main Street in St. Charles? - or Lacledes Landing

[*]Golf course, - St. Albans

[*]Brightly colored car in front of a drab industrial background or rock quarry. - Lemp Brewery Complex - turn of the century brick warehouse district with train tracks and it's deserted.

[*]There are quite a few photo opportunities in Old Town St. Charles.

Suggestion
A) STL Arch very hard to photograph, but once you get the right angle - always awesome
B) New Town ST. Charles has some neat street corners.
C) An ultra modern background
D) neo-Tuscan garage/driveway - I have a friend...

ALSO - How about one in for service - I'll bet we could use Omer's shop.
 
Last edited:
Steve Fehr said:
Tom:

Can you work with existing high def digital images?

Steve
Click to expand...

I can give it a shot, as long as the composition is good and the image isn't severely overexposed, underexposed and the white balance isn't terrible. If you've got one you want me to mess with, send it to me.
 
STL Mark said:
I can help a little.

[*]Vintage garage/gas station, anyone know of one? - DeSoto, MO - fully restored station

[*]Train tracks, train in background? - Kirkwood, MO train station

[*]Brick road, Main Street in St. Charles? - or Lacledes Landing

[*]Golf course, - St. Albans

[*]Brightly colored car in front of a drab industrial background or rock quarry. - Lemp Brewery Complex - turn of the century brick warehouse district with train tracks and it's deserted.

[*]There are quite a few photo opportunities in Old Town St. Charles.

Suggestion
A) STL Arch very hard to photograph, but once you get the right angle - always awesome
B) New Town ST. Charles has some neat street corners.
C) An ultra modern background
D) neo-Tuscan garage/driveway - I have a friend...

ALSO - How about one in for service - I'll bet we could use Omer's shop.
Click to expand...

Great suggestions, I've played around in New Town before and you're right, there are some good shots to be had there, there's also a rusted guardrail in the Charlestowne development next door that might be fun to shoot by.

The Arch is always a good shot, There might be a shot from across the river up on the levee, might be able to get the entire STL skyline.
 
I've often thought about how a calendar with all St Louis landmarks would look. Places like:

- Busch Stadium
- The Arch
- Forest Park/Art Museum
- Missouri Botanical Gardens
- The flying Eagle Budweiser sign in the background
- Budweiser's campus
- Ead's Bridge
- The Old Courthouse
- Ted Drewes
- Union Station
- The HUGE Amoco sign at 40 and Lindell(?)

A lot to think about with the calendar shoots taking the time of year in to account with what month it is (snow pics for the winter or, black and white shots in an industrial district for the winter....etc....) Let me know if/when you want to try the suction cup idea, I don't think I live too far from you.
 
Kerry & Kathy said:
Several EXCELLENT photo opportunities in the Park Hills / Bonne Terre area:

HUGE Deserted old mining complex off Hwy 8 (many good backgrounds)
Bonne Terre Mine Dive entrance


Kerry
Click to expand...

We were down that way at Elephant Rocks State Park last weekend. I should have headed over that way. I'll have to check it out.
 
Purple Venom said:
I've often thought about how a calendar with all St Louis landmarks would look. Places like:

- Busch Stadium
- The Arch
- Forest Park/Art Museum
- Missouri Botanical Gardens
- The flying Eagle Budweiser sign in the background
- Budweiser's campus
- Ead's Bridge
- The Old Courthouse
- Ted Drewes
- Union Station
- The HUGE Amoco sign at 40 and Lindell(?)

A lot to think about with the calendar shoots taking the time of year in to account with what month it is (snow pics for the winter or, black and white shots in an industrial district for the winter....etc....) Let me know if/when you want to try the suction cup idea, I don't think I live too far from you.
Click to expand...

I would add Chuck-A-Burger to that list as it's a car related St. Louis landmark. I like that idea.

I was looking at the cars last night with the suction cup idea in mind and I don't know where I would attach it to, the suction cups are large and I have to stick them somewhere that they're not going to block much of the photo since I'll have to photoshop them out. I'm going to be modifying my rig tonight to attach under the car, let's see how that goes first and then maybe we can get together sometime next week?
 
Will be on vacation next week. Why not on the hood in one of the stripes? Could utilize the straight edge of the stripe for blending.
 
I'm starting to get concerned, they're predicting rain this weekend and then I'm unavailable for the next 3 weekends. We're quickly running out of time to get shots for next years calendar. Do we have a backup plan? Mark, do you have or are you requesting owner submitted photos? I guess worst case we can set up a day to take 12 shots, maybe the day of the picnic? They wouldn't be under the most flattering of light and background variety would be minimal, but at least we'd have the shots. Then we can backfill with as many quality shots as time will allow. Does this sound like a good plan? Anyone have a better idea?
 
Well, I do have a plan or 2. The truth is we don't have many new cars. Thus, just about everyone has been in the calendar at one point or another (most more than once). First - for user submitted "portrait" shots - we've done that now for 4 years. It's time to raise the bar. That's why having Tom shoot the calendar was going to be so awesome. But, I fully understand the time constraints at this time of year.

So, we have some choices for this go-round.

First, we could skip it and do nothing. I don't prefer that option.

Secondly, we could take whatever shots we can (with Tom) and make a really nice poster. Like this poster:
PO%200119.jpg

This was Tim's suggestion. It's a good suggestion, a bit more expensive in small runs - but a good frame-able piece.

Third, we could make a 2013 calendar consisting of some of the neat group shots we have taken over the years. From Sonic, from cruises, etc. Folks could submit their shots and we can make a calendar as usual. I actually prefer this option. The reason being - we use our calendar. It hangs on the wall next to the fridge and we make various appointments on it all year long.

Finally, I think it's important we start to take advantage of Tom's huge talent, and begin shooting cars a little at a time. By this time next year, we'll have enough high quality shots for 2014.

What do you guys think?
 
Alton has several of the mentioned backgrounds. It has a quarry, brick roads w/steep hills, train tracks, river background, and a silo. For a racing shot my next event is Sept 16th at family arena. I hope pearl will be there also.

Here is a new perspective I found by accident a while back. It will look better if I ever get around to painting the hood.

DSC_3238.png


DSC_3252.png
 
Mark,
I like the poster idea, as long as it's in addition to the calendar. Once the photos are in for the calendar, how long does it take to produce the calendars? I assume it's a couple of weeks to get them produced and distributed? I suggest we shoot as many cars as we can and see where we're at by the end of November. If we have enough shots for the calendar, great, if not we'll make a poster with the intention of using the shots again for the 2014 calendar and we'll proceed with using the various group shots for the 2013 Calendar.

Mike,
I like the shot from above. What was the photographer standing on? Judging by the reflection in the windshield it looks like they're on the roof of the house? My fear of heights might prevent me from getting that particular shot, but I would think any overpass or parking garage would work to get that same perspective.

My in-laws live just outside of Alton, you're right, there are quite a few photo ops over there. The Marina might be a nice backdrop, the Clark Bridge and the Amphitheater. I also want to join everyone on a cruise down the river road to get some rolling shots.
 
mmarshall said:
For a racing shot my next event is Sept 16th at family arena. I hope pearl will be there also.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I'll be in Florida that weekend, but let me know if you have any other events there this fall as it sounds like a good opportunity to practice my panning shots.
 
I was driving to work today and passed some Bradford Pears that were in bloom and it got me thinking about the calendar. I'd like to get started on it since the weather is finally starting to warm up (although you wouldn't know it this morning). If anyone is aware of a Bradford Pear lined street, let me know. I'd like to set something up for Sunday morning 04/14...early if possible. Anyone available for a shoot?
 
Any particular color of car that would look better than others?
 
I think anything other than white would work well. I think a brightly colored car would really stand out well against a bunch of white trees.
 
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