Hot Rods & Customs Long Exposure Photography It's never supposed to rain in Southern California! But it did and everyone attending the 2013 Grand National Roadster Show made the best of it. When the rain let up, I took full advantage shooting this vibrant 1950 GMC pickup owned by Eric Conner of El Cajon, CA. Ya dig? I couldn't stop at just one... but I noticed on nearly the last couple pictures I wanted to take that my lens had water drops all over it. Luckily for this pic, you can't really see it cause it's hiding in the grille. There looks to be a dent below the headlight, but that's not a dent, it's just a water drop! (click to see the water droplets!) I had so much fun with it, I decided to do a few more... (minus the rain this time) Paul Medina's 1947 Ford Business Coupe - Throttle Kings 1956 Ford Victoria (The blurs you see are people walking by. The shutter was open for 13 seconds) My Man Kopis' 1929 Ford Cabriolet Traditional Hot Rod - Throttle Kings 1955 Cadillac series 62 owned by Steve (last...

Bonneville Racers and Hot Rods on the Salt Have I said it enough times that people found on the Bonneville salt are just cool? Each year I come away from Speed Week with a few more friends. That's sort of amazing since I run around like a wild man shooting pics and trying to get feature stories... but I try, every once and a while, to kick back, have a beer and try to enjoy it all.   This year, I got to know Holly Martin, mostly through her photography. I like to study the angles, the light and the subjects of other photographers to learn from them and hopefully add something new to my own shots. I'm dig'n Holly's work!   Click here for all of MyRideisMe.com's Bonneville Salt Flat coverage.   So I asked Holly to share some photos and she generously did.  I then asked her to write about her Bonneville experience... She was shy about sharing it, but I think it came out more like poetry than a bio. Get to know Holly a little here: (and let her know what you think of her shots!)  ...

Hot Rod Pinup Kelly Lindahl Continuing to get to know hot rod and pinup model photographer Trent Sherrill, let's get to know his girlfriend, pinup model, hair stylist and makeup artist out of New York: Kelly Lindahl. Describe the best date you ever had. My Best Date was when my boyfriend Trent, flew into NY then took me to Yankees Stadium, (which I've never been to a baseball game ever) but we got sushi. then we walked around NYC even though I live/work here it was nice to spend time with him and show him around a bit. How about the worst date?  One time I was on a date and the guy I guess "googled" my parents name, I guess he got their names off my Facebook , he thought he found out what they did for a living, it was creepy, never saw him again. What's your favorite car ever and what's your favorite that you've actually owned? I like 1964 Impala's, really anything that’s a lowrider, or I really like low, big kustom cars. For my favorite car I’ve owned, it has to be my Jeep. It...

Hot Rod Pinup Jenna Sherrill When I first met Trent Sherrill by finding one of his "liked" hot rod or pinup photos on Facebook, I checked out his other pictures and found this one: After seeing the tag, I asked Trent, "Is that your sister?!" Turns out this lovely girl is, in fact, Trent's sister Jenna Sherrill. As much talent as Trent shows behind the camera, Jenna's making it easy on her bro by looking fabulous! We're getting to know Trent a little better by asking his sister and next, his girlfriend Kelly Lindahl (another rocking pinup) a few questions. Once you get to know the girls, I'm sure you'll love them like Trent does. Thanks guys! Describe the best date you ever had. The best date I ever had was when my fiance and I were first together. He drove me to Avila Beach in his 1957 Plymouth Savoy. We stopped in Pismo Beach to get some clam chowder from Splash Cafe and then headed to Avila. He bought me a wide brim sun hat and laid out a Mexican blanket on the beach. We ate our chowder...

Better Pinup Poses for Great Pictures Photo courtesy of Digital-Photography-School.com I'm always trying to take better pictures. Whether it's custom car or family portraits or a beautiful pinup model, we're all trying to do our best work. To keep learning, I receive newsletters from a few great websites. One of them is Digital Photography School. I found this post called: Posing Guide: 21 Sample Poses to Get You Started with Photographing Female Subjects I figured this would help out models and photographers alike, even though it's not focused on pinup photography. Take a look and see what you think: Read more: http://digital-photography-school.com/21-sample-poses-photographing-female-models#ixzz23gQS36df Sign up for their newsletter and learn a little every...

Custom Cars with Custom Paint - Favorite Flake Roof Photography (Click on any photo to see it full size) I've been meaning to write a post on custom paint and especially the amazing custom paint you'll find on lowriders and customs, especially in NorCal. With the great customs piling in at the NorCal Knockout, I finally got the shots I wanted. Lend a hand! If you know these cars, and more importantly, who the painter is... please leave a comment (you don't have to register or anything) and I'll add the info to this story. There's nothing I'd like to do more than give credit to these painters. Fantastic work! This is the roof of the 1959 Lincoln (pretty sure on the year) shown above. Rainbow flake with lace and darker flake fade. This car was a show stopper and won best of show. I know this was the roof of a 62 or so Ford Thunderbird. You've got it all here! Lace, multi colors of metal flake including rainbow flake and silver metal flake. There's even some flames... I'm running out of ways to say, Unbelievably cool. You'd...

Hot Rod Pinstriping from Pomona (click to see these pictures full size) Like most shows with a hot rod and custom car theme, the pinstriping and custom lettering is everywhere. Telling a story of bygone racing years or thin, symmetric lines setting off a deck lid, we dig it all! So here at the 2012 LA Roadster Show, pinstriping found my lens often... Here's a few of my favorites and the complete gallery below. Keeping the lettering theme going, dig this! The gold leaf pinstriping is sexy and get the Cali vibe from the palm trees visible in the reflection. This is the cowl of Throttle King Car Club provisional member Chris. His Model A Hot Rod carried un-fakable patina and some great new-but-looked-worn pinstriping. One of my favorite shots from the show so far! More from Chris's hot rod. You tell me... If you're an artist, get in touch! I'll feature your pinstriping in your own gallery: admin@myrideisme.com If you can't get enough pinstriping, there's more here: pinstriping pictures. Here's the pinstriping pictures from last year:  2011 LA Roadster Show pinstriping [nggallery...

Hot Rod Pinstriping from Detroit I've been to many shows in the west... California, especially SoCal has hot rod shows or a cruise-in just about every day of the week and you can count on it on several on the weekends. So it's easier to grab pinstriping shots from the big shows like Grand National Roadster Show or LA Roadster Show or even Viva Las Vegas. So how does the pinstriping out in Detroit stack up to the west? You tell me. (Comment below, you don't have to join anything...) [nggallery id=63] See all of the MyRideisMe.com coverage of Detroit Autorama:  Detroit Autorama Hot Rods and Custom Cars or you can go straight to more pinstriping here: Pinstriping Features and Pictures I'm always looking for good pinstriping pictures. Got any to share? Please get in...

Hot Rod & Custom Car Photography - 1936 Ford Pickup Download this hot rod pickup for your desktop. It's a big file, so give it some time... I get some cool shots sometimes too! I just posted the combo of Coby and Tim Sutton's beyond sick 1937 Lincoln Zephyr photo which is a shot, of a caliber (get it?) I aspire to create some day. Through some luck, good timing and maybe a developing eye for light, I got this shot of my friend Jim Ramirez's hot rod pickup. I knew this hot rod 1936 Ford pickup in suede blue paint with a really tough looking spade pinstriped on the door. That's going back to 2008, the first year I covered the LA Roadster Show. His pickup has changed! Last year, Jim parked in the suede palace, but this year, he's outside sip'n Tecate's with his car club pals the Throttle Kings. One thing you can count on with the Throttle Kings, their hot rods evolve... and they don't have air ride! From back in 2008 at the LA Roadster Show: Closer to present day... here's some other shots of Jim's...

James Hetfield's 1937 Lincoln Zephyr Speechless. Hetfield showed two amazing rides at the 2012 Grand National Roadster Show. This is one. Unlike the photos I usually take, when I review them, I'm not moved like I was seeing the car first hand. Not, NOT true with this piece from photographer Tim Sutton with finishing by Coby Gewertz (of Church fame). Even more amazing? They were giving these away! Did you get one? So I asked Coby about the poster and how it was made. (Alert! Learning opportunity here...) Here's what Coby told me... Transforming a Hot Rod Photo: Rick Dore called and said he needed someone to design a poster for James' Zephyr in a hurry. I agreed to do it after hours from my day job under the condition that he had decent photography. It needed to be done in 3 days so they would have time to get it printed in time for the GNRS. He sent me 3 pics Tim Sutton had taken for Rod and Custom and away I went. I retouched all the reflections out of the car, added a new one, changed the...

Hot Rod Pin-up Calendar If you're a poker player, peaking at your cards and seeing pocket aces, or in five card draw holding a set on the deal, you're feeling like you can't lose... Same thing's true with pinup photographer Mitzi's 2012 Pinup calendar. Mitzi's a long time friend of MyRideisMe.com shooting  and sharing pinups and the best hot rods custom cars from SoCal and beyond. Now she's delivering 12 months of hot rod pinups for your viewing pleasure. I just called for service, beer's on the house... tilt one back and check out the winning hand below. On the cover shown above is the lovely Miss Doris Mayday. Also seen as Miss September, Doris is welcoming you to Vegas in front of the Wild Cad hailing from Australia. Featured in magazines and online everywhere, owner Mario Colalillo's 1959 Cadillac Coupe de Ville has every mod and custom trick available and thanks to legendary customizer and painter Gene Winfield, has an amazing purple fade paint job. When you see Doris dealt face up like this... raise. Next up is Miss April, simply known as Mosh. Look closely and there's...

Hot Rod Pinup Crissy Henderson After a short break, Pinup of the Month is back and hot as ever with the sizzling Crissy Henderson. With pinup photography by Trent Sherrill, we can't miss here. Being so close to Christmas, I had to ask... What's your favorite Christmas you can remember? Everyone road tripping to my grandparents in Kansas for a few days until Christmas. The whole family would help my grandpa with morning farm chores and then we'd eat breakfast together then open gifts! I miss those days where the whole family got together and had a meal! White Christmas or sunny Christmas? Has to be a white one! Snow is fun! Trent's photos seem to bring out the best in women, what makes a hot, vintage styled photo for you? Ive only ever shot pinup pics with Trent. He's amazing at what he does! I love the old school looks! They're all hot! We gotta ask, are you a car girl or do you just see the hot rods as just another prop? I love the way a car looks and sounds - other than that I'm pretty...