I met Jean Marie at the Grand National Roadster Show in January 2009. His card had a stunning photo on it and it said he does pinup photography, so we started chatting. See all the photos he shared with MyRideisMe.com in his Hot Rod Photo Gallery 43 year old Jean-Marie Michalski grew up in a town called Perwez in Belgium, as the single child of Jean Michalski, a now famous artist & painter. His father Jean Michalski was born in Belgium in 1936. At 12 years old, Jean and his friends attempted to climb up an electricity pole to better see a soccer game. Jean lost his balance, fell off the pole and was electrocuted with 12,000 volts. The injury and subsequent complications led to the amputation of both arms. After the accident, Jean was placed in a rehabilitative institution for three years, where he learned to write with his mouth. When Jean was 16 years old, the Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists (AMFPA) contacted his mother, and Founder Erich Stegmann visited the family’s home to recruit Jean as a student artist. The Association assisted with tuition...

Just a reminder! The regular Mesa Cruise is the 4th Saturday of every month including this Saturday, March 28th. This is one of the cool shots my man Swanee took at the cruise that followed the Home Runs and Hot Rods show. I left out the "Hot Dogs" part cause Lance didn't save me one. More of Swanee's pics of the Saturday Mesa Cruise here. MyRideisMe.com members get free entry and free parking at the cruise. Such a...

The first of many, MANY photos from the 2008 Goodguys Southwest Nationals held in Scottsdale, Arizona just went up. (You can find all the events we've shot here: Hot Rod and Custom car Pictures) ...it's just like being there, but without all of that pesky good weather, fine folks and healthy walking around stuff. Come to think of it, all of that sounds pretty good, huh? That's the whole point of MyRideIsMe.com: Interacting with other members, making new friends, and just enjoying cars! If you missed this one, we invite you to check out our shots, as well as our member's photos, too... and if you snapped some that we missed, feel free to join in and post them as well! Have some thoughts or a story from the weekend that you'd like to share? Send it our way, and we'll make you famous!" This blog will be updated as I load new pictures, so check back here over the next couple of weeks. Updated: 11/19/2008 11/23/2008 Goodguys Rod and Custom shows have a mix of cars. While I was there, I thought there were mostly hot rods, but...

If you're a Cali hot rodder or maybe even a Texan heavy into nose up A/FX drag cars, then you probably missed the 2008 Goodguys Southwest Nationals in Scottsdale, AZ. Don't worry, I've got you covered! The dedicated staff of MyRideisMe.com (Paul Swansen, Erick Anderson and myself) took over 1000 pictures. This is just a taste of the photos and stories coming out soon at MyRideisMe.com. Please check back for updates! Click this link: The Gasser Chevy II Story is Done! While you're here, take a second to join. I'll shoot over a notice when the new stories and photos are ready. (click on any of these pics to see them full size. It's Vivazoom!) Story about this Crazy!! T-bucket now posted: Twin Huffer T-bucket Interested? Which story should I do first? So tell a friend and check back. We'll try to put these stories up asap....

I only heard it was a "Rat Rod" car show in Phoenix. My roadster's a rat rod, whatever that means anymore, so I figured I'd fit in. Later I found out the party was hosted by my online friend Cadillac Cowboy (Bob) and his buddies from the Arizona Sinners. Bob's got a few pics of his nasty Blown 427 Model T in his garage here at MyRideisMe.com. The Arizona Sinners I've met have been easy going and die hard car guys. They build what the drive and they drive'm hard. One sinner at the party, Jerry, introduced me to the HAMB message board way back in 2002. If you want to find Jerry, look for his Hawaiian/Vintage style shirt at just about any swap meet in AZ. He'll be there carrying a handful of vintage tools and an old gauge or two. He's one of those guys that's always there early then stays late to get the deals. I also think he'd drive his old Chevy truck (old cause he likes it that way!) across Arizona uphill both ways to help a friend. It was cool to meet Bob...

Run to the Pines - 2008 By our friend Devin Squire (Devin's all Ford Garage) The weekend of Sept. 26th, 27th, & 28th, was the 25th anniversary of the "Run to the Pines" car show in Pinetop, AZ. My wife & I have been going to this show for at least 15 of those years. It's a great weekend getaway in the cool pines of Pinetop – Lakeside, AZ. The show is limited to 550 cars, of pre 1973 vintage, and it always gets sold out. If you don't get your registrations in early, you might not get in, and there is always a waiting list in case of any cancellations. This year, the show sold out in only four weeks! Hotels, Motels, & Cabins in the area are the same story...get your reservations in early. Before we caught on, we had to get rooms in Showlow, which is about 15 to 20 miles away. This show is part of the Pinetop-Lakeside's "Fall Festival", which brings in a lot of people, as well. Some folks love all the “arts & crafts”stuff, and it gives the ladies something else to...

Written by AZAmber (Amber's Nash Metropolitan "MetroSxl") There’s nothing better than saying goodbye to the Phoenix heat and heading up to the pines to look at some cool rides. The 2008 Route 66 Car show was held Sept 5-7 in downtown Flagstaff, and I have to say, this historic town was a great backdrop to showcase some 375+ cars. Amongst the crowd were many of the cars you would expect to see, like the old Bel-Aires and T-Birds, but a few unusual rides made quite an impression as they lined the streets in front of antique shops and mom and pop delis.   There was also a smattering of “tricked out” newer PT Cruisers and the members from a Corvette Club on hand to look at. In a grassy patch in the center of the town square, a few food and souvenirs vendor stands were set up and a DJ from a local radio station played oldies while some fresh squeezed lemonade topped off the day. According to the program, the weekend was full of activities for car enthusiasts. All in all, it was a great way to beat...

A person seeing my photography for the first time usually pauses for a moment, gazing, trying to understand just what it is they are looking at. I start to smile, knowing what is coming next. I say, “No…It’s a photograph”. The reply is almost always, “Really, I thought this had been airbrushed or something.” The beauty of a well-designed automobile, truck, or, motorcycle inspires me to photograph them. I have a true appreciation for all the time and effort needed to bring a vehicle to a prime conditioned state. I see photography as a means of permanently recording that beauty. When I first began searching the internet for a more artistic type of photography, I came across a series of photographs from Trey Ratcliff at the website: www.flickr.com/photos/stuckincustoms. Trey produces amazing photographs with HDR, a computer generated enhancement tool. To fully understand all the nuances of HDR, check out the website, www.HDR.com. The HDR technique I use blends several photos together bringing to life the color and texture that is seen, but not recorded by a single photograph. Every reflection, color, and shadow is enhanced to a degree that...

Hot Rod Pinup of the Month: Hot rods and pinups are like peas and carrots, so I'm starting a new feature at MyRideisMe.com called Pinup of the month. I'm lucky to have the lovely Kim Falcon as our first for the month of August. In Kim's own words and from her website kimfalcon.com "...but for dad, he's slipping you an extra couple bucks for gas money." "I Love music. Pin-up modeling, Photography, ROCK-N-ROLL!! Vegetarian food!!, Driving around town in the 64 Cadillac Hearse listening to the Misfits, My children! Love Rockabilly!!!! Love Tiger Army! Absolutely obsessed with roses!!!! I love to travel the world." What she doesn't say (pure modesty, I guess) is that she's super cool and all over the place in the world of pinup modeling. She was mentioned as #6 amoung modern pinups by a cool site I just found called Askmen.com. Here's a link: Top Pinups; that list includes all my favorites like Zoe Scarlett, Heidi Van Horne and Dayna Delux. Even cooler? She's also the proud owner of this 1962 Ford Falcon. A Falcon girl too? Damn! Can she get any hotter? I guess...

RIP Jae Bueno.   Visiting MyRideisMe.com you'll notice that it's pretty heavy on Hot Rods. What can I say? That's what I like most, that's what I photograph most and hot rod shows are my scene. But... MyRideisMe.com is NOT limited to any one type of car. Not at all. It's more then a URL, My Ride is Me is the theme of the site. What is it about your car that describes you? It's always something! You didn't just HAPPEN to like lifted Jeeps or 1970 Chevelles or 64 Fairlanes. There's a reason you say, "That's my ride." Case in point for this blog is Lowriders. I dig'm. Would I ever own one? Maybe not, but so what! I can still appreciate them as sweet custom cars that at times have the most intricate paint to be found on any car. Whatever your opinion is, there's no doubt that the owners of these rides love their cars and they no doubt tell you something about who's driving them.   I haven't had a chance to photograph many lowriders, so I turned to my new friend Jae for these...

I met Keven Carter doing what I do best... surfing the web for the best Hot Rod and bike sites out there. Keven's been sharing his work at Photobucket where old ladies looking for pics of grandkid and quilting pics browse. I talked him into letting MyRideisMe.com have a few. It's a cool mix of black and whites and color shots of mostly period correct style hot rods and kustoms with a few pinups mixed in just for fun. Keven shared this brief bio... Ever since I was a young boy I wanted to grow up and own a car with fins. Since the automotive world looks to never go back down that road, I was compelled to look to the past. I have always been fascinated with old cars and vintage design elements, from packaging to advertising. I'm a graduate of The Center for Creative Studies (now College of Creative Studies, CCS) in Detroit, Michigan where I received my bachelors of fine art with a focus in Animation. My creative endeavors aren't limited to animation, but rather they span from Video installations, Sound Design, Film Production, Music, Photography,...

Check out the debut of our newest guest photographer, Bubba Harmon from West Virginia. Bubba's gonna help us hit some of the eastern shows, races and get togethers that we'd otherwise miss while the company jet is being repaired. (yea right!) After you're done checking out Bubba's pictures in the gallery, you can take a look at his website: Bubba's Toy Box or have a look in his garage here at MyRideisMe.com (Bubba's garage space). He's got a wicket Hearse! Written by Bubba: Summit Point Motorsports Park, located 70 miles west of Washington, DC, in Summit Point, WV is host to many club and specialty racing events. With three tracks to choose from there is something happening almost every weekend for sports cars, motorcycles, and/or karts. Summit Point seems to be the Mid-Atlantic area’s place to go for club activity with Porsche, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Corvette, and even Morgan sports car clubs holding events at the park. The schedule can look like alphabet soup at times with WERA, EMRA, CCA, SCCA, and ASRA all holding events here. Want to learn to drive? BSR, Inc. (the owner of the facilities) has...