76. Welcome to Car Week!
Car Week Background
In late January, I posted about “covered cars.” Soon after, Mark Foard, Søren K. Harbel, Travis Huggett, Rafa, Nick Orloff, and others began chiming in about their own experiences, posts, and ideas about the subject.
That exchange got me thinking about my own experience photographing cars. For a few years, I tried approaching them the conventional way—showpiece shots at car shows or striking cars I happened to see on the street. The results never really resonated with me.
Eventually, I found car photography approaches that did. Covered cars was one. Cars with patina—where age, wear, and texture matter more than polish—were another. I had assumed I might be something of an outlier.
Seeing others respond to the covered-car photos made me realize there’s a whole world of car photography out there, and it made me curious how other photographers think about the subject.
That curiosity sparked the idea for Car Week—a simple prompt inviting people to share their own take on photographing cars.
I’ve been so thrilled at all the enthusiasm for this idea and have had so much fun looking at everyone’s posts! Below are some of the posts and notes people have shared.
A special thanks to Aminus3 Photography who does an amazing job with weekly prompts and helped promote this idea to all his followers. If you’d like to participate in more ideas like this, be sure to check out his Essence of Photography Substack (with the best URL on Substack). Check out his notes feed to see his reader’s amazing car photos.
Read on, and please share this post and add comments if you have any.
Car Week Posts
‘57 Chevy
Jason Odell captured a ‘57 Chevy and wrote about how he captured the image at a car show — a surprisingly hard venue to photograph cars — then explains how he processed the image. Check this out if you want to improve your car photography.
Japan’s Kei Cars
After introducing this idea, I immediately thought of SHIMIZU Akira and his delightful Japan Ordinary Substack. His frequent posts embrace the idea that some photos are like fine wine; they grow even better with age. I knew he would have cars in his seemingly vast archives. He did not disappoint with a great post on Kei cars.
Driving a Car That Moves You
David Concannon explains what it's like to drive a car with a personality; what it’s like to drive a car you have affection for. Why do people drive an old Porsches? The speed? The looks? David explains how it is about so much more.
An air-cooled Porsche 911 has character. Every rattle and buzz is a mystery, the controls are perplexing, and wind whistles over the windshield. But that thrum!
The sound of the boxer engine is as comforting as listening your lover’s heart. The steering is precise, and the clutch and brakes are consistent. They require — and reward — effort. When you’re finished driving it, you feel like you’ve actually done something.
A Day at the Races
When Scott started writing The Fainting Hare back in July, his first two posts were on photographing the Permco Grand Prix Speed Tour. I particularly enjoyed this image from his part 2.
“Cars can be challenging for photographers”
Mike Voss claims “I’m not a car guy,” but his images tell a different story!
Citroën DS
Barnaby Nutt beautifully captures his friend’s French Sports Car by streetlight (and as the morning starts). Great inspiration to think about how to approach a subject differently.
Public Transit Lovers Still Make Great Car Photographers
Even after giving up car ownership Pierre François D. shows that us transit lovers can still enjoy the aesthetic qualities of cars.
Random Captures
Bill Blevins’ Random captures (I obviously love his subhead!) go from shiny and new to the afterlife of cars.
So Many Car Shows, Not Enough Time
Lauri Novak has both a series in her notes feed, including this reminder that car photography can go beyond just the car, and a great post showing how focusing on a detail like hood ornaments can be a great approach to car shows.
The Fog of War
Todd Takes Pictures shows us how you can make amazing car photographs even if you don’t think of yourself as someone who takes a lot of car photos, including this gem:
The Two Car Photos that Inspired Søren Harbel
søren k. harbel’s comments on my covered cars post were my inspiration for Car Week. Read about how two car photos inspired Søren and see his homage to Robert Frank, along with how cars inspired him growing up.
An Homage to Cars
Mark Foard does a fabulous job painting a picture of cars throughout his life along with photos that illustrate this. I particularly like the toys.
Artistic Vehicles
Lauri Novak has a great article on the aesthetics of cars.
Owners
Nick at PlanB Photography also ran into my frustration with car photography but solved it in a different way: Capturing the cars with their owners.
In America the Car is King
Riding Along in My Automobile from Marc Perry has this incredible radio and much more.
Ten Toyota Taxis
A fun look at the Toyota Taxis of Tokyo from Foto Notes
Approximately 23 Cars, 2 Dogs, and 1 Cat Coast-to-Coast
Great set of images here from Mark White
Cars are not always the subject
Pat Wood writes about how cars are not typically his main subject
Cars in Notes
Beyond the posts, I also got lots of great car photos in notes, including:
The Bard of Tysoe’s ‘Pippin the Panda’
A Dodge from scott norton who plants the idea of a Motorcycle week
Great use of a wide-angle from Cheryl's Memoirs
That cute front-opening BMW from Michael Arndt
A great car from an English Cars & Coffee from Nick Lewis.
A snow-buried Cadillac from Rafa
Michael T. Babcock chose a car but more importantly reminded us what is the sometimes hardest part of photography: “which one to post?”
Griffin Hotz does a nice comparison of the modern design of a house awith the “decidedly non-modern design” of a 90s Buick.
Damian Ward has this great image of an old Morris
Vincent Wagenaar has this beautiful photo and explains the Mustang logo, which I have seen many times and never considered
søren k. harbel posted this oddball gem and I hope he shares some more info on it
…and color from Søren?
As Susanne Helmert said “Who would have thought I would live long enough to see a colour photograph from Søren! =D” but søren k. harbel says “The idea is not to let everyone get too comfortable…. 😆”
one Picture one Story sent me these great grills and a hot-rodded Saab
I love the motion blur from J Callender Photography
Scott posted this gem that made me think about all the photos hiding in my phone of my kids with this best-selling car. Who wants to take the lead in putting together Cozy Coppe week? 🤣
More…
If you direct messeged me your post and I missed it, please accept my apologies and message me again, and I will add to this post.
Your Thoughts…
I hope you enjoyed these car posts and I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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I was gifted a Pentax K1000 in 1982 and days later landed in London when I was in 8th grade. Immediately I ran out into the middle of the street and photographed a black "Magnum PI" Ferrari. I came home and that was the only image I had enlarged into an 8x12. The small prints went into a scrapbook that's probably not around anymore. That 8x12 is still in the same frame my grandmother handmade for that photo. I looked for it to include in my blog post for Car Week. I think I gifted it to a friend when I downsized to live full-time on a sailboat and travel full-time. It's funny that a car photo started my love of photography and I'm still shooting something every day. Mostly birds from the cockpit of my home.
Thanks for the mention, Josh, and for organizing this: your idea has prompted some brilliant posts!