Classic Car Thursdays

This past Thursday evening, after a long day at work and a quick dinner at home, I took my son out to the weekly classic car show here in Dorr, Michigan. It’s a small, laid-back gathering that takes place every Thursday during the summer months, with local enthusiasts filling up the Ace Hardware parking lot around 6 p.m. It’s not a big production—no vendors or awards (Well, there is a food truck)—just a group of people who love cars and enjoy sharing them with the community.

The weather was true to a Michigan summer: hot, humid, and heavy. Even in the early evening, the air felt thick and still. But that didn’t stop a good number of vintage rides from rolling in all polished up and basking in the late-day sun.

When I photograph events like this, I tend to approach them more like a street photographer than a traditional car show shooter. I’m drawn to the small moments—the grit and detail more than the big, wide glamour shots. I usually shoot stopped down, between f/8 and f/16, with ISO kept as low as I can manage (usually around 100–400 depending on the light). Since I shoot handheld, I try to keep the shutter speed at 1/320 or faster to freeze any movement and avoid shake.

Unfortunately, I ran into a bit of a hiccup—rookie move—I forgot to charge the battery for my Canon R8. I got a few shots in before it died, but not nearly as many as I would’ve liked. Still, it was a good reminder that sometimes it’s not just about the number of frames you capture. Being present, observing, and sharing that time with my son was worth far more than a full memory card.

There’s something about these small-town shows that I really enjoy. They’re relaxed, familiar, and unpolished in the best way. You’re not just photographing cars—you’re documenting people’s pride, stories, and history. It’s not about perfection. It’s about connection.

Hopefully, I’ll get to share a proper set of images next time. Until then, here are a few shots I managed to capture before the camera gave out.

Happy 4th of July Weekend

It’s been a while since I posted on here. I spent most of the winter doing snow kiting and snow winging. I also really don’t like photographing in the winter as I get older. We also moved out of our old residence in Kentwood and moved to our new one in Dorr, MI. We spent most of the past week unpacking our stuff and getting situated. The neighborhood is pretty quiet compared to 52nd street. I can’t tell you how nice it feels to not hear traffic outside and being woken up by sirens and street racing cars. July 4th was spent at night lighting painting with sparklers with this being my favorite shot of the night. I’ll be posting a lot more during this summer. I’m also hoping to get a store up and running here if I get a break between life and working.

Happy December

I’m sorry I haven’t posting on here in 2 months. I had a work related accident that caused me to be on crutches and off one of my feet for all of October and pretty much November. I wasn’t able to get to any of my photographer gear so I couldn’t post for a while. The crutches came off 2 weeks ago. I was also in a boot, then a foot brace which I just took off last week. It feels so good to start healing and do stuff again. I am far from taking on any adventurous hikes or wind sports just yet. But being about to get out and photograph stuff again makes me feel really good about it. The jobs been going well for the most part, I was able to work through all of this but I had limited hours. They put me on simple computer work and also picking up and delivering produce.

Anyways, I was able to put the Christmas lights on outside today. Also between September and now I’ve sold my Canon EOS 6d and upgraded to mirror-less. I put an old film lens on it with an adapter and went outside to play around with it. its hard to nail the focus and most of the photos that came out of it were unusable but I got a few good photos out of it.

Last Post for September

I survived my first week at my new place this week. There is so much stuff to learn and understand. These are all good things though. I’m just happy to be getting a paycheck and hopefully, use some of that money to fund what I want to do with my craft. This will be the last post of September then I’ll be back to maybe having an hour or 2 during the week or weekend to work on one aspect of this whole photography journey.

This shot was taken on a Wednesday morning after dropping the kids off at school on my break between jobs. It was 8am and just a few minutes left of golden hour to get it all set up. This bridge is on Eastern Ave near 28th street. Plaster Creek flows underneath it, its also the other way to get into the Ken O Sha ( pronounced Ken O Shay) bike path. I love the colorful graffiti on the wall and all the textures and reflections in the water. The way the sun was hitting it as well had this photo go up another level. I shot this at F16 on a tripod with a 10-sec timer. It’s going to be a while before I do morning stuff like this unless I’m on vacation. Look for my next post sometime in October.

Last Event To Photograph

This past Thursday evening I photographed my last event. It was my 4th year doing this. The benefit was to raise funds and awareness for cures to beat childhood cancer. I believe they were able to raise close to 75,000 dollars!. I took over 800 photos between both cameras combining the main shots with group shots. I slimmed it down to 111 event photos and roughly 200 for the group. I pushed through Sunday after church with both of my kids constantly climbing over me. Somehow I managed to get them all done. While I am going to miss doing this event, it is a lot of work. Having off between my old and new job is the only thing making this possible. I wouldn’t be able to get this done this fast otherwise. Starting monday I’ll be going back to only having an hour of time to do this. Which is why im so excited to go back to the creative side of things. I’m looking forward to making photographs on my own time with out any deadlines. Without a pay check coming in right now either I’m holding off on furthering the site just yet.

Films Not Dead

There is a saying in a particular type of music (which is punk) that it isn’t dead. In fact most of the old ways of doing stuff haven’t really gone out of style. They just go underground for a while then a resurgence happens and its popular again. Its happening right now with 90s fashion, hair cuts, records. Whatever it is you’ve seen it. There are still people out there shooting with film. YouTube is flooded with people making videos about it ( I don’t have a youtube channel) . I’m certainly no different. I’ve had my 2 cameras for a while now. While I’ve shot film with my 52 ikoflex using 120 film. I never really knew if my 70s Canon SLR 35mm would produce any let alone work at all. (see vintage cameras on my website)

I decided today that I would try to develop these photographs the only way that I’ve done it with my 120 film. The process I use is called caffinol. Caffinol takes instant coffee, vitamin C and washing soda as a main developer. The time it takes for the process depends on the temperature of the solution. plus how long it takes for the fixer after you stop it. which between loading the film, development and fixing took about 30 mins. I’m still feeling this process out and each time I learn something new. It wasn’t easy though as I tried this 30 mins before and I accidentally exposed a roll of film. This happens by forgetting to shove my arms all the way into the dark bag sleeves so all light is blocked, some got in…bye bye photos. I guess this is why digital is so popular lol. I tried again with this roll at 80 degrees, did some math and the develop process was only 7 mins. plus 6 for fixing. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw images on my roll. I still have a few more rolls to try. My whole experience with going down this rabbit hole with film has been interesting. There are no screens to look at so you don’t know what your photos look like. There are no retakes. Digital cameras have onboard light meters that tell you where your at with your exposure. Film must rely on an external light meter, a phone app or the sunny F16 rule. Iso can’t instantly be switched do to lighting conditions so you have to work with what you have. Black and white film is still cheaper and easy to work with. I only shoot film in black and white. The whole process though has an organic feel to it and slowed down. Its nice to change things up a bit. I hope to get these photos scanned soon. Tonight I close out a 14 year span as a professional photographer. It will be nice to slow down and work on my own time with this and at my own pace.

Official Website Launch

I’ve been hard at work with this website for the past month and a half. I have to say that I’m proud of it. Its not perfect by any means yet. There are some areas I’m still working on. The gallery pages are photo collages right now in an order to protect my images from being stolen. I’ve also started to water mark at lot more of my work.

With that said I know I’m going to be making some tweaks over the year. I still have to figure out the photo printer situation. It needs the heads cleaned and new ink which isn’t going to be cheap. I also need to figure out the online store situation. My current catch phrase has been “It’s a slow burn.” meaning its going to take a while to get there but at least things are happening.

I don’t really have a lot to say for this first entry. Just a lot of creative thoughts on my mind that I can’t really put down in words at this moment. This photo was taken a few years back. I had my son Oliver with me. We did a hike out on the North Country Trail during the fall. This is a section in Lowell. Loved the way the light was hitting the bridge so I had to take a photo of it. The person walking across with the blue shirt was a great contrast against the yellows and oranges .