(Words and photos by Doug Gregory) – I’ve been taking pictures of cars since I was 10 years old.  Certainly I still have a lot to learn about the art of it, but it has always been fun for me.  As some folks that do this will tell you that being lucky – right place and right time and being ready – typically is better than planned images.  When all the elements come together and you are not scratching your butt, changing batteries, or chatting with someone and in that moment you capture something – is amazing.

Since I am not a world-class photographer nor do I have top-shelf equipment those moments are especially sweet.  Part of being ready is giving yourself the best chance at a good photo.  I always consider background and clutter.  Sometimes I like people and things in my photos, but most times their reflections (especially in black cars) detracts from the subject of the photo.  I’m also conscious of my own reflection in the surfaces of the vehicle.  Sometimes there just isn’t anything you can do and end up in the bumper, hubcap or whatever.  So be it.  Again, being lucky is a big part of a good shot.

This Gallery and the next few are mostly of cars from the 60s and 70s muscle car offerings with some others stuff thrown in for good measure.  One photo out of this group embodies the narrative above – the blown Ford Fairlane 500 parked in this spot with Kentucky Kingdom in the background…..not for a photo, but the owner was helping with another car that would not start.  As we walked near this photo ‘appeared’.   By no means is it perfect, but there are no trees or poles growing out of the roof, there are no weird or distracting reflections in the glass or sides, and we’ve got some really cool light scatter coming through the trees.  There was almost nothing going on in this parking lot and not a lot of cars at the time, but there was this and if we hadn’t taken the time to stroll over there and been ready to shoot this image….we’d missed it and not been able to share with you folks.  By the way…..it sounded amazing…