Although my life consist of the usual gear-head automotive love I was stoked to see it interest my daughter Shelby as she made her way out while I rotated the tires on the Mustang . From the very start of the job she helped as I pulled my hydraulic jack around the garage, she ran up to lend a hand and guide it to the car. I have to say I kept a smile on my face the whole time (even though one of my awesome...lame... polished lug nuts failed to come off) while she grab wrenches and sockets and did her best to mock daddy. It was just another one of those new moments in life of being a dad and experiencing something unexpected. I was proud to work beside her as we both got our hands dirty. But as I anticipated , she still has a little learning to do on tools... as I worked on the front wheel I heard a couple (3) metallic thumps on the body, I quickly looked over and witnessed her with my brass hammer on my perfectly fine quarter panel !!! Whew...talk about worries , but all was okay as she didn't put any damage to the paint, luck was on my side lol . I'm happy to have spent such a cool day with my lil' hotrod !
Time has been pretty tight here lately with the racing season getting started and the usual workflow keeping me busy once again. But I couldn't leave my blog gathering dust...figured I would jump on here and give you passer by's something to see, so how about some cool random video clips ?
March 18th - Everyone getting things warm before the racing starts...
March 25th - Some more...getting warm before the racing.
Mr. Jim Brackett playing with a heavy hit of the funny gas, 5.22 on this pass.
Besides the awesome turnout at Paradise Dragstrip this past Sunday ( March 4th) there was two passes that made my day...and other spectators too lol . The big moment when Jim Brackett rolled out his stretched Mule (and I have to point out Chevy powered) to attempt a 4 sec pass on the ol' dragstrip . As you'll see in the video , it was close , he made a 5.02 pass at 134mph !!! I say once the tracks gets some more action and the weather perks up a bit we'll see him take that mean Mule into the 4's.
The other cool site was a pair of slick Mavericks , with Mr. Al Baker in the left lane and Russ Grimes in his 74' in the right. This Heads-Up race just looked too natural up on the hill at Paradise. It felt good to catch such a shot but I couldn't help to feel the image needed something...or more correctly...less. I had to dirty it up and give it a vintage feel , knock off that super clean digital look ya know haha .
Just in case ya don't know ... Paradise Dragstrip will open the gates March 4th and get the season going with some TnT and maybe a lil' grudge racin' . I know I am ready for some noise,smoke,speed,rubber,alcohol (4 the motor lol) , and all the good things that come with racing !!! I'll be there "catching the daylight under your tires" so see you all on the hill. Gates open @ 10:30am Time Trials @ 1:00pm $10 to watch Visit Paradise's forum... Go to FORUM Or visit the very popular Facebook page... PD on Facebook
If you're on FaceBook then you probably already know about the switch-over to the "Timeline" page , which displays a nice big pic near the top...called a "cover photo." So if you want something cool , from a shot I have of you (cropped and re-sized to fit) , a wild kustom edit , to something totally from scratch ... I can hook you up ! If you have a business presence on FB , I can do something real clean and nice or completely wild with text and images with all the info your customers need to read soon as they hit you page. You can visit my FB page to view the sample album or the below link to the sample gallery on my main site. Prices start at $10 , which will get your favorite shot enhanced and re-sized to fit perfectly and e-mailed to you for use , to upwards of $40 depending on the editing you desire. You can view the samples on FB to get an idea of cost ( I have estimated prices under each one) or just message me with details and I'll give you a total cost and we'll go from there.
Here's the link to FB samples...Facebook Samples
Link to samples on my site...Samples on ColePhoto
Below is a few of the samples...
This Saturday I drove up to the Chattanooga convention center to visit the World of Wheels event. The O'Reilly w.o.w show is a three day event from Friday to Sunday and stays flowing with curious visitors all day long. Walking through you can see plenty of clean rides , from cars,trucks,and bikes to small die-cast vehicles set up by some of the vendors. Among the static entertainment you could also check out the action from "On the Edge" extreme bike team , which put on a great show of skill , jumping onto a Cadillac from the floor or from way up high off a trailer set near it. The Show even had a couple celebrities and well known cool people ...Billy "The Exterminator" to "Master of the fine line" Von Hot Rod !
Shooting such an event is fun but definitely has it's challenges , from crowded area's to mix match lighting ,I stayed busy trying to get the right shot but I didn't mind it at all . Being inside where it was warm and no chance of rain I just settled in and took my time haha. Though I do wish there was a spot to shoot from up high to catch the whole place, I did look , but no dice . I just stayed low and close and captured at a slow camera setting so people in the background would blur out (if they kept moving) and leave the image clean and focused on the ride , a technique I've been wanting to attempt for a while now. Most shots came out to my satisfaction, so when you browse the pic's I took don't think I was there early or late haha , it was a packed house I just made the attempt (photography wise) to make it look different .
Many rides caught my eye but I have to say I was looking hard at the 1932 Ford Roadster there named "Timeless" . A 32' Ford with a 1957 Chrysler 300-C Hemi power-plant with Hilborn injection on top, connected to a 6-speed Tremec manual trans . The "Montana Mint" paint job was straight up slick and worked well with all the nice chrome accents . Now , I'm more into mine having some rust and rubber in the fender wells but I gotta give credit when credit is due, but there's no way I could own that ride and not turn the back tires bald every 2 weeks haha. If you ever get the chance to go to a World of Wheels event I recommend you go , it's a fun time to hang with friends and scope out the eye candy while drinking a beer, or you can hang with Sponge Bob or some of the Star Wars characters from the Mos Nooga Squad which had a cool remote R2-D2 roaming around.
All in all I had a blast , it was fun walking around meeting new people and hearing all about their rides. Ran into a few friends there and shared a beer while planning my next shot and then noticed the Po Po when they turned the blue lights on and stared right at me !!!....but it was fine , just one of my buddies Gerald Cooley from the "North Georgia Beat the Heat" organization haha . You can catch these fella's at the strip and challenge them to a Heads-up race if ya got the power in the pedal ! View all the photo's and video here...World Of Wheels2012
