I start off the blog with some sad news.  I was speaking with my friend who works for the DNR at the Interpretive Center.  She said that Monday the male swan at the Duck Pond flew into the main power line that runs parallel to the pond and was killed by the high voltage.  She also said there were more swans that have now come to the pond since he is no longer around to chase them off.

Last night the Coronado Car Club of Maquoketa held a Torque Fest pre-party on Main Street.  Many of the car club’s members displayed their cars to the public.  I am the President of the Maquoketa Chamber this year and it was a fun event and good for the community.

I took about 50 images but the light was harsh and most of the surfaces were very reflective so it made for some difficult shooting conditions.  Additionally there were people everywhere so it was hard to capture an image without a lot of people in the frame.  Finally I had a good pair of pants on and didn’t want to get down on my knees to get a good angle on some of the cars.  Those are my excuses and I’m sticking with them.

Having said all that I did get some decent shots of the event and of the cars.  I opted to shoot tight shots of car surfaces and a lot of interior shots.  That seemed to work out as I was reviewing the images this morning.

I do not know how many people attended the event last night.  It was free to the public.  There was food, drink, and live music so when I finally packed it in around 8:00 pm things were really starting to heat up.  Many of the cars that will be in Torque Fest were arriving during the evening and the air was filled with the sound of big throaty horse power.   Those sights and sounds bring with them lots of great memories of another era.

Starting today and running through Saturday evening Vintage Torque Fest 2012 will be in Maquoketa, Iowa.  The event is held at the fair grounds in Maquoketa and it is worth your time and the trip to see some of these great cars.

There is live music from a variety of bands, lots of great food, adult beverages, interesting looking people, souvenirs, and a lot of very expensive cars to view.  I would encourage you to attend some of the event if you can.

Well that’s it for today.  I’ll have lots of Torque Fest images to show for a while cause I’ll be at Torque Fest both days.  Last year I got a lot of good images at the event and this year it is twice as big.

Thanks for stopping by.  Enjoy your Friday and the weekend.  Hope to see you at Torque Fest.  Be careful.