Marathon Motor Works

All posts tagged Marathon Motor Works

Friday ~ August 05, 2016

Posted by Dave Updegraff on August 5, 2016
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , .

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Happy Friday!

I’ll take a break from the classic cars to show you some images I took the first day of my class.  Our first location shoot was at Marathon Motors.  They have a small collection of antique automobiles in various conditions of repair.

I found this building to be an interesting subject while waiting for the museum to open.

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This is the same location where Antique Archeology is located.  I didn’t realize until later that Antique Archeology is where the American Pickers sell there discoveries.  Cool place to visit.  I posted some images of their place last week.

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I picked up a new camera yesterday.  Really had no intentions of buying another camera but Joe McNally convinced me that I really needed this one.  I have for several years, shot only full frame DLSRs.  The new Nikon D500 is a “cropped sensor” DLSR with a lot of the features of the Nikon D5 at a fraction of the cost.  It has a 200 shot buffer and 10 fps plus a much higher ISO tolerance then even the D4S.

So that means I have a camera for sale.  I have a Nikon D750 (full frame) with  the MB-D16 battery grip and two batteries.  You can read the full description by clicking here.  Very reasonable price and it is only a little over a year old.  🙂

I will only have it for a limited time as I do have another outlet for it.  so email me if you’re interested.  upde@upde.net

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I will leave you with this shot from the Antique Automobile entrance.  Bill Fortney has shown this subject on his blog many times and has featured it in one of his e-books.  He set up the lighting for us so all we had to do was compose and shoot.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for stopping by the blog.  Enjoy your day and be careful.

 

Tuesday ~ July 26, 2016

Posted by Dave Updegraff on July 26, 2016
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

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Happy Tuesday!

First full day of class yesterday.  Started at 7:30 a.m. at the Marathon Motor Works and Antique Archaeology.  Two very popular tourist attractions in Nashville.  We got an hour and a half of shooting time before they opened up to the public.

We were told that these were a “target rich environment” and they certainly were.

The image above is of Joe McNally doing an in prompt to session about photographing a subject out doors in harsh sunlight.  We were a little early to the site and it wasn’t open yet so just because he wants to help he did a full lighting session.

It was so cool standing with in five feet of him and to be able to see what he saw, ask him questions, and soak up all the knowledge my tiny brain could hold. 🙂

Yes I’ll admit I’m a fanboy.

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Then we got a half hour in the Marathon Motor Works.  I had a problem with my tripod and spent a fair amount of my time working with it.  I got a little frustrated with it but got some images like the one above.

Two things I discovered yesterday.  I am not a very good photographer.  Walking around with Joe McNally and listening to him as he evaluates a scene and decides what he wants to photograph and how he wants to photograph it was very humbling but informative.

Additionally I thought I was a gear head.  Well there are 14 other gear heads here and I pale in comparison to some of them.  Many of them are Nikon shooters so we spend a lot of time talking gear and settings.  So much fun! 🙂

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Then we went across the street to Antique Archaeology and spent an hour photographing some of the most interesting objects and memorabilia that I have ever encountered.  It was amazing.  All the time listening to Joe, Bill, and Jim giving advice on camera settings and composition.  It was also enjoyable visiting with Ricky Skaggs as well and learning how he approaches photography.

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After our shooting session we went back to the classroom, downloaded our photos, did minimal processing, and then submitted our best three for a blind critique by the instructors.  That too was a humbling experience.  By the end of the critique I had a much clearer idea of what it takes to make a good photograph and how much work I have to do.

Then we had a couple of hours free time before we went downtown to photograph the neon lights and finally finished it off with a sunset photo shoot of the river and a paddle wheel boat cruising the river.  I haven’t processed those photos yet so I don’t know how they came out.

Early morning shoot today, leaving the hotel at 6:30 a.m. before breakfast.

That’s it for today.  Thank you for stopping by the blog.  Enjoy your day, stay cool, hydrated, and be careful