Friday Postcard: Old Car City USA

Stacks of cars, stacks of photos

Hood ornament from a 1940s vintage Pontiac | © Jason P. Odell

I’m currently leading a photo workshop in Georgia, where the focus has been to find creativity amongst 40 acres of rusting cars at Old Car City USA. My clients seem to be enjoying themselves as we wander the grounds, looking for creative shots.

The challenge with a place like this is that it is very dense, very target-rich, and extremely overwhelming. Wide shots are often impossible due to the amount of clutter that ends up in your composition. As such, I choose to focus on the details, getting closer, finding small compositions that can be appealing and clean.

Close-up photography, especially macro, has its own set of special challenges, not the least of which is that depth of field drops off dramatically. Stopping down works to a certain extent, but it can leave out of focus backgrounds looking ratty. That’s why I’ve been teaching my clients how to capture a sequence of photos and then merge them in post. Details below:

Behind the Shot