A couple days later of shooting like a mad man and having a
blast, I’m surprised I haven’t been shot, arrested or placed in the loony bin.
Maybe I better explain…
Back in my “automotive journalist” days, I shot nearly every
kind of car made – from Audis to Zimmers and everything in between. Static
beauty shots were easy, but the real fun was mounting a camera to the car
(usually with several suction cups and a conglomeration of articulating arms
and aluminum rails), then driving it along canyon roads.
I had talked with my friend, Paul, about taking a drive up
Haleakala Highway. We both had Sunday free, and the Corvette and Pantera hadn’t
been exercised in a while. The night before, I was cleaning my car, and noted
to myself that it had been way too long since I had photographed it.
Down in the studio, I opened the door to “The Closet,” a
spaced carved under the stairs where the remnants of my wet darkroom and all
the gear I used to shoot cars resides. I pulled out the dust-covered bags
labeled “Speed Rail/Magic Arms” and “Suction Cups/Clamps/Cables,” then hauled
them outside to blow off the 10-plus years of neglect. I tossed the bags into
the car, hit the starter and proceeded to piss off all the dogs in the neighborhood
with the staccato exhaust note.
After sucking down a tall coffee at the local Starbucks,
Paul and I hit the road, the traffic light and open where we could stretch the
legs of our cars a bit before hitting the terrific twisties that would take us
to Ulupalakua.
Just past the Sun Yet Sen Park, we downshift and head into
some of the best driving road in Maui County. I take note of some dramatic
sweeping turns and trees, and open turnouts. By the time I reach the Ulupalakua
General Store, I’m excited to gear up the car. I park, shut down the V8 and
grab the bags o’ tricks.
After about 20 minutes of attaching a menagerie of suction
cups, gaffer tape, magic arms, tripod, camera and phone cabling, I lock the
camera settings and focus, and then set the DSLR Controller app to shoot every
three seconds. With racing harness
latched into place, I fire the engine, select first gear and ease out the
clutch.
Working through the gears and gaining speed, I keep a close
eye on the right wing mirror and the view of the Canon 5D MARK II hanging about
four feet off the rear quarter panel. I keep the car close to the center line,
and breathe in deeply in sharp corners with close hill sides – a feeble attempt
to make the car thinner.
After driving eight miles with the shutter continually
clicking, the skies open up and I quickly pull into a turnout with a large
Jacaranda tree. With rain pouring, I pull off the camera and rigging, carefully
stowing it in towels for the ride home. Drying off the camera, I take a quick look
at the images and a smile comes to my face: The side of the car is sharp, with
blurred wheels spinning and landscape streaming away. I feel like a kid again,
watching my first image coming up in the developer bath.
While I have “the image” now for Photo Maui, I can’t wait to
put the gear back on the car and go for another drive. The question is, take a
drive to Haleakala or Hana?
