Ok! As promised, we'll take a break from the spiders and bugs for a bit and check out some classic cars. Like last year I took a trip to the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix. Hopefully this year's shots meet your approval...

Technical Details: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM at 289mm, 1/320 at f/6.4. ISO 100. 2011 Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix, Pittsburgh, PA. Raw conversion and cropped in Photoshop CS5 (mouseover for original)

Why This Photo: I took shots from this vantage point last year too, and I really liked the way you could get multiple cars lined up in the shot. It obviously requires a little luck and patience and good timing.

What Works: The relatively shallow DoF allows for the main car to be in focus while the others are blurred. Additionally, the placement of the cars provides balance to the shot, while the curve of the road produces a pleasing smooth line to lead the viewer's eyes through the scene.

What Doesn't Work: Obviously, in the original, the over-exposed pavement at the foreground was very distracting. It really served no purpose, but as you can see, was very easy to eliminate. The exposure through the shade of the trees on that section of road is always a little tough. Additionally, the front tire of the red car is breaking the edge of the frame, and probably would have been better suited had it been given a little space there.

Stay tuned as I have a bunch of shots to share from the races and the car show... plus, in a rare twist for me, you'll see a bit more post processing - including some B&W and Sepia.

- Bill

Alright, we'll take a little break from the bees and flowers and take another look at some more recent photoshopping work.

I shared this photo once before, and while I really like the photo, it needed a few very minor touch-ups to be ready to for the Photographic Section's Digital Projected Image Competition.

If you hover your mouse over the image, it will show the original. You'll see that all I did was use the spot healing tool to clean up the water spots and a single rust spot. While those spots weren't necessarily distracting in the original, I think you'd have to agree that removing them certainly makes the shot much nicer.

If you're interested in more discussion on this photo, head on over to the original post.

- Bill

Alright last day of car photos (at least for a little while) - I have a stack of nature photos to get back to, so soon enough we'll be back to the bug eyes and frogs and other fun stuff you've come to expect from me.

Towards the end of the day I spent at the PVGP, we wandered up to the paddock area where the drivers are able to work on their vehicles between races. Most of the photos I took up there didn't turn out as well as I would have liked, but this one turned out nice. Oddly enough, my father-in-law took an almost identical shot.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II at 57mm, 1/25 sec at f/14.1. OS Mode 1. ISO 200. No post production. 2010 Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix Car Show, Pittsburgh, PA.

There's just something cool about that engine, I guess.

If you haven't seen them, I'd recommend checking out the other posts in this set (part 1, 2, 3, and 4).

Remember - the whole point of this exercise was to challenge myself to try something new. Whether or not I managed to get great shots wasn't the most important part, but coming away with some photos I really liked is a nice bonus.

So get out there and try something new, you might just surprise yourself and find something new that you enjoy!

- Bill

Well, since this is still my favorite shot of the whole set, I figured I should give this one a bit more time...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM at 500mm, 1/510 sec at f/6.4. OS Mode 1. ISO 200. No post production. 2010 Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix Car Show, Pittsburgh, PA.

Why This Photo: Like I've said in the previous posts, I was out this day trying a new photography. At this point, I was standing at the top of a curvy hill and then a sharp right turn. I was working on tracking moving subjects.

What Works: I like the close zoom on this shot, capturing the look of concentration on the driver's face. The reflections and shine on the car, and the nicely blurred background. Like some of the other shots I shared previously, I think this one also captures a sense of the action of the race.

What Doesn't Work: There are basically two things I wish were different about this photo - first, I don't mind the car not being entirely in the shot, but I wish that at least a portion of the rear wheel was in the shot to give it a little balance (perhaps I should try cropping in from the right to remove the rear suspension). The second is that the depth of field is a bit shallow so that the driver's face is slightly blurred.

All-in-all, even with its flaws, this is still my favorite shot from this set. It doesn't come close to being a prize winning photo, but considering it has gotten me into thinking about other styles of photography, there's more value in it than just a single photo. But I still like it...

While we're at it, I guess I will share some of those other photos that I feel are a bit flat and lack that feel of action to them:

Feel free to comment on any or all of the shots today.

- Bill

Ok - I want to shift gears a little here (haha! yes, I know just how punny I am!).

So while I was out trying new photography, I went full bore and tried some artistic (or artsy-fartsy as I usually call it) shots of the cars. I have to be honest and admit that most of them looked terrible and didn't even make it off the memory card.

But I did get lucky with a couple good ones. This is my favorite of them:

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM at 150mm, 1/1580 sec at f/5. OS Mode 1. ISO 200. No post production. 2010 Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix Car Show, Pittsburgh, PA.

Why This Photo: Like I've said, I was out pushing the envelope of my abilities and vision of my photography. I don't know much about these cars (though my father-in-law was there and a great source of information so I learned a little), but every once in a while I managed to see something in the viewfinder that looked good, and I guess I don't need to know too much about the cars to do that.

What Works: The framing of the shot really hits the mark if you ask me, and to be honest it was a bit of luck - I still had the Sigma 150-500mm lens on, so the 150mm focal distance kind of forced the composition.

What Doesn't Work: I probably should have tried a slightly smaller aperture to get more depth of field, or at the very least, made sure that the MG emblem was the point of critical focus.

What I'm Not Sure About: I kind of like the sunburst reflections on the metal grill of the car, but they are also washed out, so I can't decide if they detract from the photo or not.

Again - I think the main lesson here is to try new stuff and see what you can manage. Sometimes you'll surprise yourself, and maybe find something new you like.

- Bill

No - you're not seeing double.

I managed to capture these almost exactly identical images of two different racers, which is quite impressive (at least to me) when you consider that I was shooting handheld for a good portion of the day. The shots were taken only five seconds apart, but if you look very closely at the background, you'll see the shots are slightly different.

Normally, I would have recommended using a tripod shooting at such a long zoom length (439mm), but my Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM has that lovely little Optical Stabilization feature, so I was able to shoot by hand.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM at 439mm, 1/1020 and 1/790 sec (respectively) at f/6.4. ISO 200. No post production. 2010 Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix, Pittsburgh, PA.

I think I'll pass on doing my normal full critique of these two - mostly I'm just liking how cool these two photos turned out. Even though some of the cars are cut off in both photos, I still like the composition of the shots - I think it helps to give the sense of motion like the previous shot. Feel free to post your own critiques in the comments if you like.

Fun stuff.

- Bill

Well, as promised, I've finally uploaded new photos after getting my home internet connection fixed (talk about a fiasco and a half!). I have some really good photos, but I am going to try and run through them in order.

Which takes us back about a month to the 2010 Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix. I posted a teaser back then, and I have a few more to share.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM at 370mm, 1/1020 sec at f/6.4. ISO 200. No post production. 2010 Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix, Pittsburgh, PA.

Why This Photo: I sometimes try my hand at new styles of photography. This is one of those times - just stepping out of my comfort zone.

What Works: The best thing about this photo is the lean that the racecar has from hitting this turn. I feel it gives the photo a sense of the action. Most of the other shots I took that day seem too static.

What Doesn't Work: I'm not thrilled with the shadow from the tree right in front of the car - it is a bit distracting. Focus might be a tad off too.

There's more from this set, so tune in again soon for more. In the meantime, drop me a line and let me know what you think of these car photos.

- Bill

As I'm sure you've discovered by now, my favorite type of photography is macro wildlife, but something I try from time to time is to step outside of my comfort zone. So this weekend, I did just that and tried something new...

Unfortunately, Verizon has been utterly useless in fixing an issue I've had with our DSL at home for over two weeks now. So until I get a real working internet connection at home, you'll have to wait to see more.

- Bill