Bar none, the Northwest Deuce Days is the best and most interesting celebration of classic cars that I have ever seen. Started in Victoria in 1998 it is held every 3 years in the streets around the British Columbia parliament buildings and the Inner Harbour. It celebrates the very popular 1932 Ford Coupe, nicknamed the Deuce, and many other restored classic cars.
I attended and photographed this event in 2016 and 2019. Almost 1400 cars were registered for the last show 500 of them being Deuces. The colour, craftsmanship and artistry was stunning. At the time I was using a Nikon D7200 DSLR camera outfitted with a 28mm to 70 mm wide angle zoom lens. It was a perfect setup for this particular situation.
(click on image to enlarge)
These old cars are so interesting to photograph. As much as I love to see and understand the efforts that have gone into the creation of these beauties I also enjoy finding a photographing the old weathered wrecks that lie is storage yards, on farms and in the wilderness. I’ve found some in the Kelowna area and when we wintered in Arizona I found some interesting wrecks in Miami, a mining town east of Phoenix.
My most interesting find occurred just west of Salmon Arm, British Columbia at the White Post Auto Museum. I was wandering about the yard in front of the museum photographing the rusted group of classic cars when I noticed a tall man striding towards me. His sunglasses and dreadlocks gave him a rather determined look.
I headed down to his property and spent a few hours wandering about his collection of classics and making many interesting photographs.
Photographing old, rusted classic vehicles is just half the fun. Once I have downloaded my images into Lightroom, my base of photographic operations I search through them to find candidates for ‘a bit of artistic licence’. Once these are identified I like to pick one develop it so that there is a wide range of tones within the image and with a slight exaggeration of colour saturation. I then move the image to Photoshop and then the fun begins.
In Photoshop I have a suite of plugin marketed by Topaz Labs. Three of their plugins, Simplify 4, Texture Effects 2 and Impression 2 are my favourites. Each offers many different ways to alter the look of an image. I call it playing with an image. The possible outcomes are unlimited. The fun for me is fabulous.
jim and cathy
13 Mar 2022Just amazing captures of these beauties, Stu- especially your “playing with the images!”
Stu
13 Mar 2022Thanks Cathy and Jim! I read that the Deuces Festival is on again this year in July. Haven’t made any plans yet but I sure would like to be there.
Paul Durose
13 Mar 2022Great pictorial story Stu. Interesting “chat” with the museum owner. Thanks Stu.
Stu
29 Mar 2022Yes it was! He looks the same on television as when I met him.
corolp
15 May 2022We’re looking forward to the return of the Deuces. I hope you are able to visit again this year, camera ready
tom skinner
15 May 2022Hi Stu . I enjoyed these posts. wonderful to see your photography from Fascieux to the deuces in Victoria , and some rusty old vehicles in between
Stu
15 May 2022Thanks Tom! I really enjoy Fascieux Creek as well as special event photography. I’m glad you enjoy my images.