happy holidays

Happy Holidays to you and your families and thank you for the support! See you on the road...

outtake in the green

Rolls & Pleats Magazine doesn't need an introduction. Editor Jerry Desvaux does an incredible job in cranking out a quality independent mag for years even though he had to go from a quarterly publication schedule to once a year. I just stumbled across this image I had taken for the feature of my Chevy Coupe in issue #39 and since it's one of my favorite and previously unpublished photos of this car I thought it might be worth posting.

the scott miller roadster

I must admit I was feeling a little bit depressed when I got that e-mail message from RodShows.com with the suggestion to pre-order my ticket for the upcoming Grand National Roadster Show 2014. It's not only because I realized that I got one year older since the last one. It's more because I won't be able to attend the show. So, in order to celebrate my melancholy, I dug through my old GNRS 2013 pictures. And there was one or another car that was capable to brighten my mood. One of them was this 1929 roadster, a fresh build by Scott Miller from Pasadena, California. On its display sign it mostly says Hot Rod. And actually there isn't much more to say about this car other than it's simply a perfect Hot Rod. It isn't perfect in a sense of boringly perfect. It is perfect in a way that makes you wonder if he didn't do any mistakes at all. And that alone can be a pretty depressing insight. Oh well, there's that melancholic feeling again.

the other kind of snow

Even though I took this picture at 100° degrees Fahrenheit, it doesn't feel out of place around this time of year. Have a nice winter weekend.

bonneville memories

Hallowed Ground it is for sure. I will never forget the three days I spent on the Salt this summer. And I'm glad that I was able to distill my experience into two stories for the Smokin' Shutdown Hot Rod Yearbook. But since I probably took a couple dozen pictures more, there are still some outtakes left that I'm gonna post on LOWTECH once in a while. Here are some of my favorites.

a smokin' yearbook

(Cover shot of Schaub Metalworks Coupe © Franz Venzin)

The Berlin, Germany based Hot Rod magazine »Smokin' Shutdown« has been around for a while. 13 years to be exact. Since then, the hot rod publishing world has changed a little bit... new mags showed up, others disappeared. »Smokin' Shutdown« is still going strong which is quite a feat for a printed independent publication in a corporate social media world. Editor and driving force behind the mag is Thom Piston. And for the latest issue, he decided to turn the magazine into a heavy, high quality hardcover book with 248 pages. The result is impressive to say the least. The stories take the reader on a hot rod journey around the world, with stopovers in California, the UK, Switzerland, Germany and even Indonesia. Car features, artist profiles and event coverages make for an entertaining trip. There's some extraordinary eyecandy, too – no cars involved – to spice things up even more. The book's focus is the photography and I feel honored that I was asked to contribute some of my work. You can find a preview here and/or order your copy here. Don't wait for too long since Christmas is right around the corner. And the book is limited to 1000 copies only. 

the flying goose

It seems like lately there's no shortage of hot rod and custom related movie clips. You see a lof of great editing, clever camera work and amazing stuff that's being brought to our attention. But only once in a while you discover a true jewel. Just like »The Flying Goose«, a short clip by Frank Glencairn about Swedish-German hot rod builder Gustav Widegren and his Ford Speedster. No fancy tricks, no wild angles, no punk rock. Sometimes it's just about a good story, well told.

LOWTECH – The California Issue #1: preview 4

If this photo needed a cheesy caption, it would probably say: A night to remember. And it indeed was a night to remember. I was on the way back from a camping trip to Yosemite when I decided to do a stop over in the Orcutt area on the Central Coast of California. My good friend Mark Garza had invited us for a surf session the next day and when we arrived the afternoon before, Mark greeted us with a big smile. It wasn't just that he was so glad to see us but he also had a brilliant idea: How about talking some friends into driving their cars to the beach? Well, this probably doesn't sound too exciting to you. But when I tell you that "cars" implies kustom cars and those kustom cars consisted of a 1946 Ford, a 1959 Chevy Wagon and a trio of Mercurys you'll start to get the picture. And if you know that Pismo Beach, which is only a short drive away from Orcutt, happens to be one of the last beaches of the West Coast where you can actually drive your car on the beach... Now you know that a kustom photographer's dream came true that night.

This is another photo preview from my book LOWTECH – The California Issue #1. Get your copy here.