I have always said that I could never be a serious outdoor photographer. Why? Because I don’t want to get up so early and apparently to be serious I must. For the light and all kinds of other good things.
But recently I found something worth getting out of bed for, and now I think I get it.
Our little town by the shore has a population of about 8000 but this varies depending on time of year. During summer the population swells with summer people including lots of kids visiting resident grandparents, all of it livening things up. The sale of Cheesies in the local grocery store skyrockets.
The biggest transformation of the town has to be on that Sunday in June when the Seaside Cruisers vintage and classic car show hijacks the entire town and turns it into one big carnival. The streets are closed, hundreds of groomed and polished beauties are parked at an angle to the curbs, the outdoor sound systems blasts classic rock tunes (or would that now be vintage?) and thousands of people descend on our streets from far and wide to take part – the car owners’ friends and families, residents, kids, bunnies, bikers, leather, gray ponytails, dogs, babies, baseball caps, all sizes and shapes and ages.
I’ve been a couple of times and had a great time (an earlier visit to the car show) gawking at both cars and people but I’ve had it in my head for some time that I’d like to change things up and get there really early, before the onlookers arrive, when the cars are just setting up and I could get up close and personal with my camera and the stars of the show themselves.
So, this year was it, and I got up early on Father’s Day and arrived in town to watch the logistics of moving these hundreds of cars into position, the cars lined up, rumbling down the streets. As I had hoped, I had the time and space to take pictures of what I wanted to explore, what drew me to these beautiful sculptures – the close up lines and curves and colors and chrome and reflections of these well-loved and cared-for polished beauties, without the crowds obstructing views and angles.
By 9:00 people had started to arrive and I was done. A great early morning. Home to cappuccino and Cheerios and the rest of the day.
On the way up we stopped to visit friends who were staying in their camper by the beach with killer views. I had brought appropriate supplies and 3:48 pm PST, the official time of solstice, found us on the beach with our Bic lighters trying to light sparklers (in the wind) and blowing into noisemakers that made no noise (cheap dollar store), my friends with great good nature going along with this nutcase. It was a beautiful day.
In other news…The summer issue of Canadian Geographic, a special climate change edition on newstands now, has a feature article about the scientific research station the government is building in the far north at Cambridge Bay. This is where #2 Son Mike spends so much time as a project manager (he’s up there now for another 6-week stint). Lots of pictures, good story about why they’re building it, and even a quote from the lad himself. That’s my boy!