Wednesday, April 2, 2014
(Cool, sun changing to clouds)
What I like is how Michael has integrated the old cars and trucks into the settings. I remember when I used to go to Vermont in the fall to photography the changing of the leaves. I would "stumble" into towns and stores in Vermont that had not changed in 150 years.There was once a town, whose name I never wrote down that had the town square, in literally a huge square, with a large wooden gazebo for an old-time band to play. Another time, I found myself inside a "drug store" that had not changed since the 1920's. It was complete with the turnable stools, the soda fountains, the wood floors, and the merchandise laid out as if I were on a movie set.
You can see here how Michael photographs his scenes at all times of the year. This one is a winter scene. It's even more noteworthy as it was taken in winter and at night.
The lighting is great in this photo. Michael waited until a cloud opened up to let in some sun. I also like that small building in the corner. I'm unsure if it's a garage. My sister in Toronto, Ontario (Canada) has a small unheated garage like that. It's not used as a garage though, and I don't even know if a modern day car could fit into it. One thing though, The city may not allow you to knock down the garage as it from the 1920's and I think classified as "heritage". That means that the city prefers you to keep the structure as it is!
(Cool, sun changing to clouds)
Wait and See!
My niece Carly sent me a link to a great site, and of course the person who the link was all about. My wife also forward to me Carly's e-mail. A double -set of e-mails must have meant something very interesting, so I checked it out. However, I check out sites even with 1 e-mail!
I visited Mr. Michael Paul Smith's Flickr stream of photos, and I don;lt know where to begin. I won't give everything away, since today's title for this post clues you a "clue". I visited Michael's Flickr site, and had to keep going back. Of course, I had received Michael's permission, and having written a letter or two, I got Michael's amazing story. I'll be writing his bio and lots of material in future posts, but for now, it's all about the great photos and his work.
Michael Paul Smith started out being an art director. However he suffered a heart attack at a young age and had to change professions. The advertising industry is a very stressful industry to work in, although the rewards can be very nice. All of the photographs below are of vintage (older) cars and scenes around Michael's home town in the state of Massachusetts (USA). Michael is quite modest about his work, but he is an exceptional person. His skills as an art director have allowed him to carefully arrange the cars and trucks in his scene. However, he does this with lots of panache (skills) and also with subtlety. Nothing appears to be arranged.
I can see his fine eye as a photographer in terms of arrangement and composition. However his lighting is super! I would think that he waits for the right moment when clouds and sun are best for his photographic settings, and then takes the photos. Also the camera levels (height) and angles are noteworthy.
What I like is how Michael has integrated the old cars and trucks into the settings. I remember when I used to go to Vermont in the fall to photography the changing of the leaves. I would "stumble" into towns and stores in Vermont that had not changed in 150 years.There was once a town, whose name I never wrote down that had the town square, in literally a huge square, with a large wooden gazebo for an old-time band to play. Another time, I found myself inside a "drug store" that had not changed since the 1920's. It was complete with the turnable stools, the soda fountains, the wood floors, and the merchandise laid out as if I were on a movie set.
The lighting is great in this photo. Michael waited until a cloud opened up to let in some sun. I also like that small building in the corner. I'm unsure if it's a garage. My sister in Toronto, Ontario (Canada) has a small unheated garage like that. It's not used as a garage though, and I don't even know if a modern day car could fit into it. One thing though, The city may not allow you to knock down the garage as it from the 1920's and I think classified as "heritage". That means that the city prefers you to keep the structure as it is!
Here's a small change to Michael regular photographs. He's warmed up the scene perhaps with a filter on the lens or in a photo-editing software, and added some writing to make the photo appear as a postcard.
If you didn't "peek", you'll now understand why today's title is "Wait and See". All of the cars and trucks are small models. All of the locations are either real in the town or surroundings, where Michael lives, or hand-built scaled-down scenery that Michael also built.
As I mentioned before, I didn't want to write too much, as I will gradually add more narrative in future posts to tell you about Michael's interesting bio. Michael has lots of narrative for each of his photos on his Flickr website that you can click on under his name at the beginning of the post.
I hope you didn't mind my small "ruse' or trick in not "spilling the beans" right away. I wanted you yo see just what a "treasure" Michael was to have connected with thanks to my niece Carly, and my sister Brenda.The Internet certain'y has been an exceptional invention and location for people with all kinds of different interests to learn and find other people, and today's post about Michael Paul Smith, certainly is exceptional.
Thanks for dropping by to visit,
and as always, have a great part of the day or night,
wherever you may be.
Stacey
You can write to me at:
toysearcher@gmail.com
3 comments:
You pretty much had me until the last one. A bit too much DOF, cars in relation to the building in far back. Overall some of best I have seen. What a great hobby building towns and photographing them. Wish I was just a little bit that talented.
He also has some great car models!! Live the Stude and the 60 Chey convert!!!
Hi Bob,
Thanks for the comments. Michael has been creating his masterpieces as more than a hobby. I'll be writing about Michael in a future post, and you'll be alb;e to read what I just said. He's a "fantastic" discovery and a great help and inspiration for myself and my blog.
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