Real Chopper: Dogwood Show and shine,

 This will be the second to last post on the dogwood show and shine photo blogs because I have other exciting stuff to get on with as far as content goes. But the last one will not disappoint, at least I hope it won't, well you'll see.

This old roadster was an eye catcher to say the least. I honestly don't know to much about these old rigs and would be giving false information if I tried to spell anything out. Above is the engine, and below is the back of the car.

I never got a chance to talk to the owner but it was easy to see that the build quality of this pump was up there with the best of them especially with the interior and engine in mind. This is the inside of the cars, usually containing a steering wheel, a couple seats and an instrument panel.

This was really an eye opener for me, these type of cars have never been of much interest to me along with old choppers, like the one below. But after taking a few minuets to admire them, all I can see is dollar signs and tireless hours being invested into these, and if you can't appreciate anything else about these pumps than at least appreciate the work and money that went into them. I try to do that now with any build or project that I see. These are some neat leather seats.

Whether that be a riced out Honda civic, a Factory spec all original hand build Aston Martin or a street rod that I never even got the manufacturer year of. these builds took time, and that I can fully appreciate that. This is the front tire.

This chopper I found in the bikes section does indeed still count as an "Air Pump" it has an intake and an exhaust, which is basically an air pump, therefore I could have just about anything on this site that pumps air. I could have an airplane if I felt the need, or I could have a vacuum cleaner, or a human for that case, considering the fact that we are constantly breathing.... air. but I digress this is a Harley and I took photos of it.

Once I saw the bike section, I almost didn't go over there just because I don't have to much interest in in them to begin with, I mainly went over there because this bike looked like a lot of time had been put into it, and boy was I ever glad I checked it out.

After talking to the guy who owned this bike I appreciated it even more. And the more time I spent looking at it the more I found little details I liked. This bike was built by the owner and his brother back in the late 1960' through the seventies. This old geezer was proud to tell me that it was an original Harley, chopped just like they are supposed to be, with only 30 percent of the frame still intact.

Now I personally had no idea that a chopper was called that because it was literally put into a shop and hacked at by a couple of guys. I was very happy to hear this because the owner later said that now a days anyone can buy a prefabbed chopper frame and build one out of a catalog.

The shop that built this bike, is called 8th day cycles. From some place in Idaho... again, details. I'm not sure if that is supposed to be some supernatural symbol for power or something, but they know how to make a bike, and purple used to be my favorite color, back when I was like twelve.

Joshua Sewell.
Instagram:josh_sewell_photo

Classic Jap: AE86 Story

During my last semester of high school I took a photography class. Apart from this class I have had no professional photography training, with exception to the occasional mentoring from my dad and what skills he has... maybe this is apparent in the photos on this blog, maybe not, but that's subjective. Anyways, one day later in the semester I was on a shoot looking for subjects for an assignment called "Wheels are our Freedom" something to do with capturing the freedom kids feel when they get the keys to their first Pump. As expected I started searching for these Pumps of Air around the school and my neighborhood. To my surprise I found this classic Japanese Domestic Motors (JDM) fella sitting innocently only a few blocks from the high school.

 As would be expected, I started shooting the car despite the fact that the photos lacked the teens and their freedom theme, mainly because of the classic nature of the cars and the rare chance of shooting one of these again any time soon.

 After taking some shots I heard a heavily accented yell from a doorway behind me sounding something of Latin or Italian origin, the middle aged woman inquired as to my photographing of the old 86, and explained how it was her son's, and how he was constantly having people leaving notes on it and that he recently recovered it form a theft. I stuttered to come up with a reason that sounded credible, knowing that describing the photography assignment would be a dead end. I managed to get out the words photography class and high school.

 She paused, tilted her head to the left, and questioned as to who the teacher was. I told her and she paused again, then repeated the name to me in a questioning tone... I responded in the affirmative. She stepped back and rethought the situation. She said she had a daughter who took a class from him a few years ago. She then inquired as to why I was shooting the car again. I briefly told her the jest of the assignment despite my earlier thoughts of it being hopeless, and she agreed to let me keep shooting the 86.

 I took a couple deep breaths, gave a friendly chuckle, thanked her, and apologized for the scare. After this I commenced shooting the Pump and fully dove into capturing the ethos of this classic chassis.

 The highlight of this car by far was the wheels. The Watanabe style Konigs fit so perfectly with the rest of the car and threw nicely back to the days of InitialD and tofu delivery with the panda paint scheme. I took a peak into the window of the car and saw over 200,000 miles on the clock. If it wasn't obvious from the outside, those number go to show that this car has had a lot of seat time, and that's the way it should be with a car that is arguably one of the first real drivers cars.

After all the hype that the lady gave me I was still feeling some pressure because I knew she'd be keeping a close eye on me through the kitchen window or front door key hole. After a few more shots I left and continued the hunt for the assigned assignment that was assigned to me.

    Looking back on it now I wouldn't have done it any other way, The interaction made a story to remember, and I got to shoot one of my favorite chassis. Have you ever had a close call with a camera? Feel free to load up a comment with a story.

Joshua Sewell

Instagram: josh_sewell_photo