Why Do We Car Spot?

"JustJim" (JustJim)
09/09/2015 at 15:39 • Filed to: None

“Sorry Honey, I’m going to take a circuitous route.” I said to my wife as we buckle into my MX-5 after picking up cheesecake on what might have been our last top down drive before autumn sets in.

“OK.” Her simple reply as she turns her head to see if she can find what ever car it may have been that undoubtedly caught my eye.

About an 1/8 th of a mile away in the sprawling mall parking lot sits a yellow 911, the sun setting behind it. You know that special mustard yellow that only a Porsche can pull off and not look like an American taxi. I drive over and get in a rear ľ angle position so I’m not looking directly at the sun; vaguely aware there is clutter in the background that I ignore just long enough to take my shot and drive home to consume my calorie laden dessert.

Once home whilst kicking off my shoes I look at the photo, do a quick crop and post it to Twitter captioned ‘Monday night mustard. #Porsche911 North side of Indy’

I do this almost without thinking. Then, after the post gets a few ‘Favorites’ I did think about it. It’s not a bad shot though the sky is a bit washed out despite all that modern technology can fit in a phone. An orange construction sign sits just off center of the image mocking my haste to not weary my wife with another picture of another random car. Don’t get me wrong, my wife loves cars as much as I do. I just don’t think she’s required to sit and wait while I take a photo of every slightly exotic machine that the north side of Indianapolis has to offer. Deeper inspection of the photo reveals an SUV has driven through the frame, and while the Porsches wheels look good the tires are almost invisible, lost in contrast and shadow. It’s a cool car for sure but generally speaking the photo is cluttered, yet textureless crap.

Why do we car spot? We all do it; don’t we? Driving down the road, walking through a parking lot; a flash of orange, the flick of light off a curved fender catches our eye. We can’t help ourselves, and out comes the phone, our minds eye oblivious to traffic, visual clutter, focal range; and snap we’ve captured another random car in its natural environment. There’s no question it’s going up on Twitter or Instagram. Not much care is taken to see if it’s in focus or cropped very well. Point, shoot, post. If we have a “Friend” who’s into this type of car maybe we tag them. If we’re looking for more attention or followers we’ll use an endless string of hash tags. #carspotting #carspotted #carlife #coolcar #oldcar #classiccar.

Let’s admit it while we are here. The average cellphone takes crap photos. Some of the better cellphone cameras take decent photos, as long as you only plan on viewing them on a phone or layer on the effects in Instagram. Cellphone photos are the MP3’s of the photography world. Just like music aficionado’s will tell you that CD’s are good, and vinyl is best but MPS are sh*t. The sound so washed out and muddled that you shouldn’t be able to call it music. So it goes with cellphone photos. Grainy, washed out oversaturated. Good enough for you to get the gist, but not quite as good as a DSLR or even better a good old-fashioned film camera.

But why do we do it? Car spot. The type of car doesn’t seem to matter; an old MG is just as likely to be captured and posted as a brand new Range Rover, as a patina covered first generation Saturn. I have at least 1000 photos of random, sometimes cool cars. This doesn’t count the trips to a local Cars and Coffee, regional car shows, though some of my favorite ‘spots’ were in the spectator parking lots of such events.

I don’t consider myself even an amateur photographer per se, but I’ve been taking pictures of things since the old days when we used that stuff called film. I took pictures of regular things; friends drinking at parties mostly, but occasionally a car I thought was cool or maybe the random building that never looked as massive or spectacular on the entry level cameras of the day. As time passed and camera technology went digital and got cheaper, cameras got smaller and took better photos. This is around the time I started taking a lot of photos. Many were still your basic drunk friends at parties’ type photos but more and more were of things; car shows, trips to the woods, and stuff around town. This was a fun way to put a buffer on having to deal with parties or events that I’d rather not be at, but it started a problem. What the hell do I need all these photos for if they’re just going to fill up my hard drive and never be seen, often even by me.

This problem only grew when technology got smaller, better, cheaper and the cellphone camera got good enough to take decent photos. Now I started taking photos of everything; random cars that looked cool or stupid, car shows, buildings, trees, sunsets… file after file of cool thing moments, and memories. I should have transitioned to a real camera at this point, but the transition was intimidating. Like going to a Cars and Coffee with a stock Miata level of intimidating. You go to the zoo with an entry level DSLR and some guy has a zoom lens bigger than your leg. You go for a walk in the woods and there is a highschooler with a macro lens a Ľ inch from a flower. Don’t get me started on the cost and learning curve of editing software. I was taking a few hundred photos a week and finding the time to offload them and organize them was becoming difficult. I couldn’t conceptualize finding the time to learn how to use a real camera, and editing software and still feed myself.

So I found myself with thousands of photos, some of which weren’t horrible, and I didn’t know what to do with them. I considered a blog for a time but the time commitment seemed more a waste of time than learning to take actual photographs would have been. Especially to build an audience when I’m not very good at marketing myself. I went on Facebook and every old friend, acquaintance and family member wanted me to be that little skinny kid they knew 30 years ago.

Then I tried Twitter. Everything there seemed to click. I found people like myself; interested in cars, and racing. Sure like anyone on Twitter at least half of the followers are fake or muting me, but the others the core of my following don’t mind that I’m developing into what I call a Cellphone SPEEDHUNTER.

If it’s got wheels on it and it stands out in any way, I’m pointing my phone at it. Trust me I take a lot of crap photos and photos of a lot of crap, but now I’m not just filling my hard drive; I share them. None of my stuff is on the level of the real !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , but I’m motivated by their work.

The SPEEDHUNTERS are some of the finest photographers in the business, and their collective portfolio at the end of the human driven car should be required reading for everyone who loves cars. SPEEDHUNTERS !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and the rest basically car spot while making a living, and occasionally post some random shots on their Instagram. In many cases their Instagram shots are taken with the same camera they are using for a photo shoot, and it shows in the texture, depth of field, and saturation.

So why do we car spot with such substandard gear? Deep down I think all car spotters want to be a SPEEDHUNTER, and like me the investment in equipment, or “Don’t quit you day job.” budget worries of freelance status keep the dream from ever becoming reality.

Or maybe like many car projects that never get started. Procrastinating. Waiting for the right time or budget to do it right just keeps us from starting.

Whatever the reason; we of the mediocre budget and average talent; will continue to scan the horizon for the next super, classic, rare, oddly equipped specimen at the local mall, or parked on the street. And we will continue to spot, snap and share for the equally passionate fans of all things auto. Even though it doesn’t make sense.

Bonus Photos:

DISCUSSION (12)

Sam > JustJim
09/10/2015 at 16:59

Kinja'd!!!

This was on Craigslist about a year ago. It’s so insane it almost becomes cool again.

Sam > JustJim
09/10/2015 at 17:04

This is gonna sound creepy, but from your spots, I’m guessing you live on the north side? (I recognize a lot of the locales from when I worked at Tom Wood Jaguar) We should meet up at the C&C at Gator Motorsports some time before the end of the season.

JustJim > Sam
09/10/2015 at 17:07

Saw it bat the Barnes & Noble around the corner. Guy who owned/owns it looks like the kind of person who would drive it. Artsy but out there.

JustJim > Sam
09/10/2015 at 17:11

Right near the green bridge to be exact. My wife and I get to C/C at least once a month. I’ve got a basically stock NB MX-5, she has a 2015 Golf R.

Maybe be there this weekend. If youre on the twitter you can always find me there.

https://twitter.com/Im_JustJim

Sam > JustJim
09/10/2015 at 17:12

Yeah, I think his first name is actually on the vanity plate if I remember correctly. So he’d probably be interesting.

Sam > JustJim
09/10/2015 at 17:15

I’ll probably be, since I don’t think I have anything else going on. I’ll see if I can get my dad to bring his 2002 Miata SE up there, though he’s picking up a car in Kentucky on Friday, so he may be slightly tired. I’ll hit you up though.