This summer I was grateful to spend quite a bit of time with my family in western Pennsylvania, and in that time I got to enjoy a lot of quality time with my dad, hanging around the shop where he’s building his Sonex Xenos plane, chatting with friends at the airport, and visiting some of the local car cruises on Friday evenings.
Butler Car Cruise
The first car cruise we went to was one well north of Pittsburgh near the Butler Farm Show grounds, held at the Meridian Station Gift Shop. The evening lent the most stunning golden light that filtered perfectly through the trees when we arrived right around sunset. The area was jam packed with American cars ranging from a few Ford Model T’s to a couple of shiny 2000’s Corvettes.
Salem Ohio Drag Races
On a brief day trip out to Salem, Ohio we found ourselves driving by the Quaker City Motorsports Park while they were running drag races. I wasn’t exactly fully equipped camera-wise, only having my little EOS M and 20mm lens with me, but we stopped by and watched some really powerful cars, trucks, and dragsters while I practiced panning shots (where you blur the background of a photo by leaving the shutter open long enough hat the movement itself causes the blur — it’s incredibly tough to keep the subject sharp, especially when it’s heading toward 100+ MPH).
Wexford Starlight Car Cruise
The second car cruise we ventured to was much larger, with a huge range of cars. It was the Wexford Starlight Car Cruise, featuring local food trucks along with motorcycles and vehicles ranging from your typical 50’s and 60’s era classic American cars to someone’s clever remake of Knight Rider’s KITT.
