Monterey Car Week is a series of over 30 events including car shows, auctions, races and more; spanning 10 days during August; and stretching from Seaside, through Monterey, Pacific Grove, Carmel and Carmel Valley, all the way to Big Sur. It draws thousands of cars, worth in the billions, and up to 100,000 visitors to the Monterey Peninsula. The week plus begins with the Monterey Car Week Kick-Off and finishes with the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
I attended 3 events: VIN Wine Bar’s 1st Annual Porsche Pit Cru; Bonham’s The Quail Auction preview; and The Quail: A Motorsport Gathering. I only took a few photos to give the viewer a sense of the events.
VIN Wine Bar is a new store at The Crossroads in Carmel. Local Porsche owners were invited to display their Porsches and enjoy wine and cheese. These photos were shot with a Nikon Z6 with a new 24-120mm f/4 S lens. The tagline for the Porsche Club is “it’s not just the cars… it’s the People” – so you will see a combination of both in my shots.
In terms of shooting technique, I am using the LCD display instead of the viewfinder which is what I use with the D850. With the Z6, there is a delay with the viewfinder when you put your eyes up to it. I shoot in shutter mode set at 1/500.
The Bonhams Auction at Quail features approximately 140 cars covering multiple manufacturers; different models; and multiple decades. These photos were taken with a Leica ME which is a version of the M9 camera with a Summicron-M 35mm f/2 ASPH lens.
The Leica presents a different but fun challenge. Manual focus. Zoom with your feet. Limited usable ISO range. On the other hand, the Leica lens produces images which appear to be clearer with greater depth – creating more dramatic or realistic photos.
The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering is one of the premier Car Week events and attracts an International audience. In addition to a spectacular collection of vintage cars and motorcycles, the event provides a wide variety of gourmet choices. Upon entry, guests are offered a glass of champagne and the opportunity to enjoy caviar and raw oysters. Part of what makes The Quail different are the displays by leading exotic car makers including Koenigsegg, Bugatti, Singer, Gunther, Bentley, Lamborghini, Porsche, Bentley, McLaren and Pagani. There are many new car announcements made at The Quail.
These photos were taken with a Leica ME with a Summicron 35mm f/2 lens in auto-aperture mode set at f/8.
My favorite shot is the Bugatti display. Recognizing that it is a snapshot (not staged), it has a nice black and white contrast with splash of yellow and almost perfect positioning and spacing between the various objects.
