With all the work surrounding the recent Formula Drift event at Wall, NJ, I didn’t have time to post a ‘From the Archive’ yesterday as planned. So, a day belated, here is a shot from my time at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. I haven’t shot many sunsets with the intention of using them in black and white. Generally, sunsets have such vibrant colors that it seems like a shame to hide them. On this occasion, I set out to capture one, but the angle of the sun and the light just wasn’t cooperating as planned. I didn’t want to give up outright on the photograph though, and gave this monochrome look a try. I like the way that it brought out the texture of the clouds surrounding the sun as it descended, a texture that was otherwise invisible in the original image.

During my short time residing in sunny California, I was privileged enough to have a 350Z to drive for a weekend. The car was a fairly new 2006 model, with all the options one could ask for – including the navigation system. And, being new to the LA area, I decided to ask some friends where the good driving roads were. A few carefully placed taps on the navigation and I found myself in the spaghetti-like strings of tarmac that make up the hills just North of Pacific Coast highway. Somewhere between Stunt, Las Virgenes, and Mulholland I pulled off to admire the scenery, or more the billows of fog that were piping their way over the sides of the cliffs. It was there that I found the unique view for the shot above, and another that astute readers will recognize from my automotive portfolio. The shot was done originally in color as all of my work is, but the mood just seemed to work better in this monotone. It feels very still, with only the large highlight by the top of the headlamp drawing your eye closer, making you remember that this is a photograph of a car, and not a landscape. A car that was quite a lot of fun to stomp on through what are still the best curves I’ve ever experienced.

Oh, and a quick P.S. for this week. Make sure you tune into tonight’s season finale of House on Fox (preferably in HD). The whole episode was shot using a Canon 5D Mark II. Being a Canon user myself, I’ll be interested to see what they have been able to accomplish with this next step forward for the medium.

Apologies guys – it turns out the 400 or so photos I’ve been churning on will take a little longer. In the meantime, enjoy a few highlights from the race after the jump.

The day before the big race, I had a little bit of time to kill after picking up my pass. I decided to head next door to check out the Indy Hall of Fame Museum. When I first thought of “hall of fame” something like the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY came to mind, with its seemingly endless statistics and trophies. As I walked towards the building a part of me wondered if I would just get bored trying to read hundreds of plaques next to grainy head shots. While there were plenty of plaques, the word “museum” was probably equally as important in this equation. The building was as much a house of art as was is one of praise. The cars were granted the center of attention, even more than the names that adorned the side of their cockpits. Baseballs and bats haven’t really changed in past 100 years, but the cars that raced at the famous brickyard certainly did. Read on to get a glimpse of just how much.

Open wheel racers occupied the largest part of the exhibit floor. Many look just the way they did when they won their respective races, tires still bald from going the full distance without another pit stop.

The first cars that I observed reminded me more of today’s land-speed record setters with skinny tires and long front noses. The engines were all stuffed in the front, and this appeared to dictate a lot about their shape and design.

The distinct lack of sponsor logos was also very visible in a time when television either didn’t exist or wasn’t widely used to view the races.

Looking into the tiny driver’s seats of 50 years ago, I was amazed to see the way technology and priorities have changed. Not only was a tiny pillow on the steering wheel the only means of crash safety, but the entire drive shaft appeared to run just to the left of the driver’s leg! The seat itself also looked somewhat plush, and was probably more comfortable than the modern equivalent. I doubt that drivers butts have changed any though.

As the history lesson continued around the exhibit floor, I could see the gradual evolution of the cars into the 200+mph wonders we know today. After somebody figured out it would be a good idea to put the engine in the back rather than the front, things took a drastic shift and have moved steadily in the same direction ever since. Huge rear wings and front nose cones were added to keep everything planted at high speeds. Sticky, wide tires were placed at all four corners, and although the cars flatten out on the sides, many still resembled their sausage-like older cousins from the side until the engines could be made small enough for a tighter package.

The lower hall of the museum featured a larger variety of machines, including motorcycles, GT cars, and a few stock cars.

All and all I would definitely recommend stopping by to check it out if you’re ever in Indianapolis for a race. Who knows, maybe one day you’ll see Helio’s winning car from 2009 in there with the rest of the legends.