Tom and Cree celebrate the great images created by their community of photographers by selecting a Photograph of the Month. For October we selected an image of a classic car at the WigWam Motel created by Gary Taylor on our Route 66 ABQ to WinslowWorkshop . We hope you enjoy Gary’s images as much as we do!
Congratulations to October 2021 ‘s featured photographer – Gary Taylor

The Story …
I kept trying to shoot from the other direction but the steering wheel was obscuring the dashboard. I tried moving to the front and back windows but that did not help. I realized I needed to move to the other side of the car.
On the other side of the car I had to line it up so I would see the teepees in the background and also get a good view of the dashboard.
Doreen and I were trying to use reflectors, Lume Cubes, even a small LED light to illuminate the car from inside. Nothing was working.
I finally decided to try HDR and hoped it would work. When I got home I did the post processing and it just fell into place.

EXIF Data:
Nikon D810 with a 24-70mm lens, shot at 31mm
F8, 1/320 sec, ISO 800, exposure comp of -2
About photographing on Route 66 from Albuquerque to Winslow
I took a lot of pictures. Most of them were record shots – to record what I saw.
Some of them were really fun shots…..the type of image I would hang on my wall. The car interior and the waiter at the diner where these type of shots.
I really enjoyed the camaraderie of traveling with a group of people. I enjoyed being able to share what I got and seeing what they captured.

Gary’s tips for photographing Route 66:
For most of the shots I bracketed. With the neon lights this is important so the highlights are not blown out. I learned this by shooting holiday lights in my neighborhood in the Chicago area.
Bracketing also helps if you forget to use exposure compensation. It gives you several images to choose from to get closer to the right exposure.
I also did a lot of panoramas while on Route 66. The Petrified Forest and the Yellow Horse Trading Post were very wide. Shooting a panorama gives you more details in the image, instead of just using a wide angle lens.

More about the image with Miles, the waiter
Many of the shots I got weren’t so great. It was crowded in front of him so I moved in the other direction to work the room. That was the shot that worked for me.
I liked how the blinds ended up creating backlighting on Miles. The broken lights of the Venetian blinds added a lot of interest to the image.
On Gary’s Horizon
Oregon and Washington Coasts
Albuquerque for the Balloon Festival
Ireland, England and Scotland

Interested in joining us on Route 66? We just added another workshop from Albuquerque to Winslow in 2024. Click here for more info.
Want to head out sooner with us? Two spaces have opened up on our Bosque & White Sands Workshops in December, 2021 . Click here to read more .
Thanks for reading our posts and congratulations to Gary!
Tom and Cree