Pontiac Hood Ornament

Regular readers of this blog are aware of my propensity to photograph Pontiac hood ornaments whenever I encounter one. While I have captured this particular hood ornament at other locations in the past, the lighting and background conditions will invariably differ, necessitating new photographs.

I recently encountered this Pontiac vehicle at the Bomb Club’s car show at the Santa Anita Race Track. This venue is an ideal setting for a car show, provided the weather conditions are not excessively warm. We arrived early and captured numerous photographs of the cars awaiting entry into the grassy infield area.

This particular car was parked on the grass, providing a suitable background. This is not a macro shot; instead, I utilized my 135mm lens at f1.8 to blur the background. This is one of the telephoto lenses I acquired in used condition in an attempt to find a longer lens that combines close-focus capabilities with a large aperture, enabling the creation of aesthetically pleasing out-of-focus areas. This lens was originally priced at approximately $2000. I was fortunate to purchase it for around $350, which was a significant savings considering my doubts about justifying paying the full price.