Classic Corvettes on Film
1967 Corvette ■ Pentax 6x7 ■ Kodak Portra 400
1966 Corvette at NCRS Regional Show in Greenville, South Carolina ■ Pentax 6x7 ■ Kodak Portra 400
I got to mix two hobbies at the National Corvette Restorers Society Regional Event in Greenville, South Carolina. My obsession with corvettes runs about as deep as my passion for film photography, and as the photographer for the event I took advantage of a perfect opportunity to capture these beasts on film. Armed with my Pentax 6x7, Portra 400, a tripod and a shutter release cable, I got to photograph some of the best corvettes ever made. Most have been restored to factory specifications, and some are still wearing the paint they left the factory with!
As with any film shots, the quality of exposure comes down to metering. Indoors with artificial tungsten lighting like this, Portra 400 has a working ISO of 125. This is a tip I scooped up from Jonathan Canlas in his FIND in a Box workshop. If you want an amazing reference for shooting all different film stocks and film cameras, there's no one better to learn it from than Jon.
Indoors at ISO 125 can lead to very slow shutter speeds, and many of these are close to 1 second. A solid tripod and shutter release cable are a must in these circumstances. Also, the mirror lock-up on the Pentax 6x7 helps prevent any camera shake due to that mirror slapping up. All of these shots used the Pentax 67 SMC 105mm f/2.4 as it's such a fantastic lens.
The NCRS National Convention will be held in the same location in July 2019, but with twice the showing. If classic corvettes are your thing, or film photography, or both check out the NCRS calendar for future shows, including the National Convention. You can find the calendar here. And if you do attend next year, come find me! I'll be the guy with the Pentax 6x7! Until then, you can find me at Instagram, @peter_jeffrey_
Film developed and scanned by theFINDlab.
