Old Cars in the Desert – Dogford Studios

I recently flew across the country with my camera backpack loaded down with my favorite lenses and my tripod so that I could leave the luxury of a Las Vegas strip hotel to travel into the 115 degree desert to photograph old vintage cars preserved in the hot, dry deserts of Nevada.

I shot in the early morning when the light was still to the side and the heat wasn’t too unbearable. As it was I could only work for about 45 minutes at a time before heading to the nearest air-conditioned shelter to down a Gator-aide.

Photographing in the desert in the summer is a challenge as your camera with it’s black body, heats up to the point you can’t touch it. You certainly can’t accidentally touch the hot metal on old cars without getting a burn. And other dangers besides heat stroke are the rattlesnakes, scorpions and cactus that live in this danger.

Of course this is partly why these subjects still exist. They are remote and remain in inhospitable locations, far from vandals who would destroy these old treasures.