Vintage Cars in the Wild – Dogford Studios

I always love spotting and photographing vintage cars in the wild. On the highway, in driveways, on the street and sometimes parked in the most perfect settings.

Most of the time our access to old cars is limited to museum collections or car shows. Neither are optimal for the type I like to take. My goal is to find vintage cars in a natural setting, preferably beside a building or relic from their period.

Cars at car shows are fine for up close detail shots but that’s about it. They are usually all lined up next to each other and festooned with flyers, awards and other signage that distract from the car.

Cars in museums are displayed under terrible lighting and also have information signs, “Do Not Touch” signs and barriers strung across the front of them. Hardly the best place to get natural looking car photographs.

Finding Vintage Cars in the Wild

I’ve been vigilant in seeking out vintage cars in natural settings and I’ve been lucky over the years to run across some rather great opportunities to photograph great old cars. I’ve found a Ford Galaxy 500 parked in a neighborhood of triple-deckers in Greenfield, MA, a Ford Model T in front of an old countrystore in Danbury, New Hampshire and a classic Ford pickup truck on an old mining road in Jerome, Arizona among other finds.

Old Vintage Cars in a Junkyard in rural Utah by Edward M. Fielding. Prints available here.

Some of the places I often photograph, the Connecticut River valley from the shores of Old Saybrook, CT up to the Upper Valley region of Vermont and Connecticut seems extra fruitful for old car spotting in the warmer season. Seems that the first sign that spring has truly arrived is when the vintage car owners dust off their cars and take them for a ride.

Old Mack Fire Engine, Jerome, Arizona by Edward M. Fielding

Rusty Relics Reek of Character

Besides finding beautifully restored vintage cars, I’m a sucker for old rusty relics of old cars found in junkyards and roadside attractions. Cars with no hope of restoration but hauled to a location for a bit of decor. Lately, I’ve been hunting down these collections in the American Southwest in out of the way places such as Searchlight, Nevada, Hatch, Utah and Jerome, Arizona.

Photographs of the American Southwest — Photographs in the American Southwest by Edward M. Fielding

In New England I’ve come across a lot of at most eight old rusty cars, but some of these places out west have dozens and dozens of old cars and trucks.

Great Places to Visit for Rusty Old Car Photography

Edward M. Fielding Photographer On Location — Edward M. Fielding Photographer on location at the Gold King Mine and Ghost Town, Jerome, Arizona.

Some of the best spots to browse and photograph rusty old vintage cars, as opposed to pristine, restored “inside” car museums include the following places:

Old Car City – White, George
Cloud Museum – Bard, California
Eldorado Mine and Ghost Town – Searchlight, Nevada
Gold King Mine and Ghost Town – Jerome, Arizona