And yet, it's sort of one of my favorites from this batch.... Dunno why. This whole batch sort of reads like a creative kid that got a new camera and doesn't quite understand how it works yet. Like the compositions are pretty solid, but the technical aspects are all over the place. In any case, I'm pretty sure these were all taken with a box camera.
The first thought I had clicking through is that some of these look like they were taken as reference photos to use later. The engine, frame, and rear panel shots look like they could be taken during the time he was building his roadster and the lakes shots were ideas he wanted to borrow from? I'm probably optimistically wanting to think that was the case, but it's fun to imagine.
I don't know the tools needed and if the lenses help with it, but this detail shows one aspect that you touched on with your experiments and how old film is different than receptors. Three different focal lengths are amazing and 'true' to what is being captured. Our eye can quickly adjust in person, but when looking at a photo, our brain 'knows' and can even calculate distances by how much less info is presented. This one shows Tom's hand more than the others. I'd guess every artist or worker will have duds, but this one seems to more like the previous pictures.
That one is wayyy too far gone for my skill set. I wouldn't even know where to start. Plus, all I have is a scan of a print. Motion blur... he's sweeping the camera at the same speed of the car driving by while the audience is stationary. That along with a slowish shutter speed and the film grain gives you that feel. This sort of reminds me of the horizontal shutter in combination with the speeds of Bonneville... The "Forward Rake" if you will: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/?p=14760
Most definitely early construction shots of the red roadster. I'd say that the engine shots are the start of a homemade manifold for the supercharger. Seems there's also a strong interest in the Spalding Bros blown modified. One of the first successful uses of a supercharger at the lakes.
The Jalopy Journal
