Go to a Museum…but make it cinematic

A few weeks ago my family decided that sitting inside watching the rain fall relentlessly was pretty boring. The lack of sun can really get to you in the PNW and it’s always a bonus if the clouds part and we see the light from our celestial light source. The target in our sights was Huntington Beach as it had been the family vacation haunt for several years. Even with US/Canadian tensions flaring from talking cheetos and corrupt bankers playing economic chess (with the checkers rules) my wife and I with her father and our daughter caught a flight south.

One thing that was a must visit this time around was the Petersen Automotive Museum just west of downtown LA. My father in law and I had been talking about going for probably a decade. The stars never quite aligned while we were down south in the past but this time it was cemented that we would be going together. The Museum is a 150% must visit if you are at all into automotive, I was lucky enough to make this my third visit. That really made it more exciting for this trip as my father in law had been wanting to see it and I was super stoked to get to watch him tick one off the bucket list.

We took advantage of the tickets to the vault and explored the full lineup of exhibits inside the beautiful mid century space age facade. Everything from the early days of motorized transport to modern day EV technology(barf) is on display with tonnes of information. Being able to see how enthralled and absorbed y the displays my father in law was, made the trip truly special.

I recently sort of changed my main camera setup for the channel and for more commercial photography purposes. Usually as my A-camera I would be swinging the Fuji X-T5 around or just the X100vi. I am a sucker for being able to apply in camera film simulations and LUTS which is Fujifilm’s most prominent allure on the market these days. That was the reason I have stayed with the system for close to 12 years now, but there is a new challenger emerging in my arsenal.

The Lumix S5iiX is a full frame mirrorless camera from Panasonic that has been on the market for a few years now. Lumix (like fuji) has its’ own phone app to transfer, edit and store images from the camera. On top of that it boasts just about every feature you could want in a modern mirrorless as well as the ability to upload LUT files (look up tables) that can bake in a colour scheme or film simulation similar to fuji with a lot more freedom to make your own look. I could nerd out about cameras all day but for the sake of making this a short and sweet blog post, I’ll spare you the monotony.

For our trip to the petersen I decided to take advantage of the Lumix’s ability to shoot in what’s lovingly referred to as “X-pan” mode, a 65:24 aspect ratio that gives photos a very cinema like crop. Paired with my version of a Kodak Vision 500t simulation on the camera it made for a wonderful time shooting inside the museum and taking in the exhibits in my favorite fasion.

The Vault tour is a must do when you visit the museum. Originally intended as a storage space it became an exhibit in itself full of cars awaiting transport, being stored for another day or on loan to the museum. Everything from Fast and Furious movie cars to nostalgia twin engine dragsters, modern F1 cars and IMSA greats from the golden age of sports car racing. I was particularly drawn to Buddy Bakers no.6 Superbird NASCAR, a tight looking little Alfa GTV racer, and a group of Vintage A hot rods that were absolutely stunning. In the main areas of the museum there were features for Aston Martin, a look into the sharp and straight wedge designs of the 20th century as well as a tribute to the 80’s and 90’s. I was actually able to re create one of my favorite camera angles of all time from the premiere of Miami Vice on September 16, 1984.

“Brothers Keeper” If you know you know

It was a wonderful feeling to be able to take my father in law somewhere we had talked about going together for a long time. Shooting photos in this way made it feel like I was watching a small part of his life like it was a movie. It was a welcome break from the grey and sopping wet winter at home and I really hope to go back for another day of absorbing automotive history.

See you on the road!