For the record, I wasn’t born with a Nikon in my hand—although the people who know me best tend to disagree. I just enjoy taking photos and I must admit I do feel a little bit naked without a camera in my possession. Blame it on my parents, who are both professional photographers and instilled in me at a very young age the desire to capture life around me through a viewfinder. Even today my “retired” parents are still taking photos and loving every minute of it. And because of my love of photography, my children have to put up with me and my “habit” and let’s just say they’ve had a well-documented life so far.
I love a good photo that captures the moment perfectly. When I’m at a truck pull or some other diesel-driven event, my goal is take at least one photo that will spark fond memories from those who were also in attendance. I want that person when they see my photo in our magazine to be able to perfectly remember the details of what they were doing at the time it was taken. I also want to take a photo or two that captures the excitement and feeling of being there live that drives those who weren’t able to make it to be there next time. Yes it’s a tall order, but these are the photo goals that I’ve set for myself.
A friend of mine recently asked for a picture of my truck. He didn’t give a reason, but I was happy to oblige. After my sixth email he quickly replied back and let me know he only asked for one photo.
I know I’m a little over the top with photos, but it kills me when I hear about a unique build and come to find out that no one involved thought to take a single picture. Seriously? Sadly you can have the greatest diesel truck in the world, but without photos, there’s not a lot we can do to promote it in our national magazine.
So in an attempt to promote photography, I’m going to do my part in what I’d like to refer to as “photo awareness month.” In order to get people thinking photos and packing around their cameras again, Diesel Tech magazine is offering a contest that I hope will get you motivated.
We want you to find a fun, creative or unique way to work this magazine issue into one of your own photos. Pack along this issue to your local dyno event this weekend or maybe to the sled pull at the fairgrounds. We need to see the September cover or some part of this issue visible in your photo and the rest is up to you.
Let’s see your truck, your favorite shop or some type of diesel event that creatively works our magazine into the picture and we’ll run our favorites in an upcoming issue. Besides bragging rights, we’ll also give out prizes to the top submitted photos that best show this issue as well as promote the diesel lifestyle.
To make our contest a little easier, we’re going to give you two different ways you can win by offering two categories: most creative photo and the funniest photo. Just email you photos to DTcontest@dieseltechmag.com.
So grab this issue and get creative. We want you to take us with you this weekend and who knows? If you happen to have your camera with you it might just become a habit for you so you’ll be ready the next time a photo opportunity comes up. Good luck and start snapping those pictures!