Velvet 56 Cars on Film | Lensbaby Creators

Photographing the same event for over 15 years makes it easy to fall into a rut of taking the same old shots. Lloyd Gagnon was looking for something more unique when he chose to capture this year's Crusin' Grand Classic Car Show with a Lensbaby Velvet 56 on film.

Velvet 56, Kodak Ektar 100

Growing up in southern California I have been around the car culture for a while. So when the Cruisin’ Grand takes place I am naturally drawn to it. Cruisin’ Grand is a weekly Classic car event every Friday night in downtown Escondido, California along Grand Avenue, from April through September. Grand Avenue is used for Cruisin’ while the side streets along are closed to display cars.

Velvet 56, Kodak E100

Each week has its own theme, such as Packard, AFX, Axle Draggers, German Auto, and Nitro Night. There is plenty of room for everyone to bring and show off their cars from classics to rat rods. Living close by, I’ve spent many a Friday evening checking out the cars and people. For many, it’s a social gathering as much as a car show.

Velvet 56, Kodak E100

2019 mark the twentieth year of Cruisin’ Grand. I have been shooting at Cruisin’ Grand for about 15 years and use only film camera. Using film requires putting more thought into each frame. For cameras, I use Canon EOS 3, Elan II, and EF-M (an EF mount camera with no autofocus). I have found that the results also depend on the film and the lens used. I use a variety of films from the popular to the little known. For color my preference is Kodak Ektar and E100 and for black and white, I use TMAX 100, Rollei Retro 80S, Ilford SFX, and Svema Blue Sensitive.

Velvet 56, Svema Blue Sensitive

An issue of photographing the same event over time is that it is easy to fall into a rut of doing the same shots. Last year I acquired a Velvet 56 and began taking it to Cruisin’ Grand. The Velvet 56 brings a uniqueness to shooting at Cruisin’ Grand. The glow provided gives a different feel to the shots and provides something different than the standard car shot.

Velvet 56, Rollei Retro 80S

On most cars there are a lot of interesting details to explore, especially pre 1960. The Velvet 56 short focusing distance make capturing details easy.

Velvet 56, Kodak Ektar 100

Velvet 56, Kodak E100

Velvet 56, Kodak E100

Velvet 56, Kodak E100

Velvet 56, Kodak Ektar 100

If you like cars and have a chance to make it to Cruisin’ Grand I would recommend it. Information on Cruisin’ Grand may be found here and more photos may be found at:

Cruisin' Grand Color

Cruisin' Grand B&W

Velvet 56, Kodak E100

Check out more of Lloyds's work on 500px.