Column: Build Threads Can Offer More Than Just Pictures of Cool Cars

[Editor's Note: This column originally ran in the November 2019 issue of Grassroots Motorsports]

I guess I’ll start out by saying that this column ended up not being about what I was going to originally write it about. I probably should have first posted “spoiler alert,” but …

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While I'm fascinated with the incredible shops some people have, I find it encouraging when I see other people working in similar, cramped facilities, what I would call 'normal'.

The thing I find most interesting in a shop backgrounds is tool boxes. Everything from the brand, color, stickers on it, etc is a reflection of the owner's personality and career, both amateur and professional. I think that's pretty neat.

Along with pictures of home projects there is a world full of pictures with very interesting backgrounds. Pictures at the races with a cameo appearance of your car maybe? Or your buddies car? Shots at a cars and coffee event with the background of a street that you know. 

The posting of cars on bring a trailer, barn finds, and other for sale sites have almost as much interesting stuff in the background as the car that's posted. Sometimes the car in the back corner of the picture is better than the one posted. Doesn't need to be in a shop either,  mountains, oceans,  weather, roads, and cities, can all take us to another place regardless of the car in the picture.

The best, have a picture of your dog somewhere in the picture. 

...cinematic equivalent of that time you dumped every single action figure on the bedroom floor...

This may be the most brilliant and descriptive piece of wordcraft I've ever seen in a magazine. 

I'm not disagreeing but I find it interesting that JG's description of good photographs in this context break several conventions of good photography.

The build threads here is what keeps me coming back. Ill read about a build thread for a model car, a guitar, a house, a garage, or some old weird car Ive never heard of. You learn knew things about certain cars, you see people mess up repeatedly and realize you arent the only one, and you can see someone build something crazy with so little.

When Im looking at a car Ill google E46 build thread, or GMT400 Build thread, and I havent found a single place that has the same quality of build threads as GRM, and there is such a wide knowledge base here, that someone could make a build thread about a car there is only 2 of with some weird problem, and inevitably a member will comment, "I used to work on that car when it raced in '92. This is what you need to do, and I have a bunch of spares Ill ship you."

APEowner said:

I'm not disagreeing but I find it interesting that JG's description of good photographs in this context break several conventions of good photography.

 

"good" and "interesting" are sometimes two different things.

In reply to JG Pasterjak :

That's what my wife tells me all the time. 

I find that documenting a build makes it much easier to go back and figure out how to put things back together also.

And then looking back and saying "what the hell was I thinking?"

My first thought was "well it's certainly a lot easier to just snap a couple photos while going along and slap them on the internet" (vs a nicely written and photographed - or filmed - how to). 

My second thought was "that's fine because no one wants to build the same dumb crap I do, but they might want to watch me try" (in the same 'don't want to watch but can't look away' aura that exists in the seconds following a good HEY WATCH THIS)

My final thought is that I would be very interested to hear or read about some tips on making a good build thread. Just saying. 

APEowner said:

I'm not disagreeing but I find it interesting that JG's description of good photographs in this context break several conventions of good photography.

I would say that's because traditional photography is "art", in that the photographer/artist is trying to convey something specific to the viewer, and the composition of the photo is intended to best-deliver that message.

The "take a step back" photographs are something different, they're providing a sneak peak into the broader world of the person whose work you're reading about.  In a way it's more like an "about the author" blurb in a book, only less sanitized and with a greater chance of containing some unintentional details.

I'm going to have to go check the backgrounds of all my pictures now. 

Toyman01 + Sized and said:

I'm going to have to go check the backgrounds of all my pictures now. 

Make sure to look carefully at the reflective parts too. :)

This may have been said in a slightly different way already, but I, almost always, find what's in the background far more intriguing than the intended subject matter (I'm talking about you, vacation pics).

I love it when folks ruin a perfectly good photograph by inserting A. Family, B. Themselves, C. Themselves and Family, D. Themselves, Family, and the dog.  "OH, look, way back behind George, Bonnie, the kids and Spot, there's a volcano erupting !!"

In a similar way, I enjoy movies  /shows from 40s 50s 60s....not because of the plot or acting, but the backgrounds are a time machine of "normal" in the day.

With "The Saint", I get the added bonus of touring the world, and seeing cool old cars not brought to US.

BimmerMaven said:

In a similar way, I enjoy movies  /shows from 40s 50s 60s....not because of the plot or acting, but the backgrounds are a time machine of "normal" in the day.

With "The Saint", I get the added bonus of touring the world, and seeing cool old cars not brought to US.

I'd second that emotion.

We started watching The Saint, too, a while back. I still find it odd that everyone knows who he is. 

I took this column as more of a warning. People aren't looking at what you're trying to illustrate, they're peeping into your stuff. Be extra careful not to show anything you don't want to show...