Accidental Ghost Car

10 second exposure at F5, ISO 800

I had so much fun last weekend.  One of my client couples, Janelle and Mike were in San Antonio from Houston taking care of some last minute details on their upcoming wedding.  We wanted to take some engagement pictures on the Riverwalk.  


They are a blast.  A romantic couple, both professionals, Mike and Janelle have a lot of fun together.  We walked around the Riverwalk, doing some night photography.  

I've always enjoyed night shoots because they are both a challenge, and an opportunity to try some really creative things with light.  I wanted to try a shot that I've been thinking about for a while... a couple on a busy street, with lots of cars and people moving, but the couple is the only thing in the frame that is in focus... everything else has motion blur.  

I had my shutter speed pretty slow at around one to ten seconds.  I was doing some test shots that would have the Hemisfair Tower of the Americas in the  background.  We were standing at the entrance to La Villita.  There were several classic cars parked nearby.  I don't know if they were having a car club meeting, or a little car show, or just some guys showing off their hot rods.

During one of the test shots, a classic Chevy pulls into the driveway while my shutter was open.  I didn't know if I had it or not.  I didn't check my review LCD screen.  A few nights later, I was doing my editing, and I saw the "Ghost Car"...  all the other lights were pretty much blown out, but you could see the ghostly image of a classic Hot Rod.  It's an accidental picture that I may turn into a poster and hang on my office wall.  I like it.  If I'd tried to make it look like this, it probably would not have worked.  Sometimes things work out by accident.  Sometimes you get lucky.