I messed up. Yep, I’m not too proud to admit it when I make an mistake. I messed up and missed what many have said was the best Jalopy Jam Up ever. I know that statement seems a little weird, given here I am writing about the Jalopy Jam Up but it’s true.
After covering the morning and early afternoon events of the show consecutively the past few years this go round I wanted to approach things a little differently. The plan was to arrive later in the day, and stay on into the night to catch some of the better lighting and passionate night life.
My reasoning for this is quite honestly I’ve taken enough shots in harsh light, and I’ve become quite fond of golden hour. I’ve also heard good things about the Jam Up party so the idea seemed sound.
Unfortunately my day leading up to the festivities didn’t go quite to plan and I arrived to the Rockton Fairgrounds nearly two hours later than intended. The last scheduled event ended around three, so, as you can imagine a lot of people had left, or were planning on leaving by the time I strolled in at half past 5.
While many had left, or were in the process of leaving there were still a fair number of people who hadn’t pointed there vehicle toward the exit.
Some were saying for the night, others just until then felt like leaving, either way instead of continuing to kick myself I focused my lens on the vehicles that remained.
So while I can’t exactly present this as all encompassing coverage of the sixth annual jalopy Jam Up I can at least present it as something.
Which is better than nothing.
One of my favorite cars of the event sat right near the entrance and made the trek from across the border.
Joe Siclari’s ’61 Olds was stunning. I can’t recall the last time I was so blindsided by a car.
There was not single unnecessary modification done. It was spotless everywhere you looked, the paint was phenomenal and it was driven.
I could have stared at this car for hours.
Speaking of cars I never tire of, Keith brought out the Binbrook Coupe which always looks good no matter the conditions or light.
My friend Mark brought his shovel head to the show. He built the bike in his garage and had been riding it as much as possible.
Don’t post a lot of bikes on the site but it’s too good not to.
One of the best parts of the Jam Up is that it caters to both hot rods and customs. As someone who likes both, it’s really the perfect show.
Even though I missed most of it, I could tell it was a good one even based on the few cars that were left.
As day continued to rapidly progress to night I took advantage of this custom Shoebox sitting all by its lonesome.
Chopped, slammed, frenched headlights painted in a deep black with razor straight body lines it was a pretty easy car to shoot as it really didn’t have a single bad angle.
Eventually the light got a bit too difficult to shoot in and I put my camera gear away.
That was pretty short lived as shortly afterward a couple cars equipped with flame throwers opted to put down a little heat.
Having never shot flames before I didn’t miss the opportunity.
All and all I had a great time at the Jam Up (as always) and can’t wait for next year, where I’ll hopefully have a watch that keeps me honest and gets me there on time.
Enjoy a few more photos from the day below.
