Sunday, December 7, 2008

Mr. Allman's Model T

My friends Luke and Jess asked me to come to Daytona with them last weekend to snap some sneaky photos of Luke's grandfather and his pride and joy at the Daytona Turkey Run. Mr. Allman has spent years and years building this car and this was the first car show it's been in. Jess is going to surprise him with a scrapbook of all the pictures I took that day for Christmas. I was honored to be the photographer to capture this important day for their family to remember forever! Mr. Allman was a true joy to meet and hang out with... he had stories upon stories and told lots of funnies. He reminded me a lot of my grandfather and I probably could have sat there and talked with him all day and into the night about cars, old times, funny jokes, and creativity. He has built cars, done custom woodwork, and made custom high-end jewelry in his years. He invited me to visit his home and garage sometime to see his other cars and projects, and I can't wait to take him up on the offer!

It took us literally almost an hour to find them when we got inside the speedway in Daytona. Luke was back and forth on the phone with his dad trying to get better directions. "Look for the lemonade sign!" Unfortunately, those were all over the place.

Luke pointed this out when we finally found them.

thataway 2

"I told you to go this way!"

thataway

Well, at least everyone got their coveted lemonade.

mr allman lemonade

Luke's dad, Chris, polished up the car one last time.

chris polishing

And I got a few shots of it all shined up!

ford low vert

goodrich

ford low

allman cars

And after a little goofing around with three generations of Allmans......

allman boys

allman boys goofing off

... Mr. Allman climbed in for a few shots of himself in the driver's seat.

mr allman

mr allman 2

Now, Mr. Allman is full of wit and sharp as a tack. We're crossing our fingers that he didn't catch onto the reason why I was there taking pictures! Luke and Jess, I really enjoyed my time with you guys and your family last weekend. Thanks for letting me be a part of your history!

2 comments:

BH said...

Grandpa material? ;)

(Any relation to the Allman Brothers? LOL)

Tara said...

Haha, unfortunately he's taken. But he really did remind me a lot of grandpa with his craftsmanship and creativity and all his jokes!