1937 Dodge Tanker Rat Rod

[Chad Truss]

I haven't posted on here in a while. I'm looking for a good photography forum to post in so I am back to give it a shot here.

I do Automotive Photography mainly and I am now Head of Photography for Rat Rod Magazine. So this last year I have been shooting 99% rat rods.

For this shoot I wanted to get a model involved for the first time so I could get a good shot at the cover of the January issue of the magazine. So when trying to line up a model I showed my friend some cell phone pics of the truck I wanted to shoot. He said it looked like Tim Burton's hot rod so that prompted me to try for a Nightmare Before Christmas feel when shooting this truck.

So I lined up a model, lined up a stylist, and I got my hands on some gear (I don't have lights). Then I scheduled the shoot to take place in an abandoned loading dock I know of. A couple garage doors are stuck open so I knew we could drive in.

The shoot was a complete success. I got the cover, I got an 8 page feature in the magazine, and I think my first shoot with a model went great.

Vehicle:
1937 Dodge cab with custom built tanker rear.
Big block blown V-8, all custom built.
150HP Nitrous system

Camera and gear:
Nikon D300S
24-70mm f2.8 lens
(3) Norman strobes with stands and softboxes
(1) SB900 speedlight mounted on a monopod with a softbox for hand held fill light
Vagabond power supply
1999 Saab 9-5 for back up power lol

And here is what I came up with. Click on the link at the end of the post to see larger versions of the images.

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Link to the whole gallery.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ctruss5...7625469370773/

Thanks for looking.

[Chad Truss]

And here is the post on my blog with the cover shot.

http://trussphotography.com/?p=107

[dizzye36m3]

What a cool car. Nice shots of it.

[FlyingPhotog]

Dude, Sick!

A little something you may not have known regarding the "Roar Gilmore" on the back: LINK

[bexi20]

Very nice shot and a crazy looking car.

[Chad Truss]

Originally Posted by FlyingPhotog

Dude, Sick!

A little something you may not have known regarding the "Roar Gilmore" on the back: LINK

Knowing that now I should have shot this in a hangar.

lol

[L.J.G.]

I can never quite get my head around "rat rods" even though both my nephews have them, but man that is one cool looking car - probably the best rat rod I have seen. Great shoot too, it suits it to a tee. I can see why you picked up the cover and story shots.

[PhotosGuy]

Good series on an unusual Rat! Congrats on the cover!

Originally Posted by FlyingPhotog

Dude, Sick!

A little something you may not have known regarding the "Roar Gilmore" on the back: LINK

Nice 'catch', Jay!

[Chad Truss]

Thanks everyone.

This was probably some of my best work from 2010. I am working on improving for 2011 though.

[bdpaco]

Nice shots!
You probably know one of my friends, he does some shooting for you guys I believe....John Jackson

[Woolburr]

Cool shots....I'd love to hear that beast.

[chonhzilla]

Amazing work!

[ArinX]

Nice work and a amazing ride

[CubsAngel]

Great shots! Love Rat rods!

[Chad Truss]

Originally Posted by Woolburr

Cool shots....I'd love to hear that beast.

It makes no sounds right now.

Pulling out of the last car show of the year, he was doing a burnout and the blower threw a bearing. The bearing guts got blown down into the engine and scuffed up some of the cylinder walls.

When the blower seized that belt on the front was large enough and had enough traction that it bent the end of the crankshaft.

The owner tells me the engine will be rebuilt bigger, badder, and better than ever by spring.

He had $12k into that engine in the photos. OUCH!