Curious Distraction: Explain your username, avatar picture, etc...

[RustyTheGeek]

I love cars, and have always loved musclecars. Back in high school and college, I made a habit out of destroying my friends four-cylinder Hondas and Mitsubishis with my V-8 Camaro. They called it the V8Beast, the name stuck, and it's made for a silly online handle over the years. Fortunately I've been able to make a career out of my hobby.

My avatar pic is just a piston and connecting rod assembly.

I had a '75 El Camino back in the day.  Rebuilt it from the ground up.  My buddies that I did all this stuff with had a '65 Fastback Mustang and a '65 Chevy Pickup.  We did more to them than to mine.  We transformed the '65 Pickup into a V8 Beast that with 5 lug wheels, Posi-Trak, 1 ton granny low tranny, 3/4 springs and disc power brakes, stereo, captains' seats, multi-coat paint job, roll bar, big hand made front push bar/bumper, etc.  We learned everything by doing it ourselves and reading books.  Lots of junk yard visits.  We taught ourselves to paint, weld, mechanic, fabricate, etc.  Hard to imagine all the stuff we managed to accomplish without the Internet.  Not sure if I can find the bathroom without a Google search these days....  (Thank God for StreetView!!).

FWIW, I think photographing products and in this case, automotive parts like that piston-rod assembly is some of the most challenging photos to make look dramatic and three dimensional.  Love to see more cool pictures of forged pistons!  Vrrrooooom!

[V8Beast]

I had a '75 El Camino back in the day.  Rebuilt it from the ground up.  My buddies that I did all this stuff with had a '65 Fastback Mustang and a '65 Chevy Pickup.  We did more to them than to mine.  We transformed the '65 Pickup into a V8 Beast that with 5 lug wheels, Posi-Trak, 1 ton granny low tranny, 3/4 springs and disc power brakes, stereo, captains' seats, multi-coat paint job, roll bar, big hand made front push bar/bumper, etc.  We learned everything by doing it ourselves and reading books.  Lots of junk yard visits.  We taught ourselves to paint, weld, mechanic, fabricate, etc.  Hard to imagine all the stuff we managed to accomplish without the Internet.  Not sure if I can find the bathroom without a Google search these days....  (Thank God for StreetView!!).

FWIW, I think photographing products and in this case, automotive parts like that piston-rod assembly is some of the most challenging photos to make look dramatic and three dimensional.  Love to see more cool pictures of forged pistons!  Vrrrooooom!

Sadly, fewer and fewer people these days turn their own wrenches. That applies to so-called car guys as well.

And yes, product photography is very much an under-appreciated art. I'm not very good at it, but I find it both challenging an fascinating as hell

[mjbehnke]

Mine is pretty simple as well.... M = Matthew, my first name; J= John, my middle name; and Behnke is my last name.

I don't have an avatar, as I look better when not in photos.

[TrumpetPower!]

Sadly, fewer and fewer people these days turn their own wrenches.

Sad?

Not really.

Those who enjoy turning wrenches still do. Those who'd rather do something else do something else.

All in all, that's not such a bad state of affairs.

Remember, just because you enjoy turning a wrench doesn't mean that everybody else does.

Me? All things being equal, I'd prefer to do all the regular stuff on my car, a '68 VW Westfalia. And I've got grand designs for doing a complete renovation, hopefully in the next couple years. But I've got enough other interests competing for my time that I'm just as happy handing her over to my shade tree mechanic, a gnarly dude who used to work on a top fuel team and who today has a real passion for cars twice the age of mine.

Cheers,

b&

[V8Beast]

Those who enjoy turning wrenches still do. Those who'd rather do something else do something else.

All in all, that's not such a bad state of affairs.

Remember, just because you enjoy turning a wrench doesn't mean that everybody else does.

If I had a penny for every time someone told me "I'd love to work on cars, but I don't know how" or "I'm too scared I'll break something" then I'd be able to buy a new 1Dx every week

There is an astronomical gap in knowledge between enthusiasts and racers who get their hands dirty and turn their own wrenches, and those that pay other people to do it for them. I have no problem with people that want to keep their hands clean, and I wish I could afford to keep my hands clean, too That said, it's sad when the "clean hands" crowd thinks their level of knowledge is up to par or exceeds that of people that are far more experienced than themselves. Some more humility would be appreciated by everyone  

[distant.star]

Some more humility would be appreciated by everyone

That humility stuff is rarely appreciated, Beast. Especially men -- we think we're expected to be able to talk camshafts and valve timing and torque converters -- even if we don't know anything about it! Safer, of course, to BS about "sports" nonsense. How about those Dodgers!!!

[mitchell3417]

Graduated from Mizzou

[Jackson_Bill]

Jackson because I take a lot of photos around Jackson, WY and the bear because I just like that photo from McNeil River.

[Hillsilly]

I had the nickname hillbilly.  (I assume that was because my surname started with Hill...but you never know.  Maybe it was because of my love of flannelette and my VH V8 SLE). Over time, it morphed in hillsilly.

[RMC33]

Those who enjoy turning wrenches still do. Those who'd rather do something else do something else.

All in all, that's not such a bad state of affairs.

Remember, just because you enjoy turning a wrench doesn't mean that everybody else does.

If I had a penny for every time someone told me "I'd love to work on cars, but I don't know how" or "I'm too scared I'll break something" then I'd be able to buy a new 1Dx every week

There is an astronomical gap in knowledge between enthusiasts and racers who get their hands dirty and turn their own wrenches, and those that pay other people to do it for them. I have no problem with people that want to keep their hands clean, and I wish I could afford to keep my hands clean, too That said, it's sad when the "clean hands" crowd thinks their level of knowledge is up to par or exceeds that of people that are far more experienced than themselves. Some more humility would be appreciated by everyone

Old cars are a blast. My father has a 67' Shelby GT 350 he bought new off the show room floor and he still tunes, maintains and shows the car all the time. I wish I had paid more attention to how he tuned and worked on it as a kid/young adult, but in all honesty it just was not my thing. The funny thing is my parents show their cars together (Shelby + 69' Pontiac GTO I think) and people give them guff because they drive and work on the cars themselves. Boggles my mind. 

[V8Beast]

That humility stuff is rarely appreciated, Beast. Especially men -- we think we're expected to be able to talk camshafts and valve timing and torque converters -- even if we don't know anything about it! Safer, of course, to BS about "sports" nonsense. How about those Dodgers!!!

I love baseball, too, and the new-look Dodgers scare the snot out of me. Not only do they have Kemp, Eithier, Crawford, Hanley Ramirez, and Adrian Gonzalez in the same lineup, but they also have two Cy Young winners in Kershaw and Greinke at the top of their rotation. Yikes. I'm curious to see if they're going to be as good on the field as they are on paper.

[Efka76]

Efka is short nickname from Lithuanian name Evaldas. 76 is is my birth year. Very simple username Currently considering which avatar to include

[Sith Zombie]

Mines film related: huge Star Wars and horror film fan! I should probably upload a picture but I don't make too many posts, more of a reader really 

[CanNotYet]

Well, mine is to signal that I love my Canon gear, but do not see myself as an accomplished photographer yet. Still much to learn. Hence Can-Not-Yet...

[insanitybeard]

Mine came about through work nicknames..... due to me sporting a full beard when I started out on my first 'proper' job as a trainee mechanic 13 or so years ago.... The other techs adorned me with the title 'Beard', often spoken in a variety of amusing tones. The insanity part came about partly through my own assessment of my sometimes mental state, but maybe also because of 'Lord insanity Melchett' (played by Stephen Fry) as he was referred to by the title character of Blackadder (not sure how well Blackadder is known outside of the UK). Can't remember how it happened but a fellow mechanic and friend at the garage put the insanity and beard together, thus it was born!

As for the avatar, it is a picture of my mascot (cue mass ridicule) 'Mr Cheery Chick' as he is known, an amusing roly-poly soft toy picked up for next to nothing one easter in a supermarket.... viewed from some angles, he seems to have a personality and life like quality all of his own....

I'll shut up now... Oh crap, gotta go, it looks like an Arkham Asylum van just pulled up outside the door....