Seduction

What does it take to cause my self restraint to take a serious dip? No, not redheads or green eyes, but old, rusty cars.There is something about coming upon a derelict vehicle from that great age of American automobiles that I find hard to resist. This is not always wise as there is a reason for the phrase "mean as a junkyard dog", and what I sometimes judge as abandoned is often someone else's project. How can you resist the paint that in part, even thought surrounded by rust eating away the body, remains bright, the chrome trim that is pitted but still shines and the curves that were clearly designed to be seductive. But the loss of restraint goes beyond snapping a few pictures. These are evocative objects that bring back a flood of memories of the cars you lusted for in your youth, and that, like that redhead, were never possessed. The perfect hotrod conversion. So when the images are uploaded how can you resist giving them the care and glamor they deserve? Oh, so many tools! Begin with Photoshop, but why stop there? HDR, Contrast Master, all the Nik filters, Lucis Pro, Topaz. How the hours slip away, just as they did for Detroit.