My friend told me about how the Penske Racing Museum always holds a Cars and Coffee meet every third Saturday of the month, and I've seen the meet on websites before. With school over, I decided to go with him to check it out.

The day and night before, there were huge rainstorms all across the Valley. An inch of rain fell at Sky Harbor International Airport in downtown Phoenix alone (which is basically where rain will least likely fall due to location and the fact the pavement is a million degrees thanks to downtown and jet engines). The morning after, aka the morning of the show, there was still thick cloud cover over the Valley. I knew it was going to be a great opportunity for photos because I love taking pictures with cloudy backdrops. The lighting that exists due to cloud cover just makes things perfect for photos; the grayness of the sky, the cooler lighting, the lack of direct, harsh light- it all creates very moody images and nice reflections/contrasts, especially on metal. As I drove north to Penske, a light, and then a heavy, rain started coming down. I smiled, because I knew now that the cars at the show would be covered in a fresh layer of rain. I find a particular beauty in cars covered in rain droplets. I can't explain why, but seeing the water bead up on the metal and glass, and seeing how the water droplets grouped together and rolled off the body, following the bodywork of the car, is magical to me. Maybe it's because from a design perspective it helps visualize the lines of the car, and from an engineering perspective it helps visualize how air flows over the car. I couldn't wait to get to Penske and see what there was.

When I pulled in, I was a little confused. I thought maybe I was not in the correct place because I did not see too many cars. When I drove further into the parking lot, I realized I was at the correct place, but there were only around a dozen cars present. Rain always kills off meets. Still, that did not mean I could not take some photos. Since my friend had not arrived yet, I starting walking around before taking pictures to see what was there. I started with a lineup of Porsche 911s from different generations and different trims. I recognized a 3.8RS and a GT3 from the Gainey Village Cars and Coffee show immediately. I tried to get some shots of the water beads on the GT3, but they were too fine on the body. The RS though, was much more cooperative, and the monochrome image of the RS below is one of my favorites, if not best photos I've taken. A 135i M, a very underrated car given its capabilities, sitting nearby made for a good shot, too, as well as the Maserati dealership's Ghiblis. I've never lied the Ghibli too much, nor Maserati's new styling direction. But, since Fiat wants to sell 50,000 Maseratis per year, whatever is the most appealing will work (unfortunately).

I walked around a little to see what else was present. There was a first generation Ford Mustang present, but it was parked in a way that I would not be able to take many good photos of it. There was a Roush Mustang and another Mustang GT present, as well as a seafoam Nissan GT-R, but I've also seen them before multiple times, and they were also not parked in the best positions, so I did not capture them. However, many of the Ferrari/Maserati dealership cars were parked in great positions. First up was a white Gran Turismo S, or, at least the badge of one. I was definitely pleased with how it came out and how well it came out edited.

Moving onto the Ferrari section of the dealership, I came across a rain-kissed Ferrari F12berlinetta. It was beautiful looking at how the rain had beaded up and flowed off of the body. Seeing the front of the car covered in droplets worked well with the shape of the F12, especially towards the airbridge on the sides of the car. The moody lighting was also perfect in framing the water beads on the car. Further up, a 458 Italia and California parked side-by-side, facing the mountains. The picture of those two cars was wonderful with the mountains and clouds in the background. The rain on the California's body was also perfect looking, with drops flowing off the canopy and beading on the bodywork.

But up ahead sat a black Ferrari FF. The water on it, its position, the shape of the car itself, the way light was reflection off of it, it was all perfect. And, I think these are the best photos I've taken. Monochrome really worked well here:

Processing to bring out the colors of the sky (or, in the 4th photo's case, reduce the colors) also made for striking images, especially when sharpened:

And of course, here are the images without heavy processing, which still look great in my opinion. The clearing skies allowed for more light and blue skies to start appearing in images:

The Ferrari FF sat pretty in front of the Ferrari dealership, with a 458 behind it. Again, I love how the rain beading on the body adds an indescribable beauty to the car.

Having walked to one end of the dealership and not really wanting to continue on as it started becoming a Jaguar and Land Rover lot, I decided to walk back to see if my friend had arrived yet, and sure enough I saw his A4 parked nearby. By it was an evil looking CTS-V with huge hood vents that could eat a small child. I met up with my friend and we starting talking, but were interrupted by an Alfa Romeo 4C rolling by.

We talked for a bit and decided to go look around inside the dealerships since there wasn't too much to look at outside, but not before I snapped a few pics of a Ford GT. Inside the dealership, we wandered around, looking first at the Lamborghini/Bentley/Rolls-Royce dealership. There were a few Huracáns and Aventadors inside, as well as a Continental GT and a Phantom. We went outside to the back area, where an attractively positioned lineup of Ghiblis were parked, photobombed by a Honda Odyssey.

We returned to the front of the dealership through the Ferrari/Maserati dealership, admiring a used Nissan GT-R with around $40,000 worth of mods on it, as well as the Ferraris on display. Back at the front, I got another shot of the rain-soaked F12, with direct sunlight now hitting the bodywork.

Another treat lay ahead (at least for me, since I am a fan of JDM cars): A RHD 2nd generation Toyota Soarer, I'm assuming from Japan. I didn't find the owner so I could know what engine it had and what mods were in it, but I was still able to appreciate it. The clouds started covering up the sun again, giving me back that cloudy lighting I like.

Walking back, I got a shot of an M4 pulling into the show, driving by a bagged A3. After talking for a little while longer, a C7 Corvette pulled in, white paint looking amazing in the cloudy light, before leaving after only a few minutes. I loved how the white seemed to glow in this lighting, and how the black contrasted the white. Funny how a few years ago when this car first came out I hated the look of the blacks on the car contrasting the body paint.

Since we were thinking of leaving, I decided to get some photos of a McLaren MP4-12C that was parked nearby because the carbon fiber inlets for the intake were red, which I thought was striking looking, especially since it had bright red brake calipers as well.

After that, my friend decided to leave, but I decided to hang around a little longer to take more photos. A Mercedes 220 (W187 I believe, if my quick Google job was correct), rolled in. It is in beautiful condition, with the black paint giving clear reflections of everything in sight. I was never much into older cars, but the condition and look of this 220 in the now-direct-sunlight-again-but-still-overcast-skies lighting made it something beautiful for me.

As I was walking around, I noticed that the F82 M4 had parked next to an F80 M3. Given their black and gray colors, I thought it would be neat to get a photo of the two together, as well as the M3 alone since I have actually never seen an F80 M3 before.

Before heading to my car, I walked around back to the back of the dealership. I remember seeing some rain-covered cars that also looked really good looking. Yup, worst mistake ever because there were, resulting in the bazillion photos below. First up was a Porsche (forgot the model but that's not important for the photo). The way the raindrops had collected on the hood and on the Porsche badge made for an amazing image, made even more amazing looking with monochrome and heavy processing. Here are edited ones, not heavily processed:

And here are ones more heavily processed and ones converted to monochrome:

And ahead of this was a Ferrari 430 Scuderia, completely soaked in rain water. I love how the 430 Scuderia looks dry, with its curves and more aggressive body kit, but in the rain it looked even better. Again, I cannot describe why rain-covered cars look more beautiful to me,but regardless, I ended up taking many photos of it.

And, of course, the inevitable: a ton of edits, which in my opinion look fantastic.

Of course, monochrome conversion was even more fantastic. The images just look so moody, I love it.

I wandered around a little more, exploring the racing museum and going up the staircase to see the view of the mountains. As I was coming down, I saw a Jaguar XJ from almost directly above. It's large roof was absolutely covered in rain. As you probably guessed already, I had to take photos. But look at them. It looks so beautiful.

As I descended the staircase, I knew I captured some great photos. If only I knew that these would be the best photo's I've ever taken so far. But, to be honest, I think it'll be hard to top some of these in the future, even if I become pro and owned $10,000 cameras and lenses. I just love these images that much.