Another shot I’ve seen tonight whilst going through images for Saab Pride book entries.

This C900 is owned by Valter P, a GM employee in Brazil. Click to enlarge.

Character. Cool. Class. Utility. Design. Style.

Discuss.

I thought it high time to provide you all with an update as to how the Saab Pride book project is going.

It’s fair to say that the book has sat on the backburner for a little while. It’s been some time since I asked for extra entries for the book and since that time, there was a lack of clarity as to whether or not we’d still have a Saab brand to celebrate.

With Christmas out of the way and some hope for a brighter future on the horizon, work is now well and truly underway.

There is no time frame as yet for the availability of the book, but what I can tell you so far is as follows:

* We will most likely use an on-demand publishing service. This is where we collate and design the book, sotre it on the publisher’s servers and it’s printed when you order it. This does increase the price, unfortunately, but I can’t afford a standard color print run. Even if they were printed at $20 a book it would come to an amount well into the thousands of dollars (you need high volume to get lower unit prices), which is a huge investment.

* The service we’ll most likely use is blurb.com. I’ve checked out their products and the printing is quite good. Of course, we’ll do a test copy or two before offering it for sale, but I’m happy with what I received so far from them.

* The most likely scenario is a 120 page book, featuring around 50 or so vehicles and their owners’ stories. The likely cost is around US$40 plus postage. That’s more than I wanted to charge but may be as low as we can go for this type of on-demand service.

* I haven’t got all the images into a file yet, but the total number that we have to go through is over 400 so far. And many of them are truly amazing. Seeing them all again has been a great motivator for getting this work done.

* When I say “we” I mean myself and Stu the Lens Genius. I’ve enlisted Stu’s help because a) he’s got a great eye, and b) this is way too much for one busy blogger to handle.

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Here’s just one of the images I’ve been looking through tonight.

From Craig R in New NW England. Click to enlarge.

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If anyone’s got any ideas as to how we can lower the price without a significant investment, I’m all ears.

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I haven’t written about it for a little while now, but thankfully you guys remembered and this morning my Gmail inbox is full of new Saab Pride entries for the book I’m proposing to put together.

The closing date for entries was the 10th November, so if it’s Sunday wherever you’re reading this right now, you’ve still got time. If it’s Monday and you’re name isn’t Taras, then you SOL.

I’ve received heaps of entries since my last call, which is fantastic. The majority who have sent an entry have not received an email reply, but please rest assured that if you sent it to my Gmail account then it’s been received. And please also accept my heartiest thanks for helping out.

Here’s just one of the images received this morning, from Marc in Luxembourg:

We now have a great cross-section of countries and models represented, which is going to really help in fulfilling one of the goals of the book – to show Saab’s appeal over a long period, regardless of geography.

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I do have one problem cropping up with the book.

I’m not sure that the supplier I was considering to publish the book will be able to produce it at a cost that will be acceptable for people to pay. The two options therefore, are either to raise the proposed price (acceptable to a small degree) or find a different way to produce this work.

We can talk more about it later, but if people have connections in the publishing game or can recommend a way to get this done cost-effectively, I’m all ears.

And Saab, if you’d like to help out in producing what will hopefully be a great work for your dealers to hand out to prospective customers and new customers alike, then you know my email address, eh?

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I’ve just been going through the full stable of Saab Pride submissions and would like to place a call for any and all owners of older Saabs to get them out of the garage and snap off some photos.

So far, we’ve got just over 80 vehicles in total. This includes entries in the original Pride of Ownership competition. Please note that not all photos received so far are of the quality of composition that I’d like for the book, so that number will fall as I go through the editing process.

The current breakdown of vehicles is as follows:

I’ve got lots of Saab 9-5s and 9-3s (of both generations), both wagons and combis. I’ve also got a goodly number of Classic 900s and 9000s….BUT..

I’ve only one Saab 99 and one Saab 95 and there’s no 96s in the virtual garage right now.

So if you’ve got one of these older Saabs and you love it, please consider wheeling it out this weekend so that we can round out this book and make sure that as much of Saab’s model range as possible is represented.

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If you’re sending in some photos, I also need some text to accompany the shots. This would ideally be a brief description of the vehicle, as well as a few words about what the car (or the brand) means to you. Imagine the sort of thing you’d like to read about, and then write it to accompany your shots.

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Thanks to everyone who’s sent in some shots so far. It’s going great!

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Did I ever say that Michigan was an ugly place?? Of course, I mean downtown Detroit, which from my experience wasn’t exactly Pleasantville. Here, Wulf brings us photographic proof that Michigan’s got a lot of different views. Oh, and then there’s his brilliant new 9-5 to go with it.

Here’s another potential submission I’ve received for the Saab Pride book. In Wulf’s case, he’s got an embarassment of riches as I’ve just looked through around 40 photos of his and the large majority of them would be perfect candidates for the book.

How good are they? This is one I didn’t recommend for use in the book. You can imagine for yourself how picturesque the others must be.

If you’re contemplating a submission for the book, please do get your camera out and get some shots. There’s plenty of good scenery out there at this time of year, so if you’ve got a landmark or something else that’s beautiful nearby, get your Saab out and get snapping.

Entries close November 10 and the full instructions and conditions are here.

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Time for another quick peek into the submissions I’m receiving for the Saab Pride book.

This image shows Rogan’s Saab 9-3 Sport Sedan on the Turquise Trail in New Mexico. Beautfiul car, big scenery.

Anyone having any qualms about the shape of the 9-3 sport sedan, take a good look. That’s one very attractive and sporting profile. Click to enlarge.

If you’re contemplating a submission for the book, please do get your camera out and get some shots. There’s plenty of good scenery out there at this time of year, so if you’ve got a landmark or something else that’s beautiful nearby, get your Saab out and get snapping.

Entries close November 10 and the full instructions and conditions are here.

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Thanks again to all have sumbitted a photo for the Saab Pride book so far.

I’m aware that there’s some confusion out there as to what needs to be submitted and by when, so let’s clear that up.

Closing date: First of all, I need to tell you all that entries must close November 10, 2008. I’m going to be flat out editing and doing layout stuff after that in order to get the book out in good time. So please, if you’re thinking of entering, the next two weekends are the time to get out there, find the best scenery you can and shoot some photos.

Where to send your entries: swade99@gmail.com and please make sure you put “Saab Pride” in the subject line of the email.

What to send:

1) A great photo (or photos) of your car. Please understand that this is a book that we’re asking people to pay for. Hence, the photos and content have to be something that they’ll want to buy. It doesn’t need to be a professional shot, but it should be well composed and if there’s something notable in the scenery (a famous landmark, for example) then all the better.

2) Some text that I can post with the photo(s). This could be something along the lines of what Saab as a brand means to you, or what your particular car means to you. The bare specs of the car can be included, but these on their own won’t be enough (unless your car is extremely rare, in which case some details are appropriate). Please limit your text to around 80 words. There’ll only be one page to print it and I’d like to keep those text pages as clean as possible.

3) The name you’d like attributed to the photo. I’d suggest a fill first name and initial (e.g. Steven W)

4) Your general location (e.g. state/province/city, country)

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Why these entries were finalists in the competition

Wilfried’s photo made you feel the cold that it was set in. The arch makes you wonder what’s on the other side and of course, there’s the beautiful and unmistakable lines of his Saab 9-5.

Tim’s entry was a technical one, as well as one for scenery. Tim keeps his car immaculately clean and the mirror finish was evident in this shot. The beautiful skyline in the background gave a clear indication as to where he lives, too.

DenverNewbie’s entry was a finalist due to the breathtaking setting in which he placed his car – the Garden of the Gods in Colorado. This entry took a little effort, but the results were well worth it.

Vaidas’ entry set his cars in a dramatic setting and the composition and coloring of the photos was just fantastic. This was the winning entry in the competition.

Willy D’s entry, again, was in a dramatic setting and the stark white of his Saab 9-5 looked just magnificent against the background of the Hawaiian countryside.

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I’d like your car to be shown in the best possible light, so please give some consideration to the setting in which you photograph it.

Submissions close November 10, so please get out there!

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It’s time for a Saab Pride of Ownership book update. I’m pleased to say that I’ve received a number of updated photos via email (please note, if you’ve sent it, I’ve received it, even though I may not have acknowledged it yet). Here’s one of them for your perusal.

WillyD lives in Hawaii and was a finalist in the original Saab Pride of Ownership photo competition earlier this year. Those photos were in color, but his latest submissions are in black and white.

The location WillyD’s chosen for these photos is a significant one. I’ll let Willy explain:

The photos are taken on Ford Island, Oahu (Hawaii). The name of the island may not be familiar to most people, but it’s location is pretty important. Originally called Mokuumeume—the isle of attraction — by ancient Hawaiians, it’s now named after Dr. Seth Ford, who worked in Oahu hospitals in the mid 1860s. It was purchased by the U.S. Army during World War I, transferred to the U.S. Navy in 1932, and became Naval Air Station Ford Island. Situated in the middle of Pearl Harbor, it was heavily attacked on December 7, 1941, because of the airfield and the number of battleships, cruisers and other ships moored around it.

In the photos, my car sits on what used to be the air station runway. You can see the old air control tower in the background.

Here’s the image. The iniital image that WillyD sent me was larger, with the car centered. I’ve cropped it somewhat to place the car in the corner, leading your eye to the air tower.

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I hope you take some inspiration from WillyD’s shot and consider what you might be able to do in your local area over the next few weeks.

Please remember, this is going to be a book for publication and purchase by Saab owners and maybe even dealerships to give out to potential owners. I’d like to present them with the best possible in terms of imagery and text.

If you’ve got a great Saab and a pictureque spot or notable landmark nearby, please get out there, shoot some images and send them in! Let’s show them all what Saab Pride is about.

Click here for the details about where to send your shots and stories.

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