North Hills student enjoys capturing car images

Regarding a career choice, North Hills High School sophomore Connor Mellinger already has a possibility in the making.

And this is a good time of year for him to pursue it.

During April’s Community Connections event, for which professionals in a variety of fields were invited to the high school, Connor visited the TribLive table with particular questions about photography.

It seems that he enjoys taking pictures of cars, motorcycles and other vehicles that capture his attention. With warmer weather bringing more photoworthy examples to local roads, Connor should have plenty from which to choose.

“In my free time, I’ll either sit on the corner of a street or sit by a well-known highway,” he said, and considering the volume of traffic on Ross’ most heavily traveled road, “One of favorites is McKnight.”

He especially likes high-performance vehicles — “Anything with a really loud engine is my favorite” — and that would include his recent sighting of a late-’90s Shelby Series 1 roadster.

“That same day, I saw a carbon Porsche 911 GT3 RS, about a 2020 model,” Connor said. “That same one was at the auto show a while back at the convention center.”

In fact, he took plenty of photos during the Pittsburgh International Auto Show in February. One of the more interesting vehicles was the “Mad Max” 1969 Chevrolet Camaro customized by Butler County racer Jeff Lutz.

Connor said he’d see social media posts about auto-enthusiast photographers “going out and sitting and just doing their hobby, and they had real fun with it.”

“I was like, I want to try that.”

He visits car shows, where vehicle owners enjoy sharing information with him. And regarding one particular vintage convertible, he doesn’t have to go far to see it.

“My neighbor has a 1997 Miata that he drives daily, and it’s really nice to look at and take pictures of,” he said. “He’s paid me for a couple of shoots. I was happy with that.”