Monday 31 October 2011

My Cefiro #23: Hahndorf car spotting


One pleasant Sunday afternoon my girlfriend Sally and I went for a bit of a hills run up to Hahndorf in my Cefiro, to go to the Beerenberg Farm for some jams and related condiments.

You can see more details about the Beerenberg Strawberry Farm on their website here: http://www.beerenberg.com.au/

Going for a bit of a southern route, we first went up through Windy Point, and stopped for a few photos. There aren't many ways of taking a photo next to your car which don't make you look like a bit of a tool, but here's one Sally took of me with the Ceffy anyway.


There's quite a nice view from the carpark.




I took a couple of Sally as well.





We then stopped at Belair to fill up on the way to Hahndorf, with the recent hills runs this was becoming a fairly common occurrence. 






Trundling down the main street of Hahndorf, a beautiful white 1950s Jaguar caught my eye, parked on the side of the road all by itself. I considered stopping for photos but as it was getting close to 5pm, getting to the Beerenberg Farm store before it closed was more of a priority.

After getting to the shop and picking up some jams, we jumped back in the car and headed back through the main street towards the freeway. While I was planning to get back to the Jaguar for a few photos, a startlingly orange Audi TTS stopped me in my tracks, so I pulled up to get a couple of shots.

All photos taken with a Nikon D90 and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens. 


  





While I was taking photos of the rear end of my car, this very tidy green Jaguar Mark 2 rolled into my viewfinder. You can see it in the background of the photo above, just on top of the right hand side of my roof line.

 




The driver looked to be an older chap in his 70s. After making a u-turn, he went back the way he came, and I got back into the car. As soon as I plonked myself down into the driver's seat, a sizeable white vehicle loomed into view, an American model Ford F250 pickup. I quickly raised the camera back up to my eye and fired off a few shots. It looks kind of funny, as it completely dwarfs the Hyundai station wagon and Ford Fiesta hatch alongside. 




By this point it had been quite a while since we'd passed the old white Jag on the way into town, so I was hoping it was still there as I started the car and headed back toward the freeway. After passing through the busy section of little shops and restaurants, I was relieved to see the Jag still parked in the same spot on the side of the road. After Sally handed me the D90 again, I looked in the side mirror to check for traffic before opening the door, and saw a nice old Mercedes trundling along with headlights ablaze, which was worth a quick snap. I'm not a Mercedes expert, but I think it's a W108. 

 

So once again I got out of the car, and walked over to the Jag for a closer look. It was an absolutely stunning piece of machinery. It had clearly been lovingly restored, with the paint, trim and interior looking as it would have fresh off the showroom floor. At this point I wasn't quite sure what year and model it was; my first thought was an XK120, but the body styling was fairly distinctive as being a 1950s era car, with the smooth, rounded and elegant flowing lines, panels and general body shape. It's one of those classically stylish cars where some people with no interest in cars may well be able to appreciate it as a piece of automotive art. 





After spending a couple of minutes admiring and taking photos of the Jag from the rear, I heard a woman's voice behind me say 'Hello?'. I turned around to see a nice looking couple in their 50s, and asked if the car was theirs. After answering yes, I complimented them on what a beautiful car it was, and spent a couple of minutes chatting about it, cars in general and the fact I do some professional automotive photography. The man who owned the car said it was a 1959 model, I can't remember if he mentioned the model as well, but after a bit of research I'm pretty sure it's an XK150 Fixed Head coupe.

I quickly grabbed a couple of shots of the front of the car as well, so the owners could be on their way. 



After a few more photos of the Ceffy, we headed back to Adelaide.





Thursday 27 October 2011

Lachlan & Stacey's Wedding #1: Getting ready and arrival

It's taken me a while to get to these wedding photos, as I've been busy the past few weeks trying to get my best images together for an official portfolio site.

On the 3rd of September, a couple of friends of mine, Stacey & Lachy, were married at the Christian Family Centre. Fortunately the weather was quite nice on the day, albeit a little windy.

Since I had a bit of spare time before the wedding ceremony, I went over to the Bendikov's house to take a few photos of the girls. They had two official photographers documenting the wedding, Miriam from Capture Me Photography (http://www.captureme.com.au/), and another photographer Lydia as second shooter.


So many of my photos were taken candidly and quickly while trying to stay out of their way, mostly using a Nikon D90 and Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 lens.
By the time I arrived they were taking some pictures of the bridesmaids, so I took the opportunity to get a few of Stacey on her own.







Then it was time for some bridal party and family shots. From left to right is maid of honour Sonia, Stacey, older sister and bridesmaid Laura, and friend & bridesmaid Bec.


They certainly weren't all sensible photos, it's more fun that way. It's probably for the best that the wind didn't change at this point, the ceremony might have been a little awkward if their faces stayed like this.







Proud father George.





Miriam getting some shoe shots.



After doing a round of photos, it was time for the bridal party to head over to the church, which was only about a minute's drive away.





Out in the open it was rather breezy, as you can see with the horizontal veil.


After helping Stacey into the car and handing back the bridal bouquet, George drove the girls over to the church.




With no ribbons on the car, their arrival was fairly low-key.



Stacey looked quite happy and excited.



For some reason I liked these next few photos better in black and white.







With the bridal party all ready, it was time to go in...

Coming up in Post #2; the ceremony.