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An Exquisite French Beauty
black mamba
Registered Users Posts: 8,321 Major grins
This glorious creature is a 1937 Delage D8 120 SS. It epitomizes the elegance of the pre-war French automobiles that reached the pinnacle in design beauty. This particular car was built for a European prince and is a one-off....the only D8 120 SS ever made on a short chassis. It's priceless.
I always wanted to lie naked on a bearskin rug in front of a fireplace. Cracker Barrel didn't take kindly to it.
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What a beautiful car, a true Piece of Art.
So graceful, I can't even imagine what this must of looked like
rolling down the street back in the time period.
Craig
Burleson, Texas
It's a crying shame that modern safety regulations preclude the manufacture of cars with the looks and character of this one. Historically, cars have always been a reflection of the owner.....his tastes, self-perception, etc. To some extent, that situation still exists but it's not like it used to be.
Tom
Thanks for the nice comment. That car should look good.....it's been through an exhaustive restoration, taking years and who knows how much money. Those shots were taken at this year's show.
Tom
Lovely shot of a gorgeous car. I'm taking notes for any future car shot I might have.
Out of curiosity, I notice most of your car shots have people in them--is there ever a way for you to get there at a certain time where no people are around? I'm guessing no right? I'd get an ulcer trying to work my way around all those people.
_________
Unfortunately, as you surmise, I can't get to these cars before the hoards of people start showing up. I'd pay big bucks ( I mean serious dollars ) if I could but it's not in the cards. Shooting at one of these big shows entails a lot of frustrations:
1) You've got the mass of folks swirling around. The majority of these people don't care that you're trying to get pictures. They'll walk right in front of you as you're about to snap the shutter. I've waited as long as 10 minutes to get a clear shot....and even then it is probably not the shot you want, but likely the only one you'll get. If you don't have patience, you'd better stay home.
2) Since these cars are in a static display, you're stuck with their relation to the natural lighting....which often is such that getting a pleasing rendering is next to impossible.
3) You have to deal with all the other " clutter " that exists at a show; trash cans, auxiliary equipment, the belongings of the car's exhibitor ( who often sit right beside their car ), etc., etc.
I immensely enjoy these shows and I love shooting the cars but it can be very taxing on the nerves.
Tom
Nice job!
One way of dealing with the crowds is to give up trying to get the whole car, and focus on part of a feature or detail, and if really necessary use PhotoShop...
e.g.
Now you see 'em:
...now you don't:
Thanks for sharing!
- Wil
Thanks for looking in.
Tom
Thanks for the nice comments.
There are times when I do take somebody or thing out of the picture. But, as you can see, that's not too practical when I've got such hoards of people to deal with. I do take, on occasion, abstracts of special parts or features of these cars.
BTW, that's a nice looking Healey.
Take care,
Tom
...BTW what is the other beauty sitting next to the Delage? (the windscreen & doors scream "Bugatti" but the grille is totally wrong
- Wil
That stunner next to the Delage is a 1938 Talbot Lago T150 C SS Teardrop.
It's another of those gorgeous pre-war French masterpieces. I'll be featuring it soon in another up-coming post.
Tom
V. nice - looking forward to seeing the pics!
- Wil