autofantasia's photos

For this week's Sunday Challenge with the theme of doors . This is the entrance to St Michael & All Angels, which is located at North Otterington on the outskirts of Northallerton. Quite a pretty church, but spoiled a little by the way large areas of the surrounding cemetery are sectioned off with chicken wire fencing. Not sure if that's because of a fear of gravestones falling over say onto a child, which I know has become a health and safety issue at many old churches, or if there's some other reason. Sadly though, like many rural churches in this country it was closed and so I couldn't get in for a good look around. Follow the link below if you want to read a little bit more about this particular church: www.visitoruk.com/Northallerton/north-otterington-C592-V15639.html

Okay, just a little experiment here. Yesterday I uploaded an image of this old petrol pump, which was actually produced from combining 3 bracketed RAW files and processed in Photomatix. The light on the day I took the photos wasn't that great, but I still fancied trying the HDR route albeit with a gentle touch. Not only was I happy, but I got some favourable comments from you guys out there which was nice. However, I got to wondering how the image might have turned out had I taken a different route - no pun intended. So this version is based on just a single JPEG file and processed in PaintShop Pro in much the same way as I'd process any other photo I took prior to buying Photomatix. Like I say, just a little experiment, but it'll be interesting to see how people think the two images compare. So, if you've got a few minutes to spare hit z to view large and toggle back and forth between the two ... and then tell me which you prefer, that's assuming you think there's much to give or take between the two?

Whilst out looking for interesting doors I could shoot for this week's Sunday Challenge I came across this. It's an old petrol pump, which was apparently manufactured many moons ago by Gilbarco. It has obviously seen better days, but it still caught my eye not least because of the patination. This image was produced from combining 3 bracketed RAW files and processed in Photomatix. Press z to view large.

Not a terrific photo and a rather messy background, but I still thought it worth sharing this one given how few of these cars you come across. The 'mighty' SAAB 96 was manufactured and marketed by Saab from 1960 to January 1980, replacing the 93. The 96 featured aerodynamic two-door bodywork, four passenger seating and a two-stroke, three-cylinder engine. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_96

Yet another Mini, this time from an earlier period back, but equally appealing!

Well who'd have thought it ... yet another classic Mini on display at Hurworth-on-Tees back in 2013.

And here's a close up of the engine on that red Westfield from earlier.

Detail shot of the front end of one of my favourite kit cars.

The theme for this week's Sunday Challenge sounded so simple at first: leading lines . Simple, that was until I went out and started looking around for a suitable subject to photograph. Anyway, despite my best efforts this was the best I could come up with. Although perhaps not what you first think of as a "leading line" I felt that the chain, which secures the main gate onto the playing fields at Northallerton Rugby Club, did constitute a line of sorts and to me at least it draws your eye towards the main subject of the shot: the old padlock. There are also some other more traditional lines, albeit perhaps less obvious, that I felt also played their part in making this image a suitable contender for the challenge. There's the gap between the fence post and the frame of the gate that runs behind the padlock. Then there's the rusty spring on the gate itself that comes in form the right hand corner. As for the processing that was done using Photomatix. I only recently purchased this software, but I'm already growing very fond of it.

Spotted this one apparently checking himself out in the mirror of a TR4 and no doubt thinking to himself: "Hot Dawg ... damn I look good today!"

Not a great shot, more a hastily grabbed snap, but I thought I'd still share it as it's the most obvious sign I've seen yet of Spring this year. This butterfly was shot on Tuesday this week in our back garden. It was only there briefly and given how bad the weather was again yesterday it probably regretted its early flight. Nonetheless it was a welcome sight!

No, this isn't me having another go with HDR, even if it does have a rather vibrant look to it. Instead this is a shot I took with my little 'point and shoot' Olympus, which I introduced to PaintShop Pro and had some fun with.

Here's a detail shot of another car you might have seen in my photostream before. For those who either didn't see it or can't remember it, there's a couple of additional clickable shots of this car, taken elsewhere, in the Notes.

Not really a classic or at least not as old as it looks, but certainly a classically styled car. Seen this at a few of the local shows now and it's one of the cleanest examples of this particular marque that I've come across.

Detail shot of another TR4A, but this time it's a 1966 model. You'll find a clickable shot of the car in its entirety, as taken at another event, in the Notes.

Yet another gorgeous Triumph that I found on display at this cracking little show, this time a TR4A from 1967.

Okay, so you're probably expecting me to say that this would make a good base for a hot rod? Well, I'm actually thinking it's rather nice as it is ... must be getting old!

So, a fun week for all involved with The Sunday Challenge , well at least for some and I include myself in that category. The theme this week was HDR (High Dynamic Range) Imagery . It's a technique that really does seem to attract quite diverse opinions as I've found out over this last week as I've posted various attempts at creating an HDR image. As it happens I've always liked HDR, at least for certain subjects and when it has been applied in a controlled and sympathetic fashion. However, it wasn't something I'd ever attempted myself until this week so as I said earlier it has been a fun week. So much so that after playing around with the trial version of Photomatix I ended up taking the plunge and buying the software outright. If nothing else it means that I can continue to experiment with the medium without having the Photomatix watermark applied to my final creations. This particular shot that I've ended up using as my main submission to TSC is actually taken inside All Saints Church in Northallerton. In the past I've taken several shots of the exterior, but this was the first time I'd ventured inside and I have to say I was most impressed by what I found. Not quite York Minster perhaps, but very attractive all the same. I just hope that my HDR take on this subject helps convey at least some of the beauty and splendour of this grand old church. By the way, this was the result of combining three RAW files: one at normal exposure, one at -1.5, and one at +1.5. You can a representation of the three base files in the Notes.