autofantasia's photos

Just me trying out some new techniques and playing around with a well known automotive brand. Original SOOTC shot in Notes.

I stumbled across this neat little Polo whilst out cycling earlier this year. Of all the shots I took, this is the only one I've gotten around to sorting so far. It was intended for The Sunday Challenge when the theme was low point of view , but like the old bus I posted a couple of days ago it was never entered. The Mk2 Polo was produced from late 1981 until 1994. It received a major facelift in 1990 and was available in three different bodystyles, including the coupé version seen here.

Another shot that was nearly used for The Sunday Challenge in weeks gone by. This one would have been for the theme: low point of view . This old campervan from 1971 was spotted parked up on the street between Starbeck and Harrogate, North Yorkshire, back in June this year.

A 'nearly ran' for this week's Sunday Challenge , which had the theme of numbers . Hopscotch is a children's game that was certainly popular when I was growing up, long before computers and smart phones took over. However, I'm not sure it's played much these days and therefore was surprised to recently find this one marked out in a children's playground in Romanby, Northallerton. When I first came across it the numbers were marked out in white, but when I returned this week to take this particular photo I found they'd been repainted in this very bright shade of yellow.

This week The Sunday Challenge had the theme of numbers: as simple as that . As long as the shot contained at least one number then pretty much anything went and you could process it (or not as the case may be) in whatever way you wanted. I did have a few shots in the archives that I thought about using, but in the end I decided to take some new shots and eventually decided to use one of All Saints Parish Church in Northallerton. This rather impressive looking old building can be found a few hundred yards away from the main High Street and occupies a corner plot offering up many opportunities for taking photos. The original image is in the Notes (top left corner), but as you'll see I've done some processing on it since it came out of the camera. Although it was taken around midday, I decided to convert it to greyscale/mono to create a slightly more sinister feel as if it were actually coming up to midnight and the witching hour, hence the title.

Yet more Austin cars for you. This time a trio of Sevens: two convertibles and a saloon - all from the Thirties.

Two lovely black Austins parked up in a quiet corner of the showground caught my eye. In the foreground is a 1958 A35, whilst in the background is what I believe to be a 1947 Austin Eight.

Yet another nearly shot from a Sunday Challenge gone and yet another that I was considering for the metallic week.

So the Corvette had it's close up, now it's time for the Moggie ... make up please!

Just a year before that gorgeous Corvette ran off the production line, back in the UK this Morris Minor was hitting the road for the first time too.

And because you can never have too much of a good thing, here's another shot of that Corvette's "ass" ... this time in close up!

Another shot of that lovely old Corvette, this time from the rear. Sorry about all the clutter ... couldn't get a clear shot of this!

This was one that I had earmarked as a possible for a recent Sunday Challenge when the theme was metallic . It's the filler cap on what you might at first glance think was an old classic car, but was actually a Cobra replica known as the Pilgrim Sumo. I liked how the chrome stood out against the blue paintwork plus how the blue sky was captured in reflection, but in the end I used a different shot altogether.

Those 'golden bullets' once again, but this time from a different angle and showing the crystal dish they were placed in. As with the main TSC shot this was done in low light with piece of black card acting as an infinity wall/curve. Little in the way of processing.

The theme for this week’s Sunday Challenge had me struggling somewhat for ideas right from the outset. We were asked to push the boundaries and go further than you normally would with the idea , but no matter how many times I thought about it I came up blank. In the end I decided to try for an extreme macro, but with only a basic macro lens to play with I was still finding it difficult to choose a subject: ballpoint pen nibs and the like were definitely out. Then from somewhere in the ether the idea of creating these golden bullets came to me. Obviously, they’re not really made of gold. In fact, they’re not even bullets, but instead are cod liver oil capsules. I put a pile of them into a crystal dish and took the shot in a darkened room last night with only a Mini Cyba-lite being used to illuminate them. Must admit I have done a little post processing to get the strong contrasts I had in mind when I first thought of the idea, but nothing that excessive. So there you go: bullets of gold … now I just need a golden gun to fire them with.

This car actually featured on the Florida drag scene for many years, before being purchased in 2003 from a Corvette dealer in Ohio, via the internet, by Howard Dawson. It was shipped to Felixstowe, via New Jersey, before being driven a further 270 miles to its new home in the North East of England. Much work and many miles later the car is enjoying its new life here in the UK even if it does leak, in the words of the owners, from everywhere except the hood. Apparently, it took them until they were 50 before they could afford the car and they can't see a time when they will ever want to sell it. Can't say I'm surprised!

If memory serves me right this was a late, but nonetheless very welcome arrival.

Same show, but much more a 'modern classic' if you like. The TVR T350C is a sports car that was manufactured by TVR from 2002 to 2006. It was based on the TVR Tamora, and powered by a 3.6 litre engine.