Friday 23 December 2011

Post 15 Introducing Archie George Sampson

Archie at 10 mins old...

Eyes wide open...

Big sister giving a big kiss...

1 or 2 mins old ...

Sleeping...

Big |Sis Lily with present monkey from Archie...

Thursday 18 August 2011

Post 13 5 Countries in 5 Days in a Ferrari 430 Scuderia...

After nearly a year of waiting the time finally arrived to spend nearly 5 days living in a Ferrari 430 Scuderia!!!
Yes I felt the luckiest man alive...The tour began with a trip from Leicester to Harwich to get the overnight ferry to the hook in Holland. In the convoy there was me and my supplier in the Ferrari 430 Scud, A Maserati Granturismo, 2 x BMW CSL's and a Ford Focus RS. On arrival in Holland there was a short drive to Zandvort the Grand Prix track close to Amsterdam, where we met up with another two BMW CSL's!! The day was spent spanking all of the above cars plus a Caterham Super 7 round the beach front race track.... A very techincal track to drive. The trackday was run by http://www.bookatrack.com/. Weather was on our side and there was not one closure of the track during the whole day........
The day passed really quickly and after no time at all we were all finished and en route to our local hotel.
A night in Amsterdam with a 4am finish would have normally meant a nice lie in, however we were up at 9.30 back on the road heading south to the Nurburgring. It was still only Friday...the ferry trip over was a distant memory!!!


Ferrari 430 Scud on the track at Zandvort...

Caterham Super 7 Rented from http://www.bookatrack.com/
Duncan in his Black BMW CSL.

Ando in his black BMW CSL on the motorway...
 
Matt in his Ford Focus RS Graham Goode on the Motorway after a long day at Zandvort...
Admittedly I have done some long haul car journeys before but never in such a loud & adreneline filled car as the Ferrari!!! All the ball-ache traffic we encountered and the stiff ride were all forgotten when we came across a tunnel. Both myself and Nathen would instantly reach for the window switch... WOW what a noise...I will never get tired of the high pitch growl of the engine noise...Music who needs music when you have a 430 engine sat only 50cm from your ears....

After a long day driving to Nurburg, we arrive at my suppliers own guesthouse!!! I hear you ask Guesthouse at the Nurburgring, a Ferrari 430 Scuderia can it get any better?....Yes it can... My supplier opens up the garages to display his track cars... Porsche GT2 and Porsche GT3RS... Honeslty...
A few beers and a BBQ later and we all head off for an early night in anticipation for tackling the ring.

Saturday and Sunday were spent either on the track or at suitable points for photography... Motorsport & Automotive photography is where I am supposed to be in life...I have decided!!!

For those that don't know the track it is the longest and probably the most dangerous racetrack in the world. But at the same time is by far the most exhillarating. I must have had a grin from ear to ear every second I was on this road trip....

My suppliers Porsche GT3RS.

My suppliers 2nd Track car Porsche GT2.

Shot of the Maserati exiting the famouse carousel corner...
 
T.S. in his Silver BMW CSL...
 
Alex and Nic Nac in one of the silver BMW CSL's

Down into showboat corner... crowds line the corner causing people to ''showboat''..often resulting in tears!!!

I could go on and on about the cars and the power and the speed but wanted to show some of the shots i've taken. I had great fun doing some of the detail shots. One late afternoon it rained leaving the cars in the guesthouse carpark looking really special...There were plenty of action shots with people going sideways, two wheel action.... and every other car was a supercar of some description...

Taken from the back quarter of the Maserati...one of my favourite shots...


The back end of Ando's BMW...

Upclose on the bonnet logo of the GT2...

The view from the wing mirror on the Autobahn at speed... Maserati and BMW CSL giving chase...
Looking down the back of the Ferrari...

Looking back on the Audi R8 (from the carpark at the ring!!!) Some post production to get the effects on the back quarter...

Literally anthing goes round the ring...

Aston DBS gleaming in the sun.

Mercedes SLR...

Crazy Fool sidewards round the mini carousel....literally everytime the guy came around...

Wheel off the ground of this lotus turning into the mini carousel...


Renault Clio with two wheels off exiting the mini carousel...

Porsches New and Old... New GT4.0 RS leading the trio...
Audi R8 and Ferrari 430 Scud in a heated tussle...

Up close to the 430...

Wisemann...this car looked lovely in the flesh...
 
Enzo...enough said....


If you or anyone you know wants their car photo'd either on track or just at home or at a special location....let me know. I want to explore this side of photography.

Watch this space next where I will show pictures taken from my first wedding shoot....