CSRG Season Opener

[Mark Morrissey]

Great shots John. I for one miss your daily contribution but you deserve a good, year-long rest. I saw that car at Lime Rock this past year though I couldn't get as close as you did because the owner was getting it ready to take out on the track. And that GTA is one of my favorite cars. Through my eye, it has everything you could want -- a purposeful presence, an aggressive yet beautiful design, an amazing sound and it doesn't hurt that the car goes like a scaled cat either. Thanks John.

[Nine17]

Please note the model-correct Hildebrand knock-offs, exactly like the original car ran almost 50 years ago. Enjoy.

I think that you mean "Halibrand" rather than "Hildebrand" for those wheels, John. This past Sunday was such a beautiful day!

-- David

[John Z Goriup]

Right as usual, David.

Thanks, my mind was drifting.

JZG

[JohnT]

Thanks, my mind was drifting.

Not at all John! There was a lot of eye candy to behold and it was all in motion (as opposed to perched on some grassy field in Central California...). Despite the light entry of about 170 cars, CSRG enjoyed a wide variety of significant automobiles including an alloy bodied XK 120, several GTA's, the Scorpion, and Alfa F1 cars,not to mention 2 3 liter GP cars, multiple Formula Atlantics and 2 liter GRP 6 cars, as well as a very early (Trevior Harris designed) Shadow CanAm car, a plethora of Formula Juniors, the "mundane" Formula "B" Brabhams and pre 1973 Formula Fords.

Because my engine remains in 3 counties, I was given the "privilege" of driving (and providing!) the Pace Car.... As of Saturday Noon, the Pace car had set the fastest time on the course (multiple sub 2 minute laps!)! Not bad for a 5 liter twin turbo diesel, 6,000lb SUV. This was truly Touareg's revenge . The racers came out Saturday afternoon with the sun and my moment became history.

Thanks for the great photos.

johnt

[C.Plavan]

Thank you.............very interesting. "Königs Blau" - looks outstanding on a 911 even though it's originally exclusively an early 356 color and was never actually offered on new 911s.

JZG

It was offered on 911's a little later (1974-ish) but under the name "Arrow Blue". Different name, but same paintcode as Royal Blue. I tried to get a Spyder painted that color (I would of sold my White one), but I missed the 1 week only window

[Nine17]

Thanks, my mind was drifting.

More likely sensory overload! What a beautiful collection of cars showed up. New camera? The images are terrific.

-- David

[John Z Goriup]

Thank you David, but no, not a new camera, just a couple of steps back. Still using my 3-year old Canon full-frame 5D MkII, but working on improving my photography. Relying on classic, basic methods to ensure a higher ratio of "keeper shots", instead of taking large numbers of mediocre images & "fixing it in Photoshop",......... something I intensely dislike doing & which I have never mastered.

Re the CSRG weekend, I feel that beautiful subjects one cares about simply yield better results if you pay attention to the basics, which I'm really trying to do these days.
Second, the light and time of day were conducive to photography, thus less post-processing was required, something I've always struggled with. Getting there early to take advantage of softer, yellower morning light as opposed to the harsh light of mid-day always helps.
Thirdly, I've bought a couple of the latest Zeiss prime lenses ( no more zooms for me, thank you, except on my pocket camera ) made specifically for Canon DSLR cameras and am thoroughly convinced they are demonstrably superior to the Canon premium lenses I have been using & which they have replaced. They're noticeably sharper edge-to-edge than Canon ( or Nikon glass for that matter ), have much higher color fidelity, less chromatic aberrations ( purple fringing, flare, internal reflections, etc.) and less distortion than Canon's best. Finally, even though these lenses are electronically coupled to the camera body to achieve correct automatic exposures, these German-designed optics require manual focusing. I find the act of manually focusing forces me to slow down to get the subject razor-sharp, but also permits a greater degree of control than the most sophisticated auto-focus, while also disciplining me to simultaneously concentrate on better composition. Had to have the camera body modified with a custom made micro-prism focusing screen, but now that it's all set up and calibrated it's a genuine pleasure to use.

Can't wait for the "big" race meets and Concours' later in the year.

JZG

[Nine17]

Ach so! The Zeiss lenses! Such clarity, and focusing manually is such a satisfying way to be involved in the thoughtful composition of a photograph. Thank you for your investment!

As a young man I never owned a zoom or autofocus lens. Now I'm lazy and wander around with a Canon Powershot...

-- David