BakeandCut

The Surf to Summit

Please click on photos to view at full resolution, all photos by me, unless stated. Some are taken by my husband, which I have stated.

Surf to Summit Car Rally 2014

 

Classic car feast. Fast and furious Cooma

Every two years the Cooma Car club hold their annual Surf to Summit classic car rally. It is a two-day event with everyone meeting at registration on the Friday night before the rally. The rally is for vehicles to cars 30 years plus or replica of.

This is our second year that we have had the pleasure of photographing the cars on the road and at the club house and pre rally registration night.

I was never big on car meets; I was a motorbike rider in my younger days. I owned three motorbikes. I used love going to the B.E.A.R.S (British, European, American Racing) bike racing.

When I first meet this group of people I knew in an instant there was something special about them. This was no ordinary group of car lovers; they were not just rev heads as some people would say, ok, some might be rev heads, but they do it with class and style. They are a community minded group of people, giving back to their community with fellowship, delivering Christmas hampers to those in need all over the region. This is one of the many things they do for their community.

The people who come to this rally come from all over the country. There were 93 cars entered in this year’s rally. That is a lot of cars to photograph.

 

 

It is interesting to see the people who come to this type of rally. To see the smiles on their faces when they meet someone from the last event, the tales of getting there, the history, the ribbing.
The impending excitement. Their faces are glowing. You see them going through their goodie bag and oohing and aahing over the things in there, and the men going over the maps.

 

 

 

And let’s start talking about photographing cars. They are so much fun to photograph, especially on the open road. And you only get one chance. It is not like on a race track where they come round again.

Before an event like this, we always go out and scout the route. What we are doing are looking for the best spots to be on the road, background scenery, good depth of field. Places where we can park off the road safely. Taking shots with different lens to see what is the best to use on the day. My husband uses a 200mm prime lens and for that we need a good depth of field.

 

 

 

I like to pan, capture the motion and for that a wide-angle is what I use.

 

 

What we like to capture is their smiling faces and waves as they are speeding past at 100km.

The Cobras I am sure that they are going faster than that sometimes. Naughty boys. Some of the cars are just too old to go fast.

 

 

It is a fabulous sight to see them out on the road. In most cases the cars have been restored back to their former glory or in many cases better than the day they came off the factory line.

When you are standing out on the road waiting and waiting. You start wondering where they Are. When are they going to turn up, then you hear it, the thunder of the Cobras, you can not see them. But you hear them and then you still wait, because it is a sound that travels across valley.
Then it gets louder and louder, and then they arrive, and I can tell you it is a mighty fine sight to see them. The sun is glinting off all the polished metal, they just gleam.

It is incredibly tiring photographing the cars over two days. Your eyes hurt; the elements of the weather get to you. The driving, you have to stay in front of them, which is tough. You don’t have time to eat properly, I have been known to shove half eaten food in my pockets, or drop it on the ground, because if you are not watching, they can turn up before you know it. And if you are not ready, you miss the chance. And it is one chance you get.
Everyone has lots of photos of the cars static, but the one thing you can not take is a photo of yourself driving your car. That’s where we come into the picture.

 

 

 

Many things can make photographing tough to do. The sun can throw off your cameras metering if its hits the right spot on the car, things like high visible vests can also throw off the metering.
Although I was glad that the invisible man was wearing one when I made a guest appearance of marshalling, otherwise I would have missed capturing his photo altogether.

 

 

 

 

Other things that make it tough to photograph them, is the fact that they are moving and travelling at a 100kms. The focus plane is always changing, particularly if you are photographing them head on, which my husband did.

 

 

 

When panning you often need to change your focal length, because some cars are big and fill the frame, and others are small.

 

 

So many factors to think about and calculate out. You also need to take into account of where the sun is, which often does not line up with the best spots to photograph them on. Black cars are hard to photograph. To get that detail on them.
Don’t forget to check out our web site for all the photos. And please click on the photos to view at full resolution.

 Slide show

 

http://helmreichphotographyaustralia.com/galleries/surf-to-summit-2014