Strange things are afoot on the beach tonight...

[MarkW]

[Oasis]

It's ok mate. It's a Citroën... They are meant to go there to die but normally just give up on roundabouts.

Playing with LED or gels?

[Oasis]

Or is it a dogging disco?

[Hoggs]

Or is it a dogging disco?

 

Annnnnnd there goes my tea

[MarkW]

It's ok mate. It's a Citroën... They are meant to go there to die but normally just give up on roundabouts.

Playing with LED or gels?

Is it a DS? I'm hopeless with Citroens, except the 2CV. The owners were having a midnight party on the beach, so I had to work quickly before they came back: I'm not sure how I'd have explained an Englishman lying under their car in the middle of the night with a flashgun!

It's a 3-minute exposure taken on a 5D, and the colour was added with an ancient Miranda flashgun and some coloured filters that I got in 1986! I keep it in the botom of the camera bag for this sort of caper. I think the car is slightly underexposed, but it was pretty much a 'grab and go' situation.

[Oasis]

It's ok mate. It's a Citroën... They are meant to go there to die but normally just give up on roundabouts.

Playing with LED or gels?

Is it a DS? I'm hopeless with Citroens, except the 2CV. The owners were having a midnight party on the beach, so I had to work quickly before they came back: I'm not sure how I'd have explained an Englishman lying under their car in the middle of the night with a flashgun!

It's a 3-minute exposure taken on a 5D, and the colour was added with an ancient Miranda flashgun and some coloured filters that I got in 1986! I keep it in the botom of the camera bag for this sort of caper. I think the car is slightly underexposed, but it was pretty much a 'grab and go' situation.

 

5D mk1?

It's a cracking shot if it hasn't been edited at all. Did you shoot RAW or jpeg? If it's a raw file you will be able to delve deeply into the shadows and bring them up without loosing to much IQ.

Or get some layers going on in Photoshop. Using a curves adjustment layer you can make those star trails pop out. Then mask the rest of the image.

Do the same with the car too.

[MarkW]

5D mk III, and RAW: I converted it to JPEG in Lightroom for FB and the like, but other than that it's exactly as shot.

I have to get to grips with Lightroom properly, because my skills are pretty basic to be honest - I think my brain is only cut out for analogue photography!

[Oasis]

5D mk III, and RAW: I converted it to JPEG in Lightroom for FB and the like, but other than that it's exactly as shot.

I have to get to grips with Lightroom properly, because my skills are pretty basic to be honest - I think my brain is only cut out for analogue photography!

 

Lightroom is a great tool, if you ever need any help just shout. I would recommend paying the monthly Adobe subscription and getting to grips with photoshop too. I think it's £8 a month.

I miss my old 5D. Great cameras everone of them. I only replaced with 1D bodies due to weather seal and faster AF.

[MarkW]

Thanks for the offer of help - I may well be taking you up on it at some point!

I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out: it took a couple of goes to get the flash positioning right, with no glare off the glass or bright point-sources under the car. The only coloured filters I have are for my feeble old Miranda flashgun, so it took about 30 flash bursts to make this image (note to self: buy some gels for my big Speedlite!).

To be honest I hadn't even considered capturing the star trails at the time, and was pleasantly surprised when I saw them. I'll investigate making them pop out more as per your suggestion.

Cheers!

[bmwdave]

The cars a Citroen DS estate commonly known as the Safari. It was years ahead of its time with pump up suspension superb performance and comfort unfortunately came with citroens reputation for reliability and huge costs for repair if anything went wrong. Used as ambulances on the continent, and by the government for official cars for ministers etc.

[Mr Fro]

The cars a Citroen DS estate commonly known as the Safari. It was years ahead of its time with pump up suspension superb performance and comfort unfortunately came with citroens reputation for reliability and huge costs for repair if anything went wrong. Used as ambulances on the continent, and by the government for official cars for ministers etc.

... And the Wheeler Dealer duo did one not that long ago.

[MarkW]

Cheers guys - I was wondering what it was. I have to say was really taken with it! Fantastic shape and looked pretty cool inside too.

Dave, I wonder if you remember this: when I was a kid in the late '70s / early 80s there was a TV advert for a car that had a system designed to blow debris away from the front wheels to avoid punctures. It may have been a Citroen (I think I've seen a few with grilles on the lower body panels in front of the wheels). None of my friends remembers it, but I'm sure I didn't dream it!

[bmwdave]

Cheers guys - I was wondering what it was. I have to say was really taken with it! Fantastic shape and looked pretty cool inside too.

Dave, I wonder if you remember this: when I was a kid in the late '70s / early 80s there was a TV advert for a car that had a system designed to blow debris away from the front wheels to avoid punctures. It may have been a Citroen (I think I've seen a few with grilles on the lower body panels in front of the wheels). None of my friends remembers it, but I'm sure I didn't dream it!

 

Sorry cant help with that one. Saw the successor to the DS - cant remember what they called it but I was at a footie match and they drove one round the pitch at half time with one wheel missing to prove how stable it was, although they did have a model sitting on the bonnet on the corner opposite the missing wheel. Naturally we all had a good look at the car as it came round and ignored the model in her scanties reclining across the front. It was actually another suberb advanced car, horrendously expensive, unreliable and incredibly rare in this country.