My Lotus Elise and AFOAF's Porsche Boxter S

[ozoney]

My friend is babysitting her friend's Porsche Boxster S. She took me for a ride in the car around West Hawaii. It is unbelievably quiet and comfortable. And I really dig the pop-out cup holders!

I then took her for her first ride in a Lotus Elise. The best part of taking Lotus virgins on their first ride is listening to their silence as I peel through 35mph curvy roads at XXmph. I took my eight year old daughter on the same roads this past weekend and all she could say was 'I don't want to watch!' as she covers her face with both hands.

Here's some images I snapped today before we went driving.

[teamturbo]

sick pictures

[MichaelB1969]

Great photos. What kind of camera/lens did you use? I assume you added some effects in photoshop? Anyway, again, very impressive photos!

[ozoney]

My photography gear:

canon rebel xt 350d (8mp variety from about 4 years ago)
3 lenses (10-22, 100-300, 18-55)
Software (gimpshop, photomatix, autopano pro)

Most of the images I create now are blended from at least three different exposures. I use photomatix to go crazy with tone mapping. Otherwise, I do a lot of curving/leveling, layering, and masking within gimpshop (same things people do with photoshop).

[larez2]

aloha,
yeah nice special affects on the pictures - it's artwork, good artwork, and good description of the boxster and elise. I used to drive a boxster and i remember the first time i drove an elise I expected the ride to be somewhat similar. NOT EVEN CLOSE!!! the best way I can describe it is the elise feels so much more connected and pure, almost raw, like no other car I have ever driven or ridden in (although my friend's factory five kit car cobra/mk3 comes close). The elise feels like what I expect a porsche 550 would've felt like (i've never been fortunate enough to drive or ride in one of those). my boxster felt plush, almost soft in comparison, but I think they are both great cars to boot.

larez2

[Z-dculus]

new wallpaper

[Zippy_Slug]

dude.. there's something wrong with your camera..

[FLuXeXigeS]

nice pix, musta been a great day of driving, both cars are great!

[petroboy]

Originally Posted by ozoney

I then took her for her first ride in a Lotus Elise. The best part of taking Lotus virgins on their first ride is listening to their silence as I peel through 35mph curvy roads at 80mph. I took my eight year old daughter on the same roads this past weekend and all she could say was 'I don't want to watch!' as she covers her face with both hands.

Great photos. I am compelled, though, to question the wisdom of running at double the speed limit with a kid in the car, if that's what you were saying.

[ozoney]

I don't drive it like I stole it with my daughters (maybe I get to XXish not XXish on some of the turns), but the drop-offs on the shoulder and hidden bumps/turns make them nervous at any speed. I am typically very much a granny driver. Once every two weeks, I take the car for a nice drive, and its practice for me as I'm trying to learn slowly and safely on how to drive the car how it wants to be. I do plan on taking a course sometime in the future when I get back to the mainland. Yesterday's drive was my most aggressive yet and it was surely fun, but well in control. Also, I never pass cars on the road even during these every-two-week-ers. I only open it up if the situation allows for it. I have two routes near my house that alternate for my fun drive, and I have figured out some good times of the day when the traffic is minimal to nonexistent. Outside of these fun drives, I drive 3.75 miles to work in the morning, and then home in the late afternoon 5 days a week, at a top speed of 45mph. Then the car sits in the garage all weekend.

[sxlostv1]

are you on acid?

and why is the elise on cheap korean economy tires?

[MichaelB1969]

Originally Posted by ozoney

Most of the images I create now are blended from at least three different exposures. I use photomatix to go crazy with tone mapping.

I am pretty much a photography newbie, but the Photomatix and the concept of blending images taken with different exposure settings sounds really cool. I am going to download the trial. Thanks for the tip.

By the way, I have a Nikon D50 with the kit 18-55mm lens, and a few months ago I got the new 55 - 200mm lens w/ VR (a bargain at around $225).

Mike

[ozoney]

It is cool - there are other ways to do it - photoshop, dynamic hdr software, gimpshop blender plugin, etc. A good tripod is a must! A major issue with Photomatix is noise/pixelation in the final blend. You can reduce this side-effect by doing 5 (or more) bracketed exposures instead of the traditional recipe that calls for a bracketing of 3 exposures. Also make sure you are not in an 'auto' mode of your camera, and meter your exposures on the dark portions of your subject, and then bracket off of that. I have quite a few HDR examples on my flickr page And there are lots of HDR images and techniques to be found on the net.

[patsfan4ever09]

nice pics!!!

[Bavarian Motorist]

The Boxster, although very common, is one of the most beautiful designs on the road IMO.


Only thing it's missing is a wing in the back and a lip in the front.



Miss mine

[Go~Rilla]

Originally Posted by sxlostv1

are you on acid?

and why is the elise on cheap korean economy tires?

For real. And they may be on backwards, looks like the tread is going the wrong direction.