Chromefest 2016

It was the annual Chromefest hot rod festival at The Entrance on the Central Coast of NSW last weekend. The last few years the organisers have struck lucky with the weather for all three days of the festival but their luck ran out this year. It rained a little on Friday but Saturday was a washout and cold with it. Fortunately it cleared for Sunday so all the spectators who were going on Saturday turned up to augment the huge crowd who only go on the Sunday.
I have been for the last few years which means that many of the cars I had seen previously. However this year I went with my eldest grandaughter,Ellie,so we spent time watching the rock and rollers and the 50s and 60s fashions on display and we had a few good laughs.
I took my new toy -the Leica Q - see previous story. I came back with a few good photos. I am very impressed with it although I am yet to warm to the digital zoom frame feature where you can crop the jpeg size at the equivalent of using 28mm,35mm or 50mm lens by pressing a button on the camera. The actual lens on the camera is 28mm which in itself takes some adjustment after all the years using the X! with its 35mm equivalent lens. The autofocus is superb as is the electronic viewfinder and the image quality is stunning. A full frame sensor with a Leica lens delivers the goods.
However I can still see myself using my faithful X1 frequently because it is smaller,lighter and much more discrete than the Q.
Here are my photos from the day.

Elvis keeps his phone in an unusual place

No shortage of jivers from the moment the group started.

A totally naked Triumph.Motorcycling at its most basic-for those who only ride short distances in daylight.Very well done though.

Running rusties are all the rage. Many are hybrids-rusty bodies found in fields put onto later chassis and running gear.

The waitress dispenses free cupcakes at the interval.

Street fashion. My favourite shot from the day.

Really cheap shoes. Glad to see that they still sell them in pairs.

This is why it is called Chromefest. A very polished exhibit.

Ape hangers. It looks as if not everyone enjoyed the day.

Fabulous rendition from the Q

Very 50s

The Q excels with shots such as this. Great skin tones,very fast autofocus and F1.7 lens wide open isolates the subject.

This line of the Pinup Doll Princesses charity competition was a spoof. Sadly Donald Trump ,who had been invited,had to decline as he was too busy being nasty to nearly everyone in the US.

The Biker

Another photo from Chromefest 2015.A lady festooned with a great big top of the range Canon DSLR with a long zoom lens and flash unit obliged by asking Chenzi if she could take his photo.Whilst she was fiddling with the controls of her digital monster -too many choices-I snuck in with my little X1 and took the shot.Thanks lady Canon shooter and thanks Chenzi.I am pretty pleased with it.In fact so pleased that I am thinking about seeing if I can get some more biker shots at the local Harley dealer when their Harley Owners Group assembles for a ride.The irony of course is that I had six years when taking biker shots like this would have been so easy.
The photo was a DNG file converted to monochrome in Silver EFX.I am not a big fan of monochrome but it makes this photo.The colour version looks ho hum.

More Chromefest

More photos from Chromefest 2015.
See bottom photos.How about the patina on those trucks? Not so long ago any qualifying rusty barn or paddock find would have been restored to a better than new condition. Now it's all about the patina. Craig-bottom two photos-explained that his truck had spent 60 years in a paddock way out in the outback and in the very dry air the rust had developed as a beautiful patina across the whole body.The truck cab had been dropped onto a more modern chassis and running gear and hey presto a running and very usable patinated truck.
Now there are preservation classes at the world's most prestigous concours at Pebble Beach,USA, and all those owners who over the years have spent millions totally overrestoring old wrecks are crying into their beer.The days of overrestoration are over now it is "sympathetic light restoration" or "leave it as found".

Chromefest -2015.Hot rods and rock and roll.

It was the annual Chromefest at The Entrance,NSW this weekend. The event gets bigger every year. The weather was great -hot but not too hot. Brilliant sunshine is not the photographer's friend but I should not complain.This year 1950s/60s fashions were everywhere - dressing the part seems to be really gaining momentum.
As The Entrance is only 25 mins drive from home I went on both Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Photographing just the hot rods can be boring and so same/same and the people interest me much more. It's easy to take a lot of junk photos at these events.  As always I used my technique of asking with a smile whether I could take a photograph and I did not get a single refusal. Such nice people. Everyone seemed to be having a great time. A fun way to spend a weekend.
My take on hot rods and rock and roll downunder.Photos LeicaX1 and XVario.More photos to follow.