Classic Nostalgia at Shelsley Walsh

Recently I popped over to the Classic Nostalgia event at the Shelsley Walsh hillclimb track.  It’s a fabulous weekend, with all manner of classic competition cars, including some vintage F1 cars.

I took my OM-1 and 40-150 f2.8 Pro lens.  It was a perfect chance to try the OM-1’s AI-powered Subject Detection system, set on “Cars and Motorbikes”.   It’s actually calibrated to work best with racing cars, and there were lots of them!

This MGB V8 was pressing on hard at The Esses, and lifting the inside front wheel.  It was fascinating to see the focus box pick up the car and follow it round the corner.  I had my shutter set on Continuous Shooting, as I did not need the sophistication or speed of Pro Capture.

I wanted a panning shot, but cars going up the hill were a bit too fast.  I realised that they were much slower on the way back down the hill, so I had more time to pan.  This Jaguar XK120 was in just the right place, with space to move into.

After lunch there was a fly past by a Hawker Hurricane of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.  I found the few fluffy clouds in the sky a bit distracting, so increased the contrast until they disappeared.  I then converted to image to black & white.  It adds a certain timelessness.

I’m looking forward to next year’s event.