Supercar Siege 2015

Now I saw this event advertised by Mulgari Automotive, who were sponsors of the event. The other thing that caught my eye about this event was the charity, The Royal Navy and Royal Marines Children's Fund - I come from a military family so any way in which we can donate to any supportive charity, I'm game.

I arrived incredibly early BUT it was so worth it to see a LaFerrari in my rear view mirror as I entered the gates of Leeds Castle (which isn't in Leeds... It's in Kent) I lead a convoy of a LaFerrari & a 458, with Ross one of the organisers in front of me.

 

As we passed through the windy tree covered entrance road we approached a massive Royal Navy helicopter along side a Pagani Zonda F and a Koenigsegg Agera N.

 

It was such a beautiful setting and although I was there incredibly early, I was quite glad I was. I had these incredible cars essentially all to myself for pics! No people walking past! No battles for angles with other photographers! It was lovely... albeit cold.

The minute the gates open to all the cars, all hell broke loose!! We had American hot rods, supercar classics, supercars, modified car clubs, japanese cars by the dozen... it was amazing!

 

The mayhem didn't stop with just the cars coming in to set up! People heard just how good the event was once the gates opened and flocked to the castle... and caused major traffic all down the motorway!

The Sporting Bears were there doing passenger rides for donations and they SOLD OUT! Owners took out their pride and joys in the blazing sun putting smiles on peoples faces over a 10 mile track.

Anyway it was an incredibly hot day with a great atmosphere, fantastic cars and beautiful scenery. The event raised over £30,000 if I'm not mistaken, which is just amazing!!

Here's a few more pics and if you want to view all of the, - here's the link - https://www.flickr.com/photos/jkingman/sets/72157653085373876

There's also a link to SeenThroughGlass' youtube video of the day - it's a fab watch so check it out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azKYnBuJqNo

Car Spotting - What is it & why is it a dirty term?!

Many have heard of the term "car spotting" but what is it?
It's spending numerous hours, pounding the streets of high class areas in cities, in search of supercars and hypercars. Both foreign and domestic.
In London's case, Knightsbridge and surrounding areas is where everyone goes.

There's negative connotations surrounding the term, and this can be due to disagreements between owners and said 'spotters'- a comment on social media that someone didn't appreciate, it can be due to someone getting snapped unwillingly, or just due to spotters standing in the middle of the road annoying drivers!

Now, I've been called a 'spotter' yet, I'm not. This isn't due to it being considered an insult or anything, but I don't have the dedication for it. Not like the real spotters do! These guys can walk around from morning till night, in search of something cool. Some travel from hundreds of miles away to visit London, just to do some spotting!
There's a type of hierarchy with all of it, you have the guys who have been doing this for a while and are fairly well known - even having their images published, there's people who have a good social network following due to it but aren't quite as known, and then it trickles down to those who just walk around taking photos/videos... just because.

After speaking to spotters, I've found out why these guys do it. The reasons vary from person to person. Ranging from just wanting to see these incredible vehicles in person, to practicing photography, to how it gives people something to do, all the way to how it's an escape for some people.
One real sad story I heard was how a boy, only around 11-12 years old, was being bullied at school "for running around after cars." He wanted to give up so the bullying would stop. This was really sad to hear. All he wanted to do was see these £250,000 plus cars out and about - yet he was bullied cause of it! I knew of a few people with cool cars who said they'd happily go down to the school in convoy to pick him up one day. Fortunately the bullying seemed to stop and he's still doing what he enjoys.

I love my automotive photography and yes I do walk around with the spotters occasionally, this is to practice my photography or just to go and say hi! But I don't deserve the title of spotter as I mentioned, these guys are just so dedicated to it. For as much as people will say it's pointless or a waste of time, some of these guys are making money from their images or videos! So it can't be that bad. Even those not making money from it, they're still getting to practice or better still, just doing what they love!

Enjoy what you love!

Skully x

Auto Italia at Brooklands 2015

Italian cars. So beautiful to look at.

Lamborghini. Ferrari. Alfa Romeo. Maserati. Fiat.
All had fantastic numbers attend. Seeing so many of each brand, was like viewing a production line at each factory. Such variations, and the care people have taken to keep the older models so pristine is amazing.

I was attending with Lamborghini Club UK and they had a stunning display of 52 cars! Ranging from various models of Gallardo's, to a Murcielago SV and obviously Aventadors with a few other models!

This Lamborghini Aventador, courtesy of Lamborghini Pangbourne, was absolute perfection!! The Black & Gold just looked incredible. The Gold stitching on the interior looked flawless and the Gold alloys just finished this off beautifully.

One of my favourite images was this...  The stand off!!

Visitors to LCUK's stand was Oakley Design's Matte Chrome Green LP680 Huracan! This colour was just stunning. It suited the car so well, really showcasing it's shape.

The club was lucky to participate in the parade lap. Prior to the Lambo's getting to be unleashed (a tad) on track. These guys went first...

I really enjoy getting to shoot these incredible cars, that are a part of LCUK. They're cars you can only dream of getting close to when you're young!

Now these were some of my favourite pics I took -

For the full album - https://www.flickr.com/photos/jkingman/sets/72157652332933006

Skully x

Piazza Italia 2015

Ciao!
This was my first year visiting Horsham for Piazza Italia, I'd always wanted to go but never remembered it!
The weather wasn't fantastic which I think deterred a few people but otherwise it was a great atmosphere and some truly amazing Italian cars showed up. Well I say Italian, there was a few non- Italian cars.

I wish I'd been able to attend more than the 1 day as it looked really good! It's a definite for next year that's for sure!!

Skully x