Pioneer auto and steam cars took over Regent Street today while it was closed to regular vehicular traffic. Humberettes, Knoxes, De Dion Boutons, Goessants and what have you, all sporting poppies, their owners garbed in period costume or in goggles, scarf and aviator hats. Just as delightful as these century-old cars were their individual histories – the Panhard-Levassor which was purchased in 1903, driven through France and ‘deep mud, deep water and human excrement’, and its owner Sir Stanley having been stopped for speeding in that car ‘but was saved from prosecution when the gendarme took shelter from a downpour’ (and Stanley drove off before the gendarme returned), or a Wolseley which was bombed in WWII but was restored and has done 2000 miles each year since. Many of these cars are in the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run (admitting only cars manufactured before 1904) – which must be quite a spectacle to watch!
I have been experimenting with the X100 settings, so for the record, today’s shots were mostly –
Film simulation: Astia/Soft
DR: Auto
Color: Medium High
Sharpness: Medium Hard
Highlight: Medium Hard
Shadow: Medium Hard
Noise Reduction: Medium Low
