FOS '09 - Day 1

Once again, I am under commission from Goodwood in West Sussex, covering this year's Festival Of Speed event. And as in previous years, I am shooting imagery for direct use the Festival Of Speed website, this time along with a number of colleagues.

With day one wrapped, it's time for a little reflection on just what I have been photographing today...

Friday is always the quietest day of the FOS weekend, with slightly fewer people - but no less of the action. Things kicked off bright and early, with a light drizzle that cleared up within 30 minutes of being on-site, just in time for the Supercars to make their way up 'The Hill'.

Name a sports car brand and chances are it's appearing at the event - from Mercedes to Ferrari, Lotus to Bugatti. My brief was fairly loose, insofar as there were not specific cars that I had to capture; rather, it was a case of getting a selection of images which would fit in nicely with the copy written by my journalist colleague.

Next up was more of the same, covering everything from pre-war cars to motor cycles, modern-day Formula 1 cars to sports prototypes.

That took me up to around lunch time - and a chance to get out of the sunshine for a few minutes.

One highlight just before though - a special appearance was put in by Peter Fonda on the original 'chopper' featured in the film Easy Rider - with the man parading past the crowd to at backing track of 'Born To Be Wild'.

At 3:30pm, my attentions were turned skyward in anticipation of the Red Arrows air display team. Always stunning in the sheer speed and agility that they show, these guys once again stunned the crowd with against a backdrop of coloured smoke and blue sky.

The latter part of the afternoon was a matter of capturing general imagery, showing off the attractions and atmosphere all around, before liasing with another colleague in order to back up all pictures and confirm a selection of imagery for inclusion on the 'live' web pages.

All in all, a good day and very happy to have the sun shining! These awesome machines always look better with a brightness that brings out their colours, shapes and performance body work.

More to come tomorrow.

Related posts: FOS '09 - Day 2, FOS '09 - Day 3