Photos vs reality

[DavidLaver]

There's an interesting discussion as to the perils of close ups and wide angles here.

http://bringatrailer.com/2016/12/22/rare-and-odd-restored-1965-lancia-flavia-sport-zagato/

But mostly an excuse to link to these:

http://www.auto-classiche.it/tama_images/resize/large/27/lancia-flavia-sport-zagato-8.jpg

http://www.auto-classiche.it/tama_images/resize/large/27/lancia-flavia-sport-zagato-11.jpg

[DavidLaver]

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[nthomas1]

These are very interesting posts.  It's true that angle of shooting, and focal length of the lens used can distort a picture, and I have to admit that I use wide angle lenses quite a lot because, for some subjects, I like the distorted effect.   Shown below is one of my shots of a Flavia Sport, which I'm quite fond of. 

The Flavia Sport is a car I never liked in photographs.  Then I saw my first one  "in the metal" and thought it was fantastic.  For definition of "fantastic" see below.  I prefer the second but I think both fit the car. Take your pick!

1. “Imaginative or fanciful; remote from reality”
synonyms: fanciful, extravagant, extraordinary, irrational, wild, mad, absurd, far-fetched, nonsensical, incredible, unbelievable, unthinkable, implausible, improbable, unlikely, doubtful, dubious, strange, peculiar, odd, weird, eccentric, insane, whimsical, capricious, imaginary, visionary, unreal, strange, bizarre, outlandish, surreal, exotic, imaginative, elaborate, ornate, rococo, baroque

2. informal: “extraordinarily good or attractive”
synonyms: tremendous, remarkable, great, terrific, striking, impressive, outstanding, phenomenal, monumental, overwhelming

[frankxhv773t]

The close up with wide angle lens can emphasise a particular design feature to good effect as in Norman's last picture.

[stanley sweet]

It's the first time I've ever noticed that crease running down the front wing - shows up very clearly on the silver car.

[nthomas1]

I'd not noticed the crease either.  It is quite subtle, and it's interesting that it's almost invisible in photographs of the model in certain colours.  Looking back at a number of images of the car, the crease seems (in my view) most noticeable on the silver versions.

I wonder if the Carrozzeria Touring designer of the Lamborghini 400 gt was influenced by the Flavia Sport when he developed the front-end of that car?

[brian]

Agree completely about the effect of different colours on the appreciation of the Flavia Sport. I struggled for ages in deciding what colour to do mine as the more usual white, silver, Lancia Blue and red I thought unhelpful. So I am afraid I used a 1960s Ferrari blue which I think looks good. I expect to be drummed off the forum ............
Attached picture on SPR 2015.
Brian

[nthomas1]

It looks superb in that colour!

[stanley sweet]

I think I've mentioned before what a lovely blue that is you've used. I'm sure there must have been an influence between the 400GT and the Flavia, whether consciously or not. When I first noticed the crease it was the 400 that came to mind.

[Sliding Pillar]

The swage line on the front wing of the Flavia Sport does show up, even on the dark colours, it's just a matter of how it is photographed and the angle of the light.

[nthomas1]

Agree entirely.  Most of the pictures that I have - mostly downloaded - are not taken as well as these!

[Sliding Pillar]

Thanks for the compliments, here are a few more. Sorry about the quality, they were scanned a while ago from 30+ year old photos.

[stanley sweet]

I imagine they're a bit of a


















































I imagine they're a bit of a Marmite car but I think they're gorgeous things. You'd only get a shape like that out of a modern CAD programme if it had a virus.

[nthomas1]

Lovely pictures.  You may have noticed that my front-end shot of the red car was also quite grainy.  I scanned all of my Kodachrome transparencies before I re-located from the USA a couple of years ago in order to save storage space.  Fortunately, like your scanned shots, the essence of the image remains and I'm quite happy to put my scanned images alongside later higher quality direct images!

[Jay]

It's not only the top crease/swage line that doesn’t always show up in photos. The lower one that runs along the bottom of doors and wings which is continuation of the front bumper panel treatment, linking the rear bumper, never looks as prominent in photos as it does in the flesh.