Radnor Concours d’ Elegance 2014
Check out my other blog piece on The Audacity of Hope – Radnor Concours 2013
The site for this annual, rolling museum of beauty and the detritus of wealth just outside of Philadelphia: http://radnorconcours.org/
If you enjoy art, like cars, and spending a wonderful day in the rolling splendor of Philly’s Main Line, this car show is an absolute must see.
My Right To Dream
Yea, I get it…. I can’t afford any of these cars new, used, or wrecked. But why? I have all the qualifications:
- I am an American! We are the best! It is my right!
- I did what I was told: Follow your dreams.
- I do believe!: If you believe in yourself, anything is possible (so says Miley Cyrus and she is rich)
- There is no “I” in TEAM (sports guys are rich and always say this so it must be important)
I live in America… the tools are in front of me. Just pick up the ball and run.
Be All You Can Be – Dream It and Hope!
Ah, the kind of opportunity that is uniquely American: just dream it and you will have it. Wow. I can dream. I have the audacity of hope! You betcha!!! Dream! I can do that! I am almost there!!!!
- Just follow your dreams
- Do what you love
- Your heart knows
- Believe in yourself
- Never give up
- Pursue your passions
- Follow your own star
- Be all you can be
- Think BIG
So, what is my dream?… hmm….. owning a few of these cool cars….. having some hot chicks to ride in ‘em…. , and beer. Yea, lotsa beer. Yep, that is my dream. But hey, I am not stupid. I know I will have to work for it. I will need a job. So now, what to do? I know, I will listen to the advice of all the successful rich people like rock and sports stars, apply my dreaming skills, and dream up a career. Rich people love to tell you how they beat the odds, ignored the naysayers, followed their dreams… that list above…. oh, and there is no “I” in team. Yea, that will do it. I will just do what I am told.
My Dream Career
Actually choosing a career is really easy in the United States of America….. it is all about following your dreams, passions, and believing in yourself. So…… here we go, my dream job… hold on…. it is going to be BIG! Think BIG!
The only male employee of an all female, nude beer factory!!!
Yes….. oh yes…. my dream. And I will not let anyone tell me I can’t do it… or that star is too far. Someday, as I am swimming in beer with all those beautiful, nude coworkers, I will look at everyone and just say “I did it my way! I am living the American dream!”.
The American Dream Spoiled by Foreigners!!!
So, sure enough, I found an all female, nude beer company just east of … well I am not telling you where. I am pretty darn mad right now. Why? My dream job was taken by some foreigner with a goofy name that I can’t pronounce let alone spell. What the heck happened?
The hiring manager, Ms Goodfigure, told me the applicant, “Mr” RaviAchmedYuriPedroChang, had a “degree” in something like “Computing systems, manufacturing, and logistics” and was a wiz at “process engineering”. What the F? I am an American… that job is mine. I dreamed it!!!!
Now think about it…. did this foreigner follow his dreams? Heck no. He comes from a part of the world where dreams are of being an American but yet they just don’t get it. Who in their right mind would choose that nerdy, boring, geeky degree to be fulfilled and happy? Who born, raised, and programmed in America would ever have something like “Computing…. oh whatever it was” as their passion? No one with the audacity to dream and the freedom to pursue happiness would choose something so boring and geeky. What to do? The answer is easy and right in front of us: Keep ‘em out!!!
Politicians keep the dream alive
I know what to do…. VOTE! So here are my qualifications for government office and I won’t consider anyone who doesn’t fit these quals:
- They will aggressively stop the foreigners coming here and taking our jobs
- They will build a wall around our country…. we don’t need anyone else ‘cause we’re Americans!
- Says “God” a lot (I don’t know why this is important but a man in pointy hat told me so)
- Tells me I need “Audacity” and “Hope” ‘cuz dreaming is what we are about
- Will pay for my loans ‘cause businesses, run by rich people, would rather hire foreigners
- Will force businesses to “do the right thing” and start hiring Americans and paying us what we deserve
- Will keep encouraging me to dream because it is my right
- Tax those rotten, fortunate rich people and give me some… after all, I just did what I was told to do… I dreamed
Universities: Our biggest tool
In this great place of dreams and learning, our universities are driven to help each and every one of us reach our star. For a fee, from a loan that they will help you get, backed by all the dreaming taxpayers, a university will give me the degree of my dreams.
When I scan the huge number of stately universities and see the wonderful variety of dreamer-degrees they offer, I am full of hope for every American. But there appears a bit of a snag…… when I compare these dreamer-degrees to the jobs available, I can see clearly that companies just have not got the memo! C’mon corporate America… get with the program. Live up to your side of the American dream. Here is where we need politicians to put things right, far far right.
Something about taking these pictures
It was sunny but you think this would be good for photography. Well it is not. The contrasts are too great and camera technology is just not up to dealing with this extreme dynamic range (i.e., the distance between light and dark). If I just held the camera up and shot, the darks will be black and white areas will be overexposed.
So I used fill flash to lighten the dark areas. Even if your camera tells you the light is fine, pop up that flash and force it to fire. The computers in modern cameras are pretty good and will figure it all out. My settings:
- Flash on the top of my camera, set it ETTL II (the newest, automatic computer program Canon touts as good),
- Aperture priority
- f/18, closed down to get deep depth of field (distances in focus)
Once again, I am not happy with the shots. What I should have done is shot some experiments at home in similar lighting conditions to get the settings just right. I think I needed a bit of +1 flash exposure compensation as the photos were all a bit underexposed and I really don’t know why. Oh well…. I will do better next year.
The Equipment:
- Canon 5D Mk II
- EF 24-105mm f/4L IS
- Canon Speedlight 580 EXII
- A dream and a politician that “gets it”
