Till one month to 2025, we were still at a dead end in terms of photreception in 2024, so I tried to make up for it in December. I still worry whether what I farm in the last month will make the past year look fuller or balanced.
Meditation
Let’s count how we missed the first three seasons of 2024. In the spring, Octavius’ restoration was not completed in time so there were no model I desired to shoot. I don’t want to repeat the past models. In my opinion, the fun of shooting lies in constantly unlocking new adventures, not repeating what has been done before. Talking about this, it’s not that we didn’t take any picture, but there was not enough fresh content. In January, we returned to the previous sunset photo location because we were not satisfied with the previous shot of Persian Kitty.
It was a perfect set, but I was no longer so excited. The main variables in shooting are cars and locations. In terms of cars (perhaps only refer to 140s for this school), we had previously shot white, blue and black. Even if we changed the location and repeated the shooting of these cars, they were not so interesting. According to the plan, silver will be the next theme. In spring, summer and autumn we have been restoring Nonna, which is a two-tone prefacelift, and later we will have the facelift single tone Big Apple. But in order not to miss the spring, I returned to the sunset location in April to shoot a silver 1996 S 600.
Frankly speaking, the day did not get what I hoped. First of all, we shot there too many times, the freshness and creativity had been dulled. And I’ not a fan of two-tone facelift. Even the weather became mediocre before sunset. I don’t blame the weather for not getting too decent photos. We really needed something different. I always keep thinking about silver, because silver is the most symbolic color of Mercedes nowadays. Of course, it was not in the 140 era, this phenomenon started around late 1990s. As you know, silver is the color that best shows the body lines, and the 140 actually doesn’t have many lines that need to be emphasized by shadows… Obviously Parktronic doesn’t meet the definition of simplicity, so I decided to skip this 1996. Most importantly, it’s not my car, or the car I want. I never imagined that a two-tone facelift would be such a beautiful picture. But when I sent this photo to the owner who almost ignored it for a long time, I am sure that he fell in love with it again at least that night…
The neglect of spring, summer and autumn was not entirely due to the delay in Nonna’s restoration. Yes, we were a month behind schedule, so we did miss the end of autumn. But there was really nothing to lose in spring and summer, and even if the vehicle was ready, we didn’t have much good weather. Spring was full of repeated sandstorms, summer was hot and gloomy, autumn was actually smoggy for most of the time. So the earliest shooting day was at least mid-October. Those days would be short, and then smoggy again. Waiting for the cold front from Siberia to arrive, the weather would be clear for a long time. So we were destined to act in winter.
New Content
On November 15th we released Nonna. After a few months without time for photography, at least we had a pretty decent model. After 8 months of restoration and another month of refinement, I am very happy with the look of Nonna. Silver pre-facelift was an easy target to play with, it appeared a lot in sales brochures and press photos. There are many ready-made examples to learn from, it also allows more freedom than darker colors. The way to appreciate silver is completely different from black, and the advantage is that it is not so picky about the surrounding environment. Even if the nearby buildings are messy, they will only leave reflections of the same color on the silver body. Black can never do that. When the paint is shiny enough, it will honestly reflect everything around it. If you don’t want messy reflections, you need a very peaceful scene. Silver also has this requirement, but it filter most messy.
Unfortunately, there was still no new good location. I found some good spots this year, but they were all 20 hours away one way. Although the sunset in late autumn was very ideal, the iron law of nature is objective, leaves can never coexist with a good winter sunset. I found a place in the suburbs with pine trees, which can stay green in the winter. This was just an exploration because the weather was average that day. I simply didn’t bother to use camera to shoot, just took a few photos with my phone. Although the pine trees were not bad, there was almost no depth of field and not many angles to choose from. This place was abandoned.
Speaking of nearby, I wasn’t too keen on going back to shoot the sunset at the same place, but if I had to… so we went back at the end of November. It was a bad day, the weather was perfect, but before we sent out I discovered that the plug on the HDMI cable was loose. The HDMI cable is used to connect the camera to the screen, and since I always shoot from above, it’s easier to use a flip-up screen. I paid a lot to have a 1500 mm cable sent by a shop owner far away, which was the only one within 30 km, and I actually only needed 100 mm. So we set off, and the weather was still perfect. But when we got there, I was shocked. This place is already full of photovoltaic power generation devices. I know that this project started two years ago, but in April, dermatitis had not yet spread to this area…
I tried to move forward, and then I was almost stuck in the mud. This is no longer a peaceful place, I certainly can’t accept the presence of a bunch of photovoltaic panels in the background, which may be attractive to some people who like contradictions… But, but, there is always a way out. On the way here, I passed a parking lot. I found it was very open and backed by a hillside, which seemed to be a usable scene. But I didn’t stop immediately, I hurried to get to this place that no longer exists as soon as possible. It is only 13 mins away from my workshop, I think we are saved. Now the model is new, the scene is passively updated, the camera is still Canon 5D Mark III.
First Blood
The first shoot was a tentative one, it was very windy and cold day. I arrived an hour before sunset because I don’t want to expose in cold for too long. I hadn’t done any research on the location before, I couldn’t wait to see what it actually looked like. This parking lot used to be for city buses, now 3/4 of the area is open to the public. But not many people come to park because it’s for a new library next to it, there are not many people eager to read book today… So it is actually a large area of asphalt divided by slots. The black asphalt is a good contrast for the silver car.
Not only that, as a parking lot, it is most atypical in that it not only has no annoying fences, but is even adjacent to a small hill, which is part of a park. There are no hills in this city, if you want hills, there are only parks and golf courses. From the orientation point of view, the park is located to the east of the parking lot. It sounds quite ideal, so that we can use the sunset in the west to illuminate the car body, with the hillside in the east as the background. However, there are many high-rise in the southwest, which will be compressed to a certain extent by the curved body sheet metal, but it is still a noticeable bulge, forming a noticeably uneven reflection on the body.
Earlier this year I tested an artificial horizon, where a fence at a certain height was used to remove environmental reflections and enhance the horizon boundary. This approach works, but I’m still exploring the ethical limits of doing so. Should we fake nature to cheat God? The ideal shooting situation is actually to have obstruction not far in the west. This is like those sales brochure photos with a solid horizon, they are not taken at sunset. When the sunlight is strong enough, the fence between the car and the sun can also form a “horizon”. If you just rely on the soft sunset light, you will most likely only get a blurry horizon.
The first blood was quite rushed, as we didn’t have much time left after the site survey. The primary goal was to get a photo for the homepage, which we had done for the previous few cars. I knew this would be different, as we had been shooting in puddles below the wheels. The lowest point we could get now is to put the camera on the ground, which wasn’t going to be that low, so here it is:
I must say that the riding height became an issue. When we took over Nonna she had raised rear springs and pads by original owner, during the restoration we recovered the factory springs. But at the moment of landing, she was still a little high in the rear. At least according to the EPC guidelines, because Nonna equipped rearA/C her pads have been increased by one level. Of course, we also tested with passengers, and when two 100 kg adults were added to the back seat, the front and rear body heights beamce the same. Another solution is to add two 100Ah battery behind the boot, so the rear end will be lowered by 15 mm.
But I didn’t get extra batteries that day, so the rear of the car was a bit high. The reflection on the side is acceptable, not so amazing, but it’s enough for the homepage picture. After all, you can’t see the whole sunset on the silver car. Another angle was taken from the side, I noticed a lady walking her puppy walking towards Nonna, and immediately sniped this photo.
I think it has a very American sales brochure Hollywood flavor. The biggest difference between the Hollywood genre and European press photos is that they look more human, not just cold machines. In this photo, the car with the lights off looks very peaceful, people and puppy passing by look comfortable and harmony. This top-of-the-line automobile is no longer above people, the S-Klasse can match anyone very well, they are harmonious. Considering the shutter timing, the lady and puppy that doing Brownian motion, and the fleeting soft light, I can only say that God took this photo.
Second Shot
Before the artificial horizon was ethically vetted, I had only half an hour to take advantage of the soft sunset glow, which meant about two photos. This time I did more preparation, including looking at the angles I could shoot from combined with my knowledge of the terrain. With Nonna equipped with different wheels on both sides, my first thing was of course to duplicate the photos of the first sales brochure from January 1991. These photos were taken in Spain in the fall of 1990, and they were heavily processed. I’m particularly partial to the passenger-side photo with 15-Loch, which looks very peaceful.
The main task of the second shoot was to imitate this photo. I tried to find the angle, but the HDMI input was broken again, this time on the camera. It was therefore difficult to visually compare the brochure picture with the one in the frame, and I could only try to shoot and adjust the angle. I could have done this part earlier, at least to set the focal length and height in advance. After a few minutes, the focal length was set to about 100 mm. I must say that the brochure photo is as accurate as an S-Klasse, as long as you slightly adjust some elements, it loses its charm. In the absence of a rehearsal, my photo ended up being a little high, and I think the focal length was a little close.
You can also see some differences. I came at almost the worst time, the trees in the background have started to lose their leaves, they are not green nor yellow, now they are brown. The background detracts a lot from my photo, I have to go back here in the summer and take better versions. I tried to imitate the brochure photo in color, but another difference I mentioned was verified. The brcohure photo has a similar artificial horizon, of course it could just be a real scene in the open desert. I had to rely on the weak sunset light to find the real horizon, and the reflection on the side is very weak as a result.
Both spots on this day were given to the passenger side. When equipped with different wheels on both sides, the character of Nonna looks so different. The silver-painted 15-Loch helps to evenly reflect the soft sunset light, unlike the anodized 8-Loch that unnecessarily reflects the ground and the surrounding scene. However, the photo of the 8-Loch looks more life-like, and the photo of the 15-Loch looks more mechanical. This is a photo of a pure automobile.
Last Call
I had a feeling that the third shoot would be our last one this winter, so I chose the last day that was not too cold. This time I learned from my previous lack of preparation and started looking for potential photo angles and trying to analyze the focal length and position the night before. What we had to do was to fill in some missing angles, in fact we only had 4-5 photos after the first two shoots, and they looked similar to each other.
We are missing a front view. It might sounds simple, but it is not easy to get it right the first time. My experience is to find an ideal eye level by observing other photos, not too high, not too low. Too low look a bit industrial, too high exceed people’s height and are beyond my laws. I always pursue shooting from an angle that people’s eye can directly observe. The eye level of this photo is at the top of the hood. Lower your eyes to the level of the car’s eyes and you’ll see the iconic “X” on the headlight lens. This look gives the pre-facelift a lot of soul. The front view looks very clean since there is no need to reflect much of the surrounding environment.
Then I changed to another view. A small episode, the lady walking with her puppy came back into my lens. Of course, I believe she’s local, and Nonna and I are outsiders. It was us who entered her world. I really hope that when the weather is warmer,Tthey become our models again.
I prefer the version without the headlights on. The shade of these photos is copied from the 1991 brochure, which is not really my style. I think it is a bit too warm, as I prefer to add some red to make it purple. It’s a pity that I didn’t add much creativity because of the initial purpose of these photos. To appreciate these photos properly, it is best to print them out and make it full size in front of your eyes. Otherwise the smaller they are, they will look more like primary photos with over-rendering.
I also framed a less successful photo into MBNA’s 1991 S-Class ad. The photo was photoshopped so heavily because of the cluttered environment that I’m not really willing to call the result a photo.
Look at the difference between the raw image and the final version. I personally don’t accept image manipulation like this, but I also don’t think the sales brochure photos are more honest. If I have to, I have do this.
More Nonna’s photos combined with 1994 North American ads. Inspiration comes from a lady with her puppy walking into our viewfinder. I shot there for three days, we met each other every night, she always wearing a mask. Nonna equipped with activated carbon filtrater (SA code 306), so absolutely fit the theme. Which one is your favorite?
I love old school horizontal photography in general, but they don’t work well with 21st century vertical mobile screens. I’m not willing to compromise too much for mobile or Instagram yet, so I didn’t rotate the camera, just framed the photos into these ads. This is a more ideal way to appreciate them. The main point of the first one is that silver is particularly forgiving and likes to be tinted different colors by different shade of sunsets. Silver will still be our photography theme in 2025.