230 THE GLAMOROUS LIFE...

With the graphics test fitted and cut to shape, we were in a position to take the 'glamour' shots of the car. A colleague at work had a contact at Aintree Racecourse who agreed we could get some pictures at the home of the most famous horse race in the world.

The plan was to go out on the winners' line with the stands in the background and take some pictures, but we saw a grassy hill near the parade ring and decided to do some test shots under the trees first. It turns out, this was a great place for a picture, so we didn't bother moving.

Brother-in-law Tommy is into his gear and brought his new camera body along with a bunch of lenses. I asked if he needed them all, and he said, "If you are going to do it, do it properly", which he most certainly did. I'm looking for a couple of pictures of the front, a couple of the sides, and one of the back. He had other ideas!

Not only did he have a list of shots he wanted, but he also took some before-and-after shots. He took the same picture with multiple lenses to achieve depth-of-field effects, blurring the background and putting the car in extreme sharp focus. He was running around like a kid in a sweetshop snapping away, occasionally murmuring things like "That is an absolute cracker!"

The sun was so bright that it was difficult to see the screen on the back to confirm his assessment; we only saw it later, when he sent the images over. Both Lisa and I were absolutely blown away.

Honestly, the camera, the lenses and Tommy's skill in wrangling all the technology produced some genuinely brilliant pictures of our little Abarth.

He even did a bit of Photoshopping to remove some flyaway hair on my head caused by the wind and to delete a couple of bins in the background that were spoiling a lovely shot of the car under the tree.  

We've been so fortunate to have skilled people help with the project, and they all did it for free. Thank you, Tommy, at Unity Consulting and Barry & Kevin at Colour Create.

I've already sent some pictures to our Communications Manager at work to ask if she can feature the trip on our staff website and in our quarterly magazine - for free, of course, I'm on a roll here!!! Since she connected us with the team at Colour Create and with a friendly at Aintree Racecourse, I'm confident she will sort it for us.

Another job off the to-do list, now I just need to arrange to get the air con regassed and get the car valetted before we go, so it is lovely and fresh before we dash across the channel, through Europe, over the Alps, along the Mediterranean, around the Pyrenees and across the Bay of Biscay. <gulp>