St Paul's and the bus

[Josh Bear]

Hi All,

been away quite a long time. Not just away from this forum but actually away from any sort of serious time with my camera's.

Anyway first post of a photograph for a long long time had to be here on my fav forum and actually the one I learnt the most from.

Taken at night with the OMD EM5. B&W done in Nik Effects 2. St Paul's with passing London bus.

Hope you like.

Best regards

Josh

[Barr1e]

Re: St Paul's and the bus

Missed this one (not the bus ) -

Interesting.

Regards. Barr1e

[Ian]

Re: St Paul's and the bus

Hi Josh - nice to see you back again. Obviously work is taking priority and I hope business is booming

I'm aiming to take some night time shots tonight as I will be in London for an event.

Ian

[Josh Bear]

Re: St Paul's and the bus

Thanks for the comments both.

Hi Ian. Yes work has been the priority. The OMD and the 5d mark 3 are shamefully underused. However wont complain about work. Nice to have a job and it does allow for a couple of extravagances

It's an Aston Martin DB9

Best regards

Josh

[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/joshbear/8665147225/[/ame]
[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/joshbear/8665147225/[/ame] by Josh Bear, on Flickr

[Ian]

Re: St Paul's and the bus

Is that a new one? I know you had an AM before...

Ian

[Josh Bear]

Re: St Paul's and the bus

Hi

Yes

The previous one was a vantage. 4.7 L with 420 brake horsepower. This is a DB9 with a 6L engine with 510 BHP. A joy to drive has three suspension settings to take it from track racer to comfortable GT.

The colour is ceramic grey which is a dark grey with flecks of aluminium in it.

More pics here http://www.flickr.com/photos/joshbear/

Very happy boy

Best regards

Josh

[John Perriment]

Re: St Paul's and the bus

Love the creativity of the bus and St Paul's, but it's the car that grabs me - sleek and seductive yet mean and menacing at the same time and all round very, very beautiful. I'd imagine you haven't experienced driving until you've driven one of those! Where's the Smilie for undisguised envy.....

[Josh Bear]

Re: St Paul's and the bus

Love the creativity of the bus and St Paul's, but it's the car that grabs me - sleek and seductive yet mean and menacing at the same time and all round very, very beautiful. I'd imagine you haven't experienced driving until you've driven one of those! Where's the Smilie for undisguised envy.....

Thanks John

Below is part of a post I made on an aston martin forum I am a member of. It describes the car and how it drives. To illustrate the point here's a comparison, in my last aston I covered 2400 miles in a year. In the DB9 I have covered 1000 in less than 2 months!

Text from aston post follows
".... I started to look at the New DB9. I read every review I could find, watched any you tube video I could find, even the ones in French and the same conclusion kept coming up. It's a great car. Fabulous engine coupled with the three setting suspension and the ceramic brakes. The reviews all say fantastic to drive.

Always keen for a deal I started to look for a dealer stock car. Unfortunately Reading only had a car with sandstone interior and tan headlining. There is no doubt that the lighter interior colour was a potentially nice change from the usual black leather with silver stitching but after multiple views of the car I wasn't happy with the tan headlining. I guess I like my dark colours.

A chance occurrence led me to HWM who had a DB9 coming in from the factory in ceramic grey with black leather and silver stitching interior. A test drive in their demo was organised and I was hooked. The guys at HWM were welcoming, efficient and friendly. They responded to emails and are sorting out what I hope is a minor issue on the car. I would recommend both them and Reading from a sales perspective.

I mention the dealer approach as there was one other dealer I visited (not previously mentioned) where the dealer was "aggressive" As opposed to welcoming IMHO. So you can't always assume you are going to have a good experience. Anyway his loss as I have now bought a new DB9. To all potential AM purchasers out there my advice is to take the time to shop around and visit a few dealers.

Anyway back to the DB9. The car is ceramic grey. Which for those who haven't seen it is dark grey but with flecks of aluminium in the paint work. Hard to describe but looks great in the sun. For those who haven't seen that for a while it is a large ball of fire that supposedly warms our planet!

The car has the five spoke diamond turned alloys and as mentioned black leather interior with silver stitching.

As regards driving my comparison is of course to the 4.7 vantage. First thing you notice is the sound on startup. OMG. I love the whine before the engine roars into life. Very intoxicating. The car itself has only done 60 miles and therefore I am limited in my view but it seems to have a dual personality. First the comfortable car to travel from A to B in style, cosseted by swathes of luxurious leather and a suspension system that makes the road feel like a silky neglige. The car has power and responds quickly to an urgent thrust of the right foot. Combine this with the paddle shifter and both speed and comfort are your travel companions.

But the other side of the personality is the beast. Change the suspension from normal to sport. Press the sport button, hear a mini roar from the exhaust and then jab the peddle on the right and you are met by a joyous cacophony of noise hand in hand with the ability to hit 75 before the smile has finished forming across your face. In this mode the DB9 feels sure footed on country roads giving you confidence to drive it hard sending adrenaline and endorphins coursing through your body.

I went to pick the car up on Friday with my ten year old boy. We took the "long way" home and my wife's first comment to us when we opened the door was "why are you two grinning like idiots?"

[John Perriment]

Re: St Paul's and the bus

Thanks, Josh, for a facinating taste of what it's like to own a supercar!