Here’s just the thing to blast away the January blues – a retina-bursting green S2 Exige. It’s an appropriately intense hue for the evergreen pocket trackday rocket. This shot really captures the essence of the car – it looks taught, compact, dynamic and more fun than any fair ride. The streaks of light in the background suggest it’s pulling more G than the Waltzers too. The shot was taken by Martyn Lewis, who is no stranger to PoTM, shortly after he had it so vividly resprayed and he still owns the car today.
Martyn: “I was heavily into my night photography at the time and I’d built up an automotive camera rig to create such shots. It’s basically some professional grade suction cups and linkages, with a 15ft aluminium sectional pole from which a Canon 5D Mk2 is suspended. A few weeks after this, my wife and I had our first of 2 boys, and the photography, particularly the night time adventures, has had to take a bit of a back seat since then! 4 years down the line, and having managed to hang on to the Lotus, I’m finding more time to shoot again. I might have to dust off the rig and get some more done!
Despite looking like the car’s travelling at great speed, it’s barely moving at walking pace. During that shoot, in the empty car park of my local cinema complex, I was approached by a group of ‘youths’ who showed a particular interest in the car, but more so, in the few grands worth of camera equipment suspended from the rig, 15ft from the car… Feeling a bit nervous of their presence, and being on my own, I was about to pack up and head away, when a friendly local police panda car appeared on patrol and moved them along. After a great conversation with the local police about the car and, my photography etc, they eventually ended up helping me out – hence the ability to be included in the shot (that’s me in the wing mirror/driving seat!) with a police constable just out of shot at the rear of the car giving me the much needed push! (These shots are always done with the engine off is possible – it cuts down on vibration and makes the image sharper!)“
Lets hope this extra recognition will encourage Martyn to take a few more of his car. Until then, it’s all yours to brighten up your desktop, smartphone or tablet – simply click the thumbnail below, then, once opened, right click and ‘save as’.
Many thanks again to Martyn for his kind permission. His website can be found here.
If you’d like a picture considered for our PoTM features, details and an upload gallery can be found here.
You can view the full Picture of The Month archive here.
