Sunday, February 13, 2011

Rolls Royce's Spirit of Ecstasy at 100

The iconic Rolls Royce "Spirit of Ecstasy" hood ornament celebrates its 100th birthday this month.  Here are three images of President Woodrow Wilson's 1923 Rolls Royce as part of a recent shoot we did for the Woodrow Wilson House museum in Washington, DC.

Click on image to enlarge

Click on image to enlarge. 

Click on image to enlarge.

In the first image, a close up, I wanted to convey the feeling of motion so I used a slow shutter speed to blur the American flag in the subtle breeze.

The second image is a front view of President Wilson's 1923 Rolls Royce.  This image gives the Spirit of Ecstasy a sense of place and scale.

The third image took a bit of planning and coordination.  I needed the light to skim the north facing front facade of the President's home. This involved waiting four months until June when the sun would hit the north facade.  Moving the car was the next challenge.  When a member of the Washington, DC chapter of the Rolls Royce car club started up the car it backfired so loudly that the embassy neighbors up and down the street were either ducking or peeking out their windows to see what was going on.  After several false starts the engine finally caught.  Only then were we able to move the car into position and make the shot.

Meanwhile in Great Britain, one hundred Rolls Royces were recently driven through London on the 6th of February to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the enduring, iconic Spirit of Ecstasy.

Todd A. Smith is a Washington, DC architectural photographer, with offices in Alexandria, VA and Spring Lake, NJ.

Please visit Todd A. Smith Photography, LLC or call 703-751-1688 to see more of Todd's work.

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