Columbia Valley Autumn Show & Shine 2011

Who knew that Radium Hot Springs, just up the road from us, hosts one of the biggest Show 'n Shine events in BC?!

Over 600 cars of all types showed up yesterday ... exhausting, if you'll excuse the pun!


Shooting at a car show is very difficult. People are everywhere. Stepping into your shot, throwing shadows in bad places, sitting in their camp chairs so close to the vehicles that you can't shoot without getting the people in the shot, signs and stickers are all over the vehicles ("do not touch", the vehicles' pedigrees, etc).

To add to the challenge, yesterday the weather was very changeable. One minute dark overcast, the next blinding fall sunshine. Happily, it didn't rain on us, even though there were showers moving all around the valley, circling us!


We spent over three hours there, walking up and down row upon row of cars, all buffed up for the day ... or not. I have to admit, after about 300 I reached surfeit, but Paul was having such a ball that I followed along, right to the bitter end. I'm glad I did, too - I know very little about cars, but I know what I like in a car when I see it!

My legs are telling me about it today, complaining whenever I move: Particularly my right quad, which is SO stiff after all the kneeling and getting up, kneeling and getting up.


I particularly enjoyed seeing the older vehicles. Those that had been restored to their former glory were lovely - although some people's choice of paint colour left a bit to be desired! And the less said about the people who decorated their cars with fluffy toys, the better.

I was especially enamored with a handful of project cars which were barely in running order, and more than showing their age in their body work. I haven't got to those in my post processing yet, so you'll have to wait and watch for them on my smugmug page ... the photo's posted here are just my fav's from the first batch of about 40 photo's that I've processed so far.