British Grand Prix

[david_b]

Have put some of these in the Motorsport forum thread, but thought I'd stick some up on here as well as there's been a few car shots recently!

1.

British Grand Prix qualfying 2012 by david_b, on Flickr

2.

British Grand Prix qualfying 2012 by david_b, on Flickr

3.

British Grand Prix qualfying 2012 by david_b, on Flickr

4.

British Grand Prix qualfying 2012 by david_b, on Flickr

5.

British Grand Prix qualfying 2012 by david_b, on Flickr

6.

British Grand Prix qualfying 2012 by david_b, on Flickr

7.

British Grand Prix qualfying 2012 by david_b, on Flickr

8.

British Grand Prix qualfying 2012 by david_b, on Flickr

9.

British Grand Prix qualfying 2012 by david_b, on Flickr

10.

British Grand Prix qualfying 2012 by david_b, on Flickr


Full set is here.

[Gemm]

It looks like you were a bit too adventurous with the shutter speed. Images may become less dramatic (with faster shutter speed) but at least the cars would be sharp(er).

[david_b]

Gemm said:

It looks like you were a bit too adventurous with the shutter speed. Images may become less dramatic (with faster shutter speed) but at least the cars would be sharp(er).

Thanks - the slow shutter speeds were deliberate, with the knowledge that the whole car definitely wouldn't be in focus Personal choice, from the position I had (pit straight grandstand) the shots would have been quite boring if they were at 1/250 or more (IMO anyway!), so I used it as a bit of a challenge to get some usable low shutter speed pans (several of these are at 1/20 or 1/25s) to add a bit of drama and interest to things. Not to everyone's taste I know!

[GetCarter]

With all due respect, you need to be able to get the whole car in focus and the whole background out of focus before you selectively choose which bits of the car you decide should be in focus. I can't see one 'in focus' drivers helmet in the above - even at 750px wide). At 1/20th of a sec, I can see why. I'd have trouble with a mountain at 1/20th even with mirror lock up!

It has to be said though, that it's something I'm particularly bad at.

This was at 1/60th last week (and although it was closer, it was bloody difficult - there is no way on earth I could have got his bonce in focus at 1/20th!)



ETA... I looked at your FlickR pics, click on mine to see the eqiv. unsquashed

Edited by GetCarter on Wednesday 11th July 16:29

[david_b]

GetCarter said:

With all due respect, you need to be able to get the whole car in focus and the whole background out of focus before you selectively choose which bits of the car you decide should be in focus.

Very unlikely the whole car is going to be in focus at that sort of shutter speed! Was never really intending it to be, particularly as most weren't side-on. I've got plenty of shots at other race meetings, these were deliberately pushing things a bit - as I said, I know they're not to everyone's taste.

This is 1/20s by the way - not perfectly sharp if you're looking at 100% crops, but I'm not that bothered:


Britcar Into The Night race meeting 2011 by david_b, on Flickr

GetCarter said:

I can't see one 'in focus' drivers helmet in the above - even at 750px wide). At 1/20th of a sec, I can see why. I'd have trouble with a mountain at 1/20th even with mirror lock up!

Fair enough, can understand that that's the sort of thing a lot of people look for, some of these could be a bit better in that respect.

I really need to upgrade hardware at some point, these are taken with a 2004ish vintage D2H and a crappy Sigma zoom - I actually prefer some old manual lenses for focussing but wanted the extra reach for Silverstone.

GetCarter said:

This was at 1/60th last week (and although it was closer, it was bloody difficult - there is no way on earth I could have got his bonce in focus at 1/20th!)

Nice 1/60th and below is always tricky, this is at the same speed (again, helmet isn't sharp but I prefer the "moment" being captured ):


Masters Historic Festival by david_b, on Flickr

About as low as I've got decent pics at is 1/10s, handheld in the dark...


Le Mans 24 hours 2010 by david_b, on Flickr

Actually, just found this which is 1/6s, and properly lucky!


2011 Le Mans 24 hours by david_b, on Flickr

[flat-planedCrank]

david_b said:

2.

British Grand Prix qualfying 2012 by david_b, on Flickr

Really like this one ^

[tim-b]

david_b said:

GetCarter said:

With all due respect, you need to be able to get the whole car in focus and the whole background out of focus before you selectively choose which bits of the car you decide should be in focus.

Very unlikely the whole car is going to be in focus at that sort of shutter speed! Was never really intending it to be, particularly as most weren't side-on. I've got plenty of shots at other race meetings, these were deliberately pushing things a bit - as I said, I know they're not to everyone's taste.

That's true, the only place to get a 'rig-shot' style pan (i.e. whole car sharp on a motion-blurred background) would be from the centre-point of a constant radius corner, so the car is driving in a prefect arc around you. Druids at Brands Hatch is a perfect example, and one of the few places like this it's possible to access without a media pass.

Personally I like slow shutter car shots (basically my staple diet ) and don't mind the 'partial focus' look if the atmosphere and composition is right. But for me the sharp area has to be relevent, so for a sports-car driving into the shot the closest front light should be the 'focal point' and for an open wheeler generally the drivers head. Conversely, when the car is driving out of shot the closest tail-lamp or rear spoiler usually looks best to my eye. As with all rules there are exceptions though, I'm quite fond of this one (despite not being pin-sharp) which goes against my usual thinking and is all the more dramatic for it;


IMG_7701 by motion_captured, on Flickr

I think some of the OP's shots work better than others, perhaps the ones that fall into the middle ground of the shutter being too slow to allow the car to be fully sharp, but too fast to have a lot of background blur are a bit distracting and don't help the set. E.g. the 'extremes' of 2 and 4 both work better than 1 and 3 IMHO.

[david_b]

tim-b said:

I think some of the OP's shots work better than others, perhaps the ones that fall into the middle ground of the shutter being too slow to allow the car to be fully sharp, but too fast to have a lot of background blur are a bit distracting and don't help the set. E.g. the 'extremes' of 2 and 4 both work better than 1 and 3 IMHO.

That's fair enough, yes - quiet often with these things it's the ones that you think aren't going to be great that actually turn out quite nice, and the shot you've actually been trying to take is pretty rubbish

The Exige shot above is, as you can probably tell, one taken from Druids (the exit rather than near the apex though) - it's a damn site easier there at a small club event, compared to being seated, with people's heads in the way, between the pillars at the front of the grandstand on the pit straight at Silverstone It's a shame they put fencing up on the inside of Surtees a few years ago, that was another nice spot

[tmz99]

I think some of those images are quite cool..
The case is that yes, they have an excessive amount of blur, but it works. If the OP chose to do this intentionally, great, works well.. if he wanted to do a ''classic'' pan shot then yeah, he needs more practice... :P
At the end of the day with the advent of digital photography we expect perfect shots all the time (seeing as we can quickly delete the ones that don't work well) but this has led to a reduction in more artistic interpretations.

[tim-b]

david_b said:

The Exige shot above is, as you can probably tell, one taken from Druids (the exit rather than near the apex though) - (

Yes I did guess, what's allowed the 'complete' sharpness is that despite being at the exit, the car is still turning to get into position for the next left-hander, so still travelling on an almost perfect arc around you.

Brands is definitely a great place for panning, particularly on the GP layout as there are very few fences still. And on a nice day, beautiful scenery too!


IMG_3004 by motion_captured, on Flickr

[david_b]

tim-b said:

Brands is definitely a great place for panning, particularly on the GP layout as there are very few fences still. And on a nice day, beautiful scenery too!


IMG_3004 by motion_captured, on Flickr

Great pic, like that a lot Reminds me a little of one I've got from Goodwood - similar lack of fences and some nice background!


Goodwood Revival 2010 - testing by david_b, on Flickr

[Whitefly Swatter]

Taking panning to the extreme !

Nissan by bobshepherdphotography, on Flickr
This was a bulb shot on film (with a flash or ninety supplied by others!)

[tim-b]

david_b said:

Great pic, like that a lot Reminds me a little of one I've got from Goodwood - similar lack of fences and some nice background!


Goodwood Revival 2010 - testing by david_b, on Flickr

Thanks, yes GW and BH are the best places I've been in terms of access/visibility. Just got back from Le Mans, where unfortunately it was a different story...

[blackcab]

Ace shots David, as are the others, Ive just started being brave with shutter speeds and got some nice results - you just have to accept they are never going to be good for full on focus ... look great from distance though

[david_b]

blackcab said:

Ace shots David, as are the others, Ive just started being brave with shutter speeds and got some nice results - you just have to accept they are never going to be good for full on focus ... look great from distance though

Thanks I've got the 250LM shot from Goodwood I posted above on a 30x20 canvas, despite the relatively low res image from an ancient D2H and not being perfect close up I still really like the look of it!

[The Moose]

tim-b said:

IMG_7701 by motion_captured, on Flickr

I'm not being funny, but if I look at that for more than a second, it makes me feel sick!!

[david_b]

A very big bump to my old thread here:

I was asked if one of the pics from this set could be used in the Christies auction catalogue for this year's Gumball 3000 rally, illustrating one of the auction lots (Kimi's Lotus steering wheel). I got a copy sent to me the other day and was quite impressed with the result

Original:


British Grand Prix qualfying 2012 by david_b, on Flickr





Seems the ol' D2H can still do a half decent job

[kybo]

Nice work.

Congrats!!

Scott

[The Moose]

good job!

[ImDesigner]

Going with the Silverstone panning theme, here's a 599XX I took at the Silvertone Ferrari day a while ago.


599 XX PH Edit Brighter by >>>GARY, on Flickr