He was most certainly out cold as soon as he hit the tire. The Impact into the barriers wasen't _that_ hard but imagine the force of hitting a tire with 100+ kph.
I always use a patch of grass or a Leaf to set my WB. I would recommend to shoot in Raw, so you can adjust the Wihite Balance and Exposure in Post Procession.
Yes, your exactly right. The Camera is completely unmodified.
I've read that my Nikon D50 is pretty good for shooting IR, some newer Models might be not as suitable.
You can try pointing your Tv remote at the Camera (or any other remote for that matter) while taking a picture. Then repeat the same shot while pressing a button on the remote. If you see a difference in the Pictures (a glow near the transmitter of your remote) your camera is sensitive to IR light and you should be able to use it with a IR Filter.
Thanks. I'm actually thiking about getting it framed.
I Shot this using a Hoya RM90 Filter on my Nikon D50. This Filter only passes longer IR beyond 900 nm which results in B/W images. There are Filters available which also pass some visible light which results in coloured Images. Here are some Samples, my RM90 would fit in the "Deep BW" Category there.
I don't know why but the first Shot is very captivating. At least for me.
I was looking at it for about 5 Minutes now while unknowingly tilting my Head to the right more and more.