LFS Forum - Silverstone '07 Photos

#1 - creativesurgeon

Silverstone '07 Photos

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 11:46

#2 - TiJay

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 11:55

Great pics

Did you visit BMW's Pitlane Park and try rTractor?

#3 - 11SuLLy11

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 11:55

Nice snaps

pity about the fence would of been a great pic of the GT-40

#4 - creativesurgeon

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 11:57

Thanks chaps. Tell me about it Sully.

No, I didn't TiJay, and I was there all three days!

#5 - N I K I

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 12:06

I like them

#6 - creativesurgeon

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 16:47

Thanks Niki. Looking to get some blown-up and one or two whacked onto canvas.

#7 - Taavi(EST)

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 18:45

Loving the images! If you could maybe post higher res, so that i can have a nice wallpapers.

#8 - sinbad

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 18:52

Nice timing with the red-arrows crossover picture

Great photos.

#9 - Bawbag

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 18:56

Amazing photos!

Damn great timing on...all of them!

#10 - Smax

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 19:30

The solution to your fence problem is to switch your lens to manual focus and focus on the track beyond the fence. Next you should put the camera into full manual control and set it for "quite a slow shot" I can't be more specific about that cos it depends on the moment.

Next you choose a "shoot point" - When looking through the viewfinder at your shoot point you should be in the posistion of needing to pan the camera roughly 45 degrees left or right from your "shoot point" to have it pointing directly away from you.

Track a car as it approaches you. When the car reaches your "shoot point" press your shutter button and continue to track the car as it passes you. The slower you have the camera set the longer you will need to track the car for. Try to keep the car centre frame and your pan smooth and level.

If you get everything right, you should have a picture of the car in focus and the background all motion blurred out. The fence between you and the car will have become invisisble because the camera's movement blurs it out of the picture. I appreciate that's a rather clumsy explanation of something which will take you some practice to get right.

Below is an example I took at Le Mans from behind a 2 1/5 metre diamond pattern fence. It's not perfect - I didn't quite match the pan to the car's movement and I suspect the lens wasn't quite focussed correctly for the distance between me and the car. However I still think it's better than a shot of a great big fence with a car in the background which is what I would have had if I hadn't done roughly what I described above.

http://www.lfsforum.net/attach ... id=32795&d=1182208981

Exif Data : - ISO 100, F29, 1/20th sec

#11 - Rappa Z

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 21:32

Any chance you have some hi res pics of the left side of Coulthards car? I'm still trying to see if i can find my photo on the car side.

I'm pretty sure i saw it during a pitstop , but need to be sure.

#12 - Michael Denham

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 00:15

Quote from Smax :The solution to your fence problem is to switch your lens to manual focus and focus on the track beyond the fence. Next you should put the camera into full manual control and set it for "quite a slow shot" I can't be more specific about that cos it depends on the moment.

Next you choose a "shoot point" - When looking through the viewfinder at your shoot point you should be in the posistion of needing to pan the camera roughly 45 degrees left or right from your "shoot point" to have it pointing directly away from you.

Track a car as it approaches you. When the car reaches your "shoot point" press your shutter button and continue to track the car as it passes you. The slower you have the camera set the longer you will need to track the car for. Try to keep the car centre frame and your pan smooth and level.

If you get everything right, you should have a picture of the car in focus and the background all motion blurred out. The fence between you and the car will have become invisisble because the camera's movement blurs it out of the picture. I appreciate that's a rather clumsy explanation of something which will take you some practice to get right.

Below is an example I took at Le Mans from behind a 2 1/5 metre diamond pattern fence. It's not perfect - I didn't quite match the pan to the car's movement and I suspect the lens wasn't quite focussed correctly for the distance between me and the car. However I still think it's better than a shot of a great big fence with a car in the background which is what I would have had if I hadn't done roughly what I described above.

http://www.lfsforum.net/attach ... id=32795&d=1182208981

Exif Data : - ISO 100, F29, 1/20th sec

So basically do a panning shot instead of static.

I saw some panning shots in the gallery, so I think creative surgeon knows how. Still good advice though!

My fav shots were the one with the #10 Porsche in the foreground and the yellow and black Porsche out of focus in the background, and the woman holding onto the rail and peering over. I really like the people shots at this kind of event, especially when you can isolate the subject(s) like you did.

#13 - creativesurgeon

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 08:36

Hi Gents,

Thanks for the comments. It's really encouraging to hear you all talk like that.

Smax, thanks for the advice. That is what I did for most of the shots (i.e. the Toyota), as the AF is simply insufficient for that type of photography, I find. (Good photo indcidentally

) The thing is, the GT40 was exiting Luffield, one of the slowest points of the course, and he was coming towards me just as he started to drop the rear. Had to take the photo anyway! Little gutted though - Christijan Albers dropped his Spyker right in front of me at T1 just as I was bent down changing lenses! Got the aftermath though.

And the other instance was when I gave the camera to the girl who you see in the photo to take some shots of the Historic Series cars. I whacked the camera onto Auto Focus, for her, and she reeled some photos off. I took the camera back, forgot it was on auto focus. It decided to focus on the fence during these two:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com ... 098294_9bde7eda3a.jpg?v=0
http://farm2.static.flickr.com ... 244151_d25235d367.jpg?v=0

Grrr.

To give you an idea, this photo's EXIF is here:

Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture: f/6.3
Focal Length: 210 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire
Orientation: Horizontal (normal)
X-Resolution: 72 dpi
Y-Resolution: 72 dpi
Date and Time: 2007:07:06 14:37:05
Exposure Program: Shutter priority
Date and Time (Original): 2007:07:06 14:37:05
Date and Time (Digitized): 2007:07:06 14:37:05
Shutter Speed: 9487/1140
Metering Mode: Pattern
Color Space: sRGB
Focal Plane X-Resolution: 3954.233 dpi
Focal Plane Y-Resolution: 3958.763 dpi
White Balance: Manual

Some of the photos were taken at a faster shutter speed (you have no idea how fast these machines really are unless you're right up close at race pace), but you loose all sense of motion (as with some of the earlier ones I posted - the Ferrari is one).

Unfortunately Rappa, I only had a 75-300mm lens (not even IS), so I didn't manage to get close enough to the RedBull's to be able to really make out any individual pictures. The one of the steering wheel was taken from a showcar, which had the standard livery. Which, in all honesty, is a little silly when you come to think about it.

And thanks Michael. The best photos of people are ones where they are unaware - and I don't think you get any more unaware than at a Formula One weekend

Have a tonne more of the Porsche Supercups runs, but I find them quite uninspiring. Then again, I'm not a huge fan of them

Still have another batch of around 350 to be uploaded. And in the best of all, and in the words of Maverick and Goose, "I feel the need: the need for speed"!

#14 - Viper93

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 08:40

Awesome pics =) great job =)

#15 - Gunn

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 08:52

Great pics, thanks for sharing.

#16 - creativesurgeon

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 08:56

Thanks chaps!

#17 - DeadWolfBones

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 15:12

Awesome shots. What camera are you using, if you don't mind?

#18 - creativesurgeon

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 15:19

Thanks DWB. And of course I don't mind.

I was using a EOS350D, so only a prosumer. I bought it three weeks before the 400D was dropped to that price, so a little frustrating, but it does the job. Using this EF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 III lens.

#19 - jaws99

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 20:45

wow!!! those photos are amazing!!! I have a pretty decent camera and i can't manage to capture anything as good as that the resolution is immense and every photo is crystal clear!

Great work!

#20 - LoganC

Sat, 21 Jul 2007 15:44

They're all ricers!

Great pictures though! Nice camera too!
-LoganC-

#21 - creativesurgeon

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 12:02

Thanks guys!