Access Pit Lane, Track, Media Centre... Part 2
The month of May brought another rash of races: Three
venues for the FIA GT/WTCC joint meetings and
something a bit special, the Nürburgring 24 Hours.
The FIA races are at Magny Cours, Silverstone and Imola,
all current Formula One tracks, and, by way of a total
contrast, 24-hours endurance on the 22 Kilometer
Nordschleife version of the Nürburgring (last used in 1976
for the Grand Prix circuit). All of these venues bring
different challenges and opportunities.
A previously obscure region of France now hosts the
oldest Grand Prix of them all, mainly due to the local
political influence with the former French President
Mitterand. Take plenty of green acres, add a little
regional and national development grants and, voila,
there is a Grand Prix happening! There is now even an
extension from the main Autoroute to speed motoring
progress from Paris. The circuit, which is dismissed by
some, provides some excellent locations for photography.
Any circuit which features a hairpin preceded by a long
straight will have plenty of overtaking.
Tip: When photographing motorsports do your homework.
Analyze the track and the corners, look at the
composition of the grid and decide which will be the place
in the race where the action will happen. Events like
Touring Car, which may have more than one round per
meeting, usually reverse grids for the second race. That
is the best time to be at the passing spots to catch the
fastest cars coming through the field.
Silverstone is typical of a modern F1 circuit with huge
runoff areas and gravel traps that present a number of
issues for the photographer. First the great distance
between the photographer and the track means that
there is the temptation to use either teleconverters or
cheaper telephoto lenses. (I assume that not everyone is
going to rush out and get a 600mm f4 prime just for the
occasional day at the races!). I am not in favor of
teleconverters, as they cause the quality of the image
produced to be less than the full potential of the camera
- same for cheap telephoto lenses. They also can
seriously erode the performance of the auto focus
systems that exist in most cameras. The quality of the
images is a product of several things and good glass is an
essential step to producing optimal results. There are
other ways of producing the goods.
Tip: The 'prosumer' digital cameras produced by the likes
of Canon and Nikon can produce huge files straight out of
the camera, particularly when the RAW option is chosen
as a file format. So take the images using your best
quality lens and use your software package to process
the image to your requirement. Converting the RAW files
at high resolution and then cropping the image to
produce an acceptable print may in the long run produce
better results than converters etc. StudioLine is able to
convert RAW images and edit the results for composition
(cropping), color and sharpness. Software is a valuable
tool in the digital photographer's armory. A good
understanding of the features in the software package
will give the best results.
The other problem that photographers encounter with
runoff areas and gravel traps is that of heat haze. Even
cool days can throw up this menace and a whole day's
shooting can be ruined if this condition is not carefully
watched.
Tip: There are two solutions that you can try. Go up into
the grandstands or onto a bank and shoot down on the
cars. This will also get around some of the problems
presented by debris fencing, suffered by those who do
not have trackside access. If there are groups of cars,
then the elevated position will show all the competitors
not just the first few. The other solution is to embrace
the haze and use it as part of your composition so that
the colors and shapes of the cars, etc., are distorted.
Experiment, you might find that it works really well. One
thing that does not work well is applying too much
sharpening when editing the image. If the light reaching
the sensor is distorted, then no amount of trickery will
change that.
Imola, being Italian, has a different set of issues to
address. The circuit is set in parkland and you are as
likely to be knocked down by a cyclist or a roller skater
as a car. The whole circuit is ringed with layers of catch
fencing and the tendency is to shoot everything head-
on, as there is not much space for panning shots. These
parameters mean that the most valuable tool is not in the
photographer's camera bag. Imagination is called for!
Tip: Instead of just accepting the conventional wisdom,
look around! Is there something that can be turned into
an image? The roof terrace over the pits can be a good
place to get a different angle on the cars. Is there any
place around the track, particularly in the spectator
areas, that can be a point to create something different?
The shots of cars through the trees were taken from
outside a roadside café, which was elevated just enough
give a clear view of the track. The debris fences
disappear with the panning effect leaving you with a shot
that will sell. Mind you, the other patrons of the
establishment must have thought I was mad, but I was
pretty confident that the results would be good.
The Nordschleife is unique. The sheer scale of the place
is daunting to a photographer, more like a rally special
stage than a circuit. Even though this is 24 hour race,
planning is absolutely essential to achieve any kind of
result. Getting around can be a logistical nightmare. With
around 200,000 people, some of whom are very well
refreshed, each journey needs to be thought through. I
had assistance from a photographer who had been a local
mailman during his holidays - and even he got caught
out. We tried to get to the Karussel by a back route, only
to get stuck in the mud half way up a hill. Somehow we
got ourselves out of this situation, but it was touch and
go.
Tip: Planning the weekend is vital and getting advice from
others who have experience is a quick way of achieving
the best results. Try using Internet forums to get help
from those who have experience.
The weather was typically Eifel mountains stuff - rain,
sun, snow, more rain, etc. Protecting your investment in
cameras and lenses is vital in these difficult conditions.
The level of protection on most good quality digital
cameras is high these days, but in really bad conditions
both camera and lenses need protection. The solutions
range from bin liners to bespoke covers such as those
provided by Aquatech or Tenba.
Tip: If you are using a long lens and a monopod (which I
would suggest for any lens longer than 300mm), then a
cheap solution is to use the trouser part of a rain suit:
One leg for the lens, one leg for the monopod and access
to the camera at the top. Simple and effective!
Next month will be spent largely in Le Mans and I will be
showing how the story of the world's greatest race can
be captured with or without a pass.
John Brooks, June 2005
John Brooks uses:
Cameras:
Canon 1D ll
Canon 1Ds ll
Lenses (all Canon):
16-35mm f2.8
24-70mm f2.8
70-200mm f2.8
300mm f2.8
500mm f4.0
Storage:
A variety of memory cards by CompactFlash, MicroDrive and
Secure Digital, totally 14 GB.
PC:
Sony S2XP laptop
More images by John Brooks may be found at:
www.SportsCarPros.com
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