HOW LOW DO YOU GO?

RagSnapper had a rare Saturday available for a change so I went to the first day of the HSCC Historic Superprix at Brands Hatch, as well as the usual Sunday, with a view to creating some "art"on the first day. Working for a newspaper (especially a local one) can drag you into bad habits, one of which is you give up shooting certain images because you know "they won't run that..."

Playing around with the views and different focal lengths out on the GP circuit, it was good to just experiment again with tilts, leans and particularly, ultra-slow shutter speeds.

The secret weapon I now have to hand is a 2-Stop Neutral Density filter, in 52mm thread, which screws into the slot-in filter holder in my Nikkor 300mm f2.8. (ND filter - basically, just cuts down the volume of light transmitted through it). Straight away, even in sunshine, this means I can use 1/30sec at Lo-1 (call it ISO100) on my D3S bodies. Without the filter there's too much light and not enough small apertures available to give really slow speeds if the sun shines.

The downside is that you'll still get small apertures - f16+ - with the sun out, which means some diffraction degradation of image quality...

...and every last little dust spot on the sensor becomes very visible...!!

Peter Williams, March 78B, Historic Formula 2 qualifying.  Nicely sharp on the driver's helmet.
Nikon D3S, Lo-0.7 (ISO125),  1/30th @ f8, 300mm f2.8 + 1.4x converter (= 420mm lens). Shot out at Hawthorns corner. (not Westfield as I first posted - my fault, couldn't recall corner names!). This is a shot spectators can get without a media pass - I was perhaps 10ft closer, but there's much less fencing out on Brands' GP circuit. It is a bit of a hike, though...

The images made from here required some anticipation and learning, as the cars appear suddenly in sight and the lens needs to be swung smartly to keep them this tightly framed. I started on 600mm (300 + 2x), realised that I wanted the barrier at the bottom to show more and also that I was struggling to frame up that tightly, so went back out to 420mm. As usual, make sure you shoot a lot as this is not an exact science. Just to illustrate: I never did get one I was happy with of polesitter (and race winner) Martin Stretton from here. He was visibly travelling faster through Hawthorns and I just could not frame him properly!

More images after the break...

More Historic F2 Qualifying, though I can't tell you with real confidence who these guys are as I can't read the numbers well enough! I think the closest is No 22, Alain Lagache, March 712M, and the rear is No 52, Robert Simac
 in another March 712M.  D3S, 1/30th @ f10, 600mm, ISO100 (Lo-1).

With this image I wanted to see what a "race" type shot looks like - it's still F2 qualifying - with a couple of cars in the frame. Their differing speeds relative to each other changes the look and is different from image to image. One of the "mistakes" amateur photographers keep making when trying to get into print is to keep offering single images of cars to publications and agencies. Even if it's well-panned, it's still a single car on a racetrack. For some purposes that works but it's a motor race, and that needs multiple cars in the picture - drivers racing.

Disclaimer: I would be the first to admit that race pictures are harder to do without media access. These are normally more head-on type images and crowd safety dictates more and more catch-fencing to look through at the corners where those pics are shot. However, choosing your spot can help and this, again, is out on the GP circuit in Dingle Dell. Less fencing, more walking...

Really slow! Surtees corner, as the cars turn off the Indy circuit and head off into the woods on the GP loop. The cars are coming towards you, but still turning slightly if you are shooting through longer lenses.
Now down to 1/15th @ f22, 420mm lens for this McLaren M26 F1 car from 1976, driven by Frank Lyons.
(Don't know if this is a James Hunt car, but '76 was his championship year in F1). Very "fluid"-looking, yet there are features with a core of sharpness that means the car is still recognisable for what it is.

The same car, with the same shutter speed, but the car is much closer. It really almost seems to be flowing around the driver and cockpit area, yet it's still recognisable - the driver wears an Arai helmet, for instance! - and this, I think, illustrates just how important shooting many images is when you push your limits harder. This just isn't an exact science and there's a different look to even consecutive pictures in a sequence. What I did notice was that, with the mirror up for longer, panning becomes something of a matter of "feel" rather than purely viewfinder framing.

Can't get much slower here, at 1/15th sec and, yes, EVERY bl++dy dust speck shows! I note that there weren't too many - the D3S has the "shaky" sensor-cleaning system and they do seem to stay cleaner than my previous D3 sensors did. A quick few passes with an Arctic Butterfly sensor brush that evening sorted things out. The Arctic Butterfly brush isn't cheap but it does work if the dust isn't welded to the sensor (that means a wet clean).

Race image: Lurani Trophy single-seaters, at Druids bend. No 9, Bob Birrell in a Lola Mk2 from 1960, and 21, John Arnold in a 1959 Elva 100, complete with (modern) open-face helmet and goggles.

Lurani Trophy race at Druids bend: race winner No 70, David Methley in a 1963 Brabham BT6, chased by the pack.

These are both illustrating a RACE action picture, taken at Druids bend. D3S, 1/125th and 300mm lens. Aperture used is slightly different in each, for different light levels but of no consequence otherwise. It's here that I feel a modified approach from the "slow as possible" is better in a race. There's nothing that says you can't shoot slower but 1/125th keeps the lead car reasonably sharp (bonus mark here, the drivers are nicely sharp!) and yet "speed" and "turning" are still powerfully conveyed. These cars, though moving quite smartly, don't match a more modern winged racer so this might be the limit for faster machinery, too.

70's Road Sports race, exiting Graham Hill bend. Peter Shaw leads the pack in a TVR Tuscan. Here's one where I chose 1/500th sec, as the cars are accelerating hard towards me and I've got 600mm of lens on. Again, nothing to say don't shoot slower, but this might be the only time to get the race leader with a pack of cars close behind him, so a little caution means at least you have that shot...

This is more typical of a raceday image, shot at 1/500th on 600mm of lens to show race action. There are tilts to camera position and other variations to make, and once this shot is in the bag, then it's time to try slower shutter speeds.

And here's one I definitely would be shooting at 1/500th. From the top of Druids, looking for the clean background of an empty Paddock Hill, with the car 3/4-on. D3S, 420mm and DX crop (= a 630mm lens). Again, could go slower, but there's a moment to frame and then a moment too late... But if you are a regular then you can keep going back.

This is a 1/500 picture, keeping the car cleanly framed against an empty Paddock Hill. And I confess it's also a "media access" image, as there's fencing in the way for spectators and I'm lower than they are unless they are flat on the ground...  Depending on the speed of the vehicles, it's worth getting the 1/500th shot, then trying slower shutter speeds. Trying to get Superbikes as their riders back them into the turn(!) is something I've found problematic, as you've always got more glass on for the smaller subject.

I have probably missed a trick here, as I should have got some more methodical images taken at 1/1000, then 1/500th, 1/250th etc etc. Nobody ever said I'm always methodical, though.   :)

Hey, more to know.

Got plenty of arty pics to choose from, now, for prints....