Figure 8 Qualifying

Taken during qualifying for figure 8 race. No flash, used only

available light. Canon 1D, Sigma 70-200mm. Unedited, just resized for

web. Shutter 1/64, f/2.8, ISO 1250. In the background are the cars

that already qualified, prked on the backstretch. This shot just seems

to scream power & speed. The lighting seemed about as perfect as I

could ask for, even the shadows in the rear wheel well and on the

ground. Comments?

John,

I think this is one of the best panning shots I've seen. Well done!

The pan work is certainly good. However, I've haven't really liked the digital bokeh until MkII. Digi bokeh is definitely different to a film - don't ask me why. It seems to me more structured and - artificial???

You can calculate the speed of the car from the traces (0.35m / 1/64 s)- about 80 km/h. The color world is a bit hard and flat lighted. Bad lighting certainly does not diminish the quality of the pan work but it takes away from visuality.

(My all time best shot is a pan shot of a LMP-Dallara with 1/30 s @ 216 km/h @ 160 x 1.6 mm - pure luck - and that one is with digi bokeh but nice harmonic background. You'll find it from my portfolio sooner or later.)