Hard Braking (Ralf Schumacher's Williams BMW)

Taken at the 2000 USGP @ Indy. I wish I could get inside those

fences! This is Ralf Schumacher's Williams BMW under hard braking.

These cars are at about 160-180mph coming into this sharp 90-degree

left hander. No words can describe how loud or fast these machines

are, truly an awesome event - I encourage anyone who can to attend

the race!

Wow. Are those rotors glowing? Great picture!

 

Very nice, especially given that you had to shoot it through a fence. Good choice doing it in a spot where they're braking heavily.

Catch fences suck don`t they ?

 

Great shot under heavy braking.

Any ideas on how to minimize the impact of fences on shots ? I shoot a lot of motorsport and an learning to hate the fences with a passion.

 

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=131194

 

Some I shot at Le Mans.

I took at least 15 rolls of film during this weekend, and have maybe 20 pictures worth keeping. I found that the ones which turned out best (like this one) were taken with the subject (cars) at very high speed, and where the tele could zoom in between those huge parallel cables. I see what you mean - the photo of the Porsche behind the fence looks like it was taken at some distance from the fence itself. Fencing becomes invisible if you're close enough to it and tracking really fast (due to it being outside the focus area / shallow depth of field). Another tip I received was to set the film speed below the actual ISO rating. For instance, you should be using 100 film anyway to get the cool blurred shots, and I had my N90s set at manual film speed rating of 64. A polarizer would also help to get the shutter speed slow enough to really blur the background, but shoot wide-open (aperature priority) to ensure that the car really stands out. The only trick then is to keep following the car at a constant speed while the shutter is open (you're blind) as it passes you. Thanks for the comments!

Yep, shooting through a fence can work surprisingly well. this shot was done through a chainlink fence, with the (300 mm) lens right against the fence and a wide aperture. I had photo credentials but there was no photo hole aligned with the pit exit.