witolda_maruszewska

I happened to be in the right place at the right time looking the

right way - the primary objective of the motorsport photographer... I

recorded the whole sequence of Michael Verger's roll at the exit of

T3 but this one is my favourite. I was shooting from T4 hence the

wall, and with a borrowed camera after the shutter failed on mine.

Opinions, ratings and critiques welcome as always.

Not a bad attempt at panning and a reasonably decent capture, though this could do with a few improvements to make it a better shot than it is.

 

Firslty, although there is space on the right side of the frame for the car to move into (good) it is a shame that the rear of the car has been cropped. Also, to my eye, although you've achieved some motion blur on the wheels, I suspect that your shutter speed was on the high side as the image looks somewhat static - mainly due to the lack of blur in the background. This could also be to poor panning technique; you must pick the car up early, rotate smoothly and follow through cleanly. Finally, I find the colour cast a bit odd and the image looks "flat", but that's nothing that can't be cleaned up in photoshop.

 

Hope this helps. :-)

Not a bad attempt - I like the idea of showing the crowd in the background because it was a pretty unique event as opposed to a typical race meeting. I agree with another post that there is no feeling of speed to the shot though.

 

In this case, you could have done one of two things to convey that impression. The first is a classic pan i.e. slow shutter speed (e.g. 1/180s) and follow the car as it moves across you. The second is a front three-quarters shot as you have done here, but as a slower shutter speed that is fast enough to keep the car sharp yet slow enough to show a certain amount of blur on the tyres ( e.g. 1/400s). The second option will give you a bit more depth of field which has the effect of holding more detail in a shot that has a fair bit of potential.

Was trying out some new ideas on the the practice day for the latest

Days of Thunder meeting - cropped pans (and this is the full frame)

aren't normally my thing as I prefer the full car in shot but I'd be

interested to hear some opinions on this. Comments and critique

welcome as always.

Not a bad try - these aren't easy to get right.

 

Maybe you'd want to include a wheel (with a bit of tyre logo blur) in to the shot and use a slower shutter speed to convey a sense of movement - the shot as it is, looks a bit static.

 

Also, I think you've maybe overcompensated with the levels and curves in photoshop - the image seems flat and lacks contrast to me. Taking that filter off your lens might help some too.

 

Have attached an example of what can be achived - hope it helps.

The grid formation in pit lane always provides interesting

opportunities for photographs. I find this particular image very

powerful in terms of the emotions and body language and I'd be

interested to find out what other people's opinions of it are.

Comments and critique are welcome as always.

Agree with the points Fred has made... This shot would look a lot better if the car was off-centre i.e. space to move in to, and the background a tad less cluttered. If memory serves, the top of the Goodwood hillclimb has much better background scenery than the start section.

 

Otherwise a good effort for a first try. Looks like you've got the feel for shooting motorsports. :-)

I know this type of shot is a bit of a cliche at Le Mans during the

hours of darkness, but I think it works well in the slightly more

humble surroundings at Snetterton during - more precisely at the

Esses at the top of the Revett Straight - during a 24 hour 2CV race.

Comments and critique welcome as always. (Note: this shot made the

24th June issue of Autosport)

Had the opportunity to experiment with second curtain sync flash

during the weekend's 24 hour 2CV race at Snetterton. This is my

favourite attempt and I'd be interested to know if this works.

Comments and critique welcome as always.

Two drivers in the groove - one low and the other high but both

giving the other respect at some 170 mph. This was a cropped pan shot

(I usually try and do full cars usually) during the 15 minute

qualifying session and I'd appreciate it if anyone could comment on

it.

This photo has been published in this week's edition of Autosport as part of the Days of Thunder race report. (10th June 2004 - Vol 176 No. 11)

Very well executed! A bit of a cliche I know, but certainly it never fails to amuse. Well done! :-)

A burning hot day at Rockingham was bound to take its toll as this

photo shows... Colin White pays the price for his efforts after

snatching second place from Michael Vergers on the last lap.

Blimey, that's a blast from the past... Looks like an ex-Gabrielle Tarquini Coloni CF188! :-)

 

Not a bad shot - would prefer to see the whole Pirelli banner in the background as the gap on the left is just a little distracting. It is a nice idea but would work better if the entire background was yellow. Could also be a little sharper (is the softness a result of the scanning?) otherwise, nothing really to fault here.

My best mate's blue-point Siamese cat tends to know exactly what he

wants - in this case, a Kitbit treat... Pre-focused on the hand and

the treat and waited for the cat to strike. Comments and critique

welcome as always.

I see what you mean about the tighter crop to the shot, think it works quite well :-) What I posted here was close to full frame.

 

This was a grab shot actually - I ran to the corner after seeing the dust and got there in time to see the driver throwing a wobbly at the marshals. Trouble was, it was one of *those* days and the guys on post had already run out of cement dust...

I like this - it does have a certain amusement factor about it, doesn't it? :-) This shot is off-beat and different which, humour aside, makes it just so appealing.

 

I do agree about cropping it slightly to draw more attention to the chickens and perhaps it could be a little bit sharper but other than that, it is a good effort!

A very nice concept - the angle of view is pleasing as is the crop and the reflection off the track surface. It gives a good impression of the car moving into the frame of the photo.

 

However, what brings this image down is the focusing and camera shake. The focus point is on and just below the number on the door - ideally, it should be on the windscreen. To avoid the camera shake, you may need to work on your panning technique (smoothness is everything) but using a faster shutter speed (say 1/180s) will help. Depth of field could also be better as you'd want to see more of the car sharp / in focus, but a switch to a higher ISO film should help you there.

This is nice... I love the way you've captured the warmth of the light and how it brings out the tones and textures in the rock. A well-composed shot full of visual interest and contrasts - the plant in the immediate foreground really makes the whole thing work. Well done, this has got the *pop* of a top quality shot.

This driver wasn't a happy bunny after he skated off on someone

else's oil - and with reason too, as there weren't any oil flags out

at the time... Comments and critique welcome as always.

Not a fan of abstract-y work per se, but this really made me sit up and take notice - the fact that it is so vivid probably has plenty to do with that, so has the good depth of field throughout.

 

The colours, texture and lighting (plus the typical velvia signature) really make this a really eye-catching shot and it has the *pop* of a real keeper. Good work!

I'm not the world's biggest fan of abstracts and it is an aspect of photography that doesn't particularly light my fire but I actually quite like this photograph, not from a subject / aesthetics viewpoint but because it made me look closely at it.

 

Until I looked really closely, it wasn't easy to figure out what was going on; a cursory inspection doesn't seem to reveal much, but only when I actually *LOOKED* at the shot, could I see the subject, the depth of the photo, the shapes, detailing and the tones. In that sense it is very cleverly done.

 

While this is a shot that I would not want to put on my wall (not my taste by any means), it has met one of my criteria for a good photograph i.e. that it draws the viewer in for a more in-depth examination of the image. There's not many images that have that "come and have a closer look" feel to them.

Skid Carrera skidding sideways in Turn 1 after having been tapped

from behind. The haze is tyre smoke btw... Thought this shot made

anice visual pun - would be interested to hear some views on it.

Comments and critique welcome as always.

I like this a lot. That gentleman has got bags of character and it really comes out in the photo. Well done - a portrait to be proud of.

 

Just a couple of small things; the background is a little confusing IMHO (should have looked for a plain one perhaps?), and I think a little bit of fill flash would have helped lighten the shadows from the hat and bring out the eyes a bit more. Also, a plain background would have allowed you to use a little bit more DoF so that there would be more detail in what is a very expressive face.

I quite like this shot - the pose is great, the lighting is really atmospheric and the composition comes together pretty well.

 

What does bring it down however is the focusing which, rather than being on the subject, seems to have locked onto the window frame instead (the area of greatest contrast in the scene) and then also the lack of overall sharpness throughout the image.

 

As a consequence, the image unfortunately lacks the *pop* that a great photo should have, though this is certainly more down to camera capability than photographer capability.