witolda_maruszewska

I agree with Simon Hodgson - you could have used a slower shutter speed as the blur on the wheels isn't particularly evident and it looks as though the car is motionless.

Another comment would be that you can see the start of the pit wall (tyres) and IMHO it is just a little bit distracting, as is the blue & white striped cone.

Otherwise, very nice shot, especially with the angle that you've taken it at.

I like this photo - a lot.

Don't think it needs to be cropped at all because it would remove some of the things that you associate with Le Mans from the background i.e. the trees and the Dunlop bridge. In that sense it is very evocative because the circuit is immediately identifiable. Cropping would remove that and turn it into any old sports prototype photo.

I also like the fact that the car is non-centre and towards the bottom of the frame.

It is a shame this shot has been cropped front and rear. I wouldn't comment on the exposure as I feel that is more down to personal taste. As far as shots of this type is concerned, here's a few tips that you may find useful:

1) Use a shorter focal length than you think you will need to get the whole car in - it is easier to crop the print than find you've chopped bits of the car off. 80-100mm is what I tend to use when I'm fairly close to the track and it gives the feel of the car driving into the space that you've left for it.

2) Use a faster film; ISO 400 is probably closer to what you should be using for motor racing and it gives you more lassitude and flexibility than what you've used i.e. ISO 100

3) If you use a faster film, you can slow the shutter speed down quite considerably. 1/500 is far too high for side-on shots and inevitably only freezes the action. Depending on where you are shooting from and the speeds the cars are doing at that point, you can go as low as 1/90 s. If you follow the car as you squeeze the shutter, then you introduce motion blur into the photo giving it that real feel of speed.

It takes a bit of practice, but you get real satisfaction when it does work. Here's two of my shots that you might want to have a look at:

http://www.thruxton.f9.co.uk/pics/gallery/circuit_pictures/2002_bhsw/bhsw_25.jpg

http://www.post14.f9.co.uk/pics/2002_snet_f3gt/f3gt_35.jpg

Hope this helps some :)