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BARC, Croft Circuit 25 April 2015

SRHphoto
Posted 06/05/2015 - 08:04 Link
A few images from the BARC meeting held at Croft Circuit a couple of weeks ago. Trying a few new (to me) things, so would be grateful for some constructive feedback.

#1 Legend
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BARC Championship Racing by srhphoto, on Flickr

#2 Standard Croft opening lap pack shot
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BARC Championship Racing by srhphoto, on Flickr

#3 Wide and slow (1/5s is the slowest I've ever managed!)
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BARC Championship Racing by srhphoto, on Flickr

#4 Flat out down the back straight
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BARC Championship Racing by srhphoto, on Flickr

#5 Chucking it into Complex In
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BARC Championship Racing by srhphoto, on Flickr

#6 Sunny Out
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BARC Championship Racing by srhphoto, on Flickr

#7 Wet start to one of the Legends races
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BARC Championship Racing by srhphoto, on Flickr

#8 A different view of Complex In
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BARC Championship Racing by srhphoto, on Flickr

#9 Bump drafting
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BARC Championship Racing by srhphoto, on Flickr

#10 Complex Out
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BARC Championship Racing by srhphoto, on Flickr

Any comments or feedback greatly appreciated. All taken with a K3 + 60-250mm.

Cheers,

Simon.
Darkmunk
Posted 06/05/2015 - 08:41 Link
Love the first one! That's a competition winner in my book
And 9 and 5 are cool.
The panning shots are all great, but I would get in much closer on most of them.
Not sure if it's a compositional trick, but the ones with the car tucked in one corner of the frame, don't really do it for me.
Not bothered about the 'still' shots personally.

Great set tho and an interesting meeting
SRHphoto
Posted 06/05/2015 - 09:08 Link
Darkmunk wrote:
Love the first one! That's a competition winner in my book
And 9 and 5 are cool.
The panning shots are all great, but I would get in much closer on most of them.
Not sure if it's a compositional trick, but the ones with the car tucked in one corner of the frame, don't really do it for me.
Not bothered about the 'still' shots personally.

Great set tho and an interesting meeting

Thanks for the feedback .

If I'm honest, I've spent years shooting more tightly framed motorsport shots (including many years for a variety of local and national publications) and I am simply a bit bored of doing it. These are my attempt at producing something a little different from the usual spectator area shots you see from Croft, and I appreciate they won't be to everyone's taste . In many ways, I was looking to be a little abstract in the images I came away.

The still shots are a bit of a throwback to the typical editor's brief I would frequently get covering an event at Croft i.e. as many cars in frame as possible with car xx in the lead etc etc

Having said that, I did shoot some more 'normal' angles like the following image: -

https://www.flickr.com/photos/srhmoto/17137155370/

But as I already have thousands of images similar to this, I didn't shoot many!

Cheers,

Simon.
Edited by SRHphoto: 06/05/2015 - 09:10
petrochemist
Posted 06/05/2015 - 11:04 - Helpful Comment Link
Darkmunk wrote:
The panning shots are all great, but I would get in much closer on most of them.
Not sure if it's a compositional trick, but the ones with the car tucked in one corner of the frame, don't really do it for me.

Both 6 & 8 could work well for stock photography backgrounds, with the interest off to the edge it leaves the centre for text...

With the 'still' shots I rather like no 2, the spray in no 7 could have worked well but seems to far away to me, but that may just be because it's too much like what I see on cold wet race meetings. I don't think I've ever managed a group spray shot that I've liked.

Overall though 1 & 9 are the winners IMO.
Mike
.
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Edited by petrochemist: 06/05/2015 - 11:05
SRHphoto
Posted 06/05/2015 - 20:09 Link
petrochemist wrote:
Darkmunk wrote:
The panning shots are all great, but I would get in much closer on most of them.
Not sure if it's a compositional trick, but the ones with the car tucked in one corner of the frame, don't really do it for me.

Both 6 & 8 could work well for stock photography backgrounds, with the interest off to the edge it leaves the centre for text...

With the 'still' shots I rather like no 2, the spray in no 7 could have worked well but seems to far away to me, but that may just be because it's too much like what I see on cold wet race meetings. I don't think I've ever managed a group spray shot that I've liked.

Overall though 1 & 9 are the winners IMO.

Cheers Mike
carmagw
Posted 13/05/2015 - 09:14 - Helpful Comment Link
Its nice to see different types of shots, some of my thoughts on my favorites and a couple that don't work to my eyes.

I like No 1, would be better if the barrier coming towards the camera wasn't their in my eyes, but appreciate this is not always possible.

The contrast in colours work well with No 6, would have preferred a tiny bit more grass under the car (nose too close to edge of frame for my liking). Interestingly I like 10 but it doesnt bother me that the car is close to the bottom of the frame, maybe because you can see where the car will be going with the track remaining visable.

No3 doesn't really do it for me as the car doesnt seem sharp enough to stand out, not that keen on the backdrop.

I would have preferred a closer crop on the lead pack in N0 7 as it seems dead space to the right even though their are cars there.

Some nice work there, keep posting.

Regards
George
simonarron
Posted 13/05/2015 - 10:37 - Helpful Comment Link
Most of these look great, Simon, and illustrate a particularly fine panning technique.

#3 doesn't quite work for me, possibly because there's a bit too much clutter and no crisp focal point to draw my eye, but I like the idea.

As others have mentioned, I think #6 would be improved by a little more space betwixt car and the frame's lower edge, but it's still a fine shot.

I think the 'still' shots work, too, because they have room to breathe and provide context.

I look forward to seeing more as and when - and also to joining you at Croft later in the season (not sure when, but I'll get there at some stage).
SRHphoto
Posted 13/05/2015 - 12:11 Link
carmagw wrote:
Its nice to see different types of shots, some of my thoughts on my favorites and a couple that don't work to my eyes.

I like No 1, would be better if the barrier coming towards the camera wasn't their in my eyes, but appreciate this is not always possible.

The contrast in colours work well with No 6, would have preferred a tiny bit more grass under the car (nose too close to edge of frame for my liking). Interestingly I like 10 but it doesnt bother me that the car is close to the bottom of the frame, maybe because you can see where the car will be going with the track remaining visable.

No3 doesn't really do it for me as the car doesnt seem sharp enough to stand out, not that keen on the backdrop.

I would have preferred a closer crop on the lead pack in N0 7 as it seems dead space to the right even though their are cars there.

Some nice work there, keep posting.

Regards
George

George,

Thank you very much for taking the time with such constructive criticism - that's just what I was after.

#1 highlights the challenges of shooting in the spectator areas, where getting a low angle invariably means shooting through or over some sort of fence or structure. In this case, it was a 'standard' wooden fence. I did desaturate its colour a little before posting the shot and I'll maybe go back and look at it again to see if I can tone its presence down a little more.

#6 poses a similar problem in that I was trying to avoid armco, a catch fence and the top of a sound monitoring enclosure from encrouching into the frame. However, maybe a touch less angle would achieve the same thing. I'll make a note of that for next time!

#3 is very much a 'work in progress' for me, and to be honest I was just pleased to get a usable shot at 1/5s! On the full size image, you can clearly read the car's number on its nose. On a serious note, I'm sure there is a composition from this angle, but I don't think I've got it just yet. I'd like to try it at one of the bigger meetings when the space between my shooting position and the catch fence will be full of spectators. That might add more of a 'graphic' element to it. Perhaps a few more chasing cars would work as well. One to keep working on I think.

#10 was framed to so that I included the entire field. This is a throwback to some work for publications I have previously done. I was also shooting around a marshall post and was focal length limited LOL. Again, I see the angle as a work in progress, and I will shoot it again trying to take into account what you've said. It's another one that might work much better on a big meeting when the spectator banking in the background will be full.

As I said at the beginning of my reply, I really appreciate your comments.

Thanks again,

Simon.
SRHphoto
Posted 13/05/2015 - 12:14 Link
simonarron wrote:
Most of these look great, Simon, and illustrate a particularly fine panning technique.

#3 doesn't quite work for me, possibly because there's a bit too much clutter and no crisp focal point to draw my eye, but I like the idea.

As others have mentioned, I think #6 would be improved by a little more space betwixt car and the frame's lower edge, but it's still a fine shot.

I think the 'still' shots work, too, because they have room to breathe and provide context.

I look forward to seeing more as and when - and also to joining you at Croft later in the season (not sure when, but I'll get there at some stage).

Thanks Simon. A lot of your comments are covered in my reply to George above.

Do let me know when you're going to be at Croft. At present, I'll be at the BTCC meeting in June, the nostalgia meeting at the start of August and hopefully the Time Attack meeting towards the end of August. I might also manage a day at the car meeting in July, but I'm not so sure about that at the moment. Anything else I get to around family and work commitments will be a bonus!

Cheers,

Simon.
K10D
Posted 13/05/2015 - 13:45 Link
An impressive set of images demonstrating high technical ability with regards to panning and image framing. Quite refreshing really.

Best regards
Inspiration is rarer than a plate glass camera.....

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