Very nice of you to say so, David, but motor racing shots tend to feature an element of luck.

Silverstone isn't the best place for photography, even with the privilege of a media tabard (at some corners you really need a 500mm with TC, rather than the Arron method of 300mm plus cropping shears), but the Birkett is such a quirky event that you can get lots of group shots featuring a riot of shapes, sizes and colours.

Brands Hatch is much more photogenic, but sometimes it just happens that you seem to be a magnet for all the wayward nonsense. During the first three races last Sunday, there was stuff going on almost every time I pointed my lens at the track. I missed one sizeable accident because a Fiesta was heading towards the barrier at such speed that I decided to throw myself on the floor (accidentally taking a fuzzy photo of a dust cloud as I dived). I wasn't worried about the car coming over, but knew there would be lots of flying bits (including glass). Several photographers were showered with shrapnel, but most of it (including a complete mirror glass) went over me. I guess that was being in both the right place and the wrong place, but there are days when you witness lots of drama and others when you see very little.

As for the upright shot of about 302 Fiestas, I didn't even notice the car spinning at the back. I had pre-focused on a set point and waited for the leading cars to reach it. I didn't know I'd captured the spin until I reviewed the photos later on.

Luck, as I say.

Are those Aussie dollars, Gary? If so, that's about £365 - a bargain of the kind I haven't seen around these parts.

And even if they're US dollars, £410 remains an absolute steal...

I like the cropped version of #4, Andrew, but feel the original had more in its favour (the swimmer adds extra interest, for instance).

As for #5, it's a fine conclusion to a very strong set. The colours are lovely and the composition (as one has come to expect from you) is spot on. The whole thing feels very balanced. I recently missed a chance to pick up a Tamron 17-50 for a very reasonable price and am kicking myself still.

Thanks for your endeavours these past few days: I've really enjoyed the results.

Yes, do not adjust your screen...

The Smart team finished 69th and last on aggregate, but was classified 24th on handicap (a complex equation best left to others).

Thanks to all for the positive feedback.

I'm at Silverstone again this weekend for the Walter Hayes Trophy meeting (about 120 Formula Ford cars squabbling their way through heats and semis before a final that usually takes place at about 3200 ISO): thoroughly recommended, should you happen to be anywhere near Northants.

Another beautifully framed shot, Andrew. It's absolutely ripe with interest - seagulls, small-scale Billingsgate, random swimmer etc - and to my eye it works well in mono. I would like to see a colour version, for curiosity's sake, but the conversion is probably appropriate because I suspect it might still be 1964 in Budleigh Salterton...

Must have been a busy week, as it's taken me until Thursday to post any of this nonsense. A cocktail from Silverstone last Saturday and Brands Hatch on Sunday...

Silverstone (all with K-5 IIs & Sigma 100-300mm f4)

1 - The Birkett Six Hours is one of British motor racing's engagingly diverse staples...


2 - ...and I mean diverse. There were 69 cars on the grid, but the occasion's customary joviality was marred by an accident that left one driver with serious head injuries


3 - AC/DC frontman (and car aficionado) Brian Johnson was among the cast, at the wheel of an MGB


4 - It's always worth pulling off the M40 en route to or from Silverstone, because red kites abound. I stood awhile on a motorway bridge, waiting for one to drift into range, and turned to see a police car pulling up. "Oh," said the WPC within. "I didn't see the camera. I thought you might be planning to jump..." I assured her that I was a serial optimist and she left me alone to stalk kites


5 - Racing silhouettes

Brands Hatch (again, all with K-5 IIs & Sigma 100-300mm f4)

6 - What could possibly go wrong?


7 - I tracked the orange car, then looked back to find Fiestas facing in several different directions. I'd have needed the 17-70 to capture the full extent of the mayhem


8 - Wanted: new torque wrench


9 - Proof that BST had just officially come to an end


10 - Spot the deliberate mistake

Another lovely shot, Andrew - great colours, beautiful rendition and a nice, balanced composition.

Not sure about the £60,000 K10, mind...

Bit late to this, Andrew, but I love the two versions of shot #1. Forced to make a choice, I'd plump for the original because, as others have said, it has a little more mystique and raises an extra question or two. The composition & exposure (composure, perhaps?) are bang on the mark.

The train shot is less dramatic but is a fabulous mono conversion and very evocative. It is also testimony to what the older Pentax DSLRs can do. I always liked my K200D (basically a K10 in a miniskirt, I believe) and wish I'd kept my K20...

I wish I hadn't asked - that has just made me deeply envious.

A fabulous portrait to cap a fine sequence, Alan.

Good luck, Andrew...

For me this one is the pick, so far, of a fine batch. I echo Phil's comments pretty much to the syllable. Fantastic colour rendition and it all looks so natural: 1/13 of a second of pure magic.