At the Track II

[dubaiphil]

The cars! There's people in there somewhere, under the helmets

I'll post the B&W versions, with EXIF. I was quite surprised how a couple of my lenses managed on a full frame sensor in challenging conditions (fast panning in slowly decreasing light as twilight arrived, followed by the circuit lights dominating). My previous experience in the evening conditions at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix were in 2009, using a D90 and 70-300mm at the end of the 2nd long straight - panning to shoot cars as they enter a braking zone at 200mph was a challenge, along with the colour degradation of high ISO on that body - a lot of mush at night! No issue this time, with different locations to shoot at along the short start/finish straight.

It might be worth clicking with the magnifying glass on a few of these and seeing the full size image. No VR was used in the making of this series (because it doesn't work any more on my copy of the lens!)


1. GP2 car - 70-300mm @ 300mm, f11, 1/250th, ISO200




2. GP2 car - 70-300mm @ 300mm, f11, 1/320th, ISO200




3. GP2 car - 70-300mm @ 170mm, f11, 1/250th, ISO220 - 16:9 crop suited this one, I think




4. Massa in a Ferrari at 140mph - 70-300mm @ 240mm, f11, 1/400th, ISO200




5. Vettel in the Red Bull - 70-300mm @ 125mm, 1/320th, f11, ISO250




6. 16:9 crop of Liuzzi in the HRT - 70-300mm @ 125mm, 1/320th, f11, ISO320




7. Button in the McLaren - 70-300mm @ 125mm, 1/320th, f11, ISO280




8. Maldonaldo (I think) in the Williams - 70-300mm @ 122mm, f10, 1/320th, ISO640




9. Hamilton in the McLaren - 70-300mm @ 230mm, f8, 1/640th, ISO2500




10. Rosberg in the Mercedes - 85mm @ f2, 1/400th, ISO360




11. Lotus locking up into turn 1 - 85mm @ f2, 1/400th, ISO450




12. Button in the McLaren - 85mm @ f2, 1/400th, ISO560

[Donald]

Superb image-making. Simply superb.

[dubaiphil]

Thanks Donald - I'm trying to get hold of a nice telephoto prime rental for this year's event - from the VIP Paddock Club hopefully, so more different locations for photography.

[RockNGoalStar]

I love your B&W conversions. What a awesome series! Simply awesome!

Makes me want to go to the BritishGrand Prix next year to emulate this.

Great stuff, well done :-)

[Mike Buckley]

I don't appreciate the cars but I do appreciate the quality of the capturing and the post-processing. Really super stuff!

[dubaiphil]

I love your B&W conversions. What a awesome series! Simply awesome!

Makes me want to go to the BritishGrand Prix next year to emulate this.

Great stuff, well done :-)

Thanks Tommy

Taking photographs at the GP is not too difficult, especially during daylight. It's when the sun sets that it becomes problematic. The only issue is the lack of access. You are limited to your stand. If you're lucky you may get several different viewing points on your stand and the ability to move around. Far better would be the ability to go to testing sessions. I'm going to try to get down to the circuit for all 3 days this year, and hopefully will have better access.

[dubaiphil]

I don't appreciate the cars but I do appreciate the quality of the capturing and the post-processing. Really super stuff!

I can understand you, Mike! The cars these days are limited in RPM and engines have to last longer. My first Grand Prix was at Monza (Italy) in 2004. The engines were much more highly stressed in those days and you felt the noise as much as you heard it! A Ferrari won in the Monza race and the Italians went completely bonkers - definitely a good atmosphere