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Jul 18, 2016 15:33:20 GMT
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I'm going to take the next 2 years to practice taking track shots, better positions and techniques I think  When you see me on Facebook checking in to Oulton Park on a Friday or during the week it's because I've got a quiet day and that's exactly what I'm doing... Practicing my panning and settings and working out what works best for me. How I stand, how I move and position myself... Over and over and over and over. It has really paid off this year, 18 months ago I was OK but had a lot of misses, now I'm a lot more accurate and can get away with crisp panning at low shutter speeds that I couldn't have dreamed of. Still not perfect, but that's all part of the fun isn't it! |
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Last Edit: Jul 18, 2016 15:34:06 GMT by DarrenW
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Jul 18, 2016 15:37:15 GMT
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It has really paid off this year, 18 months ago I was OK but had a lot of misses, now I'm a lot more accurate and can get away with crisp panning at low shutter speeds that I couldn't have dreamed of. Still not perfect, but that's all part of the fun isn't it! For sure ... most of my track stuff was at 100 ISO .. the Lola up there is at 1/640, not much in the way of motion blur, it is something I definitely want to work on though. Have to find some more reasons to keep practicing. Maybe I should quit my job |
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Jul 18, 2016 16:09:59 GMT
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Jul 18, 2016 16:23:45 GMT
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Le Mans Classic Special Moment #1
If you ever get the chance to go, do it. Just do. What makes it special is the 24 hour aspect. Now obviously the famous Le Mans 24 Hours is one race that is 24 hours long, but at the Classic it's five or six classes on track throughout the evening/night/morning for about 45 minutes each and then a 15 minute pause between for track cleaning and prep etc.
Don't worry about the sleep deprivation. Just sit yourself down with some beer and food/crisps/pop/whatever in a good spot and enjoy the show.
It's magical.
At one point for ages there was just two of us on the whole bank and another fella a bit behind us. Nobody else to be seen apart from marshals waving flags and sneaking out the back of their hut for ciggy breaks and things.
To be sat there, in the dark, with vintage Bentleys and Bugattis hammering past in full flight, or Triumph TR3s, or E-Types, or Ferrari 512BB LMs, or GT40s with yellowy headlamps and glowing dashboards is an experience you won't forget. Steering wheels sawing away and tyres on the limit as the track cools down and the denser air liberates a bit more power. You can smell it, you can feel the atmosphere.
We had a long conversation about where we were sat. About how getting on for 100 years ago people would've been sat exactly where we were, watching the same cars... Only then they were the pinnacle of achievement and now they are ancient marvels.
Same for the GT40s. To be sat there, watching three of them howl past, around the same track where they famously trounced Ferrari, to be sat in the same spot as others did when they shocked the motoring world for the first time... Can't put it in words.
Do it.
A lot of it was probably sleep deprivation and beer though!
Also, the commentary at that time of night is interesting... They had maybe four or five songs, playing them over and over. One was the full version of the theme tune to Bottom, which entertained us (actually called "Last Night", by "The Mar-Keys"), one was Here Comes The Sun by the Beatles I think, and I can't remember the others. Random.
We sat up until six in the morning. Sadly one of the GT40s came over the crest under the Dunlop bridge with plumes of smoke coming out of it, and it oiled the track... The three GT40s after it all went off in different directions but fortunately none looked to be seriously damaged. That was enough to shut the track for a long time, and so off to our sleeping bags we went. Quite weird to turn to walk back to see blue skies behind us and a hoard of early-risers walking up to start their day!
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Last Edit: Jul 18, 2016 17:07:16 GMT by DarrenW
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Jul 18, 2016 16:38:16 GMT
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Last Edit: Jul 18, 2016 16:49:35 GMT by DarrenW
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Jul 18, 2016 16:40:20 GMT
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Jul 18, 2016 16:48:00 GMT
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Jul 18, 2016 16:49:15 GMT
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Last Edit: Jul 18, 2016 16:50:26 GMT by DarrenW
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,971
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Jul 18, 2016 17:18:06 GMT
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For sure ... most of my track stuff was at 100 ISO .. the Lola up there is at 1/640, not much in the way of motion blur, it is something I definitely want to work on though. Have to find some more reasons to keep practicing. Maybe I should quit my job I suppose just standing at the end of your road (or wherever) and practicing on rush hour traffic might attract unwanted attention! I tend to start at 1/200th, that's usually enough for a little bit of background blur and wheel rotation, and take it from there. Lots of variables, obviously. Closeness also depends on sensor size, crop sensor (600D) will make images bigger for a given lens size compared to a full-frame sensor (6D). For web use you can crop a lot though. Personally I would go a bit slower than 1/200 to get more blur, which does of course reduce the 'hit' rate. Great selection of images though. Mark ps If the 16-35 you mean is the Canon 2.8L then it's a great lens, although I generally use a 24-70 2.8L. |
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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Jul 18, 2016 17:31:06 GMT
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That Aston DBS is epic, I never knew they raced them!
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Jul 18, 2016 17:34:38 GMT
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Personally I would go a bit slower than 1/200 to get more blur, which does of course reduce the 'hit' rate. Aye! 1/200th is generally where I start and then dial it down depending on other factors. One thing I learned over the weekend is that I photo-pan like I play pool/snooker - there's a window of alcoholic excellence. Looking through the photos on this PC it's clear that the more I had to drink the steadier and more accurate I was, I fired off a load at 1/80th that are supersharp... But like with my Pool playing it's only a brief period and then I can't see properly This isn't a recommended photo technique but I may use it as a valid excuse in future Anyway, I'm hunting down material for my last proper post in this thread, coming later... |
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Last Edit: Jul 18, 2016 17:35:30 GMT by DarrenW
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Jul 18, 2016 17:45:59 GMT
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That Aston DBS is epic, I never knew they raced them! Yep! Quite a curiously proportioned thing but it went well. I'm sure HoTWire has some kind of obsession for this car, or it could be another racing Aston, not sure. |
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Last Edit: Jul 18, 2016 17:46:37 GMT by DarrenW
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Jul 18, 2016 18:18:40 GMT
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Le Mans Classic Special Moment #2Long self absorbed post below, scroll past to the photo if you can't be doing with me wittering on (don't blame you)I can't find what I was looking for so I'll have to edit it in at a later date. Anyway. In 1980 I was 7 years old. As an embryonic petrolhead I'd spend my pocket money on car magazines instead of sweets at the newsagents around the corner, and pore over every detail during lunch and break times at school for the following days. My best mate and I would both sit flicking through the pages in awe at whatever machinery was in there. We'd look out for new models on our ways home from school and excitedly tell each other about our spots the next day. I was the first of us to see a Mini Metro, by a whole day. It was an Applejack Green Metro S. One week I bought an Autocar, I can't find it right now but it's here somewhere. On the cover was a Procar BMW M1 in the ///M livery and it captivated me. Just something about the shape, the wing, the flared arches, the stance. It was so exotic, and so stunning. It didn't really feature in the mag, it was just a shot on the cover, tied in to an F1 report I think. Macau. Don't know. I can't find it. (as an aside, if you could look around where I am right now you'd understand why I can't find it after an hour of looking... I'm surrounded by piles and piles of old car mags and brochures, they are all over the house. There's no proper telly in the house for example, the cabinet in the living room now houses 10-12 years of CAR magazine instead. This particular mag could be anywhere). It was one car I never thought I'd see in real life. Every so often I pick a random pile of old mags and put them by my bed to flick through as I go to sleep each night and every so often it ends up in there. It always takes me back to that moment at school when I got so absorbed in the photo that I forgot to eat my dinner and had to go hungry for the afternoon. The only model car I've ever built was of that M1, at about that time. Kept it for years and then it got broken beyond repair and I had to bin it. I finally saw one in real life about ten years ago, in the BMW museum. On display, parked up. It was glorious. I've seen other M1s, roadgoing ones, but they aren't the same. So aaaaanyway... Fast forward to the Friday at the Le Mans Classic, just over a week ago. I'd been sat on the bank watching the cars for a while but I nipped back to base to refill the rucksack with water and beer for the group. As I'm walking back up I can hear new stuff on track... I knew I hadn't seen them yet as the sounds were unfamiliar but I didn't know what they were. You can see where this is going For about ten seconds when I realised what was going on I was just stood at the top of the steps, motionless. Eyes fixed on what was coming over the crest under the Dunlop bridge, howling towards me.  1979 BMW M1 Procar - Plateau 6 - photo by Retro-MotoringThat's it. If it's not the exact one on the cover of that Autocar then it looks close enough (I'll find the mag and research it at some point in the future). Magic. The seven year old me got a bit emotional (although that was probably the sunstroke) as it shot past with flames shooting out of the exhausts on the overrun, sounding exactly how I thought it would all those years ago. (That's pretty much the end of the photos, by the way!)
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Last Edit: Jul 18, 2016 18:28:03 GMT by DarrenW
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Jul 18, 2016 18:23:19 GMT
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Yep! Quite a curiously proportioned thing but it went well. I'm sure HoTWire has some kind of obsession for this car, or it could be another racing Aston, not sure. It is a different racing Aston as far as I'm aware, I believe it is this one : www.bonhams.com/auctions/21900/lot/214/ ... which was owned by Marsh Plant Hire, but not raced by Gerry Marshall. The 'proper' RHAM/1 was out at Goodwood FOS a few years back, would be great to see that at Le Mans Classic one day, but looks different to how this car is (even though it is a the same base model)  |
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Jul 18, 2016 18:24:36 GMT
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Yep! Quite a curiously proportioned thing but it went well. I'm sure HoTWire has some kind of obsession for this car, or it could be another racing Aston, not sure. It is a different racing Aston as far as I'm aware, I believe it is this one : www.bonhams.com/auctions/21900/lot/214/ ... which was owned by Marsh Plant Hire, but not raced by Gerry Marshall. The 'proper' RHAM/1 was out at Goodwood FOS a few years back, would be great to see that at Le Mans Classic one day, but looks different to how this car is (even though it is a the same base model) Ahh that's it! I knew it was an Aston though |
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Jul 18, 2016 18:38:44 GMT
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Thanks for sharing - and didnt realise you were on the same campsite as me (I had the blue Anglia van, parked with the Sierra/Caterham and Mini) It was the first run in the Anglia having only done at most 100 miles before this but had a great time and the weather was fantastic. As stated if you ever get the chance to go - do it ....
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Jul 18, 2016 18:56:13 GMT
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Thanks for sharing - and didnt realise you were on the same campsite as me (I had the blue Anglia van, parked with the Sierra/Caterham and Mini) It was the first run in the Anglia having only done at most 100 miles before this but had a great time and the weather was fantastic. As stated if you ever get the chance to go - do it .... No way! I loved that little van but I didn't get a photo of it. Fantastic! |
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Jul 18, 2016 19:16:37 GMT
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Yep! Quite a curiously proportioned thing but it went well. I'm sure HoTWire has some kind of obsession for this car, or it could be another racing Aston, not sure. It is a different racing Aston as far as I'm aware, I believe it is this one : www.bonhams.com/auctions/21900/lot/214/ ... which was owned by Marsh Plant Hire, but not raced by Gerry Marshall. The 'proper' RHAM/1 was out at Goodwood FOS a few years back, would be great to see that at Le Mans Classic one day, but looks different to how this car is (even though it is a the same base model) i think this was RH AM1 at Silverstone  Aston Martin DBS V8, Silverstone, 12/7/75 |
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