HFS's photography // Instagram, post #121

[homeforsummer]

This is now a thread for any of my photography so it'll get updated whenever I feel the need. You're welcome to ask for larger examples of any of my photos but please give credit if you happen to use the photo elsewhere - I can provide contact details if you request a photo.

Enjoy the thread Constructive criticism and any questions welcome.


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Thread Index

- BTCC Croft 2009
- Volkswagen Show Harewood 2009
- Autumnal loveliness
- City Scenes
- Millennium Bridge at night
- The reverse lens trick
- BTCC Croft 2010
- 'Thorium'
- Assorted car images
- Even more assorted car images
- Goodwood FoS 2012
- International Citroen Car Clubs Rally 2012
- 2012 press cars
- More 2012 press cars

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[Motominded]

the MG's are still in BTCC? Didn't know that.

 

[GTveteran]

Just that one. Its run by Jason Hughes. Hes done not too bad in it but it is vastly outclassed. Plus he can't really develop it.

 

[ExigeEvan]

I haven't seen BTCC in agggesss, I thought VXR were running Astras though

 

[homeforsummer]

Nope, they gave up on the Astra, because it wasn't actually very competitive. I think the Vectra was probably a better base for turning into a race car, and having a longer wheelbase gives it more stability.

 

[01GTP]

Nice photos. 👍

 

[Jim Prower]

Ugh...I miss the Supertouring days. none of those ugly hatchbacks.

They are nice photos, though.

 

[homeforsummer]

Funnily enough the most traditional of the touring cars, the Vectra and the MG, are probably the best looking. Though I quite like all the modern touring cars, even though I do get nostalgic for the mid-nineties every so often. I loved the look of the Laguna, 155, Mondeo etc:

The 94 cars were the cleanest too, before they started sprouting aero kits.

Thanks for the comments

 

[Only_in_f1]

REVIVED! I have an album with some that I took from Silverstone if you would care to take a look

Its on ITV now im looking if you can see me at the podium

 

[Patrik]

I loved the old days when Rydell drove the Volvo 850 Wagon! That was in BTCC right?

 

[homeforsummer]

I loved the old days when Rydell drove the Volvo 850 Wagon! That was in BTCC right?

Yup.

The post bump is because I popped along to the BTCC at Croft again last weekend, again for the qualifying day (as I didn't have the money for race day, plus, as with last year, the weather looked pretty grim on the Sunday!).

Bit of a variation in pictures this time. I didn't just want to get pictures of all the cars, but also pics of some of the people who drove them and worked on them, showing what else goes on during the weekend.

 

[Ardius]

^Ah, James Thompson, saw him win at Oulton Park in 1998 in a Honda Accord, good times.
I dearly miss the pre-2000 BTCC days, even the Sierra-Cosworth domination days (wish they still had the Birmingham Superprix track!).

 

[Tired Tyres]

Yes but you've got to remember that racing was always better when you are looking at it though a rose tinted memory.

 

[01GTP]

Bit of a variation in pictures this time.

I like the variation of photos that you have shared.

Most of my photos are cars, which are nice to look at, but need some kind of variety and the "what's going on behind the scene" photos are what is missing.

Thanks for the enlightenment and the photos.

 

[daan]

Love this one. Do you have it in bigger?

 

[homeforsummer]

Love this one. Do you have it in bigger?

PM sent.

Thanks for the comments people! More pics in the imports thread too.

I agree with Ardius in that the old Supertouring stuff was awesome sometimes, but I also agree that there's a bit of the rose-tinted stuff going on as there were plenty of pretty average races too, especially from 1998-2000. The mid-90s were the best of the Supertouring era, with 1994 being a particular highlight. Alan Gow has certainly done wonders with the BTCC over the last few years - it's infinitely better now than the 2001-2004ish dry spell the BTCC had with too few cars and generally dull racing.

 

[Ardius]

Yes but you've got to remember that racing was always better when you are looking at it though a rose tinted memory.

I would agree but I've watched the BTCC throughout 2000-2008 (only managed to catch a few 2009 races) and I've rewatched as much as I can of the 90s and 80s seasons and it was still better competition and nicer cars in my opinion.
Besides, I wasn't alive to see most of the 80s and too young to remember the early 90s so I have no memories to comment on those with nostalgia.

I won't contend BTCC is great now though, recently in my opinion its getting better as it returns to more of a privateer-team sport rather than manufacturer dominated. I'd rather have lots of competitive teams than a couple of manufacturers dicing about. Sure the days of the 90s were great with almost entire grids of manufacturers, but that many won't happen anymore and there are plenty of people willing to enter without manufacturer backing.

And James Thompson is still about so I'm happy anyway. I still miss the days of Cleland, Warwick, Rydell, Hoy & Co. But new drivers, new personalities. Its a pity I had to choose between British GT+F3 or BTCC as I missed Thompson winning yet again, which would have been special for me, but I still got to see a Mosler slaughtering everything in GT and finally hear a Ferrari at race speed so its all good anyway.

 

[Speedster502]

Surprised you haven't posted these in the General Photography section! I'm sure you'd get some excellent comments and may be able to win the Automotive competition, especially with shots like the Lacetti 👍

 

[homeforsummer]

I would agree but I've watched the BTCC throughout 2000-2008 (only managed to catch a few 2009 races) and I've rewatched as much as I can of the 90s and 80s seasons and it was still better competition and nicer cars in my opinion.
Besides, I wasn't alive to see most of the 80s and too young to remember the early 90s so I have no memories to comment on those with nostalgia.

I've been watching BTCC since about 1993 and my favourite seasons since then have been 94, 97, 98 and 04/05. I've only been able to watch occasionally for the past few years as I've had limited access to any TV believe it or not, but generally the last four or five years of racing have been very good and there have been some classic BTCC moments.

I won't contend BTCC is great now though, recently in my opinion its getting better as it returns to more of a privateer-team sport rather than manufacturer dominated. I'd rather have lots of competitive teams than a couple of manufacturers dicing about. Sure the days of the 90s were great with almost entire grids of manufacturers, but that many won't happen anymore and there are plenty of people willing to enter without manufacturer backing.

I agree, though I would quite like to see some full manufacturer teams in there again. The main bonus of any of the major touring car series at the moment is that the cars should sell for no more than about £125k or something brand new, when the old supertourers were upwards of half a million new. The series is so much better for privateers now which is great, and people are developing new cars all the time, like the 5-cyl Volvo C30 in the Swedish series.

And James Thompson is still about so I'm happy anyway.

Yeah, I'm glad that Tommo is still racing. He's been one of my favourite drivers for quite a while, and he was excellent in the WTCC in the Alfa 156 which although a great car was getting very old and not nearly as quick as the newer cars by the time they retired it. Despite this, Tommo still managed to get victories in it.

Surprised you haven't posted these in the General Photography section! I'm sure you'd get some excellent comments and may be able to win the Automotive competition, especially with shots like the Lacetti 👍

Thanks My internet access is only sporadic at the moment and I've been very busy so the photography comps have been at the back of my mind!

 

[flat-beat-eric]

Thanks for posting , great pictures!

 

[homeforsummer]

*Images deleted - dead links*

 

[boiltheocean]

This is lovely!

The lighting and angle are great, plus none of the colours look blown out.
I'm still undecided though as to whether it would look better with the car in focus. Hmm. Next time you've got an opportunity like that try taking a couple of shots with the focus on different subjects then decide which you like most. You may discover that your original focus point isn't as good as the possibilities available, I know I have before.

 

[Syntax error]

I like that shot as well, but I thought it could have done with being a little more out of focus, obviously that is limited by what the lens is capable of though.

Overall a very nice set. Some of the shots are a little blown out (like the micra) and a little more contrast could be used as the shots sometimes lack just a little punch.

My favorite of the bunch however is the last shot of the pug 👍

 

[homeforsummer]

Thanks for the feedback guys 👍

Re: The Pug - that was the very last shot I took of the day...because my battery died in the middle of taking a burst of shots! It actually got even more sideways than that, the cars were probably going around 50mph at that point before braking even harder and swinging it around into the hairpin you can see in the previous two shots. Mental note for next time: Make sure the battery is fully charged.

Re: The Escort shot. Ideally I did actually want the car in focus for that shot but I've got some difficulties with my 18-55mm lens at the moment in that the autofocus has given up. I know it's not the camera as the AF on the 55-200mm works fine. What it means though is that focusing is a bit fiddly as the focus ring is very light and moves so easily, and can even move a little when the shutter clicks, especially if it's anything other than perfectly level.

The lighting in that shot also doesn't do justice to how dark it was getting there so although I had no excuse with that particular photo where the car is a fair bit out of focus, I was struggling a bit anyway to find the correct focus through the tiny viewfinder.

I know, excuses excuses

I'll take heed of the contrast comment 👍 I'm a bit wary of upping the contrast sometimes so I don't make it look too artificial, but I agree that some of the shots could serve to be a little more defined.

Re: The Micra: An improvement?

From this

To this

?

 

[Syntax error]

With the Micra, I thought the first shot is actually quite good, I was more referring to the action shot. A lot of detail was lost on the car. However I know that it is really damn hard to shoot white cars, especially so like in this circumstance when you don’t have control over lighting.

With the Escort I think it actually works better that it’s not in focus… it’s something a little different and it works as the reads in the foreground are sharp.

 

[Speedster502]

Nice work. I think the Hillman Avenger shot would be quite good if it was straightened out. Just something I like about it. Concerning your action shots, they look a little dull, perhaps try to give them a touch of saturation or concentration (as Syntax said) perhaps, also the action shots also seem a little frozen perhaps try a slightly lower shutter speed to give a bit more blur on the wheels and backgrounds. That should make them seem a little more action packed. 👍

 

[homeforsummer]

Thanks for the continuing advice 👍

I've worked on the Micra shot a bit:

This:

...to this:

I don't think I've overdone it, to my eyes it looks a lot better. With regard to action shots, I know what you mean. I'm actually a little inexperienced with action shots in general. I tend to take panning shots most of the time because at most motorsport events panning shots are the ones that allow you to get closest to the action (logically, corners have the most run-off so you're furthest from the stage/circuit). My pans at this rally weren't brilliant (I was changing between 1/200, 1/250 and 1/320 of a second generally) but my BTCC ones on the previous page are much better.

Any tips for getting good cornering shots that might improve pics such as the rally ones above? There seems to be a really fine line between the shot being crystal clear and the shot being blurry. Any general ideas on best focal length, apeture etc?

I had another crack at the 205 shot too:

This:

...to this:

 

[Syntax error]

1/200 to 1/250 is usually where I sit with panning as well. What settings are you using when focusing? Not sure what camera you are using but if it offers an AI servo (also know as Continuous Focus in Nikons) then I would definitely recommend switching to it over one shot focus mode. It calculates the trajectory of moving objects and is bloody accurate. Also are you firing off multiple shots or just one? Again using continuous shoot mode will help as you might get minute camera shake when pressing the shutter button but in continues firing mode the second and third shots will have a better chance of being tack sharp (as long as you follow through evenly whilst panning).

The boosted contrast looks really good, that pug shot rocks 👍

 

[sandfisch]

Thanks for the continuing advice 👍

..

Any tips for getting good cornering shots that might improve pics such as the rally ones above? There seems to be a really fine line between the shot being crystal clear and the shot being blurry. Any general ideas on best focal length, apeture etc?

Stop your camera down 1/3 to 2/3 stops (-0.3 or -0.7 on Nikons). This will already make faster shutter speed and you definitely avoid any blown out whites.
You could also raise your ISO if you're using a DSLR. I don't see any reduction in quality on my Nikon D40 up to ISO 800. That should easily give you shutter speeds at 1/1000s in daylight. You'd have a hard time blurring shots on purpose at those shutter speeds
Go closer and use a shorter lens (yeah, I know this is not always possible). Teles emphasize every minimal shake you make.
As SyntaxError already stated, use Continous Shooting mode. One or more of those shots will almost always be sharp
I'd also recommend adding a bit more contrast and more vivid colours. This won't make for sharper pics but it will save you most of your time fiddling with Photoshop
I'm using a Nikon D40 constantly stopped down to -0.7 and in color mode IIIa. I use photo editing software almost only for cropping or resizing. There's almost never the need to adjust color or lighting afterwards

 

[homeforsummer]

1/200 to 1/250 is usually where I sit with panning as well. What settings are you using when focusing? Not sure what camera you are using but if it offers an AI servo (also know as Continuous Focus in Nikons) then I would definitely recommend switching to it over one shot focus mode. It calculates the trajectory of moving objects and is bloody accurate. Also are you firing off multiple shots or just one? Again using continuous shoot mode will help as you might get minute camera shake when pressing the shutter button but in continues firing mode the second and third shots will have a better chance of being tack sharp (as long as you follow through evenly whilst panning).

I generally take pictures in burst mode. I'm not worried about camera shake - it's rarely an issue for me at motorsport events and such. I seem to remember I was generally using about 85-100mm of the 200mm my lens offers so any shake wasn't getting a chance even at 1/200th.

My worries about blurring are finding the right shutter speed for say, a cornering shot, and getting the right level of motion blur. Obviously when the car is moving I need to find the right point to focus on or track the car right so it isn't too blurred, but also so it doesn't look too static and a bit lifeless.

Regarding the focus settings - I'm not sure. I'll have a look and see what happens.

The boosted contrast looks really good, that pug shot rocks 👍

Thanks, I'm definitely happier with it.

Stop your camera down 1/3 to 2/3 stops (-0.3 or -0.7 on Nikons). This will already make faster shutter speed and you definitely avoid any blown out whites.
You could also raise your ISO if you're using a DSLR. I don't see any reduction in quality on my Nikon D40 up to ISO 800. That should easily give you shutter speeds at 1/1000s in daylight. You'd have a hard time blurring shots on purpose at those shutter speeds
Go closer and use a shorter lens (yeah, I know this is not always possible). Teles emphasize every minimal shake you make.
As SyntaxError already stated, use Continous Shooting mode. One or more of those shots will almost always be sharp
I'd also recommend adding a bit more contrast and more vivid colours. This won't make for sharper pics but it will save you most of your time fiddling with Photoshop
I'm using a Nikon D40 constantly stopped down to -0.7 and in color mode IIIa. I use photo editing software almost only for cropping or resizing. There's almost never the need to adjust color or lighting afterwards

Cheers 👍 I'm a Nikon D40 user too. I'll try the settings you mention as I definitely think I need work on some of the settings.

As for the blurring, refer to what I typed above. I've no problem with camera shake, the issue for me is finding the right settings to ensure that things like cornering photos come to life a bit more without the car being too blurred. Am I right in thinking having a very short focal length should allow me to get say, the front of the car in perfect focus while the rear is blurred on a shot like this one?:

Or would it make much difference? I'm looking around the internet at rallying photos and none of them seem to have really been taken at much slower shutter speeds than mine - they just seem to have a bit more "character" (though to be fair, the Swedish forests or the rocky stages of Cyprus are naturally a bit more characterful than a damp airfield in the North of England...).