NikonGear'23
Travelogues => Travel Diaries => Topic started by: MFloyd on July 30, 2016, 05:44:54
-
I spent two days in the beautiful Monza, following a racing team during their training session. The story will develop over the coming days.
Wednesday morning, the training session begins:
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8572/28535843202_b7f80e27d8_k.jpg)
1 - empty seats
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7470/28642495025_c3b8a365d5_k.jpg)
2 - first cars are coming out in the pit lane
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8676/28642495065_a8d2e6d398_k.jpg)
3 - and heading back...
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8789/28358239560_f8a440a2de_k.jpg)
4 - everybody arrived on Tuesday. This is the type of truck you need to run and manage one (1) car...
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8624/28564086611_cd52c681d6_k.jpg)
5 - and loads of tyres
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7683/28536034592_ee7a36ddb7_k.jpg)
6 - supplied by well aligned trucks
-
In the good old days of Formula 1 I used to go to Monza and enjoy the racing.
Prima Variante was the place to be 8)
Looking forward to the development of your story :)
-
What a grey day . Interesting images, I like the empty seats shot. I'm with Jakov in looking forward to more and wishing you interesting light.
Cheers
-
Great images. There is something magical with motorracing. The noise, the smell, the people, the machinery. Spending a raceweekend on the track is a magical experience. Looking foreward for this story to unfold. and I'm going to Monza for the grand prix myself in a few weeks. :-)
-
Great images. There is something magical with motorracing.
+++
Jealous!
-
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8719/28617115726_53bebe506a_k.jpg)
7 - installing extra cooling (bigger radiators)
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8323/28570833551_e4124ff1fb_k.jpg)
8 - car out of the box
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8870/28649543015_05590ce0f3_k.jpg)
9 - fueling and tires
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8580/28032385154_845e8b7c7e_k.jpg)
10 - and there she goes
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8758/28033203163_675bfcfdd9_k.jpg)
11 - as do other competitors
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8617/28651444375_29c96fc2b8_b.jpg)
12 - continuous ballet of exiting and incoming cars in the pitlane
technical note 1: to move light, I'm using only one (1) body, a Nikon D5, and three lenses: Nikkor 300mm f/2.8 VR II, Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6, a Nikkor 16-35mm f/4, and an (unused *) TC20-E III; all packed in Think Thanks: a Glass Limo and a Digital Holster; also one carbon monopod from Induro (cheap, well finished and robust) together with RRS Really Right Stuff clamps and plates
(*) keeping in mind Capa's "if your picture is not good enough, you are not close enough ;D
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8670/28544791462_4c40e50579_b.jpg)
13 - gear and water, earmuffles, sunburn cream and hat
-
I like the series with extra points for the empty sits and the 13th car of course :)
Keep them coming!
-
Bit by bit, the pace is increasing to reach near competition. Exchanges of equipment, dialogue with the pilot, telemetry and more are now about frenetic.
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8424/28572721941_cc984b278f_k.jpg)
14 - tire temperature measurement
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8824/28544435272_b467c0b903_k.jpg)
15 - pilote remains is position for the time being
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8759/28651447875_693877fc1e_k.jpg)
16 - exiting the very narrow cockpit needs some training
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8626/28618976056_ccf6243c6b_b.jpg)
17 - dialogue between pilot and chief mechanic
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8864/28034328084_a98c53b7b0_k.jpg)
18 - box for a new setup
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8318/28618977616_e50ee8d318_k.jpg)
19 - and there we go again for a number of turns
technical note 2 It is from uttermost importance to know from where the light will be coming; as you can't change very often your position on the circuit; you have to look were to position yourself in order to have the right light and also to be a close as possible to the places where you are supposed to take pictures. In my case it was on the inner side of the circuit, at the exit of the Parabolica, where the pits are. Another major obstacle are the very high metal fences, which are impossible to cheat with, even with a high aperture zoom lens (it smears a greyish film). The best positions I found was on the top of the pit & press building, as well as at the very beginning of the pit lane; I had the privilege to have access on both
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8778/28039054614_a11809555d_k.jpg)
20 - The Photographer's Ephemeris screen shot. No chance to catch the "golden hours" but at least to start to shoot as early as possible i.e. from 9am on.
-
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8754/28577692981_260bd5c5dc_k.jpg)
all pneumatic tools are supplied with air from SCUBA air tanks ..
Dilemma: camera at low or high speed?
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8237/28055839203_d59a5a34f1_b.jpg)
21 - speed is well above 200km/h
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8777/28593796151_3838449028_b.jpg)
22 - Aston Martin Vantage V8
my team: SMP Racing
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8773/28590592291_2840da7178_k.jpg)
23 - unpainted
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8746/28552216542_d0bbcabe22_k.jpg)
24 - painted
technical note 3 the high ISO capacity of a modern camera, such as the Nikon D5, give you a very broad possibility of applying different solutions: from 1/8000 at f/2.8 to 1/125 at f/13, in a range of ISO 100 to 2'500, without any impact on the overall image quality of the picture.
The main camera parameters which worked out the best, are as follows: exposure: Manual, auto-ISO; light metering: central weighted (12mm); AF: continuous and 5 contiguous focus points; VR on. I always shoot in NEF 14 bits and AdobeRGB as color space. Post processing: Lr and Ps CC 2015. Important remark: the D5 delivers near to finished RAW images, which could eventually be used, "as such". The color depth of the D5's image are very impressive; the noise is maintained at very acceptable levels but it is more the "noise shape" which is excellent, somewhat comparable to film noise. All other parameters as vigneting, distortion, NR control are turned off (except long exposure NR)
-
What a thrill to be able to shoot this races
-
Jakov, Tom, Hans, Frank, Golunvulo, & Armando: thank you for your interest & support. Indeed, it was a privilege to shoot these training sessions. The learning curve was steep, as everything goes very fast. I'm putting some technical notes below each section (these might be updated after publishing, so please have a close look). I'm also at your disposal to answer your questions at my best knowledge 😊
-
Great stuff!
Coincidence. I really like endurance and rally racing. Thanks for showing and taking the time for tech notes.
Truly appreciated.
-
Thank you Thomas ;)
I decided to add some snapshots. Although, there is no chance that one of these will become "the picture of the year", they add some atmosphere, some smell and taste ::)
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8530/28645046586_9718474169_b.jpg)
25
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8796/28060000204_9c779a319b_k.jpg)
26
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8201/28677751895_5357bed52d_b.jpg)
27
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8223/28645044136_bd1dbc7259_k.jpg)
28
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8784/28061142413_d9b74579cd_k.jpg)
29
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8748/28392826370_299f1775ab_k.jpg)
30
-
The snaps get you a +1!
-
The snaps get you a +1!
Yes! Some smell and taste!
-
MF, great series. Love the 'behind the scene' theme. Having spent a couple of hours watching , a rather boring, German Grand Prix yesterday I kept thinking that I would rather be your Bearer ( and I am getting tired of humping heavy Gear) . Interesting , I took, my 16-35 f4Gvr on a trip to Turkey a couple of years back and did not use it at all. I think it goes on the market.
Many thanks for these and may be more to come ?
Tom
-
Thomas, Golunvolo and Tom, thank you again for your support.
We are about at the end of this story, but there might be more to come at the end of this month (surprise). Statistically speaking: from Tuesday evening through Thursday noon (1 ½ days), I took around 850 pictures, of which more than 300 were eliminated straight on i.e. bursts of 3-4 images at 8-12 frames/s of which one is kept. So that left me with 550 pictures uploaded to Lr. Of these, 50 are considered printable, and you have seen already 30 of it. I was quite surprised about the high "retention" rate, which normally does not exceed 5%. I was also surprised about the low level of pictures taken, which would have normally been twice as high, and for which the sole explanation I have, was that I only concentrated on two cars, and one team.
For Tom: the Nikkor 16-35mm f/4 is a great lens. In another thread: "16-35 vs. 18-35" http://nikongear.net/revival/index.php/topic,2691.45.html you can see the exceptional definition, up to the corners. To my surprise, there were very little UWA situations, at least less than I expected. But this will not be a reason to leave the 16-35mm home, next time. And I found the chosen combination (16-35, 28-300, 300mm) ideal, but one should know that I'm not owning one single lens belonging to the Holy Trinity (14-24, 24-70, 70-200mm). The only criticism I have on my choice, is the need for wider aperture in the midrange (50-200mm range), not because of the lack of light, but to keep down the DOF, as backgrounds are, in most cases, not desirable.
Anyway, I have a further look, and see if I have some more to show 😊
-
Thanks MF :) . Not saying there is anything wrong with the lens although I would not call it great. I actually sold my 14-24 2.8 which I did think was great because it just did not suit what and, how, I shoot. I shoot multiple systems and use primes more than zooms. I thought the VR would be beneficial for low light , static images but I am an action/people shooter so really do not use VR that much these days. I am more likely to raise the speeds and iso. I actually use the 24-120 f4G vr quite a bit for walkabout when I have no idea of what I will shoot. I will probably think about the 18-35 G.
I am much more at home with a 300 2.8 ;) but have primes from 15mm up, MF and AF.
Cheers,
Tom
-
I decided to add some snapshots. Although, there is no chance that one of these will become "the picture of the year", they add some atmosphere, some smell and taste ::)
They complete the story. There is so much to see around any sort of racing and it makes for a peek at things that TV watchers hardly ever get to see. I love every image you've posted, especially knowing it is really hard to get good pictures at an official circuit.
-
Thank you so much for sharing. I thoroughly enjoyed how you captured the atmosphere and speed. Thank you for sharing your technical notes as well.
It is an excellent source of inspiration for my trip to the Goodwood Revival meeting in september. Although I will focus mostly on the people, shooting the races is a must too. So thank you!
-
Some last goodies to close off this topic:
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8746/28552216542_d0bbcabe22_k.jpg)
31
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8820/28720497801_594166e50c_k.jpg)
32
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8841/28180103774_eda3e3b42b_k.jpg)
33
Thanks to Peter and Hans and all the other for your support. I'm at your disposal for any question you might have ;)
-
Some beautiful images here MF, and as others have said, it's really nice to see the "behind the scenes" shots.
I have one question though: what happened with image #11? Something seems very strange there?
-
Some beautiful images here MF, and as others have said, it's really nice to see the "behind the scenes" shots.
I have one question though: what happened with image #11? Something seems very strange there?
The picture was taken at 1/8000, completely frozen but with an ugly background: some partial editing was made to have the wheels turn again and to "speed blur" a part of the background; the asphalt strip hasn't been blurred, tough, which gives this strange impression. But you are the first to notice .... ;)
-
Or perhaps only the first un-gentlemanly enough to comment?
Thanks for the clear and candid explanation.
-
You are too kind Peter. Indeed, NikonGear is a very civilized and polite forum. I never make a secret of the postproduction tricks I apply to my pictures. I made some aviation calendars for professional pilots: they like to see every nut and bolt of their favourite planes; but they still want to see the plane in motion. These are the roots of my speed trickeries. But, they never have the charm of a genuine speed blurr, I must say.
-
I also like speed blur, but am not clever enough to introduce it afterwards.
Which is why I seldom have anything to show...
-
In an hour from now, heading to Le Castellet (France) for a 4h Endurance Race, where I will follow the same SMP Racing team.
-
love car racing - its in Mongo's blood. you have had the opportunity to do what is the envy of many ..... and you did it brilliantly.
Love the sharpness, vibrant colour, sensation of movement captured by your technique (including the tilting of the shots and panning) and lastly, love the degree of contrast in these images which make them a standout. Very nice work and thanks for letting Mongo live the experience (albeit vicariously) of a racing photographer for a few moments.
-
Thanks to Peter and Hans and all the other for your support. I'm at your disposal for any question you might have ;)
Thanks, but that's way too much props. You did the heavy work, i (we) just looked and commented.
However, i do feel you should put some radial blur on the wheels in #31, otherwise it looks weird.
-
Yes, there were some broken links, and I reinstalled the wrong #31 version 😒. I make this good upon my return 😊
-
After the Monza test race sessions, this time for the real thing in le Castellet (South of France) - the Paul Ricard circuit - for a four hour endurance race. "My" team - SMP Racing - ended number 2. l also decided to stop with post-production tricks to give the impression of speed; so, all pictures were made using relatively long exposures: the success ratio is much, much lower, but the result seems to be there. Up to you to make your judgment:
All made with the Nikon D5 & Nikkor 300mm f/2.8 VR II.
-
Well ... all i can say is ... you nailed it !!!
Very good panning.
Just out of curiousity: what were the speeds (both car and shutter)?
-
Hi HCS: 300mm ISO 100, f/8, 1/250s. I guess the cars are at around 200km/h. For the 600mm, 1/400s. No, it's not linear.
-
Very successful. Guessing the keepers rate will go up. Thanks for sharing the details too!
-
Very interesting results! I like the last one a lot ! (movement, sharpness, framing) A bit pity with all those advertising ;)
-
Thank you golunvolo Success rate is as follows: bursts of 3-5 frames (at 8-12 frames/s); two criteria to discard immediately after the shooting: (1) sharpness (*), (2) framing i.e part of the car is missing; Generally there is 1 or 2 frames OK per series; and 2 on 3 series are OK. In addition, there a esthetic criteria, which makes that I'm left with about 6% of the total number of taken pictures which I consider publishable. This ratio hasn't much changed over time.
(*) For cars I always choose "Group-area AF, which I position in order to square the car-number at the right position in the frame; I make sure that, when tracking the car, the car-number remains in the "square" made by the group-area dots.
@John Advertising is unfortunately the price to pay; some car advertising designers are more or less successful; the ugliest one I saw, was a beautiful Aston Martin V8 Vantage, with a horrible box of Beechdean Farmhouse Dairy Ice Cream painted on the door...
Another problem are the fences; there are very few windows without fences e.g. gap of the pit-lane; the fences are very high (+-4m) and very thick; the ways to "cheat" are maximum aperture and follow the car at low shutter speed; and / or finally admit that these fences exist and make it part of the composition, as in the next picture
NB: I had access on virtually any place except the pit lane during the race, as you need FIA homologated fire clothing - homologation which changes every odd year - and mine is 10 years old....
some other:
-
Nice series! but sorry, the first thing I noticed was the already mentioned #11 and #31 they really stick out,,,
-
I think I understand your numbers. It is very close to what I get from live performances and even if they got better the beginning, it has changed much lately.
-
Racing is essentially about people and teamwork:
-
Time is of the essence:
-
The pit shots are great. They bring out the drama, humanity and stress of the event. I find them much more involving than the excellent action shots.
-
:) too kind Anthony. Action shots of racing cars is essentially a matter of technique. Pit shots are more .... as you so well described. ;)
-
The pit shots are great. They bring out the drama, humanity and stress of the event. I find them much more involving than the excellent action shots.
I second that. I do find your action shots top notch, but i know that it' the people that make the race. While we usually see some names on the side of the car (or helmet) and mechanics in race suits, once those come off you see guys like you and me ("some" years back maybe) who just do it for the love of the sport and wanting to win.
Great set!
-
Thank you Hans. It was a privilege to have access to the "backstage". 😊
-
All these last are excellent! Thank you.
-
Peter, thank you for your visit and appreciation 😉
-
I selected some pictures which I gave some additional post-processing, in an attempt to better reflect the ongoing atmosphere. Tell me what you think.
-
#38 & #39 are impressive additions to the cars.
Thanks for sharing!
-
my favs are the "unmodified" pit shots in this overall great series
the modified ones are very good advertising or marketing style pics,
so I would ask you for one of these to sell parfume, cat food or life insurance.
In the history of reporting the race/training, I for myself prefer originals and would even
like to see not so perfect ones, means harsh light, strong shadows, etc.
-
Thanks to the two Thomas. Thanks for the input. I will have a look into my catalog if I can find some images which fulfill your requirements, because I find the idea interesting. 😎👍
-
The second-last image shows the tension and despair that is so much part of sport exceptionally well!
-
Thank you Peter ! 😎
-
One I like a lot, the mechanic taking a break between two exhausting test runs:
-
it is a really good one MFloyd!
-
Very good one the last one especially.
I feel some of the heavy PP has made the oof areas too rough looking to my taste though,,,
-
Thank you Jakov
Very good one the last one especially.
I feel some of the heavy PP has made the oof areas too rough looking to my taste though,,,
Over the week-end it was dark & shitty weather; nobody at home. My PP is probably just a reflection of the aforementioned. Back to my personal style, which gives this. PP applied was making the background a bit more out of focus.
-
The second version is better than the first, but I liked the drop in saturation of the first one...
-
I prefer the more natural skin tones in the second.
-
Haha. I just made another one for Jakov ;)
-
Haha. I just made another one for Jakov ;)
That's it :)
-
Now he looks like the real deal! Now the bg doesn't eat the attention and the skin tones brings out that determined look of the race track atmosphere.
-
Thanks to Jakov, Erik and all the members who supported me with encouragements and advice. 😉