2nd time ever shooting bikes <----noob

Fireproof Creative

Fireproof Creative

Messages
1,300
Name
Jonny
Edit My Images
No
Hi All,

So this is the second time I've ever shot bikes - Silverstone BSB again (1st time last year), go easy as I'm nowhere near as masterful as a lot of the bike togs here (read "I'm a massive noob").

I bought a weekend ticket, got the FLU, only managed to drag myself to the circuit on Sunday afternoon... shakey hands, cold sweats - I was basically a corpse so was not mobile at all, Brooklands and Copse for all.

As I said, no idea about this 2 wheeled stuff - so apologies if my lack of knowledge offends any vets ;) all shot behind the fence with the bike fans (a quirky bunch).

1. Some guy...the livery was nice

James Ellison - BSB 2013 - Silverstone by Fireproof_Creative, on Flickr

2. Some guy that someone is related to ;)

Jon Railton - BSB 2013 - Silverstone by Fireproof_Creative, on Flickr

3. Apparently people liked this guy...lots of clapping?

Shane Byrne - BSB 2013 - Silverstone by Fireproof_Creative, on Flickr

4.Arty ...I think his name was AGA, like the oven...

Noriyuki Haga - BSB 2013 - Silverstone by Fireproof_Creative, on Flickr

5. Alexi Mowes...more claps for this person?

Alex Lowes - BSB 2013 - Silverstone by Fireproof_Creative, on Flickr

6. Apparently this guy likes jumps, there wasn't any :( ..shame

Josh Brookes - BSB 2013 - Silverstone by Fireproof_Creative, on Flickr

Not spent very long on processing just a quick colour adjust, I'm still hallucinating from the plague...If I cut anyone up on the way home, in the hellish jam I apologise for my Fiestas behaviour...
 
Last edited:
Number one is absolutely gorgeous and definitely the stand out shot. Hard to belive shakey was walking around the paddock on crutches but still able to ride and ride well.
 
D-pearce92 said:
Number one is absolutely gorgeous and definitely the stand out shot.
Click to expand...

I have to agree with this. I sometimes forget that it's possible to get away with that tight a crop.

It also amazes me that this is Silverstone - admittedly I haven't been for a while but the fences all seem so far away from the track. I need to get a 400mm lens! :)
 
Thanks all, especially for love for #1, its a post crop inspired by a chap on Flickr, Rob King (he seems to be the master of this kinda framing). Any way still experimenting, still have flu :puke: maybe some more on Flickr later

Anyway as it appears I cant count when i'm not lucid, here's the other one
that Nowes bloke again.... 0.012 Blast

Alex Lowes by Fireproof_Creative, on Flickr
 
Liking all of these a lot (y)
The clarity and sharpness are just right and you made good use of the late afternoon light.
Really must get my hands on a 5d soon

Clive.
 
Some lovely shots there! I wouldn't have considered cropping that close but it works.

*Sticks it on the list :)
 
coopers said:
Liking all of these a lot (y)
The clarity and sharpness are just right and you made good use of the late afternoon light.
Really must get my hands on a 5d soon

Clive.
Click to expand...

Thanks mate appreciate it (y) - Lol I like to think a little bit of skill played a part, not just the gear :D


-Oy- said:
Some lovely shots there! I wouldn't have considered cropping that close but it works.

*Sticks it on the list :)
Click to expand...

....I just copied someone else too :D Thanks very much for the positive feedback
 
Graphix501 said:
Hi All,

So this is the second time I've ever shot bikes - Silverstone BSB again (1st time last year), go easy as I'm nowhere near as masterful as a lot of the bike togs here (read "I'm a massive noob").


2. Some guy that someone is related to ;)

Jon Railton - BSB 2013 - Silverstone by Fireproof_Creative, on Flickr
Click to expand...

This is the best out of the lot :) They're all top draw images, you're no noob :).

I did a bit Friday but struggled with the rain in the morning and bright light fence shooting in the afternoon, mine aren't in this league :(

Thanks for sharing.(y)
 
Graphix501 said:
As I said, no idea about this 2 wheeled stuff - so apologies if my lack of knowledge offends any vets ;)
Click to expand...

I'm not a vet but... *insert pussy gag here*

:nuts::nuts:

You know what, we might let you shoot bikes again next time, you've done alright here :bonk:

First things first, the images have some mega instant impact - that's you are your processing skills making them shine. Note to others, this makes a hell of a difference! You can't polish a turd but you can highly polish anything with a pre-existing shiny surface.

I love the crop of Ellison, your framing is pretty spot on and that's quite hard to achieve the ratio of whats in and out of frame - especially for the bike n00b!

The two shots of Mr Lowes are also belters but that bike does photograph really lovely.

In fact, between those two I always have to draw myself away of just shooting those two bikes each time as it becomes slightly skewed!

The only shot that doesn't work for me is the Haga one... not quite happening there...sorry!

Anyway, go on, you can shoot another bike meet ;-)
 
NickR said:
This is the best out of the lot :)

They're all top draw images, you're no noob :).
I did a bit Friday but struggled with the rain in the morning and bright light fence shooting in the afternoon, mine aren't in this league :(
Thanks for sharing.(y)
Click to expand...
Haha I posted this due to your affiliation, bias aside though&#8230; its not quite as sharp as I would have liked &#8211; it proved quite difficult to get a decent image given the fence, livery and background combination playing havoc with my AF system (you may notice the slightly grey sheen on it sadly).
I certainly feel like a noob :D

desantnik said:
I'm not a vet but... *insert pussy gag here*
:nuts::nuts:
You know what, we might let you shoot bikes again next time, you've done alright here :bonk:
First things first, the images have some mega instant impact - that's you are your processing skills making them shine. Note to others, this makes a hell of a difference! You can't polish a turd but you can highly polish anything with a pre-existing shiny surface.
I love the crop of Ellison, your framing is pretty spot on and that's quite hard to achieve the ratio of whats in and out of frame - especially for the bike n00b!
The two shots of Mr Lowes are also belters but that bike does photograph really lovely.
In fact, between those two I always have to draw myself away of just shooting those two bikes each time as it becomes slightly skewed!
The only shot that doesn't work for me is the Haga one... not quite happening there...sorry!
Anyway, go on, you can shoot another bike meet ;-)
Click to expand...
Thanks very very much, as I&#8217;ve said before and others too have mentioned &#8211; it means a great deal coming from someone such as yourself who do this for living. Yourself, Maska and Gadget Guy (as well as others) regularly produce some truly inspiring stuff on here and are a great source of advice as well as a benchmark. I think the bike contingent of togs in here are some of the best in the industry in my limited opinion, it&#8217;s great to be able to have this experience to draw on, especially as a noob such as I am.
I really appreciate the positive feedback on processing, as this is something I do spend a lot of time on. I have made a conscious decision this year to avoid the dramatic edits that I started out with and try and find a balance between editing and better original photographs &#8211; much of this was borne from advice on here. I have tried to focus on the basics such as cropping/framing, sharpening/NR and colour adjustment rather than anything else and its still very much a learning process of what works and what doesn&#8217;t &#8211; like the Haga shot &#61514; which I have to agree is pretty weak. I was aware that not moving around limited the variety of shots so I did try and experiment with close ups and angles.
The second Lowes shot is probably my favourite overall as well as the Danilo one on flickr &#8211; they really captured the details at larger sizes (can see better on Flickr) IMO, which was probably more luck than judgement as I had quite a few binners thanks to the fence.
It was quite interesting observing how bikes differ from cars in terms of photography technique used, due to the close racing and limited laps it was also difficult to get a shot of everyone and virtually impossible to move around much due to the time constraints and size of the circuit. Very much want to try again, thanks for permission ;) still a long way to go to get practiced in the art and churn out some consistency like you guys at the top of your game :D
 
Steve-O said:
I really like them, I think they really work well
Click to expand...

Thanks mate, appreciate it :)

yamahatdm900 said:
I cant really add anything that hasn't been said already so simply :clap::clap::clap:
Click to expand...

Again, it means a lot from you guys :) :notworthy: thanks (y)



GAZA62 said:
Well these look like the shots of a well seasoned bike tog as said great impact colours are awesome and pin sharp got to be number 7 for me love that light (y)
Click to expand...

(y) thanks Gaz, still not really consistent enough but always learning :)(I've posted an extra below)

While I dont really want to promote gear over technique, the 5d iii is spectacular - As I'm too paranoid to post my originals publicly on Flickr, I'll try and give a little back to the community here.

Here's a link to a virtually (about 95%) full size version of #7 so you can really see the details - you really cant get a handle on the resolving power at the limited 1600px

The fact that this is AF'ed through the fence, with a 400 f5.6, at copse corner, with a subject going incredibly fast, the results continue to astound me. See for yourself - if you are on the verge of dropping the extortionate amount of money for one, don't hesitate its amazing :eek: ...I can only imagine what the 1dx is like (literally.. I'm never spending that)

A big big version of #7 for the honesty box
 
That's pretty neat at full size!

The MkIII seems to share the "depth of image" that the 1DX has - there's something very solid and real about the quality.

I only hope Nikon will finally relent to the relentless bombardment I'm sending them about a new quality body for motorsport!
 
Very impressive, especially considering your at Silverstone. Somewhere that can be tricky through the fence. Well done.
 
Love Rob Kings work on 500px so can see the influence in #1

Good technique and only thing to add is set your black and white points and add either clarity or saturation to make up for the fence.
 
Very nice indeed #1 is a cracker (y):clap:
 
Just looked at these again on your flickr really are very nice , loving your F1 stuff too very impressive :clap::clap:
 
maska said:
Just looked at these again on your flickr really are very nice , loving your F1 stuff too very impressive :clap::clap:
Click to expand...

:agree:

That shot of Gary Paffett is a cracker and some of your other F1 shots remind me of some early Darren Heath,will follow your progression with intrest ;)

P.S

Now saving for a 5D MKIII to replace the 7D :D
 
maska said:
Just looked at these again on your flickr really are very nice , loving your F1 stuff too very impressive :clap::clap:
Click to expand...

Gadget-Guy said:
:agree:

That shot of Gary Paffett is a cracker and some of your other F1 shots remind me of some early Darren Heath,will follow your progression with intrest ;)

P.S

Now saving for a 5D MKIII to replace the 7D :D
Click to expand...

:eek::eek::notworthy::notworthy::notworthy:
Cant really say anything but thank you... a lot! :D
 
Hi jonathan,
Very impressive stuffs, sharpness and colour are bang on, can't pick a favourite. I've tried a 5D3 with 400 5.6 but haven't had consistent results like these. Do you know what case settings you used for these and focus settings?
 
Neil. said:
Hi jonathan, Very impressive stuffs, sharpness and colour are bang on, can't pick a favourite. I've tried a 5D3 with 400 5.6 but haven't had consistent results like these. Do you know what case settings you used for these and focus settings?
Click to expand...

To be honest I adjust the the stock cases most of the time but I think 3 was the closest to normal use... Ai servo single point focus priority pretty standard stuff tbh. I pick my best images and can assure you there's enough crap shots to not warrant the word consistent ;o)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top