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After a bit of a plead by Matt Sayle, I’ve dug out a few of my favourite shots from my time behind the armco’s at British & World Superbike racing.
I’m conscious that posting images in this way may appear that I’m “blowing smoke up my own ass” as our friends the Americans would say. Those that know me know I don’t go in for that sort of thing so I said to Matt I’d agree to it if in doing so it might stimulate beneficial discussion about how I got the shots etc. I’m regularly reminded by requests via my site that what I’ve done and where I’ve been (i.e. trackside with full media access) is deemed as a bit of a holy grail to some and how can they get such privileges for themselves?
I’m happy to help where I can. I can’t guarantee you the shots, but I can probably give out pointers that will help which I’m more than happy to do.
All of these shots were on my Nikon body and lens combos. They’re all full frame so none have been cropped. I’m a bit of an old-schooler that way and believe photography is about creating the shots from what you see there and then, and using your skill, experience and judgement, together with equipment knowledge to get the shot, not creating it with a keyboard and mouse afterwards. As such I do all my compositions in the viewfinder. Just to be even more anal and put more pressure on myself, I don’t ‘Gatling Gun’ (i.e. lean on the 8fps shutter and hope for the best). I pick my shots and work on a way to get them in one shot.
So here goes…….
A delve into the photographer’s favourite shots and why they gained that status.
“Head In The Clouds”
Jonathan Rea, British Superbike Championship, Cadwell Park 2006
Perhaps my favourite shot of all just because it’s so stonkingly mad and I can’t quite believe I caught it.
At Cadwell, all the other photographers gather at the top of the mountain. What’s the point in getting a shot 25 others will have? I went down to the bottom of the mountain and sat on my own up against the crowd fence with the 400mm. Locking onto and tracking the bikes with the 400mm here is so tricky particularly when “Starship Enterprise Rea” came along. My main aim was to keep the track horizon in frame as that supplied the sense of height. As you can see I only just kept him in frame and had his helmet touched the edge of the frame it would have gone in the bin. And when I say kept him in the frame, I mean this is a pan (i.e. the horizon appeared and then was moving down the frame as I followed the bike up the mountain the try and keep the AF locked on).
“Guardian Angels”
Tommy Hill’s tank, British Superbike Championship, Mallory Park 2005
Mallory 2005 was a hell of a meeting. In all my time of covering racing, I’ve never seen so many red flags in one day. The track staff and medical crews were kept extremely busy. One such huge crash happened at the appropriately named Devil’s Elbow. It involved Tommy Hill and Danny Beaumont and stopped the race immediately. As you can see, Tommy Hill’s bike was obliterated but he came off relatively unscathed. Danny required medical attention and was tended to straight away by the medical crews present.
It’s an unwritten code that you don’t capture competitors in distress. However, I could see a tasteful and possibly beneficial shot was there and used DoF (Depth of Field) to put the emphasis on the tank, but still giving the viewer enough to forge a link to the medical aspect of the shot. I got a rollicking for lifting my camera which is understandable as the marshall’s didn’t realise I was fully aware of the situation. My only self-gripe is that I didn’t have time to mess with focus points and to get the tank in the selected focus zone meant I cut the top of the frame too tight.
“Brake Dance”
Ryuichi Kiyonari, British Superbike Championship, Snetterton 2006
Knowing what action might occur, where it will happen and who might provide it to you are 3 of the key aspects in motorsport photography.
For me, professional motorcycle racing cannot be beaten for photography. 200bhp+ being forcibly rammed through a 2inch contact patch means you’re guaranteed to get unexpected photographic opportunities that not many other sports offer. This is one of the reasons I love it so much. Watching hugely talented individuals writhing every last ounce of power out of their machines regardless of the conditions or circuit. Spotting that action through the blinkered environment of a camera viewfinder heightens the sense of awe when something unreal happens.
Kiyo was flying this weekend and it was evident he was gelling with his factory Honda. I noticed on a couple of previous laps during practice (NB. not all the good action happens in the race) that he was braking very heavily into Sear. Of course when I got into position he never repeated the action. My perseverance paid off and with a few minutes of the session remaining he was on a hot lap. Did I mention patience is another important aspect of motorsport photography?
“Annoying Popup”
Gregorio LaVilla, Superbike Championship, Donington Park 2006
Being first into the corner is always key to any race. Annoyingly for everyone else in the field, Gregorio LaVilla forged a big lead in this race on his factory Ducati. Again, all the photographers at the Melbourne Loop congregate on the outside of the exit or the inside of the apex. As I always try to do, I look for different shots when behind the Armco. The approach to the loop is miles away from the barrier due to the amount of run-off. Even with the 400mm and the converter attached, it was a wide shot but one that I liked and was glad to capture.
“Rising Son”
Ryuichi Kiyonari, British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch 2005
People will tell you that using a 2x converter on a 400mm prime is a no-no because of the inevitable camera shake. This shot proves that it’s possible with a robust technique and an awareness of your surroundings (in this case one of the 9 inch square posts that the Armco is bolted onto!!!!!). As well as a motionless camera, timing was key to this shot. Kiyo is on full-chat here and from the shooting location you only get a millisecond to “lock” onto his helmet as he appears over the horizon before the front wheel lifts under full power. This shot made it into Nikon Pro magazine.
“Don’t Shoot Until You See The Whites of Their Eyes!!!”
James Haydon, British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park 2006
This has to be the single most terrifying and exhilarating spot in British Motorsport. Deer Leap at Oulton Park for a Superbike round.
The bikes head round Lodge corner and the fire down the dip and up over the crest onto the start finish straight on full-chat. Through a 400mm prime at this location you don’t get much chance to a) “lock” onto them and b) register in your brain that the bikes aren’t actually going to hit you. That said, they scream past your left ear at nearly 100mph only 18 inches away. It is terrifying but the shots are well worth it in my view if your timing’s right.
I’ve run out of time this evening folks, but will continue the “story” soon.
Any questions at all, please shout.
Kindest regards, Guy
I’m conscious that posting images in this way may appear that I’m “blowing smoke up my own ass” as our friends the Americans would say. Those that know me know I don’t go in for that sort of thing so I said to Matt I’d agree to it if in doing so it might stimulate beneficial discussion about how I got the shots etc. I’m regularly reminded by requests via my site that what I’ve done and where I’ve been (i.e. trackside with full media access) is deemed as a bit of a holy grail to some and how can they get such privileges for themselves?
I’m happy to help where I can. I can’t guarantee you the shots, but I can probably give out pointers that will help which I’m more than happy to do.
All of these shots were on my Nikon body and lens combos. They’re all full frame so none have been cropped. I’m a bit of an old-schooler that way and believe photography is about creating the shots from what you see there and then, and using your skill, experience and judgement, together with equipment knowledge to get the shot, not creating it with a keyboard and mouse afterwards. As such I do all my compositions in the viewfinder. Just to be even more anal and put more pressure on myself, I don’t ‘Gatling Gun’ (i.e. lean on the 8fps shutter and hope for the best). I pick my shots and work on a way to get them in one shot.
So here goes…….
A delve into the photographer’s favourite shots and why they gained that status.
“Head In The Clouds”
Jonathan Rea, British Superbike Championship, Cadwell Park 2006
Perhaps my favourite shot of all just because it’s so stonkingly mad and I can’t quite believe I caught it.
At Cadwell, all the other photographers gather at the top of the mountain. What’s the point in getting a shot 25 others will have? I went down to the bottom of the mountain and sat on my own up against the crowd fence with the 400mm. Locking onto and tracking the bikes with the 400mm here is so tricky particularly when “Starship Enterprise Rea” came along. My main aim was to keep the track horizon in frame as that supplied the sense of height. As you can see I only just kept him in frame and had his helmet touched the edge of the frame it would have gone in the bin. And when I say kept him in the frame, I mean this is a pan (i.e. the horizon appeared and then was moving down the frame as I followed the bike up the mountain the try and keep the AF locked on).
“Guardian Angels”
Tommy Hill’s tank, British Superbike Championship, Mallory Park 2005
Mallory 2005 was a hell of a meeting. In all my time of covering racing, I’ve never seen so many red flags in one day. The track staff and medical crews were kept extremely busy. One such huge crash happened at the appropriately named Devil’s Elbow. It involved Tommy Hill and Danny Beaumont and stopped the race immediately. As you can see, Tommy Hill’s bike was obliterated but he came off relatively unscathed. Danny required medical attention and was tended to straight away by the medical crews present.
It’s an unwritten code that you don’t capture competitors in distress. However, I could see a tasteful and possibly beneficial shot was there and used DoF (Depth of Field) to put the emphasis on the tank, but still giving the viewer enough to forge a link to the medical aspect of the shot. I got a rollicking for lifting my camera which is understandable as the marshall’s didn’t realise I was fully aware of the situation. My only self-gripe is that I didn’t have time to mess with focus points and to get the tank in the selected focus zone meant I cut the top of the frame too tight.
“Brake Dance”
Ryuichi Kiyonari, British Superbike Championship, Snetterton 2006
Knowing what action might occur, where it will happen and who might provide it to you are 3 of the key aspects in motorsport photography.
For me, professional motorcycle racing cannot be beaten for photography. 200bhp+ being forcibly rammed through a 2inch contact patch means you’re guaranteed to get unexpected photographic opportunities that not many other sports offer. This is one of the reasons I love it so much. Watching hugely talented individuals writhing every last ounce of power out of their machines regardless of the conditions or circuit. Spotting that action through the blinkered environment of a camera viewfinder heightens the sense of awe when something unreal happens.
Kiyo was flying this weekend and it was evident he was gelling with his factory Honda. I noticed on a couple of previous laps during practice (NB. not all the good action happens in the race) that he was braking very heavily into Sear. Of course when I got into position he never repeated the action. My perseverance paid off and with a few minutes of the session remaining he was on a hot lap. Did I mention patience is another important aspect of motorsport photography?
“Annoying Popup”
Gregorio LaVilla, Superbike Championship, Donington Park 2006
Being first into the corner is always key to any race. Annoyingly for everyone else in the field, Gregorio LaVilla forged a big lead in this race on his factory Ducati. Again, all the photographers at the Melbourne Loop congregate on the outside of the exit or the inside of the apex. As I always try to do, I look for different shots when behind the Armco. The approach to the loop is miles away from the barrier due to the amount of run-off. Even with the 400mm and the converter attached, it was a wide shot but one that I liked and was glad to capture.
“Rising Son”
Ryuichi Kiyonari, British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch 2005
People will tell you that using a 2x converter on a 400mm prime is a no-no because of the inevitable camera shake. This shot proves that it’s possible with a robust technique and an awareness of your surroundings (in this case one of the 9 inch square posts that the Armco is bolted onto!!!!!). As well as a motionless camera, timing was key to this shot. Kiyo is on full-chat here and from the shooting location you only get a millisecond to “lock” onto his helmet as he appears over the horizon before the front wheel lifts under full power. This shot made it into Nikon Pro magazine.
“Don’t Shoot Until You See The Whites of Their Eyes!!!”
James Haydon, British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park 2006
This has to be the single most terrifying and exhilarating spot in British Motorsport. Deer Leap at Oulton Park for a Superbike round.
The bikes head round Lodge corner and the fire down the dip and up over the crest onto the start finish straight on full-chat. Through a 400mm prime at this location you don’t get much chance to a) “lock” onto them and b) register in your brain that the bikes aren’t actually going to hit you. That said, they scream past your left ear at nearly 100mph only 18 inches away. It is terrifying but the shots are well worth it in my view if your timing’s right.
I’ve run out of time this evening folks, but will continue the “story” soon.
Any questions at all, please shout.
Kindest regards, Guy
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