BSB Official Testing at Oulton Park May 2024 (Pic Heavy)

snerkler

snerkler

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Great set, TFS ;)
 
I was there myself on the Wednesday but as I was feeling rough I didn't stay long.
Looks like you've walked the track and got some really good shots.

I'm supposed to be back on Monday for the racing but judging by the numbers there for practise I think it's going to be busy!
 
Norkie said:
Great set, TFS ;)
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Thanks
DE65Y said:
I was there myself on the Wednesday but as I was feeling rough I didn't stay long.
Looks like you've walked the track and got some really good shots.

I'm supposed to be back on Monday for the racing but judging by the numbers there for practise I think it's going to be busy!
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Thanks. Sorry to hear that. I didn’t think it was busy tbh, there seemed to be lots of cars but I didn’t see that many people. Probably the busiest part was Druids where there was about 12-15 people.
 
snerkler said:
Thanks

Thanks. Sorry to hear that. I didn’t think it was busy tbh, there seemed to be lots of cars but I didn’t see that many people. Probably the busiest part was Druids where there was about 12-15 people.
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Before COVID struck the racing scene and MSVR needing to recoup his 'lost' cash by making the practise a ticket event. They never used to advertise, finding out the testing dates were next to impossible. But if you attended, you could be on your own!!
The garages never closed off the rear doors and you could see everything that was happenning inside.
There was even more bikes in attendance than I've seen on race days over recent years.

I particularly liked your shot at Lodge, with the rider being framed by the arch. Mentally trying to work out where you stood to take it,
I think may have spotted you. Did you have a little set of steps?
 
DE65Y said:
Before COVID struck the racing scene and MSVR needing to recoup his 'lost' cash by making the practise a ticket event. They never used to advertise, finding out the testing dates were next to impossible. But if you attended, you could be on your own!!
The garages never closed off the rear doors and you could see everything that was happenning inside.
There was even more bikes in attendance than I've seen on race days over recent years.

I particularly liked your shot at Lodge, with the rider being framed by the arch. Mentally trying to work out where you stood to take it,
I think may have spotted you. Did you have a little set of steps?
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That sounds great having the garages open etc. What I love about Oulton compared to Donington and Silverstone is the lack of catch fencing, it's so refreshing. However I do fear that it's only a matter of time. Donington's shocking now, made even worse by the fact they've started putting barriers 8ft or so away from the catch fencing :(

No that wasn't me, but I saw that guy too whilst I was there. There was also another gent there who gave me lens envy as it looked like he had a Nikon 600mm f4. As for the shot, towards the bottom of the hill shooting through the fencing.
 
snerkler said:
No that wasn't me, but I saw that guy too whilst I was there. There was also another gent there who gave me lens envy as it looked like he had a Nikon 600mm f4. As for the shot, towards the bottom of the hill shooting through the fencing.
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If it was all black and it was a chap on the short side then it may have been a Nikon 400mm f2.8 F lens mounted to a Nikon Z9 with an adaptor.

Its not me, I was not there on Wednesday.

Great set of shots.

I was there today and it was busy but there is fair bit of the place still fenced off because the ground is still boggy.
 
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Knikki said:
If it was all black and it was a chap on the short side then it may have been a Nikon 400mm f2.8 F lens mounted to a Nikon Z9 with an adaptor.

Its not me, I was not there on Wednesday.

Great set of shots.

I was there today and it was busy but there is fair bit of the place still fenced off because the ground is still boggy.
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Could have been a 400mm f2.8.

Which parts were fenced off, I only saw a small section on the pit straight?
 
snerkler said:
Which parts were fenced off, I only saw a small section on the pit straight?
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Over towards Druids that small bit where people park just by the banking, that had some cars on it but thought they were pushing their luck

The main area that over looks Cascades and Knickerbrook part of the track, there are areas there that were still really boggy and one car I watched slide down the slope towards the toilets, fortunately he managed to get some traction at the bottom and get out.

Over the other side at Knickerbrook, when you go in turn right the area behind the toilets was nearly all cordoned off, also other areas up the top and towards Brittens, and even on the places where you could park there are still a fair few places that have really soft mud.

Lodge and the pit straight towards Old Hall I did not go, but was there last week and the ground down the pit straight was still very soft with some very deep ruts in where cars struggled to get out a few weeks ago.
 
Knikki said:
Over towards Druids that small bit where people park just by the banking, that had some cars on it but thought they were pushing their luck

The main area that over looks Cascades and Knickerbrook part of the track, there are areas there that were still really boggy and one car I watched slide down the slope towards the toilets, fortunately he managed to get some traction at the bottom and get out.

Over the other side at Knickerbrook, when you go in turn right the area behind the toilets was nearly all cordoned off, also other areas up the top and towards Brittens, and even on the places where you could park there are still a fair few places that have really soft mud.

Lodge and the pit straight towards Old Hall I did not go, but was there last week and the ground down the pit straight was still very soft with some very deep ruts in where cars struggled to get out a few weeks ago.
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Ahh so you mean the parking areas, I thought you meant where the spectators could get :facepalm:
 
snerkler said:
There was also another gent there who gave me lens envy as it looked like he had a Nikon 600mm f4. As for the shot, towards the bottom of the hill shooting through the fencing.
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I spoke to that guy, I actually said to him 'he was giving me lens envy', :D

There's a lot of catch fencing gone up in the last couple of years as well as gravel traps.
Down at Old Hall there's now abot 200yds of the stuff.

But I'm not surprised there. I was there with my grandson once,
I panned with the bikes going around the bend. He watched a bike through his lens that was cartwheeling about six foot off the ground towards us, before he ran. I turned around to see the bike go over the tyre wall, hit what little fencing was there and it dropped down behind the tyres!
I was a little annoyed, as he hadn't pressed the shutter release!
 
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snerkler said:
Ahh so you mean the parking areas, I thought you meant where the spectators could get :facepalm:
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A lot of those areas Knikki mentions are areas where you can park virtually right up to where the specs stand.

Wednesday was the first time I'd been in and the parking was so restricted but from what Knikki has said the boggyness is probably why.
 
DE65Y said:
I spoke to that guy, I actually said to him 'he was giving me lens envy', :D

There's a lot of catch fencing gone up in the last couple of years as well as gravel traps.
Down at Old Hall there's now abot 200yds of the stuff.

But I'm not surprised there. I was there with my grandson once,
I panned with the bikes going around the bend. He watched a bike through his lens that was cartwheeling about six foot off the ground towards us, before he ran. I turned around to see the bike go over the tyre wall, hit what little fencing was there and it dropped down behind the tyres!
I was a little annoyed, as he hadn't pressed the shutter release!
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It’s just a matter of time before it’s mostly fenced I fear, after all it’s the same company that’s ruined put fencing up at Donington.

I’d actually forgotten how exhilarating it is to have something flying past so close without fencing. I remember the days of no fencing at Donington, and standing a foot away from the track of a Lombard RAC rally stage.
DE65Y said:
A lot of those areas Knikki mentions are areas where you can park virtually right up to where the specs stand.

Wednesday was the first time I'd been in and the parking was so restricted but from what Knikki has said the boggyness is probably why.
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Ahh right, I’ve only been once before and can’t remember what it was like then re parking.
 
arturo7 said:
So, as a noob, I gotta ask, what would be total shutter count for the day to get this many A+ images? I'm floored by some of these.
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Too many :LOL:

Normally at a race event I’ll end up taking around 3000 shots, around 25% will be usable/tack sharp.

This event was different, it was 6 hours of none stop action (2x 3hr sessions), although I only stopped for 5 hours. Not only that, I made a numpty mistake and had my camera frame rate set to hi+ instead of hi meaning I was shooting at 30fps and I came back with over 7000 images :headbang: I’ll not make that mistake again, what a PITA going through that many images.

After culling I’ve got just under 2000 usable images although I’ve obviously not processed them all as they get a bit repetitive.

Thanks btw.
 
snerkler said:
Too many :LOL:
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:LOL::LOL::LOL:

arturo7 said:
So, as a noob, I gotta ask, what would be total shutter count for the day to get this many A+ images? I'm floored by some of these.
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I did a 'sports photography' course run by Jessops with a Pro photographer at Oulton.

He stated that even the Pros only get about 20% that they can use.
Though I would probably be happy with the 80% they bin!
 
DE65Y said:
:LOL::LOL::LOL:


I did a 'sports photography' course run by Jessops with a Pro photographer at Oulton.

He stated that even the Pros only get about 20% that they can use.
Though I would probably be happy with the 80% they bin!
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I'm actually going on a couple of courses with that guy at Jessops this year, but that's so that I can gain access to photographing badgers and foxes :)

With regards to hit rate, it depends on how you want to shoot. I tend to go for slower shutter speeds which reduces hit rate, although for bikes anything under 1/100 and you often get blur of the rider as they are constantly moving on the bikes. If I shot everything at 1/320 I'd imagine hit rate would be over 90%. How some folk get sharp shots at 1/8 using a 600mm f4 lens I'll never know :eek: I can occasionally get shots at 1/8 and 1/10 but it's with a much lighter lens such as the 70-200mm or 100-400mm. I'd imagine with the 600mm f4 they're using a gimbal to get shots at 1/8.
 
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I've never been to Oulton Park and would like to ask if you go on a race day such as the vintage car races, are there just too many people to make photography impossible. Cheers
 
Delphin said:
I've never been to Oulton Park and would like to ask if you go on a race day such as the vintage car races, are there just too many people to make photography impossible. Cheers
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I've been for the BTCC and there was plenty of room to do photography.
 
The main info I got from the course (that I can remember)

When panning, 1/60 - 1/100sec, F8 (as back and foreground will be blurred by the panning). Auto ISO.
Turn off stabilisation as it will be fighting the panning. Focussing on servo using the 9 central focus points.

And most of that turned my previous settings upside down!
 
Delphin said:
I've never been to Oulton Park and would like to ask if you go on a race day such as the vintage car races, are there just too many people to make photography impossible. Cheers
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Oulton is a big track with ample viewing, so even on the busiest day, you can usually squeeze in somewhere.
 
DE65Y said:
The main info I got from the course (that I can remember)

When panning, 1/60 - 1/100sec, F8 (as back and foreground will be blurred by the panning). Auto ISO.
Turn off stabilisation as it will be fighting the panning. Focussing on servo using the 9 central focus points.

And most of that turned my previous settings upside down!
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At 1/60 - 1/100 on a sunny day aperture will need to be smaller than f8 unless you’re using ND filters otherwise you’ll massively overexpose, you can’t be that rigid in your settings. I’ve had to be at f22 at times if I’ve not got my ND filters with me.

If I’m panning between light and dark areas I’ll use auto ISO otherwise I’ll use full manual settings to make sure exposure is consistent throughout the panning series.

Some cameras/lenses have different stabilisation settings, some have specific panning modes.

I use a single focus point with AF-C (I think that’s the same as servo on Canon).
 
I don't disagree with what you've said but that's what was said during the course.
I've followed it, not neccassarily to the letter and I get better results than I used to.
 
DE65Y said:
I don't disagree with what you've said but that's what was said during the course.
I've followed it, not neccassarily to the letter and I get better results than I used to.
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Yep you need to use what works for you, and I'm not saying my settings are better than the ones you were given, just a different approach that's all. Although, as I said f8 is an OK starting point but don't have it set in stone as exposure and other things such as fencing will require a different aperture (y)
 
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