Castle Combe Charity Track Day

Bristolian

Bristolian

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Steve
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Castle Combe circuit was the venue for a track day to raise funds for the Royal Marines Association on Thursday 24 March 2022 and it gave me the opportunity to get out on track as a passenger and also to reacquaint myself with the skills and techniques needed for motorsport photography. It's been more than 10 years since my last foray into this genre and that was obvious when looking at the first batch of photos I took. Thankfully I did manage to get better as the say wore on but I still need more practice, as I'm sure you will agree.

More than £5k was raised for the charity on the day :)

All images were taken from areas with public access where the view wasn't obscured by the high catch fencing, hence the slight look down view.
#1: A replica Ford GT40 that made a beautiful sound (the owner is the noise marshal at the circuit)
CCTD-1.jpg

#2: A Mazda MX-5 with 3ltr V6 engine from a Jaguar (which gave me motion sickness after about 6 pretty rapid laps)
CCTD-2.jpg

#3: A Westfield in the pit entry lane after some very rapid laps
CCTD-3.jpg

#4: An MG TZ and Mazda MX-5 exiting Dobbies chicane The MG is moving over to let the Mazda pass.
CCTD-4.jpg

#5: A very rapid Westfield Mega S2000
CCTD-5.jpg

All comments and suggestions welcomed.
 
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Since you're after a bit of C&C...

On the whole, not a bad effort after a few years away from trying to pan with fast moving cars. My only real crit is that the shutter speed is a bit too fast so the wheels are a bit too defined but that comes with practise.

Been a while since we've been up to CC but have always enjoyed the day. We've usually based ourselves at the Esses (where there wasn't any fencing but that may have changed!) and walked all the way round during (to us) less interesting races and/or the interval between morning practise and the afternoon's races.

WRT the MX-5/Jag, on the drive is a Mk 3 Mazda and an XF... Not sure a Diesel would be quite right!!!
 
I enjoyed a visit to Castle Coombe last year and may well visit again this year. It is easy to find good locations from which to take photos. I was there for a M/Cycle race day. There were 3-4 crashes which I caught and noted all the riders walked away. However, I was slight reluctant to enter in to competitions as you cannot tell the rider is uninjured when viewing the shot and it might have been considered poor taste. One of the experience guys from the club suggested I entered a shot in a Documentary section which I did for the Toronto Salon and received an award so it was good advice.

Dave
 
Nod said:
Since you're after a bit of C&C...

On the whole, not a bad effort after a few years away from trying to pan with fast moving cars. My only real crit is that the shutter speed is a bit too fast so the wheels are a bit too defined but that comes with practise.

Been a while since we've been up to CC but have always enjoyed the day. We've usually based ourselves at the Esses (where there wasn't any fencing but that may have changed!) and walked all the way round during (to us) less interesting races and/or the interval between morning practise and the afternoon's races.

WRT the MX-5/Jag, on the drive is a Mk 3 Mazda and an XF... Not sure a Diesel would be quite right!!!
Click to expand...
Hi Nod and thanks for the comments.

Yes, I know the shutter was still a little too fast but I had managed to get it down from about 1/1000 sec at the beginning of the day to 1/250 by the end. I'm finding the Sigma 150-600 quite a handful when panning at speed but, as you say, that will come with practice ... I hope. I tried both hand-holding and mounting the camera on a monopod with a gimbal head - the latter certainly gave the better results.

I didn't have time to get around to the Esses as I was splitting my time between photography and riding as ballast to slow the cars down :). I cut my racing teeth at CC as a teenager riding 500cc Manx Norton and 250cc Aermacchi bikes in club events there in the late '60s and early '70s. I agree that a diesel probably wouldn't be the right car :)
 
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Bristolian said:
Hi Nod and thanks for the comments.

Yes, I know the shutter was still a little too fast but I had managed to get it down from about 1/1000 sec at the beginning of the day to 1/250 by the end. I'm finding the Sigma 150-600 quite a handful when panning at speed but, as you say, that will come with practice ... I hope. I tried both hand-holding and mounting the camera on a monopod with a gimbal head - the latter certainly gave the better results.

I didn't have time to get around to the Esses as I was splitting my time between photography and riding as ballast to slow the cars down :). I cut my racing teeth at CC as a teenager riding 500cc Manx Norton and 250cc Aermacchi bikes in club events there in the late '60s and early '70s. I agree that a diesel probably wouldn't be the right car :)
Click to expand...

We go as pure spectators so usually end up parking at the bottom end so relatively near the Esses. The advantage of being down there is that 300mm is plenty and with the relatively slow lenses I have, slower shutter speeds are par for the course! (Unless it's really sunny...) The cars are also travelling a bit slower which can help when panning but also means an even slower shutter speed...

I've often wondered about a track day (or a day's tuition) up there in a car but I'm getting too old to enjoy it enough to be worth it! However, I also have a weird hankering for a Norton Cooper.

One of my golf buddies is ex RM and does some fundraising so blags some sponsorship off us all!
 
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