First F1...

[Kell]

So, a couple of weekends ago a group of us went to Spa for the Belgian Grand Prix.

One of my mates is a massive motorsport fan (having grown up in Silverstone) and it was for his 50th birthday.

I have a new-found respect for people that can pan with F1 cars as well as a healthy respect for the Dutch fans who seem to be the only group of Foreigners I've come across that can out-party and out-drink the Brits.

Hardcore Euro-Techno at full volume in their campsite from 6:00am to 2:00am. We could hear it from our campsite 1/2 an hour's walk away.

In the end, we decided if you can't beat 'em, join em. Ended up partying with them till 4:00am where it got shut down by the Belgian police.

Us turning up after having been in bed - you can see my mate still has his 'top cats' on (that's me with the grimace).

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10156331100306021

View: https://www.facebook.com/Kell.LC/videos/10156331100306021/



Getting shut down:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10156331103796021

View: https://www.facebook.com/Kell.LC/videos/10156331103796021/


Crazy, crazy weekend.

Most weird of all, after four days of partying they all drove home on Sunday morning to watch it on TV.

 

[Kell]

Couple of notes:

Genuinely didn't know that after the race, they open up the track so you can walk it (does this happen at every GP?)

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10156331084786021

View: https://www.facebook.com/Kell.LC/videos/10156331084786021/




Eau Rouge is really, really, steep. Steep enough for people to slide down it using the advertising hoardings they've ripped off the wall.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10156331079341021

View: https://www.facebook.com/Kell.LC/videos/10156331079341021/

 

[Kell]

Overall, an excellent first time, marred by the unfortunate death of Anthoine Hubert. We didn't see the crash, but had made our way through the woods to watch some of the F2 and just happened to be exactly where Alesi pulled up.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10156331083781021

View: https://www.facebook.com/Kell.LC/videos/10156331083781021/

 

[Kell]

I don't think I've managed to capture any amazing shots. One or two I'm happy with, but as mentioned in the first post, panning was wa-a-a-a-a-y harder than I thought it might be.

And my 70-300 just wasn't quite long enough to get good shots from our seats. Managed to get a couple I was pleased with during pactice, but nothing special compared to some of the stuff I've seen posted here.

 

[Kell]

Some funny bits.

 

[Kell]

I also realised that an 80D doesn't really give you enough FPS if, instead of panning with a car, you keep the camera static and try and get the car shooting through frame.

Sometimes I had pictures of empty track, other times I just got the front and back the car was going so quick.

 

[Meeten]

I was there as well.
Crazy Dutch folk. Thr ones near me were laughing when Hamilton crashes in quali. Wish I was near them on Sunday when Max lasted 30 secs....

We sat on thr Kemmel straight and saw folk on thr other side who had much more lush grass to sit on. So on Sunday we looked to get there and after going through some woods found ourselves there, right by the big screen!

I only took my phone, as I'd taken my camera previously and was diasapointed with results (my technique obviously).

And you are right about Eau Rouge... Only going there do you appreciate how steep the climb up is!

Might go Netherlands next year to find those Dutch guys that were laughing so much on the Saturday.....

 

[damianmkv]

I believe you can pan with any car, if you have the right technique. It looks like the 80d does 7fps and I started with a Nikon d3100 and got top fuel cars with only 3fps. Positively pedestrian in today’s world

Looks like you had a great time - the “if you can’t beat ‘em “ moto probably worked out for the best

 

[Kell]

I believe you can pan with any car, if you have the right technique.

Yeah - I'm not blaming the camera for my panning technique.

But during practice I literally deleted dozens of shots of empty track...

I got a bit better during qualifying, and was too far away during the race for it to make much difference. (We stayed in our seats then.)

 

[Kell]

I was there as well.
Crazy Dutch folk. Thr ones near me were laughing when Hamilton crashes in quali. Wish I was near them on Sunday when Max lasted 30 secs....

We sat on thr Kemmel straight and saw folk on thr other side who had much more lush grass to sit on. So on Sunday we looked to get there and after going through some woods found ourselves there, right by the big screen!

I only took my phone, as I'd taken my camera previously and was diasapointed with results (my technique obviously).

And you are right about Eau Rouge... Only going there do you appreciate how steep the climb up is!

Might go Netherlands next year to find those Dutch guys that were laughing so much on the Saturday.....

We originally didn't have seats, but as it was my first (and probably last) F1, we figured we'd pay extra for guaranteed seating. I think it was probably worth it as we were chatting to the guys in the tent next to us after the race and they'd been at the track on Sunday from 6:30am to get a space. Whereas we didn't get in till 4:30 on the Sunday morning and went to the track at about 13:00.

We were sat on the inside of the track, but on the outside of Pouhon (12 on the map) and could see the Dutch fans in the 'Verstappen stand.' As you say, there was a huge cheer when Hamilton crashed. but funnily enough, it was very quiet when Verstappen did.

The Dutch fans 'enjoying' the race...

 

[admirable]

Here's a tutorial on panning

Panning tutorial

 

[Kell]

Useful.

Thank you.

I think towards the end, I worked out that I needed to manually focus on the piece of track that I wanted to shoot the car, then start tracking it early, start clicking as it got near and keep going afterwards. The only problem with this is that when in manual focus mode it was very easy to jog the focus ring OOF on my particular lens. It became very slack in MF mode.

But I definitely fell foul of the description in there about running out 'twist' so I was almost trying to shoot over my right shoulder.

 

[RichardC27]

Useful.

Thank you.

I think towards the end, I worked out that I needed to manually focus on the piece of track that I wanted to shoot the car, then start tracking it early, start clicking as it got near and keep going afterwards. The only problem with this is that when in manual focus mode it was very easy to jog the focus ring OOF on my particular lens. It became very slack in MF mode.

But I definitely fell foul of the description in there about running out 'twist' so I was almost trying to shoot over my right shoulder.

Just use AI Servo or Continuous AF mode, track the car with your shutter button half pressed and then shoot when you want to. No need to muck about with manual focus for panning shots.

 

[Kell]

I did try with AI servo, but I seemed to get more misses than hits compared to doing it manually. With a fairly wide DOF that would cover both sides of the track, I just pressed when the car would be in focus.

Again, this could be down to technique, but I did find the AI didn't keep up.

 

[andrewc]

You can often walk the circuit afterwards. The drop down from La Source, across Eau Rouge, and up Raidillon that is much much steeper on both sides than it ever appears on the television.

Panning does require a lot of practice, and the slower and slower you go, the more and more shots go in the bin. But you don't need high FPS to achieve it - its really all about technique.

 

[Kell]

You can often walk the circuit afterwards. The drop down from La Source, across Eau Rouge, and up Raidillon that is much much steeper on both sides than it ever appears on the television.

Panning does require a lot of practice, and the slower and slower you go, the more and more shots go in the bin. But you don't need high FPS to achieve it - its really all about technique.

Good to know about the track walks - as mentioned it was my first GP and I was very surprised (and pleased).

The higher FPS was more in relation to the camera being pointed at a static location and capturing cars passing through frame. I was trying multiple things. Track the car, to try and get the car sharp and background blurred (1) as well as keep the background sharp and have a blurry car (2). I thought the second approach might provide some interesting shots. But the ones I got didn't do it for me. In the end, I prefer the incidental shots I ended up with - track staff, crowds etc.

I'd say what I came away with are a good set of images fro us to remember the event by, rather than to print and display. So I'm happy with that.


(1)

(2)

 

[CPe FOTO]

I'm yet to experience an F1 event (can't wait to though!)
The highest profile motorsports event I've shot at is a BTCC event at Thruxton or Rally Day at Castle Combe.

This is a panning shot from Rally Day taken at 1/15th sec, f22, ISO100....



I think I need to get myself some ND Filters to be able to lower the Aperture a bit!