VSCC Loton Park 8th Sept 2018

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Mike
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Here's a few photos from a changeable day at Loton Park on Saturday. Always an interesting set of vehicles at VSCC events, and in some ways the rain made it more interesting. Felt sorry for the chap who had two attempts at the hill and was red flagged on both of them, because of a pheasant on the track.

1.

proc_IMGP1784. by Mike Edwards, on Flickr

2.

proc_IMGP1713. by Mike Edwards, on Flickr

3.

proc_IMGP1675. by Mike Edwards, on Flickr

4.

proc_IMGP1634. by Mike Edwards, on Flickr

5.

proc_IMGP1624. by Mike Edwards, on Flickr

6.

proc_IMGP1621a. by Mike Edwards, on Flickr

7.

proc_IMGP1576. by Mike Edwards, on Flickr

As usual, any comments and critique is most welcome.
 
Nice set, all nice and sharp with a good sense of movement. 5 & 6 would be the pick for me
 
You've got to love that Napier engined Bentley. :) As for comments and critique, the photos that work the best are the ones where the car has more 'empty' space in the direction it's heading in (or supposed to be heading in!) than it has has behind it. Putting a moving sports car in the middle of the frame seldom works well as a stand alone image, so try giving the car some space to drive into next time and see if you think it makes a difference.

If you want to see an example of this, then try cropping about an inch and a half off the right hand side of the photo of car number 8 (plus some off the grass to retain the same frame aspect ratio) and see how that looks. Hope this is useful. (y) You seem to have the art of panning a shot off to a tee, so well done there, and for braving the weather too!
 
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Thanks, both of you.

Mr Badger, I did have a bit of a go with that, in fact the head-on shots were where I was trying it, though I must admit the first one was because there's a seating area behind and I was trying to remove the hi-vis trousers from the shot. The Napier isn't as sharp as I'd like (or bits of it are sharp, but not the bits I'd prefer) but it seemed to work. The panning is getting better, thanks in a lot of ways to a suggestion on here a while ago about using a faster shutter speed, of course (as I think is the case for a lot) there are many that just aren't sharp.
 
Thanks, both of you.

Mr Badger, I did have a bit of a go with that, in fact the head-on shots were where I was trying it, though I must admit the first one was because there's a seating area behind and I was trying to remove the hi-vis trousers from the shot. The Napier isn't as sharp as I'd like (or bits of it are sharp, but not the bits I'd prefer) but it seemed to work. The panning is getting better, thanks in a lot of ways to a suggestion on here a while ago about using a faster shutter speed, of course (as I think is the case for a lot) there are many that just aren't sharp.
The head-on shots look fine to me, so it shows that sort of technique works well for those. You'd have been a bit limited on aperture and depth of field for the Bentley shot because of the dull light, but the plus side is that you've got some good motion blur on the wheels and tires, which emphasises the speed. Sometimes the look of a photo will outweigh the overall sharpness, so I still think it works well.

Have you seen the Napier Bentley running without the exhaust pipes fitted? You can see flames leaping out of the manifold stubs when it's running on tickover. It's a trick they do for the crowds in the paddock sometimes, and it looks great. :)
 
Yes, I am very close to the site of the much-missed (by me at least) Cholmondeley Pageant of Power event, and the Napier (and its big sister "Mavis") were regular visitors. You could always tell when they're about to start them, as the marshals all arrive holding fire extinguishers, probably as the event used straw bales as walls.
 
Yes, I am very close to the site of the much-missed (by me at least) Cholmondeley Pageant of Power event, and the Napier (and its big sister "Mavis") were regular visitors. You could always tell when they're about to start them, as the marshals all arrive holding fire extinguishers, probably as the event used straw bales as walls.

Small world, I'm not far from there myself and used to go in the early days of the event too and I've a nice photo of the Vulcan bomber going past the end of the garden on its way there in 2015. Shame they always seemed to get poor weather for it.
 
The Napier Bentley is a real bitch to shoot when it's running! It vibrates so much that subject movement is pretty much inevitable and the noise buffets you (the photographer) as well. Its sheer size makes smaller apertures almost a must to get enough DoF to do it justice too, even at rest.
It hasn't turned up the past couple of years at our local hill climb (Wiscombe Park) and I miss it. Maybe next year. I've found it best to concentrate on the details (like the slogans painted on the sides and bonnet) rather than the whole car.
4 letters to immediately grab my attention are VSCC - all power to them and their vehicles.
 
Here's a snap of it 'playing' at the 2009 Cholmondeley Pageant of Power, doing its usual thing and burning the grass even in the rain! :) Sorry about the poor quality photo; old camera, rainy day and a jostling crowd to contend with!

 
Thanks for that - even poor shots of the thing lift my spirits! (And that's not too shabby at all.)
 
Really like 4,5 and 6 are these from the public areas.

Cheers. Yes, they're all from the public areas, I don't have any media credentials. Those are from the outside at the top corner, I think it's called "Museum". Due to weather there weren't a lot of people there so that wasn't a problem, in fact I had more trouble with some tall grass getting in the foreground of some shots - weather helped again there, as the wind kept it out of the way a lot.
 
And it's not just entertaining in the paddock, of course.

View attachment 134461


TBH, that's really what the Big Red B'stard's best at (other than shaking fillings out and making sash windows rattle within a 5 mile radius!)

Thanks for posting the shot. :D
 
Cheers. Yes, they're all from the public areas, I don't have any media credentials. Those are from the outside at the top corner, I think it's called "Museum". Due to weather there weren't a lot of people there so that wasn't a problem, in fact I had more trouble with some tall grass getting in the foreground of some shots - weather helped again there, as the wind kept it out of the way a lot.


Cheers Mike that's good to know as I would like to shoot some hill climbs I went to one in Kent many moons ago was at a school what a lovely event homemade sandwiches and cakes at a good price a really relaxed atmos
 
Loton Park is really relaxed, and a very nice setting. I haven't been to many, just Loton, Shelsley Walsh once and Prescott a couple of times. There's a VSCC event on at Prescott at the end of September.
 
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