Access Pit Lane, Track, Media Centre... Part 1
In any year, April marks the real beginning of my motorsport
year. Sure, I am usually lucky enough get to go to Florida for
the races at Daytona and Sebring, but neither of these
events are anything but a one-off, an overture for the
season. I don’t go back to attend the rest of ALMS or Grand-
Am series, as my days of transatlantic commuting are long
past. The cost and the hassle of visiting a post 9/11 USA
have closed that particular chapter on my career.
April began with a trip to the south of France and the Hi-Tech
Test Track at Paul Ricard. This former venue for the French
Grand Prix was acquired by Bernie Ecclestone (who else?)
some five years ago and in typical Bernie-style, he has
transformed the place. Grandstands, spectator facilities,
even gravel traps are a thing of the past here, with errant
cars that leave the track being slowed down by acres of
tarmac and special abrasive paint.
Tip: For the photographer, this creates a number of unique
visual opportunities. One tip, when presented with this kind
of shot, is to vary the focal point either manually or by
adjusting the camera. Normally, the rule is to get the car in
the bottom third of the frame and have a background of sky,
but when the foreground is interesting or colorful, then
consider breaking this convention. Also, in bright sunlight
don’t be afraid of shooting against the light. Experiment, as
it can bring surprising results.
From the crisp, bright skies of France, I went to Monza the
following weekend, just north of Milan, for the opening
rounds of the 2005 World Touring Car Championship and FIA
GT Championship. The historic circuit, set in parkland that
used to be the King of Italy's hunting resort, has seen
continuous racing action since its opening back in 1922 and
has an atmosphere that is unique. Unfortunately, the
weather at this time of the year is often cold and gray and
this year there was plenty of both.
Tip: When shooting in these dull conditions, the results can
be enhanced by careful use of StudioLine. The contrast,
brightness and saturation of the image can be adjusted to
give a more desirable result, but caution must be exercised,
otherwise the final product can look artificial or over
processed.
Tip: Shooting GTs and Touring Cars calls for different skills to
be brought into play. The basics of composition, exposure
and subject are common to both, but the GT race is over a
three hour/500 kilometer period, whereas the Tourers have
two 12 lap sprints. There is time to compose and experiment
in GT, whereas in the sprints a game plan has to be made
prior to the race and stuck to. So prior to any race, you must
do your homework; who is actually competing and are there
any issues to be considered that will affect the
photography? Also, the location of the sun is paramount, as
there generally will not be time to go from one location to
another.
I had an unusual request for the GT race in that the series'
organizers, SRO, wanted to produce a banner for one of
their sponsorship units, 15 meters by 3 meters and asked if I
could help. The series' photographer shoots exclusively
jpegs, which is the policy of his agency, so his images were
not suitable for this task. I only shoot in RAW format, a
choice I made almost from the start of my digital work and
this, combined with my latest gadget, a Canon 1Ds ll, meant
that I could take on the job with confidence.The result was
fine from a technical point of view, but rejected by the client
as being too blue. A re-shoot at round 2 was called for. RAW
format offers the most control for a photographer, but is time
consuming and not always the most appropriate solution for
the job at hand.
Another weekend, another race track; this time Spa
Francorchamps in the Ardennes region of Belgium for the Spa
1000 Kilometers, the opening part of the 2005 Le Mans
Endurance Series. My motorsport and photographic
background was based in races of this length; the six hours
or so of race action allows time to explore the circuit and
also to try some different approaches to taking pictures.
That said, there are times when even these races resemble
a sprint and anticipation of the next incident is crucial. If
there are a number of cars leaving the track without
apparent reason, then it is reasonable to suppose that
there is oil about. So when several well driven cars end up
off the tarmac, then something more dramatic is likely to
happen. There was a Ferrari that was erratic from the start
and then it plowed into a prototype at the end of the main
straight with the result being that both cars retired. A minute
or two later and another Ferrari and a Porsche collided at
the same spot. However, I only managed one shot of the
second crash because in the excitement of nailing the first
incident, I had made a basic mistake and did not check the
space on my card and ran out of space. There’s no point in
anticipating the action if you cannot shoot it. You must try
harder!
The conditions at Spa were really difficult for photography
with thick fog in parts of the circuit, but they are the same
for everyone so making the best of things is the answer and
not complaining. This was explained to me years ago by a
laconic American as making chicken salad out of chicken
sh**! You know what I mean. Once again, the Image
Toolbox in StudioLine was invaluable in giving some life to
the pictures.
There was no racing the following weekend, but there was a
day trip to Germany and a lift around the legendary
Nordschleife, naturally. Andy Priaulx, 2004 European Touring
Car Champion, was getting in some practice on the 22
Kilometre track prior to his appearance for BMW in the
Nürburgring 24 Hours. So BMW PR invited scribbler, Andrew
Cotton, and I to have a ride around with Andy. He was
armed with a BMW M3 CSL complete with paddle shift and all
manner of other gizmos. I had been advised to get my ride
in as early as possible before the brakes could suffer any
fade. I have to say that I am not the greatest passenger
these days, but despite being banged about in the seat by
Andy using all the track, shoulders and grass, I never felt the
slightest concern. His skill levels and car control were
extraordinary and the sense of calmness that he brought to
the task inspired confidence. Photographically, the ride was
much more of a challenge. Constant changes in the light
source as we snaked around meant exposure difficulties.
Plus, the need to keep the shutter speed up for sharpness
and down for creative effect meant that mentally I was as
busy as Andy, along with the additional hurdle of shooting
while wearing a crash helmet.
Tip: If you get a chance to try this, first off enjoy the
experience and plan your range of shots before you get near
the car. Slow, fast, scenic, tight - a lot of rejects for sure, but
one or two good ones. It will certainly be a day to
remember.
John Brooks, May 2005
John Brooks uses:
Cameras:
Canon 1D ll
Canon 1Ds ll
Lenses (all Canon):
16-35mm f2.8
24-70mm f2.8
70-200mm f2.8
300mm f2.8
500mm f4.0
Storage:
A variety of memory cards by CompactFlash, MicroDrive and
Secure Digital, totally 14 GB.
PC:
Sony S2XP laptop
More images by John Brooks may be found at:
www.SportsCarPros.com
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