The Photo Way: sports

Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Return to Steamer Lane

As I mentioned in my bag post, one of my goals during the trip to northern California was to get in some good surfing photography time. Was it worth lugging the 1D Mark II (and its enormous charger) and the 400/5.6 for just one morning of shooting at Steamer Lane? You bet! Even though this camera is 10 years old, there is still plenty of solid, raw data coming off that pro-grade sensor to run circles around many newer cameras. Surfline reported a 10-12 foot swell coming in that Sunday morning, and it did not disappoint. Here's the take, in true TopFivePhotos style...

I know I used that last shot in my previous post, but it's probably the single best shot I got out of the Fuji during my time with it. Happy shooting.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Baltimore Grand Prix 2012

So here's a post that's way overdue. Last September I finally got to go to the Baltimore Grand Prix (ok, "Grand Prix of Baltimore"). If you get a chance to go, I highly recommend it. Here's what you'll need to get these shots:

Canon 1D Mark II
Canon 400/5.6 L USM
CF or SD cards
Plenty of water!

Just stand as close to the fence as possible and shoot through the fence at your widest aperture and you should be good to go. This is where a shallow depth of field really helps you out. The fence is so close that it blurs right out of the picture. In many cases, there were two fences between me and the track, spaced about four feet apart. With such a long focal length, I was still able to shoot through both fences without a problem. I'd still recommend switching the lens to far focus range (8.5m to infinity) to keep the camera from being tripped up by the fence though.

Also note that "tickets" aren't on that list. All of these shots were taken from the public viewing areas outside of the track. It actually amazed me that some of the best viewing areas were left totally free.

That's not to say that I wouldn't recommend tickets. The general admission will get you plenty of cool places to watch the race, and plenty of free schwag. Unfortunately, almost none of the viewing locations lend themselves to racing photography. On the other hand, if you're looking for shots of spectators, you won't be disappointed. There's plenty of good people-watching in the general admission areas.

If you can swing it, I'd also recommend getting the paddock pass. It's inside the convention center, which is a great place to cool off and watch the drivers and race teams prep the cars. In some ways it's a show unto itself. If you're into getting portraits of the drivers, this is the place to be. Just have the high ISO ready, as the lighting is fairly poor (1/30 f/2.8 at ISO 1600).

As a final note, here's a nine-shot composite image of turn 12 during the American Le Mans Series race. Each shot was a 2 second exposure at ISO 50, f/32.

It's amazing to see the variation in the tracks. Many of the wider and shallower turns (presumably sub-optimal) were due to other cars that were going through the turn at the same time. Here's a normal exposure from the same vantage point:

Of course the 1D Mark II scored again. A camera that I bought used in 2005 is still making great images in 2012. You shouldn't have any trouble finding one for well under $1000. Happy shooting!

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Return to Summit Point

I've been to Summit Point more times than I can remember. It all started with my friend Chuck and his 300,000 mile Mazda Miata that still ran like a champ after 15 years. He told me that the great thing about Summit Point is that there's no one there that isn't into the actual racing. This isn't NASCAR, where the people go to get drunk, listen to a country concert, and watch horrible wrecks. Here it's about breaking, acceleration, consistent lap times, and just having fun. You can even walk through the pits and paddock and talk to the actual mechanics and drivers; no need for a pass or special ticket ($15). Of course, in this environment, the Mazda is an extraordinarily popular car for amateur racing. Just go to one SCCA event and you'll see a flotilla of Miatas going around the track (there are other great classes as well, like Formula Atlantic). Great stuff.

On this particular trip, last weekend, I was there to get pictures of the WERA Pirelli Sportsman Series motorcycle races. It was also a chance to dust off my 1D Mark II and make sure it was still in good working order. Sure enough, it lived up to its pro-level design and worked like a champ. There were only two incidents where it gave me Error 99 problems, and I think it was due to the CF card. Popping the battery out and back in cleared the problem immediately. I also had my concerns about the batteries still being able to hold a charge after so much time on the shelf. Ni-MH is dated technology, but I blew through well over 400 frames without the battery showing any signs of running low.

All in all, a great day. By the way, you can get a good, used 1D Mark II for about $850 these days.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Budds Creek

At some point last night, I was poking around flickr (again), and came across some cool motocross photos. Since the greater DC area seems to have just about everything, I figured there had to be some motocross racing around to shoot. Google revealed that Budds Creek Motocross Park was only about 90 minutes away. And wouldn't you know it, there were races this weekend. Perfect.

Before I was even through the gate, I could already tell that this was going to be different than my usual trips to Summit Point. They made everyone sign a waiver on entry, and with good reason; the motorcycles aren't just on the track. They share the pedestrian paths and tunnels throughout the park. Granted, the bikes aren't exactly quiet, but when there are dozens of them running around, some piloted by eight-year-olds, you better watch your back Jack.

For this trip, I'd brought along the trusty 1D Mark II, 17-40/4, 70-200/2.8, and 400/5.6. As you know, I prefer to pack light, but seeing as this was a new venue and sport for me, I figured I'd bring a wide range of lenses. It turns out that I used them all at one point or another. In a pinch, I probably could have done without the 400, but sometimes it's nice to compress the action and force extraneous details out of the frame.

The 1D Mark II is a beast of a camera. It's heavy and it doesn't have a lot of the standard features that have been added to cameras since 2003, but as a raw picture taking machine, it's very hard to beat. Nikon couldn't touch it until they came out with the D3 last year. I know this because my former D2H forced me to switch to Canon in 2005.

I was also pleasantly surprised at how wide the 17-40/4 looked with the 1D's 1.3x multiplier. 17mm comes out to about 22mm, which is still wider than my usual 24-105/4. I kind of threw it into my bag as an afterthought, but I shot quite a few pictures though it. I guess that's also a testament to how close the action is at Budds Creek.

One last note, watch out for all the Amish buggies on MD-236. I didn't encounter any in the morning, but on the return trip, there must have been at least a dozen of them on the six mile stretch.