Rallye Sunseeker 2006

[Cadwell]

I see I've been beaten to first post, but I thought I'd get my one in before Ian gets home from the south coast and trumps us all :lol:

Anyway, here are my efforts from the day. As always, the schedule went all to pot and we didn't get round the stages we intended to :rolleyes: I really must get the hang of this rallying lark at some point.

#1 Mitsubishi Evo on SS4
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ukmotorsportpics/sunseeker/LJ8J5294.jpg

#2 One for the scooby fans, again SS4
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ukmotorsportpics/sunseeker/LJ8J5305.jpg

#3 Old versus new... an Escort Mark II is caught! (SS4)
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ukmotorsportpics/sunseeker/LJ8J5400.jpg

#4 Into the forest... Impreza on SS12
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ukmotorsportpics/sunseeker/LJ8J5498.jpg

#5 A lot of them about....
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ukmotorsportpics/sunseeker/LJ8J5521.jpg

#6 See what I mean? This one is more that a bit sideways!
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ukmotorsportpics/sunseeker/LJ8J5567.jpg

#7 Hah! Call that sideways? An Escort Mark II shows how it should be done!
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ukmotorsportpics/sunseeker/LJ8J5598.jpg

Full collections are here:
Special Stage 4 (http://gallery.ukmotorsportpics.com/c872116.html)
and
Special Stage 12 (http://gallery.ukmotorsportpics.com/c872174.html)

For those that like to know these things, all images were taken with an EOS 1D Mark II. Pictures #4 and #5 were with an EF 70-200mm f/4L. All others used the Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 EX.

All images converted from RAW using Capture One Pro. Post processing limited to resizing and sharpening because I am lazy.

Thanks for looking!

[despot]

Dammit, I need a faster PC!
Lots of nice action shots Glenn. #3 could almost be on a circuit ;)
Andy

[NordieBoy]

#3 Those new cars have no sense of style :D

[dengli]

I like the traffic jam in #3 Glenn but #7 is my pick of the bunch.

[Simon Harrison]

Looks like you had some good light to play with today Glenn, particularly on SS4. Particularly like the 3/4 pan shots from the outside of the bend on your gallery for SS4. Some great colours, the Subaru of Barry Johnson jumps off the screen!

Prefer the angle of the first dozen or shots on the SS12 gallery to the other shots on that gallery - the shots looks very dynamic. A couple of crackers of the Hyundais. Lighting looks light it was a nightmare with patches of bright sunshine and deep shadow.

Cheers,

Simon.

[greg20d]

Great shots .....I cant wait to gat my back in shape to shoot some shots.......gonna try and go to motox tommorow

[greg20d]

Great shots .....I cant wait to gat my back in shape to shoot some shots.......gonna try and go to motox tommorow

[Swaffs]

Great shots again.

I wish I could get the focus as well as you do!

[LMP]

Very nice Glenn, sharp as always...wish I could have made it down.

[Dave_G]

thumbs up Glenn.

was a good day, I'm shattered.

[Skip Souza]

Way to go Glenn. I really liked SS4 the best.

[mijbril]

nice to see the old Escort there for the old school. Was there any GT-4's about??

nice shots too btw

[Cadwell]

Dammit, I need a faster PC!
Lots of nice action shots Glenn. #3 could almost be on a circuit ;)
Andy


Cheers Andy. The Escort did not want to give way at all. There was some paint swapped as the Scooby eventually forced his way past.

[Cadwell]

I like the traffic jam in #3 Glenn but #7 is my pick of the bunch.

Thanks Dave. #3 is not a great shot, but it is "unusual" for rallying which is why I inlcuded it. #7 is fun though, Mark II Escorts always look so dynamic. .

[Cadwell]

Looks like you had some good light to play with today Glenn, particularly on SS4. Particularly like the 3/4 pan shots from the outside of the bend on your gallery for SS4. Some great colours, the Subaru of Barry Johnson jumps off the screen!

Prefer the angle of the first dozen or shots on the SS12 gallery to the other shots on that gallery - the shots looks very dynamic. A couple of crackers of the Hyundais. Lighting looks light it was a nightmare with patches of bright sunshine and deep shadow.

Cheers,

Simon.

Hi Simon. The light on SS4 was very good. Bare heathland and a nice, clear blue sky meant there was loads of light to work with. I was quite interested in getting the crowd into some of the shots for atmosphere rather than shooting tight all the time. Not terribly happy with most of the angles though.

The lighting on SS12 was much more difficult with quite low angled sunlight through the trees giving lots of areas of shade and patches of bright light. All you could do was try and not blow the highlights out too far whilst retaining shadow detail. Mind you, I think the whole point in shooting rally cars is to get out into the forests so it's just something I have to learn to cope with.

I know what you mean about the angle on the first shots of SS12. I was very close to a (nearly) flat out corner on the inside and I really didn't have much time to grab the shot as the cars came through. It was also too short for my favourite lens so I was using the 70-200mm f/4L. It's a nice thing but something I haven't used in anger for a long, long time so I wasn't feeling that confident with it. As it happens it worked pretty well but in the end the temptation to pop over the other side of the track and get the 120-300mm back out was too great. Anyway, I needed to change angle. You can't take every shot from the same place ;)

[dod]

Number 3's my favourite, never actually seen that in real life so great capture :)

[GSH]

Ok, so i'm predictable...It's that final shot of the Mk2 Escort for me, but the 2 car shot (#3) is so unusual for a Rally stage as you hardly ever see 2 cars together.

A pleasure to view as always :)

[Cadwell]

thumbs up Glenn.

was a good day, I'm shattered.

Thanks Dave. You're not kidding, I stumbled round the Stoneleigh Park show today, but my heart wasn't really in it... well, my heart was but my legs weren't. Why are the car parks so far from the stages on this event? For £20 I expect a courtesy bus to the corner of my choice!

[rudgej]

Great shots Glenn. Were all the shots hand-held, or did you use a monopod/tripod?

[Dave_G]

Thanks Dave. You're not kidding, I stumbled round the Stoneleigh Park show today, but my heart wasn't really in it... well, my heart was but my legs weren't. Why are the car parks so far from the stages on this event? For £20 I expect a courtesy bus to the corner of my choice!

I went to bed at 2am on Friday and was up just after 5, excellent preparation for a long day's rallying - still, I made it and managed to drive there and back without falling asleep (which is always a bonus) and all on half a tank of diesel (336 miles door to stage to stage to stage to stage to door)!

Went out for a bite to eat last night and a few beers, then bed by midnight and you're looking at a seriously long day! Needless to say I was out of bed by 1.30pm this afternoon.

We avoided the £20 special and went with local knowledge - even so, the walk from where we parked to the stage where we met you was a good half an hour on uneven ground....Rob and I were officially knackered by 9.15am!

Good day out though...!

[Ian_H]

Great set of shots Glenn, especially like the set from ss4 in the morning, apparantly the shot when you have caught Geoff Jones persuading the MKII to move over had been going on for some distance and the MKII was refusing to let the faster car through.


Cheers
Ian

[Cadwell]

Great shots Glenn. Were all the shots hand-held, or did you use a monopod/tripod?

Thanks John. Most of the stuff with the Sigma 120-300mm were done with the aid of a monopod. That lens is a little too heavy to hand hold for long. The 70-200mm f/4L shots were all hand held.

[Cadwell]

Great set of shots Glenn, especially like the set from ss4 in the morning, apparantly the shot when you have caught Geoff Jones persuading the MKII to move over had been going on for some distance and the MKII was refusing to let the faster car through.


Thanks Ian :) Yes, the Escort did seem very reluctant to let the Subaru past. Short after that corner he forced his way through and I suspect some paint swapping went on in the process. They were very, very close.

[gmen]

Great stuff as always Glenn... #1 is my fave of this bunch... I like the little bit of crowd showing in the corner... gives the image a great feel/context etc....

Looks like another great gathering of the POTN faithful as well! I'm gonna have to get my backside in gear and get along to one of these rally things sometime soon - would be good to meet some of you guys at long last. Is there an Essex rally? :lol:

---- Gavin

[Cadwell]

Gavin…. Now you know that you’re not allowed to go motor-racing, or indeed rallying. You are officially banned, in fact. Photos of you have been lodged with the security staff at all major UK motorsport venues and you have been designated as “undesirable”. This may seem harsh, but we really don’t want the competition! :p ;)

However, if you do manage to sneak past security then Brands Hatch is the place where you usually get the highest density of POTNers.

I don’t know about an Essex rally… If there is one it’s presumably run from one chip shop to another and is only open to XR3is! (Oh Lord, I am going to be in sooo much trouble from the Essex residents after that comment.) :eek: ;)

The rallying season is pretty much over for me now and I’m back to circuit racing in a couple of weeks! That is something I am looking forward to.

[gmen]

Gavin…. Now you know that you’re not allowed to go motor-racing, or indeed rallying. You are officially banned, in fact. Photos of you have been lodged with the security staff at all major UK motorsport venues and you have been designated as “undesirable”. This may seem harsh, but we really don’t want the competition! :p ;)

However, if you do manage to sneak past security then Brands Hatch is the place where you usually get the highest density of POTNers.

I don’t know about an Essex rally… If there is one it’s presumably run from one chip shop to another and is only open to XR3is! (Oh Lord, I am going to be in sooo much trouble from the Essex residents after that comment.) :eek: ;)

The rallying season is pretty much over for me now and I’m back to circuit racing in a couple of weeks! That is something I am looking forward to.:lol: :lol: :lol: I'll have to get some plastic surgery done by the sounds of it!

As for the Essex rally... it's from the nightclub to the kebab shop in my parts :lol:

On a mildly serious note, are there any reasonably high-profile Essex-based drivers on the circuit(s)? The papers I usually contribute to don't feature any motorsport other than speedway - so I'm sensing the opportunity for a bit of a 'project' at some point in the future if I can get some 'buy-in' from the editor(s).

Or aren't XR3is allowed on the circuits? ;)

---- Gavin

[ajbalazic]

Great shots. My favourite is #4- really looks good with the slight blur on the wheels and that mud getting kicked up. You really have the panning motion mastered.

[Cadwell]

:lol: :lol: :lol: I'll have to get some plastic surgery done by the sounds of it!

I doubt that's necessary. Circuit security staff aren't the brightest. A Groucho Marx glasses, nose and moustache set should be quite sufficient to fool them.



On a mildly serious note, are there any reasonably high-profile Essex-based drivers on the circuit(s)? The papers I usually contribute to don't feature any motorsport other than speedway - so I'm sensing the opportunity for a bit of a 'project' at some point in the future if I can get some 'buy-in' from the editor(s).

---- Gavin

I'm not too sure, I've never paid that much attention to the county of origin of the racing drivers. A quick "google" has turned up the fact that Essex driver Ryan Hooker was pedaling cars round in the British and FIA GT championships last year... that's pretty high profile - GT cars are photogenic too.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/essex/sport/features/ryan_hooker/ryan_hooker_2005/june_diary.shtml