What else? More F-1 of course

[IndyJeff]

Being that F-1 is so stingy with credentials, I didn't get any. I did go over on Saturday to do some shooting.
Now I have a certain amount of respect for those who don't have credentials and must shoot from among the "great unwashed masses" :)
First off finding a place where there is no fence is a feat in itself. I did find a spot tho however, I was one of about 30-40 guys standing on a hill over in the turns before they cut back out on the oval part of the track.
Everything over there from a guy shooting with what appeared to be 50 1.8 to a guy with a Nikon sporting an 800 on a tripod.
For the most part, people were respectful of others shooting behind them and made sure everyone had a clear shot. However there was one guy in a redhat, I don't know what he was shooting but, he couldn't decide if it was better here or, two feet over there. He would move, naturally right in front of me, so I would move to the side of him. Then he would move again, right in front of me. After about the 4th or 5th move, just before I was about to clobbered him with a heavy 400, another guy said, "Hey dude, stay in one place or get behind us will ya?" Well that was all it took because he went back and sat down.

Anyway, after getting used to not having my territory staked out along a fence just feet from the track, I got a few shots.




http://www.sportsshooter.com/indyjeff/usgrandprix/images/1.jpg

http://www.sportsshooter.com/indyjeff/usgrandprix/images/3.jpg

http://www.sportsshooter.com/indyjeff/usgrandprix/images/4.jpg

http://www.sportsshooter.com/indyjeff/usgrandprix/images/6.jpg

http://www.sportsshooter.com/indyjeff/usgrandprix/images/7.jpg

Did anybody else get a chance to meet other PoTN members? I did meet up with KartGirlsMom, and I know Kong was there but, he was working the event so he was busy.


EDIT All images are copyrighted and will be registered so please, don't copy them. This message is for anyone who lurks, stumbles in or just plain don't know any better.

[Picturesports]

Considering the condition you were working under, they are good shots.

I noticed that Sutton (agency) had the pictures of the BMW rolling from lap 1 on their web site before the end of the race. I wonder how many snapper they take to a GP. Perhaps that is where all the accreditations go :-)

[greg20d]

Great shots ... I watched it on TV ...wish i was there to get my own shots .

[Jimages]

Sutton take quite a team I think. Obviously the Keith and Mark do must of the rounds, and they have a team of staff photographers who do quite a lot of the Grand Prix. But they are quite a few agencies with similar sizes of teams, XPB.CC, LAT, etc

[AzzA]

Nice shots, #2 in particular I like the most :)

If there was one thing, I would've suggested using a slower shutter speed to help get more "motion" into the wheels. The cars look a little static mid-corner. What settings did you use?

[antc]

great shots, that guy moving around must have been highly annoying, should have had more consideration for others around him. Still you did a fine job.

[jeffahn]

lol I was armed w/ my 50 1.8 for it - but wasn't that guy....mostly took pictures of the awesome cars on the backstretch corral.

[Picturesports]

I was chatting with one of the Sutton guys at Oulton a while back. He described it as "getting on the F1 team".

Impressive none the less. I guess that is what is required for a global sport. The next day it is just another photo

[IndyJeff]

Thanks for the compliments, nothing great IMHO but some decent shots came out of the day.


AZZA: I think most of it was shot 8.0 @ 1000, which is pretty much standard settings I use at Indy. One thing I didn't really think about was how slow they were going when they were by me. I am more used to 200+ MPH :)
One thing about shooting slower shutters with digital I have noticed, you lose detail in small stickers and such, so I usually shoot to get sharper stickers and don't worry about wheel movement so much but, it does help to show the motion.

Picturesports: F-1, according to what we were told the first year, allows 10 credentials (photography) per country.
I don't remember what year it was but it was since 2003, a crash at Indy and AP had images moved and available before the track went back to green on a crash in 3. So it doen't surprise me that that crash was onlne before the race was over. Did anyone else notice the guys ho stood in there, got the shots and then began ducking behind the wall on that BMW crash?

Seems like there were quite a few PoTN shooters there. Next year we will have a meet up, plan on it.

[thesnov]

I know for a fact that LAT send 6 photographers to all of the F1 races, so i would imagine Sutton do the same. Nice pics by the way,i would agree with Azza about using a slower shutter speed to show more motion.

[Jimages]

I nearly got a job with Sutton last year, and know or recongnise some of their full time staff photographers, and they're beginning to recongnise me more now as well.

My aim is to get a job as a full time staff photographer with Sutton, or a rival agency. Since it's probably one of the few ways you can make a living from motorsport photography.

One of my friends reccently made a break through and is now working at the grand prix this year with xpb.cc.

[Picturesports]

It always feels good when you hear that someone got what they were chasing. Hopefully it is turning out to be what he expected.