Racing in the Dominican Republic

[John Thawley]

The second leg of my Caribbean stint was a trip to the Dominican Republic. Once again, it was Trans-Am styled cars. The track left a lot to be desired and between not very good shooting locations and low car counts I was left to fill-in with the "scene" and the people. In a way, that was a nice diversion, though. The people of the Dominican are lovely people and very eager to please. I'll put some things in in the appropriate forum later.

Here area few from the track:

http://community.automotivephoto.net/photopost/data/500/IMG_8796_1_.jpg

http://community.automotivephoto.net/photopost/data/500/IMG_8763_-_Version_2.jpg

http://community.automotivephoto.net/photopost/data/500/IMG_8559_2_.jpg

http://community.automotivephoto.net/photopost/data/500/IMG_8435_2_.jpg

http://community.automotivephoto.net/photopost/data/500/IMG_8013_-_Version_2.jpg

http://community.automotivephoto.net/photopost/data/500/IMG_7919_1_.jpg

http://community.automotivephoto.net/photopost/data/500/DR_265_-_Version_2.jpg

http://community.automotivephoto.net/photopost/data/500/DR_154_-_Version_2.jpg

[Throlkim]

Those close-ups of the cars are stunning! Great work

[andydajo]

Love the close up work, what's your set up for this type of shot??

[Jamie Holladay]

Love the close up work, what's your set up for this type of shot??
I believe JT did car to car for those.

Nice work on the human interest as well JT. The Sunglass shot is neat. I happened to catch one this spring by total accident (which I am sure was not the case here).
Jamie

[John Thawley]

Love the close up work, what's your set up for this type of shot??

You'll find all of the EXIF data attached. But, you lie down in the back of a truck or van with your chest and chin at the bumper. I used one of my older 20Ds and wrapped the strap around my wrist a few times in case it bounced out of my hands.

The trick is getting a speed that the cars can live with and a shutter speed that will minimize vibration and shake while still giving enough wheel spin and speed blur.

I used a 17-40mm L series zoom and a shutter speed of 1/60. Knowing that the sun is going to be moving around your subject, you need to watch for shadows. When the light is best on the subject, it's throwing the worst shadows. The truck and my head/s shadow were often displayed on the pavement in front of the cars. You also need to have pre-set hand signals to give the drivers instructions.

These are a lot of fun... but you need to think on all fronts. Not just for the photo outcome... but for your safety as well. I'm not sure I'd want to be tethered... but I do have someone hanging on to me. Two people in this case. You're also dealing with cars getting very close to you. I could easily touch the nose of that Vette. But, that's how you get the drama with the 17mm.

You get a lot of grit in your face and my chest and knees got bruised. My knees are still bruised.

Keeper rate is probably about 5-10% and in this case I got about 10 "killer" shots. I probably shot 500 frames. Knowing what you're going to do and what you want to get is half the battle. The rest is pure luck. Between shake, bounce, shadows, bad light, bad backgrounds, poor composition and just plain old misses, you'll appreciate anything usuable you get.

Of course, we were doing laps of a track. If this were a commercial shoot, I'd find one stretch of straight road and just keep repeating the run. This would at least manage the light and the backgrounds.

JT

[KROHN27]

I absolutely love the style of the trans am racecars! And your shots where your in the truck on the track are just sweet!

[DegasGoneDigital]

I love it !! These are great shots. :) :)

[Ves]

How do you get to do those truck-to-car pics? I'm sure if I asked somebody to do that they'd think I was crazy.
Your shots are too good, you're making me feel bad. :P

[PhotosGuy]

Nice work! Were the truck-to-car shots for the sponsors?

[andydajo]

Cheers for the info JT, great way of taking those pics, I can imagine the bruises you must be nursing. :D

[John Thawley]

Nice work! Were the truck-to-car shots for the sponsors?

They were for the promoter.

JT

[Ves]

Ah, that answers my question then, too.

[Tassied]

Hi JT,

Outstanding images and especially the car-to-car shots. Am thinking of trying something similar next year if I can find a few willing participants.

[Zilly]

tried this once on a cruse sitting in the back of a modle a pick up doing about 120 mph on the back roads around stevenage lol

very impressive its not as easy as you make it look