My 2007 Le Mans shots

[Simon Barnes]

Some shots from my annual battle with the Le Mans catch fencing! Click images for a larger version.


http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1238/569458127_f335501988.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/simondbarnes/569458127/)

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1360/569459093_fc601ceb39.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/simondbarnes/569459093/)

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1254/569254916_dc524b5140.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/simondbarnes/569254916/)

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1094/569716007_b5e096cc8d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/simondbarnes/569716007/)

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1422/568785130_ac72be1f27.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/simondbarnes/568785130/)

The rest of my photos from this year's event can be found HERE (http://www.flickr.com/photos/simondbarnes/sets/72157600398428738/)

[Owain Shaw]

Nice job with the sharp night pan, what's the weird ghost I wonder?

Like the one above it too.

[Simon Barnes]

Cheers. It looks like the ghost is a reflection of the other side of the car on the armco barrier. Bit weird :)

[vwpilot]

technically solid. My suggestion is to work on showing more of the atmosphere and track. Those could have been shot anywhere and do not say "Le Mans" to me. They are just shots of cars on track.

Try to give it a "Le Mans" feel so that when you look at them years from now or when someone sees them outside the context of a Le Mans thread, they will know exactly what they are looking at.

Remember, getting tight on the car is not always necessary. It certainly has a purpose, but also giving something to set the atmosphere is also a good thing.

http://www.speedarena.com/gallery/albums//Sportscar/Le%20Mans/2007/10%20Race%20Gallery%202/122.jpg

http://www.speedarena.com/gallery/albums//Sportscar/Le%20Mans/2007/10%20Race%20Gallery%202/154.jpg

I understand if you were there as a spectator then you may have some limitations of where you can shoot, but there are always options so its something to think about in the future.

These are good, dont get me wrong, but Le Mans is a special event that many may only do once in their life...make the photos tell where you were so everyone knows.

[shadytree]

Great atmosphere as you say there Jim. Just wish I could as a spectator get that angle at Tetre Rouge looking down the trees at the start of Mulsanne. :(
I did manage to get one or two shots, so I'll post them later.

[Simon Barnes]

Thanks for the advice :)

As you say, shooting as a spectator does limit the options quite a lot, especially as I only had a general access ticket :(

[pumaknight]

Nice shots from both.

Oh to have angles like Speed Arena - I looked on from behind the large fences and saw the angles I wanted - but alas, mine was a path of "excuse me" and "thank you" as I got as close to the fence as I could, hoping the sun didn't reflect off the thick wire too much this year.

[vwpilot]

True, the shot down the Mulsanne is not possible without a credential, however, something similar to this should be able to be produced from the spectator areas as they were just behind me while I was shooting.

http://www.speedarena.com/gallery/albums//Sportscar/Le%20Mans/2007/09%20Race%20Gallery%201/033.jpg

You wouldnt have been as low, but that isnt necessarily a bad thing.

Also a trick for shooting through fencing is to put your lens right up against it as with a long focal length, it will just "disappear" when its so close to the front of the lens. Even with credentials its something I have to do quite often as promoters dont tend to have us photographers in mind when they put up catch fencing and cut photo holes.

And though it can be limiting, there are always options, you just need to look for them a bit harder. ;)

And dont get me wrong, I am not slamming these photos at all, but giving another perspective on it.

For instance that fourth shot. You could have pulled out a bit and allowed for more of the track and surroundings to show and not had to move from that location at all and still have gotten more of a feeling of where you were. Is that in the esses after the Dunlop bridge, I cant tell. But if it is, pull back, get the cars down low in the frame and let the esses lead your eye up to the famous bridge. Shooting like that isnt the answer to anything, but to have a few like that to really show were you were is a good thing to think about.

Same with the first pan shots. While getting in close is nice, pulling out a bit and showing either crowd, grandstands, houses, more guardrail, whatever in the background might have given it more of a "Le Mans" feeling rather than just a car next to armco barrier.

Just some thoughts. I've seen some stunning stuff taken from spectator areas at times. My suggestion is dont have it in your head as being screwed, but let it just open up some of your creative juices instead and push you to do better. I know its easy to say when "in front of the fences" however, I was there too once and it can be done.

[despot]

Nice shots here and in your gallery Simon.
Andy

[shadytree]

Here's a few of my favourite night shots from the weekend straight out of the camera with no processing yet.
Like Jim says, tried to post the ones that give the Le Mans feeling.
Oh, to be the other side of the fence :(

http://www.pbase.com/shadytree/image/80756850.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/shadytree/image/80756904.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/shadytree/image/80756924.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/shadytree/image/80756935.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/shadytree/image/80756914.jpg



http://www.pbase.com/shadytree/image/80756949.jpg

[shadytree]

Some shots from my annual battle with the Le Mans catch fencing! Click images for a larger version.
[/URL]

The rest of my photos from this year's event can be found [URL="http://www.flickr.com/photos/simondbarnes/sets/72157600398428738/"]HERE (http://www.flickr.com/photos/simondbarnes/568785130/)

Simon as a total Aston Martin nut I adore that pic of the DBR1 and Sterling Moss. Could I request a a 1280x800 for my laptop desktop if possible please ;)

[vwpilot]

Shady, I like the third one quite a bit. With a little post on that you could clean it up real nice. Do a little color adjustment, clone out some of the headlight spots and you have a nice shot.

Also on that last shot its also really nice. Think of this though. What if you had just taken the camera and raised it up to where the cars and track were at the bottom of the frame and you got the catch fencing out of the way? You'd have a very similar shot, with more sky in it and less catch fencing.

Those are the things to think about when shooting from those locations if you want to avoid the fencing. In this case its not covering the subjects, you just need to get it out of the frame.

Nice shots though and good thoughts on getting some of the feel of the race.

[Connor P Price]

I like the first shot a whole lot. When i was watching le mans this year and they talked about the paint job on that flying lizard porsche the first thing i thought was, " I cant wait for shots of that car on POTN."

[Simon Barnes]

Thanks for all of the comments & advice, will hopefully stimulate my underactive creative genes next time I'm out with a camera :)

Shady, some nice shots there and you have a PM re:Atston

[melita]

Some good advice and nice shots.

I have a question - is there anywhere at Le Mans these days that a spectator has a clear view of the track without the mega fencing? The first couple of times I went (mid '90s sometime!) there were loads of areas that had no fencing but the last time I went in '99, the majority of spectator areas had fencing.

Is it any worse now? They've changed some of the track layout since I was there - I don't know about the spectator points.

As stated, if you can get your lens against the fence and use a long lens with a wide aperture, you should be able to blur the fence enough for it not to be noticeable. I do this at circuits like Silverstone and Brands Hatch. Is it possible to get that close to the fence at Le Mans?

Thanks,

Kevin.

[Simon Barnes]

There is fencing pretty much everywhere now. There are a few places where you can get high enough to get a clear shot of the track though.
Shots 3 & 4 that I posted above were taken through the catch fencing. I had to climb over a smaller fence to get up to the main fence, several others were doing the same.