Thundercat racing, Eastbourne

[chris b]

Hi everyone,

Now I've worked out a workflow I can start posting some photos! Thundercats are inflatable tunnel hull boats which are raced around an M shaped course in the surf. The racing makes an excellent spectator sport. Any comments and criticism appreciated.

1.
http://www.pbase.com/chrisblackburn/image/86011205.jpg

2.
http://www.pbase.com/chrisblackburn/image/86011215.jpg

3.
http://www.pbase.com/chrisblackburn/image/86011224.jpg

4.
http://www.pbase.com/chrisblackburn/image/86011230.jpg

5.
http://www.pbase.com/chrisblackburn/image/86011236.jpg

There are more images at http://www.pbase.com/chrisblackburn/thundercat_ee_2007

[klippe]

Some good action shots! SOme of them look a little flat though, perhaps a contrast adjustment on images 3 and 5 might be in order.

Those things are nuts to watch. Looks like awesome fun, but I'm too much of a wimp to give it a try.

Cliff

[chris b]

Thanks for the tip, I've reprocessed them with more contrast. I'll bear that in mind in future.

I'd love to give them a try but I'm not sure how that's going to happen!

Cheers,

Chris

[klippe]

Another question, do you use a UV filter? If not, you may find that adding one might reduce the haze (the dull gray which seems to be much of the contrast problem). A Polarising filter might also help a little with that, but given you'll be taking shots (likely) at differing angles all the time, it may have limited use.

I don't doubt also that water spray won't be helping the cause!

Post more when you get some more shots.

Cliff

[Davy O'Brien]

Very nice shots, number 4 gets my vote.

Dave.

[khall]

The pictures are good action wise, but the focus is not really what you would call "Pin Sharp" As others have said they are flat and need more contrast.

[chris b]

klippe; I do have a polarising filter but wasn't using it at the time, I'll make sure I remember to use it in future.

khall; I see what you mean about them not being 'pin sharp'. I'm not sure why this is though - one would think that with 1/3200 exposure I'm not likely to be moving the camera around enough to blur the images. Focus mode was set to AI servo using the centre focus point.

Thanks for the comments everyone, I've certainly got something to think about now!

Cheers,

Chris

[whowie]

I like #1. Great captures.

[klippe]

klippe; I do have a polarising filter but wasn't using it at the time, I'll make sure I remember to use it in future.

Probably only useful if the angles are right, otherwise you'll get varying degrees of filter blocking/passing in your shots. (Forgive me if I sound a little patronising, but not of your experience level with polarisers). Remember that there is an ideal angle to use pol filters at with regards to the position of the sun (although they are useful for supressing reflections as well).

It's also worth noting that you'll likely lose at least 1 F stop with a pol filter attached - although given the speeds you were shooting at, that shouldn't be a problem. Even if you lost two stops you'd only reduce to 1/800th of a second (if you were originally shooting at 1/3200th). 1/800th is plenty enough for that type of action.

May be worth trying some slower shutter speeds to get some panning shots also - could be a good challenge with the water and all.

Post again soon when you get the chance. Not sure how often those things race around you, but I'm keen to see more shots when you get them.

Have fun.

Cliff

[Mark Kemp]

Nice shots, but are they the whole picture or crops ?

Can you get near enough to get a good shot without the boat being 1% of the image?

I would love to get some racing boat images but I don't know anywhere that you can get a decent place to shoot from unless you are a pro and have permission and funds for a chase boat or something.

[burge]

Panning shots with these types of boat are extremely difficult as they tend to go up and down very easily!

Try slowing the shutter speed slightly so you get a bit of prop blur, but with effecting the sharpness of the images (if possible)

I own one and have shot zapcats on a few occasions. Taking a picture of one is much easier than riding one! If you ever get the chance to get out on either a thundercat or zapcat don't give it a miss, its such an amazing adrenaline rush!

[Boggy]

I own one and have shot zapcats on a few occasions. Taking a picture of one is much easier than riding one! If you ever get the chance to get out on either a thundercat or zapcat don't give it a miss, its such an amazing adrenaline rush!

Oh yes, a great buzz......................

Remember to keep the camera on the pan so to speak and drop the shutter speed down to 320th or 250th for the prop movment.

Burge, before you ask no I didnt make Watergate!

Shaun

[burge]

Boggy, shame you didn't make watergate, would have liked to have seen your shots! I made it to Bournemouth, same problem though..not enough mm! Plus it was pretty calm so no big air.

Chris: forgot to say... i like your pics :D

[jdizzle]

Nice! My fave is the 1st and last shot.

[Wazza]

Cool shots, #5 is a killer :)

[chris b]

I've been away for a few days; thanks for the comments.

@Mark Kemp - they're cropped a little, but only to help composition, not because I couldn't get close. The bouy nearest to me was maybe 20m away, but I guess it depends on how steeply the beach shelves as to how far away it is. These were shot with a 70-200mm. This is a spectacular spectator sport!

Here are a couple of panning shots, taken at 1/125th. Looking back I should have zoomed out more to have got more spray in no. 7

6.
http://www.pbase.com/chrisblackburn/image/86011261.jpg

7.
http://www.pbase.com/chrisblackburn/image/86011264.jpg

[PhotosGuy]

Very nice air shots!

[Mark Kemp]

Thats goood, so you can get close shots from the beach. I will put that on my list for next years picture taking outings. Thanks for the info!

[Reefbone]

Shots 5 and 6 are the sharpest and the aperature is smaller. The first few are F3.2 which might account for the softness. Love the stop action though.