A very dark, dreary and wet weekend - UK summertime at its best!

[Simon Harrison]

Guess where I ended up after leaving the house at 5am and driving (or should that be sailing) down the motorway for for two and a half hours on Saturday morning?

http://www.srh-motorsport-photography.com/Galleries/forum/500_test/mono3.jpg

The race meeting was organised by the CSCC, but as my luck would would have it, they seemed to have everything but classic cars running on the only day that I could get down there for. Thankfully, the Monoposto boys were out, and they invariably produce some great racing and a variety of different cars. This weekend was no exception.

Here's a shot from the entrance to the Hall Bends section of the track. There's no camera tilting here, the angle is purely from the natural camber of the track.

http://www.srh-motorsport-photography.com/Galleries/forum/500_test/mono1.jpg

The Monoposto club always has a good selection of Jedi race cars amongst its ranks. It is one of the single seater classes that I really enkoy watching on the track, and it is also a car that I would love to get an opportunity to drive at some point.

http://www.srh-motorsport-photography.com/Galleries/forum/500_test/mono4.jpg

I met up with AndrewC from the forum. Andrew's brother was racing (#41), and was leading by a huge distance in his race........until he binned it. Thankfully he was okay.

http://www.srh-motorsport-photography.com/Galleries/forum/500_test/mono8.jpg

That left the way for car #13 to take victory as the weather started to close in.

http://www.srh-motorsport-photography.com/Galleries/forum/500_test/mono7.jpg

I'll finish with a classic Cadwell Park Hall Bends shot. This must be one of the nicest angles available at any British race track in the UK.

http://www.srh-motorsport-photography.com/Galleries/forum/500_test/mono5.jpg

All of the pictures were taken with a 1D mk II and either a Sigma 120-300 or a Sigma 500mm. If they look a little dark, it's because it was dark!

As usual, any comments or feedback are most welcome.

Cheers,

Simon.

[Anke]

Nice series, Simon.

[andrewc]

Dried out yet? I'm still finding mud in places I shouldn't...

Yes, my brother binned it. He was 5 seconds a lap faster than anyone else, but coming up to a backmarker had to come off line and hit a patch of standing water which was obscured by the spray from the car in front. Aquaplaned off the track and into barrier.

Need a new rear wing, straighten a rear tie rod and a piece of exhaust.

With our single point for fastest lap and a poor result from our main rival it meant we won the championship - although not in the style we wanted to...

[Maxxum5]

Wow! That #2 looks awesome. Do you ever make contact with the drivers and offer these pics? (or hand out business cards to your website hosting them?) May be a great opportunity for sale.....That #2 would be a great seller.

[Cadwell]

That's a nice selection of shots from a soggy old CP, Simon. The last of the sequence is my favourite for all sorts of reasons.

[Speedster502]

Man, I must visit Cadwell Park sometime. I'm living only about 15 minutes away from it and have never been there even though I love motorsport! I suppose now I have a DSLR I have no excuses, hows the track for blockage by fences?

Anyway awesome shots!

[Cadwell]

hows the track for blockage by fences?


CP is one of the country's most photographer friendly circuits, regardless of which side of the fence you are on.

[Jamie Holladay]

Great series Simon.

CP is one of the country's most photographer friendly circuits, regardless of which side of the fence you are on.
I wished we had one of those, nearby me at least.

[Tobias N]

I just started to scroll down the pictures without knowing who had made the post, when I came to #2 i thought to my self this must be Simon's shots so i scrolled back up and saw that i was right. :)

[pswillies]

Good stuff Simon. Your Hall Bends shot makes me want to make the long trip back up there again... I forgot how nice that angle is.

:)

[andrewc]

My first time with a camera at Cadwell and I have to agree. Get there before MSV put fences up...

[chrispons]

Super shots ,Simon.
What ISO were you shooting on average ?
Cheers,
Pons

[Simon Harrison]

Nice series, Simon.

Thanks Anke.

Simon.

[Simon Harrison]

Dried out yet? I'm still finding mud in places I shouldn't...

Yes, my brother binned it. He was 5 seconds a lap faster than anyone else, but coming up to a backmarker had to come off line and hit a patch of standing water which was obscured by the spray from the car in front. Aquaplaned off the track and into barrier.

Need a new rear wing, straighten a rear tie rod and a piece of exhaust.

With our single point for fastest lap and a poor result from our main rival it meant we won the championship - although not in the style we wanted to...

Still a couple of straps that need to dry out fully Andrew. Mind you, the rain at Cadwell was nothing compared to that on the M180 / M62 around Scunthorpe on my way home - 'twas very, very scary for a while.

Real shame about the car, but congratulations to your brother on him claiming the championship.

Cheers,

Simon.

[Simon Harrison]

Wow! That #2 looks awesome. Do you ever make contact with the drivers and offer these pics? (or hand out business cards to your website hosting them?) May be a great opportunity for sale.....That #2 would be a great seller.

Touting for business around the paddock is a sure fire way of getting thrown out of the circuit. There really is not a great deal of money to be made in selling photographs to drivers. Most already have plenty photographs of themselves, and most race series have a photographer that covers all of the events and where there isn't someone like that, there are plenty of friends and family with cameras.

I was at this event in an editorial role this time.

Cheers,

Simon.

[Simon Harrison]

That's a nice selection of shots from a soggy old CP, Simon. The last of the sequence is my favourite for all sorts of reasons.

Thanks Glenn. I could have happily stayed at Hall Bends all day if I didn't have to get a variety of angles from the day.

Cheers,

Simon.

[Simon Harrison]

Man, I must visit Cadwell Park sometime. I'm living only about 15 minutes away from it and have never been there even though I love motorsport! I suppose now I have a DSLR I have no excuses, hows the track for blockage by fences?

Anyway awesome shots!

You want shooting if you love motorsport and live that close to Cadwell Park but have never been to the place :rolleyes::lol:.

Get yerself along there man!

Simon.

[Simon Harrison]

Great series Simon.


I wished we had one of those, nearby me at least.

Thanks Jamie.

Simon.

[Simon Harrison]

Super shots ,Simon.
What ISO were you shooting on average ?
Cheers,
Pons

Hey Pons.

That's a difficult question to answer, because I was constantly changing ISO as light levels varied across the day. I did use the whole spectrum from ISO200 to ISO1250. I'm pretty sure that the last shot from Hall Bends was at either ISO1000 or ISO1250 - no noise reduction on that shot either;). Not bad for the ol' mk II.

Cheers,

Simon.

[Speedster502]

CP is one of the country's most photographer friendly circuits, regardless of which side of the fence you are on.

You want shooting if you love motorsport and live that close to Cadwell Park but have never been to the place :rolleyes::lol:.

Get yerself along there man!

Simon.


Excellent, now to find a intresting even to go and watch!

[chrispons]

Hey Pons.

That's a difficult question to answer, because I was constantly changing ISO as light levels varied across the day. I did use the whole spectrum from ISO200 to ISO1250. I'm pretty sure that the last shot from Hall Bends was at either ISO1000 or ISO1250 - no noise reduction on that shot either;). Not bad for the ol' mk II.

Cheers,

Simon.

Thanks Simon,
I kinda thought that may be the case,as had seen shots with sunshine and dark,but it is suprising how well the mk 2 does handle the low light without excessive grain.
Took my D2H Nikon tack to local Banger racing sunday ,and could hardly get a picture worth a light(excuse pun) and ended up shooting back home to get the Big Canon ,problem solved,and lesson learned !
Cheers,
Pons