American Le Mans Testing / John Thawley

I like #8. awesome angle!

See-Fu wrote in post #4857463
I like #8. awesome angle!

These shots are always fun. Thanks,

JT

John Thawley wrote in post #4834788
8.

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Just curious, how'd you get that shot?

I love #8, wicked!!!

#8 as the best as mentioned.

Has the proper car angle that is pleasing to the eye.

Sonno wrote in post #4866159
Just curious, how'd you get that shot?

It was shot "car-to-car."

The driver follows behind the back of another vehicle carrying me. Pace is about 60mph... I shot with a 17-40mm at 1/80th. We did two drivers a lap apiece. Figure about 300 frames per lap. More editing than shooting. But, ain't that the way it always is?

JT

awesome shots as always JT. im a big fan of your work!!

Another great set of images, I like the last one in the set and would love to try and capture something similar.


Cheers
Ian

Awesome! =)

Love the last one, gives a good sense of speed/movement. Would have been even cooler if you could have panned it a little more. Can't wait for alms to come to lime rock!

morningview369 wrote in post #4872708
Love the last one, gives a good sense of speed/movement. Would have been even cooler if you could have panned it a little more. Can't wait for alms to come to lime rock!

Panned?

I'm lying on my stomach in the back of a van doing 60+MPH on the track. There's no panning.

First, don't let anyone kid you... there is a tremendous amount of luck in this type of shot. Not luck from the standpoint that you absolutely need to know what you're doing, but luck in having everything come together at once.

Sebring doesn't have many features that will portray the blur of your motion. Given it's tough enough to handhold without tremble anyway... imagine the camera shake lying on the floor of a vehicle doing 60 mph. And Sebring is one rough track. I was shooting at 1/80th.

You need the race car driver to cooperate. You need the van driver to cooperate. You have all sorts of variables happening in your backgrounds. The sun is all over the place (remember, you're traveling in what amounts to be a circle) ... you get every type of lighting in one lap. You have the back of the van open... so the door is overhead throwing a lovely shadow all over the pavement. And, you are getting thrown from one side of the van to the other braced only by your feet spread eagle on the floor.

Point is, I shot about 350 frames per lap and driver. About 700 in all. I got about 40 nice shots. Then there are the nice shots with the Budweiser bridge overhead. And the Audi bridge in the background. Then there's the client who wants to see the side of the car more than the front. It goes on and on... BUT.. I love doing these shots.

This one got posted because Mazda has it on their site. It's not my first choice... but it is what they want.. and that's what counts. But the other's have not been released. You'll see another in Mazda promo stuff shortly.

I'll start another thread with some rolling shots for comparison.

JT