WRC NZ 2008 Random Selection

Just a random selection from this years rally.

Surprising good conditions considering the wet last 6 weeks we have had.

I only attended 2 stages (6 & 11) and motorsports are a bit new for me. I was experimenting with a remote camera as well. Made a few mistakes but learnt lots as well and it was good fun which is the main thing.

I hope you enjoy.

1: I need to improve my timing (remote camera)

Very nice shots, It's great to see a VW beetle taking part, they were a great rally car in their day.

Dave.

#3 and #4 are my favourites, the first one is nice too, what lens did you use? and how far from the car is the camera?

Davy OBrien wrote in post #6213615
=Davy O'Brien;6213615]Very nice shots, It's great to see a VW beetle taking part, they were a great rally car in their day.

Dave.

Thank you, I'm sure the beetle was but the only time I recall seeing a racing beetle, I think of "Herbie"

Tobias N wrote in post #6214152
#3 and #4 are my favourites, the first one is nice too, what lens did you use? and how far from the car is the camera?

The remote camera was a 350D with a Sigma 10-20 @ 15mm triggered from about 40 meters away via Skyports. Camera was set up about 600mm from the shingle but the first car through started a trend of cutting the corner and most of the cars tracks looked like they were about 300mm away from the lens:o. The camera was probably expendable but I wouldn't have been too impressed with loosing the lens if the set-up got hit!

The camera/lens were covered via a EWA Marine Rain Cape to keep the dust/rain out (fortunately no rain of any consequence over the weekend)

Very brave with remote kit !,very nearly worked.
Like the first shot best,ancient Datsun,unusual for us to see stuff like that over here.
Pons

Great work Mark! A very nice selection and you must be pleased with this effort.
Hard to pick a fav but I kind of like #4 with the safety sign for 'school bus route' in the background. Nice contrast!
It's great to see the degree of action in each shot. Nothing static (carpark shots).
The first shot appears to have been taken from a pretty close pos!
Cheers

Very nice set I really like the wide shot of #5. Something about the light in #8 is spectacular. Well done.

Nice set Mark, looks very dry and dusty for a change though! Last time I went, got soaked on!

chrispons wrote in post #6218117
Very brave with remote kit !,very nearly worked.
Like the first shot best,ancient Datsun,unusual for us to see stuff like that over here.
Pons

Thanks, I wasn't really too concerned about the camera! although they did get a bit closer to it than I antisipated. The rally is run in conjunction with other NZ series so there a quite a variety of cars involved.

The remote was a learning curve for me. I will keep at it though.

On the first stage, my shutter speed was too slow, & I bumped it up on the second stage but it was still a bit slow.

I was triggering it by hand which is a bit of a punt but I got somewhere near 80% fairly close. I was using skyports but with the transmitter & receiver up on 2 meter plastic pipes (to improve their range) and I had made up a hand held trigger switch on a 5 meter lead to the transmitter which limited me quite a bit as to where I could position myself with my other camera.

I am going to experiment with some form of optical trigger (like a door sensor or the like)

The other thing I need would be a camera with say ISO safety shift as the light changed so much on the second stage that my latter shots were underexposed by 3 - 4 stops:o

IainB wrote in post #6218454
Great work Mark! A very nice selection and you must be pleased with this effort.
Hard to pick a fav but I kind of like #4 with the safety sign for 'school bus route' in the background. Nice contrast!
It's great to see the degree of action in each shot. Nothing static (carpark shots).
The first shot appears to have been taken from a pretty close pos!
Cheers

Thanks Ian, not quite the variety of shots I would have liked but I was a bit teathered to the remotes lead length.

Jamie Holladay wrote in post #6218928
Very nice set I really like the wide shot of #5. Something about the light in #8 is spectacular. Well done.

Thanks Jamie, hmmm, nothing done specifically with the VW, just a lovely shape!

Wazza wrote in post #6219915
Nice set Mark, looks very dry and dusty for a change though! Last time I went, got soaked on!

Hi Warren. Your right, the orgainisers were increadibly lucky with the weather, just very light showers occasionally.

We have had 6 weeks of really sh*t weather and the whole area was well water logged.

I did a reccee on these two stages the Sunday prior and there was flood water everywhere. Trees down, washouts, numerous areas of ground subsidance etc. On SS6, about half way through, there was a piece of road that was under water for about 100 meters with a river flowing over it. I actually stopped the car & walked through with a stick probing the road just to make sure it was still there!

The orgainisers/council did a good job fixing the roads, however, some of the stages cut up quite badly & there were some big rocks thrown about.

Cheers

Mark