ANY TORONTONIANS?????

By collapse I mean the erosion of everything that made Formula 1 what it was. The rules changes, car changes etc just pissed it all down the drain imo and has turned the series into a rather boring snooze fest for the most part.

As far as Indy goes... it is what it is I guess and I'd tend to agree that they're milking Danica as much as they can to keep limping along with the series.

Indeed, F1 sure isn't what it was, but this season has been interesting to say the least. It's kinda sad that F1, as boring as it is, is still the most exciting top tier series.

heh.... Takuma Sato out of the race and causes, involved in anyway, the first full course caution. Mr. Crashy Smashy.

how did you guys tolerate all that noise ?

picard wrote in post #10559393
how did you guys tolerate all that noise ?

I figure after growing up around Mosport with my uncle racing motorcycles, years of Formula 1 and Indy racing I'm on the cusp of being completely deaf. I sat down by Thunder Alley this year with my dad and brother and I can already tell I've lost a few tones and octaves of hearing already

A side rant but has anyone else noticed an influx in complete and utter morons track side lately? I haven't been gone from motorsports shooting that long but I counted 6 people today shooting with flash who were track side just along Thunder Alley. Correct me if I am wrong but the golden rule when shooting motorsports that most photogs have is no flash photography track side period as on a road course it's impolite to the drivers. I didn't see any usual familiar faces in the corners I've been at before and all I saw were what appeared to be some pretty low amateurs blasting flashes in the drivers faces as they ripped around the track.

Maybe we can blame the flashes for all the cautions?

You probably could considering I was watching the big trinitron screen and I counted about four of them in turn 3 who were just rattling off shots and the flashes were going insane. This was the first year I'd seen this - usually at most events like this you're only allowed a flash in the pits or at the winners circle.

I decided I'd rather watch today than stress over photos so I basically snapped about 4 shots and called it a day

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smcclelland wrote in post #10559507
A side rant but has anyone else noticed an influx in complete and utter morons track side lately?
[...]
Correct me if I am wrong but the golden rule when shooting motorsports that most photogs have is no flash photography track side period as on a road course it's impolite to the drivers.

With any technology there will be people who are incompetent to use it.

People are still allowed to use guns with little or no training.
People are still allowed to drive when they are definitely not good at it.
"Flash morons" are infinitissimoly more benign in comparison....

did you guys use 70-200mm IS lens ?

did Honda allow people to bring in large DSLR ?

Nice pix Shawn. Were those 2 pix from Thunder Alley? Love the paint job on Tagliani's hot wheels car

Used the 70-200 2.8 on my pix and brought along the 1.4 just in case (never used it).

Security couldn't have cared less what people were bringing in (on Friday). Saw a 300/400 f4 on a 1D with mono pod a guy was carrying in the stands. I just opened my bag up and the guy waved me by. Same with my buddy who has a 1d4.

tcc wrote in post #10560498
Nice pix Shawn. Were those 2 pix from Thunder Alley? Love the paint job on Tagliani's hot wheels car

Used the 70-200 2.8 on my pix and brought along the 1.4 just in case (never used it).

Security couldn't have cared less what people were bringing in (on Friday). Saw a 300/400 f4 on a 1D with mono pod a guy was carrying in the stands. I just opened my bag up and the guy waved me by. Same with my buddy who has a 1d4.

well that was Friday. Did security banned big lens on Saturday & Sunday?

how the heck did you guys get shots of the car that close? did you guys pay VIP tickets ?

I didn't go sat/sun Friday was enough for me. It was too damn hot!

Nope, just the trusty 70-20 2.8 on the start/finish grandstand

@Shawn: What's the best technique/settings when shooting any type of action? I found I had quite a few of OOF pix.

picard wrote in post #10560438
did you guys use 70-200mm IS lens ?

did Honda allow people to bring in large DSLR ?

70-200 2.8 non-IS for me.

Saw a guy walking around with a 1D3 and 300 2.8 slung over his shoulder so I don't think security really cared. Though they made my dad throw out some aerosal spray sunblock he had because "it might explode in the sun" yet inside they were handing out aerosol shaving cream :P

I usually throw the camera into TV mode and go between 1/80 to 1/120 for pans (may need to adjust based on speed of car and closeness). If it's a front on shot I'll crank it up even higher as I know I don't have to worry about wheel blur so I go 1/500 - 1/3000 to get the background blur I need.

Not sure if you use this trick but on all my sports bodies I move the AF tracking to the AF-ON button on the back so I can constantly track with one button and then use the shutter for grabbing exposure when I need it. Works great when you have cars traveling into shadows and back into light so you can meter without losing AF.

I'd also suggest setting the 7D to ignore foreground objects (can't remember the CFn off the top of my head but I'll look it up). This is a nice feature from the 1D series that tells the camera when it has a lock to stay locked and don't jump to say a fence or pole in the foreground.

Hope that helps

tcc wrote in post #10560498
Nice pix Shawn. Were those 2 pix from Thunder Alley? Love the paint job on Tagliani's hot wheels car

The one of the CN tower was me throwing my camera over a fence and just pressing the AF button and firing haha. The other was through the fence into the paddock area (couldn't be bothered spending $35 for 10 minutes of time).