road racing

Seamus

I went to Kells today. The racing was spectacular. I took loads of photos, conditions were difficult early on, overcast and gloomy but the racing made up for the poor light.

From the 250 race,




Ryan Farquhar in the 600 race. Ryan won four races today.




Davy Morgan and Darren Burns airborne in the 600cc race



In the grand final Ryan Farquhar outbraked Guy Martin at the last corner to win the race




A great day


Seamus.

gsgary

Great shots, I must get over there again to watch some racing had a great time at NW200 stay at a lovely B&B at Ballymoney ( Hob Green Country House) we had some wild nights in Ballymoney with the locals they were so friendly

PS what lens do you use i have got my first DSLR on the way

Khaos

Nice shots. You made the best put the light you had.

Seamus

gsgary wrote:

Great shots, I must get over there again to watch some racing had a great time at NW200 stay at a lovely B&B at Ballymoney ( Hob Green Country House) we had some wild nights in Ballymoney with the locals they were so friendly

PS what lens do you use i have got my first DSLR on the way

Hi Gary,

I used a 70-200 2.8 lens and a 1.4 x extender for the day. I was crouched by the side of the road with the bikes going by me a foor or so to my right for the jump shots and I was behind a barrier close to the corner for the last one. The other photographers there were using 300 2.8's to 500 lens. The main problem with the first shots of the bikes jumping was that I only saw them as they crested the hill. I prefocused on the crest of the road but most of the pics I took were out of focus.

Seamus

Khaos wrote:

Nice shots. You made the best put the light you had.

thanks K.

Seamus

This pic will be published this week in one of the provincial papers.





The first one in print, I'm quite chuffed.

Shay.

gus

Bloody excellent mate !!!!!!!!!!!!! Really nice work.

Gus

Seamus

Humungus wrote:

Bloody excellent mate !!!!!!!!!!!!! Really nice work.

Gus

Thanks Gus

Nir

Fantastic Shay!! I especially like "Davy Morgan and Darren Burns airborne"!

Congratulations on getting published! It's a thrill, isn't it?!

Seamus

Nir wrote:

Fantastic Shay!! I especially like "Davy Morgan and Darren Burns airborne"!

Congratulations on getting published! It's a thrill, isn't it?!

Thanks Nir, it is a thrill. I'm trying to get a couple of pics published so I can get a press pass for the bigger races.

Nir

Seamus wrote:

Thanks Nir, it is a thrill. I'm trying to get a couple of pics published so I can get a press pass for the bigger races.

Best of luck Shay!

Seamus

One of the doctors who are at every road race. They carry enough equipment to stabilise a rider until he can be removed to hospital

gus

You can sell them seamus ? The stuff i took on the week-end are the property of the race teams/organising body.

Not that i really want to sell any but im the same as you...just want more media passes for future races.

Gus

Seamus

Humungus wrote:

You can sell them seamus ? The stuff i took on the week-end are the property of the race teams/organising body.

Not that i really want to sell any but im the same as you...just want more media passes for future races.

Gus

If I can find a paper or magazine which wants my pics I can sell any pics I take. The probem is that there are some excellent photographers who make a living out of covering these races . I emailed every newspaper and magazine with the four best shots that I took and one paper took that picture. The national papers don't publish pics from road racing and the bike mags get their pics from the agencies.

I won't be giving up the day job. I just want a press pass for the big superbike race next year. The view is much better from the oter side of the fence.

The small road races aren't too fussy about press passes. I just joined the group of photographers who were at the race. A very nice bunch and very helpful. They gave me good advice on shutter speeds and on focusing.

gus

Seamus wrote:

I won't be giving up the day job. I just want a press pass for the big superbike race next year. The view is much better from the oter side of the fence.

The small road races aren't too fussy about press passes. I just joined the group of photographers who were at the race. A very nice bunch and very helpful. They gave me good advice on shutter speeds and on focusing.

I found the blokes like myself that were amatures/state newspaper photogs with a day media pass were great...showing me the best spots & when a crash was likely. The full on pro's though.. you were lucky if they grunted at you as you said g'day to them. I dont know why as i cant sell anything i took.

Yep...i had no idea how good it is to just walk around the track inside the fence. Bit dangerous though as there was only 10" of concrete (built up on my side) between me & 30 cars doing 180 mph. I didnt take my eyes off them once !!

BigAl

Shay, those two airborne 600s are excellent. Well done with the poor lighting.

regards
alan

Seamus

Humungus wrote:

I found the blokes like myself that were amatures/state newspaper photogs with a day media pass were great...showing me the best spots & when a crash was likely. The full on pro's though.. you were lucky if they grunted at you as you said g'day to them. I dont know why as i cant sell anything i took.

Yep...i had no idea how good it is to just walk around the track inside the fence. Bit dangerous though as there was only 10" of concrete (built up on my side) between me & 30 cars doing 180 mph. I didnt take my eyes off them once !!

It is dangerous. the program for the races was quite clear that spectators were there at their own risk.


A bike blew up as it came over the hill. The riders were jumping into a cloud of smoke



I was glad to see the red flags being waved.

Seamus

BigAl wrote:

Shay, those two airborne 600s are excellent. Well done with the poor lighting.

regards
alan

thanks Alan, there was a heavy fog the day before so I can't complain too much about the weather or light. It did improve as the day went on.

Phil U.

Shay - good set. You had a good viewpoint to demonstrate the "airborne" shots. Nice job on the "winning moment" shot.

JamesJWeg

clapclap

James.

Seamus

Thanks Phil & James, I was happy with the view of the racing, a few pics in focus were a bonus.


Shay.

JamesJWeg

Humungus wrote:

I found the blokes like myself that were amatures/state newspaper photogs with a day media pass were great...showing me the best spots & when a crash was likely. The full on pro's though.. you were lucky if they grunted at you as you said g'day to them. I dont know why as i cant sell anything i took.

Yep...i had no idea how good it is to just walk around the track inside the fence. Bit dangerous though as there was only 10" of concrete (built up on my side) between me & 30 cars doing 180 mph. I didnt take my eyes off them once !!

This brings up something that I wanted to share with those of you who are going to shot cars/bikes/karts etc. Join a local race club such as SCCA, do the training and work a few races as a corner worker, you will learn things that may well save your life while shooting at the track. Also if you then shot at the same facility where you worked you will know the people working the track and they will have a whole differant attitude towards you. BTW, as a cornerworker you can take your camera with you and shot, just make sure that you only do it in down time when you are not on duty, when on duty you are responsable for people's lives. Shooting as a corner worker gets you as close as you will ever get to the action, sometimes almost too close. Kinda scary when you realize that a touring car just got whithin your min focas distance. And NEVER go on the track side of the barriers. The stuff some suppossed photogs do at the track blows my mind.

James.