C&C Autocross composition

peoorvendal

Autocross is a car sports where you go from A to B as fast as possible, going on the right side of a bunch of cones.

I've been taking some photos for the local club, and find that finding a really nice composition that works outside of the autocross community itself is hard.

What are your thoughts on the following composition?



I know the focus is a tad off, and there are some other technical issues with this photo too - but I'm really curious to hear about composition this time around.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts & comments!

bbjones

I like the composition here. You can see the story that is about to unfold -- skid marks are going through the cones, that guy has to do it too. You can see the story that has already unfolded -- some of the cones are down, and they are all scarred with black marks.

The smoking tires tell you he's really going for it.

The trees in the background are a bit distracting, as is that big black lump right above the right rear wheel. But I think you are on to something here!
Maybe a bit more body roll would give a more dynamic feel?

fmrnykr

I think you nailed it. I don't mind the stuff in the background, since this is live and it's hard to make stuff go away. You could pp it out if you choose or look for a better position next time. I don't think these types of vehicles are going to give you a lot of body roll since the suspensions are usually pretty tight. Not going to get the Eldorado roll on these things.

Keep up the good work.

Bob

peoorvendal

Thanks for your feedback!

That "big back lump" is a course worker. Now that I've started thinking about it , it is kind of disturbing -- I'll pp that.

Brian: Regarding the trees, can you elaborate a bit on how you find them distracting?

Can't do much about the body roll... I am however still struggling with figuring out what works when it comes to tilting the camera.

Sometimes I think it helps:




Other times I can't seem to get it right:




At least the poor Miata has a bit more body roll...

kurtw

I like that first one. I also think you could enhance the compositions with angles that feature the tire marks in the pavement

bbjones

peoorvendal wrote: »

Thanks for your feedback!


Brian: Regarding the trees, can you elaborate a bit on how you find them distracting?

I think it's the contrast. Everything in the foreground is light, and in greyish tones, and then the trees are green in back. They draw my eye away from the real action.

I'm not a big fan of wholesale pp changes, but I wonder what it would look like with an overcast sky reaching down to the horizon.

That might let you bring the contrast up, so the skid marks pop out a bit more.

Easier said than done -- it's way beyond my pp skills, for sure.

codrus

peoorvendal wrote: »

At least the poor Miata has a bit more body roll...

Yeah, CS shows a lot more body roll than whatever class is in the first photo... CP?

I've tried shooting autocrosses a few times, it's hard! There are course workers everywhere, and getting a shot without cones in annoying places is tricky.

I like your first shot, I don't find the trees distracting. Maybe it's just the lots we run on here in California, but it's nice to see something like that in the background.

My favorite autocross shots are the ones that capture transients, like picking up the rear wheel or a cone frozen in flight as someone clips the apex too tightly. Hard to do that on demand, of course.

--Ian