NER SCCA Autocross: A beginner's stab at motorsports phtography..

NHBubba · May 3, 2006

So I've been lurking through this forum, drooling at everyone's fantastic motorsports photos.. dreaming of oneday being at the bottom of the corkscrew at Laguna Seca during a GP race w/ a couple grand worth of high-quality glass in front of me. But then there is reality..

Fortunately I've discovered an easy way to try my hand at motorsports phtography: SCCA Solo2 autocross! My uncle runs at events sponsored by the New England Region (NER) of the SCCA down in Ayer, Mass. Fortunately Ayer is just a short drive from here. Saturday they had their first event of the season and I dropped by to check it out. Of course I had the camera in tow.

I was both impressed and disapointed at the same time. I had hoped that I would be able to wander anywhere and everywhere I wanted. Of course that was a little naive. Insurance must be a killer for the SCCA.. and as a result of that they have very strict policies for both participants and bystanders. As a spectator I had to sign a release (duh) and wear a wrist band. No biggie there. But then I quickly discovered that I was limited to a small area of grass between the starting line and the grid, next to the timing truck. I was also expected to stay at least 20' back from the course. All not really shocking, but it definitely put a damper on what I could get for shots as I only had a couple angles on the course to play w/.

I also found that I need a shooting partner for SCCA. I was told that I had to have a 'spotter' w/ me at all times. Presumably so they could tap my shoulder and say "Hey, there is a flaming wreck headed our way! Time to stop taking photographs and run like hell!" Again, understandable, but a bit of a damper as I was alone for much of the event. Fortunately I found a few generous individuals that happened to be standing there anyway and volunteered to act as my 'spotter'.

However I was most defnitely impressed at the turnout! There were two borderline exotic Lotus Elises there. I was named after Colin Chapman, pioneer of the Chapman strut and founder of the Lotus sports car company. So the Lotus shares a special place in my heart. Unfortunately the lovely Elises evaded me and I had no real quality keepers of them in action.

Also present were countless open-wheeled 'mod' cars in B, C, D and F-M classes. Very cool stuff. There was even a Forumula SAE team present. I think I heard a rumor that it was the WPI team, but I can't confirm that. What I can confirm is that they took a LOT of runs. Word has it they were running as many as four drivers. And of course there were the obligatory teenage piloted Subaru WRXes and STIs.. Even a very wonderful looking (and running) VW GTI R32!

In all it was a fun day of watching cool cars go 'round in circles.. and taking photographs. Here is my first stab at motorsports photography.. Comments and critique are quite welcomed!

Camera: Canon DRebel/300D
Lens: EF 70-200/4L
Accessories: Quantaray 2x teleconverter (occasionally)

ISO 400 - 1/200s - f/22 - 200mm

ISO 400 - 1/200s - f/22 - 200mm

ISO 400 - 1/500s - f/7 - 200mm

ISO 400 - 1/500s - f/5 - 126mm

ISO 400 - 1/400s - f/16 - 200mm

ISO 200 - 1/200s - f/16 - 126mm

ISO 400 - 1/400s - f/22 - 200mm

.. And just to remind everyone how much wide angle photography seriously kicks bum! ..

Camera: Canon DRebel/300D
Lens: EFS 10-22

ISO 400 - 1/500s - f/14 - 12mm

ISO 400 - 1/500s - f/14 - 10mm

mercphoto · May 3, 2006

NHBubba wrote:

I was both impressed and disapointed at the same time. I had hoped that I would be able to wander anywhere and everywhere I wanted. Of course that was a little naive. Insurance must be a killer for the SCCA.. and as a result of that they have very strict policies for both participants and bystanders ... I also found that I need a shooting partner for SCCA. I was told that I had to have a 'spotter' w/ me at all times. Presumably so they could tap my shoulder and say "Hey, there is a flaming wreck headed our way! Time to stop taking photographs and run like hell!"

I'm very impressed with the level of attention given to safety by the SCCA. There is a reason why SCCA volunteer flaggers are often used at events such as Champ Car street races, its because they are that good. One year I went through flagger training with the SCCA here in Texas. Most events put one person per corner whereas they put at least two, and prefer three. Two flaggers, facing each other. The one facing up-corner has a passing flag and also alerts his buddy if a car is coming at them. The one facing down-corner has the yellow flag. A third will have the radio and also rotate in for breaks. The SCCA has done a good job not only of training flaggers, but of also putting the appropriate carrots in place to make people want to be that dedicated at it.

That experience has made me really question the attention to safety at most other events I attend and photograph. The kart track does a decent job, but honestly I feel that motocross is very lacking in terms of safety. Then again, its really hard to find people willing to sit at a corner all day long with a flag in their hands.

mercphoto · May 3, 2006

My favorites are 2 and 6. Photo 1 is a really good angle but could be sharper. Just takes practice at those shutter speeds. 4 is not a flattering angle to me. I also like 5 quite a bit too. The wide angles, dunno. Its a neat idea but I'm not very good at the wide angle environment shots myself.

DoctorIt · May 3, 2006

We need to convene at one of these sometime... I'll give you a big red target to shoot.

you're "paddock" shots are excellent - exposed perfectly. Your panning will get better with practice (hard, ain't it?), and those motion shots will improve too. As a first outing, I think you did great.

(seriously, let me know when the next NER event is, I'd like to give it a try, now that I have a proper go-kart)

NHBubba · May 3, 2006

Merc, Wow, sounds like your region/chapter is even more attentive to safety than NER is. My uncle (who is active w/ this group) says the events can be hit or miss w/ their safety. He says 3 years ago when he got active again he could wander all over the track w/o anyone w/ him. Now they keep people in a specific area and strictly enforce the 'spotter' system for photographers.. even those w/ itty-bitty little pocket cams.

Flaggers at this event were participants. I presume that the more regular, more active participants get given flagger/radio jobs and the local kids w/ hot street cars that just show up get assigned as cone runners. Nobody, from the starter to any of the runners was wearing anything close to official looking garb. And they only had 1 flagger per corner, that I could see. Lots of cone runners though. They can be found in the backgrounds of many of my shots!

One comment I got on these photos from someone I showed them to was that the people in the backgrounds is distracting and all. I guess that's one downside of shooting SCCA autocrosses.. it's pretty difficult to avoid people in the backgrounds!

I'm surprised to hear you say you like 6.. The radical crop is because there was a big, ugly orange bucket marker immediately behind the car. Because of the way the long tailpipe and the bucket were oriented, I couldn't crop one out w/o loosing part of the other. What you see is the result. I still liked the blur.

4 was exciting to me because of the stopped action w/ the rock chips and such. Those race stickes they run churn up all kinds of stuff.

When I got there, I actually set my ISO high (800) and started working at 1/1000th of a sec and faster. Mostly because I was afraid of panning at slower shutters and didn't want to come away completely empty handed. 4 is a result, it was early in the day. The others are from later, when I was getting more relaxed and daring.

2 was probably my best shot of the day. I was saddened to see that it was on such a ho-hum subject. (Imagine that, calling a worked on RX7 'ho-hum'! But comparitively it really was.) I really hoped I'd have a real balls-on shot of one of the Elises. What fantastic cars!

I just adore wide angle stuff. My prized new 10-22 is just tons of fun. I wanted to do more pit shots like that, but got caught w/o a 'spotter' and yelled at shortly after those two were snapped. Finding someone standing around in the pits that was willing to 'spot' me was challanging to say the least.

Doc, check out www.ner.org. The schedule shows the next event at Devens is scheduled for the 28th. I'll be at a wedding in NY state that weekend. After that is a national two day event on 6/10-11. My uncle plans on entering that one and I am all about trying to make it there w/ the camera. It is barely 30 min from here.

And you ain't kidding about the panning. Hopefully I get better at it. I have MB's of total CRAP shots. ...Not that that is not really all that different than any of my other photo outtings!

One thing I'm considering investing in if I do more of this though is a monopod. I tried mucking w/ the tripod.. but it just didn't work out. Longer glass would be nice too.. but it just isn't in the budget. For now the 70-200/4 w/ or w/o the cheapo 2x TC is probably going to be it. Though I might be able to sneak a quality brand name 1.4x TC in my bag eventually.

mercphoto · May 3, 2006

NHBubba wrote:

Merc, Wow, sounds like your region/chapter is even more attentive to safety than NER is.

Now that I think about it, my experience was with SCCA road racing, not autocross. Much larger tracks (1.8 mile), much higher speeds (corners at 70+), and multiple cars at a time on the track. Obviously requires much greater safety measures. Is probably the differenc.e

And you ain't kidding about the panning. Hopefully I get better at it. I have MB's of total CRAP shots. ...Not that that is not really all that different than any of my other photo outtings! ... One thing I'm considering investing in if I do more of this though is a monopod.

Ditch the tri-pod. Try a monopod, but I don't like it myself. And yes, keepers increase with practice.

Bfox · May 3, 2006

Impressive for a first time
You got the basic method down, now you just need practice.
One thing to look out for is background and foreground clutter.
Try to avoid people and objects sprouting out the top of the car or drivers head. Of course, it's not always possible to avoid it....but I try to be aware as much as possible to prevent it.
I just posted some images of mine from Infineon Raceway which demonstrate what I'm talking about, at least on most of them.
-Brad

NHBubba · May 3, 2006

As I said, avoiding corner workers and cone chasers in the backgrounds is going to be VERY difficult w/ SCCA autox'es. I fear having them in the BG is just going to be a fact of life for these shots.

If that ends up being the ONLY problem w/ my photos, then I'll be delighted!

I saw your Infineon Raceway shots. Very nice. Any advice you can part w/ would be highly welcomed!

mercphoto wrote:

Now that I think about it, my experience was with SCCA road racing, not autocross. Much larger tracks (1.8 mile), much higher speeds (corners at 70+), and multiple cars at a time on the track. Obviously requires much greater safety measures. Is probably the differenc.e

Ah, yes. Solo2 autocrossing is supposedly limited to 60 MPH. And they won't release the next car from the starting line until the car before it has exited the first leg of the track. It would be very difficult for them to hit each other.

I think the monopod just became my next must-have accessory!

TristanP · May 3, 2006

Speaking of monopods, I picked up the Bogen 676B and 3229 swivel head for my trip to Summit Point a couple weeks ago. Worked very well and only set me back $75. I already have the 3001BPro legs and 3030 head so all the quick releases work together for my two cameras.

Of all your shots above, I like 2, 4, and the first pit shot. As I found out at Summit, all this takes is practice (and a good spot at the track). Not a bad way to spend an afternoon, really.

claudermilk · May 3, 2006

Nice shots! I need to get back out to an autox (both to run & to shoot).

It's been a while, and each region is different, but last time I was at a SD Region event, their policy was you could go out on course so long as you kept to safe areas & had a spotter with you. Once you see some of the Mod cars run, you quickly understand why--there are some VERY quick cars out there.