Moto-ST & Grand-Am at VIR

HarveyMushman

This past weekend Virginia International Raceway played host to the Grand-Am car racing and Moto-ST motorcycle racing series. I was mainly interested in the bikes but managed to stay awake for the cars too. :wink

Nate Kern on the San Jose BMW R1200S



Former GP-rider Jimmy Filice on the Pair-A-Nines Kawasaki EX650



Brian Parriott on the same BMW shown above (Moto-ST is an endurance series, with at least two riders per bike)



Jason Edmunds on the RightsforBikers.com Ducati PS1000



Parriott & BMW again



More bikes (and cars) later . . .

wxwax

Oh Tim, that first shot is a classic. I love the context, the story, it's great. In its own way, it reminds me of the "Parting Shot" piccie on page 110 of the Nelson Piquet edition of MotorSport magazine.

Richard318

Moto-ST & Grand-Am at VIR
Awesome motor racing series. Good panning technique, I particularly like the photo no 3 and 4.


Richard

HarveyMushman

wxwax wrote:

Oh Tim, that first shot is a classic. I love the context, the story, it's great. In its own way, it reminds me of the "Parting Shot" piccie on page 110 of the Nelson Piquet edition of MotorSport magazine.

Thanks, Sid. That was one of the very first images I took Saturday morning. I admit I grinned a little when I viewed it on the pc.

TylerW

HarveyMushman wrote:

Brian Parriott on the same BMW shown above (Moto-ST is an endurance series, with at least two riders per bike)

Brian Parriott races in our local roadracing club, the AFM, as well. He's a fantastic rider who can manage to wear a #46 plate with a lot of class and little pretension. Its great to see him out there on the other side of the country.

Great shots, especially the first one.

HarveyMushman

Thanks, all.

A few more bikes . . .

tcsphoto

Good colors, sharpness. I like number 1 and 3. Good work. What lens were you using?

HarveyMushman

tcsphoto wrote:

Good colors, sharpness. I like number 1 and 3. Good work. What lens were you using?

Thank you. The lens is Nikon's 70-200/2.8 VR.

HarveyMushman

Cars


















C&C is welcome, espcially re: the car photos, with which I'm not nearly as pleased. One thing that confuses me is why often one part of the car will appear out of focus, even though the lens was closed way down and DoF should be (is, in fact) deep.

TristanP

Here's an explanation as to why your cars may not be sharp/focused the way you want:

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=30160&highlight=focus+cars

SamuraiJack

Really nice photos. Not to hijack your thread, but I thought you might like to see a couple of mine from that event as well. I visit VIR a lot, but this was my first time shooting photos of an event like this. Unfortunately, mine were from the inside of the fence.

1. This is almost the exact same view as yours.


2.

3.

HarveyMushman

SamuraiJack wrote:

Really nice photos. Not to hijack your thread, but I thought you might like to see a couple of mine from that event as well. I visit VIR a lot, but this was my first time shooting photos of an event like this. Unfortunately, mine were from the inside of the fence.

What do you mean, "unfortunately?" I'm working on getting credentialed for events later this year, particularly the bike events. I'm really getting tired of shooting from:

wxwax

I don't see a lot to complain about, Tim.

You seem to have your panning technique down.

In the last batch, I think how much the car fills the frame is the issue. The Red Bull and the Mazda are too tight: it looks like the frame isn't quite big enough to hold them. I'm thinking if you can't get the whole car, pick the part you want and make it look exciting. The two wider shots of the Crown Royal car are caught in composition no-man's land. Not enough room to give context or tell a story, but too loose to be an agressive tight shot. The "ridge" shot is a good idea, just isn't working -- the overall beauty of the scene/composition isn't there. But you only get good by trying those over and over. I like the parked car shot, except it doesn't have a focal point. And worth noting that you were cursed by direct midday light, which is very unflattering.

If you're going to be doing this all summer, I'm intensely jealous. You're improving really fast, and you're going to become really good at this.

ian408

That first one is great as is Brian P's first.

HarveyMushman

wxwax wrote:

I don't see a lot to complain about, Tim.

You seem to have your panning technique down.

In the last batch, I think how much the car fills the frame is the issue. The Red Bull and the Mazda are too tight: it looks like the frame isn't quite big enough to hold them. I'm thinking if you can't get the whole car, pick the part you want and make it look exciting. The two wider shots of the Crown Royal car are caught in composition no-man's land. Not enough room to give context or tell a story, but too loose to be an agressive tight shot. The "ridge" shot is a good idea, just isn't working -- the overall beauty of the scene/composition isn't there. But you only get good by trying those over and over. I like the parked car shot, except it doesn't have a focal point. And worth noting that you were cursed by direct midday light, which is very unflattering.

If you're going to be doing this all summer, I'm intensely jealous. You're improving really fast, and you're going to become really good at this.

Thanks, Sid. Your suggestions are valid, I think. I often struggle with how tightly to compose. My inclination is to usually to keep it loose, to provide some context. I like pictures composed this way, but I'm a pretty serious racing fan. Someone interested in the photos for their own sake might want a little more "pop" from a tightly composed shot. I'm workin' on it.

larrie

Hi guys, first time at VIR. What a great spot for photos...either side of the fence. Here are some of mine. I can see that I have a lot to learn.

Cycles: http://larre.smugmug.com/gallery/2779490/1/148244551

Rolex: http://larre.smugmug.com/gallery/2779477

Larrie

HarveyMushman