Yup, a title like that can only come from a motor sport event and two nights ago I took my girlfriend's son to the speedway to catch up on the action at the first event of the year. I took my camera along because I've never done motor sport photography before; it was a bit of fiddling about but overall I'm happy with the results for a first time.
This is what I was dealing with, a 20 foot high fence, with a second behind which I had to stand, which meant I had to do some fiddling with settings to stop the camera focussing on the fence links. In some of the images you can still see the fence but the faster the shutter speed and focus on the cars the more the fence disappeared, as you'll see. This was taken from the grandstand.
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I found a better spot that was not on the grandstand where I wasn't blocking everyone's view, which meant I could get right to the fence line. The winner of the first heat of the mini-stocks.
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The mini carts weren't that exciting, but fun to watch as the track got more rutted as the night wore on.
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These two battlers both went head to head, but the Accord to the right won his heat, he was by far the better driver being far more skilled on dirt. The white Falcon was a bruiser being the biggest and heaviest vehicle out there but only raced once.
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These guys were my faves, the super saloons powered by souped up V-8s and fitted with massive dirt tyres that threated to throw the cars against the wall every time they accelerated.
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This guy ended up coming off the track and the attrition rate of the super saloons was high - out of around ten starters, in every race there would be around half that left the track in each heat.
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The stocks were fun as usual, balls-to-the wall driving with lots of dirt thrown up and surprisingly few accidents, maybe beginning of the season jitters.
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You can see the fence having an impact on the images of the slower cars.
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These were the big V-8 stocks, lots of noise, faster and higher attrition rate.
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The fence is finding its way into some of these shots.
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Back to the next heat of the super saloons.
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Every time these guys went past I got showered with dirt, but it was worth it. I love being close to the action.
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Because of the high attrition rate each race was slowed on numerous occasions in this class.
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Vintage stocks was fun, the cars providing a bit of variety and noise, but slower, so the fence interfered.
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No.19 kicked No.22 off the track rather dramatically and deliberately...
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Ol' Coyote put up a good fight but was challenged every step of the way...
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...Eventually taking the checkered flag.
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One last blast of the V-8 stocks...
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I decided not to photograph the last race of the super saloons as it was fun just to sit in the stands and watch, but the winner of the trophy...
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More images here:
Thanks for looking.
This is what I was dealing with, a 20 foot high fence, with a second behind which I had to stand, which meant I had to do some fiddling with settings to stop the camera focussing on the fence links. In some of the images you can still see the fence but the faster the shutter speed and focus on the cars the more the fence disappeared, as you'll see. This was taken from the grandstand.
I found a better spot that was not on the grandstand where I wasn't blocking everyone's view, which meant I could get right to the fence line. The winner of the first heat of the mini-stocks.
The mini carts weren't that exciting, but fun to watch as the track got more rutted as the night wore on.
These two battlers both went head to head, but the Accord to the right won his heat, he was by far the better driver being far more skilled on dirt. The white Falcon was a bruiser being the biggest and heaviest vehicle out there but only raced once.
These guys were my faves, the super saloons powered by souped up V-8s and fitted with massive dirt tyres that threated to throw the cars against the wall every time they accelerated.
This guy ended up coming off the track and the attrition rate of the super saloons was high - out of around ten starters, in every race there would be around half that left the track in each heat.
The stocks were fun as usual, balls-to-the wall driving with lots of dirt thrown up and surprisingly few accidents, maybe beginning of the season jitters.
You can see the fence having an impact on the images of the slower cars.
These were the big V-8 stocks, lots of noise, faster and higher attrition rate.
The fence is finding its way into some of these shots.
Back to the next heat of the super saloons.
Every time these guys went past I got showered with dirt, but it was worth it. I love being close to the action.
Because of the high attrition rate each race was slowed on numerous occasions in this class.
Vintage stocks was fun, the cars providing a bit of variety and noise, but slower, so the fence interfered.
No.19 kicked No.22 off the track rather dramatically and deliberately...
Ol' Coyote put up a good fight but was challenged every step of the way...
...Eventually taking the checkered flag.
One last blast of the V-8 stocks...
I decided not to photograph the last race of the super saloons as it was fun just to sit in the stands and watch, but the winner of the trophy...
More images here:
Thanks for looking.
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