If I ever become a pro photographer, I think my dream job would have to be to shoot motorsport- what better way is there to combine two of my greatest passions?
Anyhow, I will try not to go on about the cars too much, because I know a lot of people who read this aren’t going to be interestedf in that too much!
In short, this is my second year shooting at the World Time Attack Challenge at Eastern Creek Raceway, you can see my work from last year here. In simple terms, a number of international teams are invited from America, Japan and New Zealand to compete with local teams in purpose built cars to set the fastest laptime. You can read more about the rules and format at the official WTAC website.
The event has grown even larger than previous years and there seems to be something about this event that attracts photographers by the hundred. As a result there are masses of press and images floating around on the internet before, during and after. It seems to me like this has become part of the fun of the event, and for me is definately part of the attraction. This gave me lots of inspiration but I also set myself a challenge to see if I could match some of the pro shots I saw and also present a unique perspective of the event and break out of the mould a little bit.
At this point, I would like to invite my readers to have a look at my Flickr page which has been up and running for a little while now and is a parallel of this blog. While it doesn’t allow me to show the images in my own context, it does present my images in their original and uncompressed high-resolution. You can also view more information about the photo such as the location it was taken at and what settings I was using- if that’s your thing!
I have decided to run my shots in the order I took them this time around, and this means also I broke my little rule of running my best shot last. Which ones do you like?
If there was one thing I could complain about, it was a the lack of blue skies on the day! But when the sun did show its face it was stunning!
If you look (really) closely at this shot, this bloke and his very expensive lens, belongs to the website Speedhunters which is one of my larger sources of inspiration (and entertainment!) recently.
The worlds fastest and most evil sounding Volvo brick? Maybe!
I definately had a favourite car of the day- Mad Mike’s quad-rotor RX7 looked and sounded unbelievably good! It also spat 1m long trails of flame and with Mike at the wheel, got very sideways! Check out the official video here or this one to see it getting its flame on under lights at WTAC!
The “Mad Bull” drew crowds all day, on track or just parked and the cloud cover seems to only make it look evem better in my shots.
The flat light from the overcast weather has taken that certain sparkle out of my shots for a second year in a row at the Creek!
Part of the Show and Shone this year include a selection of classic turbo touring cars.
A nice pretty scenery shot to keep all the non-petrolheads interested!
There was a rediculous amount of carbon-fibre sacrificed in the name of down-force. I think this year’s award goes to the MCA Silvia, with wings on its wings on its wings at the front and handy picnic table at the back! Second prize goes to the Hankook WRX, which I wasnt able to snap out on track (I think it was broken?) but was easily recognisable in the pits as the wing with a Subaru attached.
On a technical level I am very happy with this shot! Panning shots are difficult and this one came up perfectly! “Tarzan” Yamada was fastest on track on the day with a stunning 1.28.8510. On street legal tyres!
I have to admit I wasnt happy with my shots at the drift event, held under lights, after the Time Attack finished. The atmosphere was pretty special and it looked pretty cool- lots of smoke lit by head lights and the occasional flame from the cars. However, I can definately say I reached my camera’s limits in these conditions! I have put up two of the better shots however these are not up the standard I was hoping for. But I guess that just gives me a reason to come back next year, with faster glass and/or a more powerful camera!
