British Superbikes, Oulton Park

[Mick Johnson]

Have'nt posted on here for a while so I hope there's maybe a bike racing fan or two.

Anyway I went to Oulton Park for 2 days, Friday practice and Sat qualifying. Don't go raceday anymore as it's useless trying to take photo's because of the crowds.

I was actually asked to go and get some shot's of a rider, Robbie Brown, who is number 43 in the third shot and competes in the Superstock 600.

It did rain very heavy at times on Sat, which I was hoping for, yes honest, I wanted a few spray shot's.

[Autumn]

Re: British Superbikes, Oulton Park

Oh my gosh, they make me dizzy to look at them. Great captures though.

[Barr1e]

Re: British Superbikes, Oulton Park

Great shooting - my first thoughts were crikey - these are very good.

Thanks.

Regards. Barr1e

[Barr1e]

Re: British Superbikes, Oulton Park

Great shooting - my first thoughts were crikey - these are really very good.

Thanks.

Regards. Barr1e

ps - there I go again, repeating myself - doh!

[Mowgli]

Re: British Superbikes, Oulton Park

Wow I love these, wish we had the oportunities to see racing like this over here. The last two are my favourites, being that little bit different, especially the one in the wet, great stuff

Mowgli

[ekkl]

Re: British Superbikes, Oulton Park

Great pictures!

Love the one with the rider standing up..

[strontian]

Re: British Superbikes, Oulton Park

Super set of images mick well done....JIM

[Mick Johnson]

Re: British Superbikes, Oulton Park

Thank's everyone for the replies.

I've just spent the last 10-15 minutes wondering where the 'reply' button had gone, then realised I'd not logged in.

I was quite pleased myself with what I came away with as you never know with this sort of photography untill you open them on the PC.

Also, most if not all these were with a 1.4x converter attached, so double the worry.

[peter]

Re: British Superbikes, Oulton Park

Yes I agree really nice set of photos. I really like the one in the rain.

[coupekid]

Re: British Superbikes, Oulton Park

Mick,
These are just outstanding, and I wouldnt change a thing to any of them.
I especially love the spray shot, your a brave man risking your camera in that!

I would love to see some more of these, a great sequence

[Mick Johnson]

Re: British Superbikes, Oulton Park

Mick,
These are just outstanding, and I wouldnt change a thing to any of them.
I especially love the spray shot, your a brave man risking your camera in that!

I would love to see some more of these, a great sequence

Thank's, my lens is waterproof, but the body is not (40d)

It really was a torrential shower but it was on my back and I had my hood up which sheltered the body a bit.

Only thing was, my hands were wet so the 40d was a little damp to say the least.

[devilgas]

Re: British Superbikes, Oulton Park

love the last 3 mick! not as keen on the first 2 as they're a little too static for my personal taste. a slightly longer shutter speed would've given just a bit more background blur and made them really pop, the 2nd photo especially.
that said, the last 3 are great and wouldn't look out of place in bike mags etc.

[Mick Johnson]

Re: British Superbikes, Oulton Park

love the last 3 mick! not as keen on the first 2 as they're a little too static for my personal taste. a slightly longer shutter speed would've given just a bit more background blur and made them really pop, the 2nd photo especially.
that said, the last 3 are great and wouldn't look out of place in bike mags etc.

Yes, you're right the shutter speed was too fast for these as you can see the discs are frozen.

It's not easy getting good background blur with bikes almost 'coming at you' as you need a very very slow shutter speed and so don't get as many sharp shot's.

I'll have to get it in Photoshop maybe.

[devilgas]

Re: British Superbikes, Oulton Park

can't remember the exact details of this shot - http://www.devilgas.com/viewImageBig...lue&i=b50_0576 - but it was a very slow corner....probably about 35 to 40 mph...but has sufficient blur to give the impression of speed.

my usual starting point for shutter speed is estimated subject speed in mph * 4. so, for a bike doing 70, i'd start with shutter speeds around 1/250th sec and work slower / faster as required. the initial shots are generally the 'bag' shots, giving freedom to play after those have been grabbed.
as you rightly say, a slow shutter speed will introduce more blur to the subject as well as the background. in those cases i try to ensure i'm panning with the riders head rather than any part of the bike. with the rider being sharp, perspective blur is then less of a visual issue (as in this shot from the exit of the same corner - http://www.devilgas.com/viewImage.as...red&i=b50_0981 )
the rider is in perfect focus (and due to the angle, the front of the bike), whereas the back end of the back is not as sharp due to zoom / perspective movement blur.
shutter speed would've been about 1/160th at f=200mm or maybe 1/125th. will try and check tonight.

photoshop - i tend to find it's not worth the effort, as unless your masking is very accurate there's always some little tell tale somewhere that gives the shopping away. that said, the image, to me, only requires a little more movement to increase its impact.