Mono monoposto
Daniel Pyett makes an effort to appear as 'period' as possible when racing his Formula 2 Tecno in historic motor sport events - and I feel his efforts...
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Daniel Pyett makes an effort to appear as 'period' as possible when racing his Formula 2 Tecno in historic motor sport events - and I feel his efforts are best portrayed in black & white. This was taken during the Oulton Park Gold Cup meeting in Cheshire, UK, on August 28 2017. The car was almost 50 years old when the shutter button was pressed, but the camera was very definitely from the 21st century. Taken at 1-100 with Sigma 70-200mm f2.8
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Sep, 2017Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
Oulton Park, Cheshire, UK, during the Historic Gold Cup in 2017. It's a three-day meeting that has consumed many of my August bank holidays. In a previous life, when I had to cover alternative motor sport events during the earlier part of the weekend, I'd always make sure I got back to the UK in time to be in the Oulton paddock for breakfast on Monday. This usually meant driving overnight from southern Belgium to north-west England, but the effort was ever worthwhile. I should also point out that I have professional accreditation, which confers something of an unfair advantage. My images appear regularly in Motor Sport magazine, which is produced in the UK but distributed far and wide.Time
Mid-morning. I don't always follow the sun - I like to shoot into it from time to time - but in this instance the inside of Cascades (a downhill left-hand bend, taken at fairly high speed) was very nicely illuminated.Lighting
All completely natural. I was using shutter priority and, when selecting an automated mode, find both my Nikon bodies (D700 and D800) produce better colour rendition with a stop or two of exposure compensation (-0.7 in this case).Equipment
Taken with Nikon D700, Sigma 24-105mm f4 and a pair of fiftysomething hands.Inspiration
I was there to record the nuts and bolts of the race meeting, but always try to incorporate elements other than the cars (crowd, buildings, natural backdrop where applicable). I'm not a great fan of racing shots that are tightly cropped and could be taken almost anywhere (although I have probably posted one or two on ViewBug). The shot from Cascades works best when there is a large crowd to provide some blurred bokeh - it isn't the same when there's an empty grass bank in the background. I particularly like this car - an F2 Tecno from 1968 - as owner Daniel Pyett favours period-appropriate racewear, ie an open-face crash helmet. It's much more sturdy than a 1968 helmet, but it's just about as good a look as you can get in the modern era.Editing
Given the driver's apparel, I felt a mono conversion was appropriate and then added a sepia tint via PS Elements. I simply moved the slider until I was happy with the effect. That apart, I'd done a slight crop and auto-correct before switching to mono.In my camera bag
I used to shoot with Pentax, but moved to Nikon in 2015 and now have a brace of full-frame bodies (D700, D800) plus Nikkor 200-500mm f5.6, Nikkor 300mm f4, Nikkor 50mm f1.8, Sigma 70-200mm f2.8, Sigma 24-105mm f4, Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 and Sigma 105mm f2.8 macro. For motor sport, the 200-500 and 24-105 tend to be constant companions, with the 70-200 also often to hand, I also have a Giotto tripod and Manfrotto monopod, but don't take either to sports events. Although quite large, I find the 200-500 can comfortably be hand-held. And two of my best friends are Storm Jacket camera covers: it does rain at racing events... especially in the UK.Feedback
I can suggest only that you practise. Debris fencing often gets in the way for spectators nowadays, but some circuits still permit clear views - Mallory Park, Cadwell Park and Lydden Hill spring to mind in Britain. I prefer my pans to have properly blurred backgrounds, so tend to aim for 1/125 or slower - although the speed of the corner, car and/or bike obviously influences things. If you're unfamiliar with the technique, start at 1/250 or 1/320 until you get your eye in, then work your way down to 1/160, 1/100, 1/50... or even slower. If I spend half an hour shooting at 1/50, there will be an awful lot of wastage but the shots that work are usually quite pleasing. I have a professional friend who regularly achieves decent results at 1/13, but I can't get close to matching that. Experiment and see what works for you. This shot was taken at 1/100 and I was happy with the way it turned out, so that will suffice for me...
