Walter Mitty Historics, Road Atlanta

[Ken Neher]

feel free to comment on these:

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m50/comporangesvt2003/Mitty%2008/aIMG_8226small.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m50/comporangesvt2003/Mitty%2008/aIMG_9804asmall.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m50/comporangesvt2003/Mitty%2008/aIMG_9609small.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m50/comporangesvt2003/Mitty%2008/aIMG_9954small.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m50/comporangesvt2003/Mitty%2008/aIMG_9135small.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m50/comporangesvt2003/Mitty%2008/aIMG_9694small.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m50/comporangesvt2003/Mitty%2008/aIMG_9441small.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m50/comporangesvt2003/Mitty%2008/aIMG_9572small.jpg

[E. John Thawley III]

I cannot believe those prototypes are running vintage already...

[Ken Neher]

yes it doesnt quite seem right, but then again I would rather see them on the track than in a museum.

[Ken Neher]

anyone got any C+C on these? I am trying to better my craft and the feedback really helps...

[John Thawley]

I cannot believe those prototypes are running vintage already...

GAWD!!! I don't want to see anything I've ever shot "in season" run as a vintage. Makes my aches and pains feel even worse. :)

[John Thawley]

anyone got any C+C on these? I am trying to better my craft and the feedback really helps...

Ken: Off the top, the first thing that hit me is that several of your pans and the angle of your shots appear to be a bit high... you're looking down. With the exception of the Porsch 'through-the-trees,' this is a bit distracting a kind of "snap shot" looking. You need to find angles that put you level or lower with the car.

Specifically, heading into the 6-7 complex, you can get pretty low by the wall as they enter the corner... it's much more interesting.

I don't know how you got the Porsche 'through the trees.' I've worked that angle a zillion times from that spot and never quite get it. Good for you.

The two cars heading under the bridge at the top of the hill.... needed to be straighter (horizon) and even have the cars a bit higher. This is a nice scene setter... so you need the hill.. the bridge.. the landscape. And, by the way... it's UP hill. :)

Jackie Stewart. - Think about it. Really think about it. - Was he there? Is this a car he drove? What car is it? Is he in the vinyl lettering business now? Ok... I'll quit being a smart *ss. What story does this picture tell? I know what you think it tells me.... it tells me there was a car at this event that Jackie used to drive. End of story. I would have much rather seen an angle that included more detail and hints about the car.... and then... sublty, spotted JS' name on the cowl. So, my though process goes... "hey, that's a blue 1962 Ford Cosworth Lotus... nice... and Jackie Stewart drove it." or something to that effect... follow me? Tell me a story. All you have here is vinyl lettering.

Hope that gives you food for thought. Keep up the good work!

JT

[Ken Neher]

as far as the looking down on the car thing goes, I see your point about that but I dont know if I could really get much lower as I had to shoot behind the fence, not having credentials. Road Atlanta is a great place to shoot photos but on the other side of the fence its just that much better.

yeah, I can crop the bridge shot better, ugh

I also see what you mean about the jackie stewart car. I have several shots of that car, let me see if i have another which might work better.

[John Thawley]

as far as the looking down on the car thing goes, I see your point about that but I dont know if I could really get much lower as I had to shoot behind the fence, not having credentials.
Ah.... fair enough. Try, though, at the exit of seven.... you'll be level with the ground on the right side of the emergency road and it's a great pan. They'll be a little bit "going away"... but it's a nice level stretch and should be at your eye level.

Exiting seven:
http://gallery.johnthawley.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=102772&g2_serialNumber=1

Also, coming from the top of the esses into five is good from the other side of the fence. I often shoot itfrom the hillside to get the sense of the run down through the esses. Shoot verticle.
http://gallery.johnthawley.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=101934&g2_serialNumber=2

Then come back down toward the fence, still verticle and keep the car low in the frame as it negotiates the esses. You can track the car through there and end up with about three may four looks.

http://gallery.johnthawley.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=102710&g2_serialNumber=1


Now move to your right where they exit five. It's slightly uphill... but anouther nice pan as they're on the throttle heading back up the hill toward six.
http://gallery.johnthawley.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=102750&g2_serialNumber=1

There's a nice head on from the fence as they navigate through three and you can catch them coming in and out of four.
http://gallery.johnthawley.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=101088&g2_serialNumber=2
http://gallery.johnthawley.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=101068&g2_serialNumber=2

This one speaks to the Jackie Stewart shot... (a little bit) not perfectly, but I always love seeing velocity stacks with the balls in them. To me, it says something about the little details of racing... that everything matters including something foreign making its way into the cylinder head.

http://gallery.johnthawley.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=73167&g2_serialNumber=2

Keep at it.

JT

[Dennis Murray]

JT...through the trees exiting turn 5 is possible if you get far enough up the hill and away from the track. You could even shoot through the trees and get a rear end shot of the car cresting the hill on the way to 6. 70-200 if memory serves does it.

Ken...if you want to shoot pans more or less on level with the cars at Road Atlanta you can hit the back of the track where they make the turn, and then 10A-10B up the hill to the Suzuki bridge. If you have enough reach, there's a spot at 12 (on the outside) that will get you some decent stuff. Inside of 12 for that matter also can work...or inside of 1 and the uphill stretch. The fence there is only a 40" with no catch fences.

Would have liked to get out to RA for that with my kids, but I was locked up on Soccer that whole weekend....

[John Thawley]

JT...through the trees exiting turn 5 is possible if you get far enough up the hill and away from the track. You could even shoot through the trees and get a rear end shot of the car cresting the hill on the way to 6. 70-200 if memory serves does it.


Yeah... that's not the shot I want. This shot is coming down the hill at pit-in before the front straight. What makes it difficult is you can't see the cars and they all come into frame on a different line.

Thanks,

JT

[David Adolphus]

This one speaks to the Jackie Stewart shot...

Good thing he got that shot--last time I saw that car they were sweeping up pieces of it after some dope smacked it into the wall.

[John Thawley]

http://gallery.johnthawley.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=73167&g2_serialNumber=2




Sadly, this car was involved in a crash this week at Mosport. The driver, Dino Crescentini (not the SPEED World Challenge Dino Crescentini) was killed.

http://newsdurhamregion.com/news/durham/article/101293