Moto2 and 125 from Silverstone

[Glenn]

3 more from my weekend at Silverstone.

A closely followed Bradley Smith as he goes through Becketts during free practice.


Yonny Hernandez keeping out of the spray of Xavier Simeon as they speed down the Wellington straight in the new Grand Prix circuit configuration during a wet free practice.


Arne Tode as he speeds down the Wellington straight in the new Grand Prix circuit configuration during a wet free practice.


Thanks for looking

[Stan]

Re: Moto2 and 125 from Silverstone

Hi Glenn

I like the wet shots and the reflections on the wet surface make them a little different. Have you cropped them at all as wondered if there is the full reflection to be had.
BTW meant to ask on your last thread - presume no 500 for these shots

Stan

[jhdee]

Re: Moto2 and 125 from Silverstone

Another nice set Glen - my favourite is #1 - can see that on an advertising banner - especially in the UK with Bradley being main point of focus.

jhdee

[Glenn]

Re: Moto2 and 125 from Silverstone

Thank you both

@Stan:
They are cropped shots. I couldn't decide whether to crop the reflections out or not. I did try a crop leaving the reflections in for shot number 2 but if felt like I had left acres of space below the riders. I'll revisit the cropping over the next day or 2 and see what I can come up with.

All of my MotoGP shots were done with either the 500 or the 500 + x1.4. I decided to start with that lens and if I was too close change to the 300f4 and x1.4 but it was fine and in some cases not close enough

[Stan]

Re: Moto2 and 125 from Silverstone

All of my MotoGP shots were done with either the 500 or the 500 + x1.4. I decided to start with that lens and if I was too close change to the 300f4 and x1.4 but it was fine and in some cases not close enough

Hi Glenn did not expect that answer. I have not been to Silverstone but when I do to Thruxton anything more than my 70-200 plus converter was too much

Stan

[Glenn]

Re: Moto2 and 125 from Silverstone

At Thruxton you have the advantage of being very close to the track and in some cases with no fence, from what I remember. Unfortunately at Silverstone this isn't the case. I think there is one spot at Silverstone where you are almost as close to the circuit like Thruxton and that's at Abbey, but they don't use this section for the new Grand Prix circuit anymore.

With Silverstone getting the MotoGP contract they have increased the size of most if not all of the run off areas which means you are further away from the action. What the 500 and x1.4 allowed me to do was pick locations that were further away or above the fencing. E.g. I was sat in one of the grandstands at Luffield which with the 500 and x1.4 allowed me to get above the fence and closer to the action.

Another good spot was the banking for the bridge over the Wellington straight looking towards Aintree corner. I used this spot for the 2 wet shots using the 500 and x1.4 as it again allowed me to get above the fence.

Initially I wasn't going to take the 500 but after looking on the Silverstone web site about the track changes was glad I did, otherwise I would have used the 300 and x1.4.

I was reading Life's a beach by Keith Sutton earlier and was interested by the feedback he got from pro togs that covered the MotoGP:

From a photographer's point of view, I think we're going to hear a lot of people moaning. I've talked to some people who covered the MotoGP and they said the run-off areas are massive and, again, there is more fencing. A lot of the grandstands have been pushed right back and that means we are further away from the action, which is never good for a photographer. Hopefully the new section will allow for some good angles, but we've also lost some of the best ones from just before Bridge Corner. We'll just have to wait and see but, from what I can gather at the moment, we'll be quite a long way back.

And they think they have a hard time!!!

If you want details for any of the images then let me know

[paul linton]

Re: Moto2 and 125 from Silverstone

HI Glen
I've been to silverstone to do some car racing and found it very hard to take good shot due to the high fencing and big run-off,I was off that week of the GP but didn't go for that very reason its not camera friendly.Were as Cadwell Park,Mallory Park,Thruxton you can almost touch the riders as they go past no fences no run off track you feel right in the action.
But i'm glad you managed to get some great photos in what is a difficult track to photograph.
Paul

[Glenn]

Re: Moto2 and 125 from Silverstone

Thanks Paul. I'm back there for F1 in a weeks time so hopefully I'll be able to get some good shots.

You're right it's a difficult circuit to get good photos at now, especially if you're a paying punter. I guess in the end it's all down to what you want, if you want motorsport shots but don't mind which series then go to one of the other tracks where you can virtually sit on the circuit, otherwise you're now stuck with Silverstone

[John27]

Re: Moto2 and 125 from Silverstone

Another nice set of images Glenn, I really like the first image it has a nice feeling of depth, And I like the reflection of the bike in the puddle in number 3.

John

[Glenn]

Re: Moto2 and 125 from Silverstone

Thanks John. I couldn't quite decide whether I was happy about number 1 but there was something about it I really liked

[Glenn]

Re: Moto2 and 125 from Silverstone

I've re cropped these 2 to include all the reflection I had of the riders and bikes.





Does it add to the composition??

I wasn't sure at the time hence the original crops.

[John27]

Re: Moto2 and 125 from Silverstone

Image 1 is much better now, I was gonna say it would have been better if you could have seen the whole bike in the reflection, but didn't like to.

John

[Glenn]

Re: Moto2 and 125 from Silverstone

That's ok John It's just a shame that I didn't quite get the entire reflections in for both shots.