This week I was invited to Race City in Calgary to view cars practicing the beautiful art of drifting.
Although the majority of drivers were amateur, they were still a ton of fun to watch and listen to as they threw these cars around the course. Lots of spin-outs, lots of bumpers falling off, and the air was full with the smell of burning tires and clutches.
I used my new 300mm 2.8 so I could stay safe, while the other photographers were using smaller lenses and therefore had to be in the danger zone. The lens was great, but with at 2.8, I was shooting too fast to make the cars look anything but static. After a while I put the shutter speed down to about 1/160th, put the f-stop at f8 and then the cars started to show a little more speed in the photos.
As the sun began to set, I suddenly remembered another trick to making the cars look like they are zooming around: tilt that lens. I loosened the ring mount, cranked the lens a little to the right, and suddenly the photos looked like every shot in most car magazines.
A great night and I came away with a better understanding of drifting, and how hard it is to control a car with a ton of power and way too much speed. Thanks Diane and Mike for inviting me out there.
This week I was invited to Race City in Calgary to view cars practicing the beautiful art of drifting.
Although the majority of drivers were amateur, they were still a ton of fun to watch and listen to as they threw these cars around the course. Lots of spin-outs, lots of bumpers falling off, and the air was full with the smell of burning tires and clutches.
I used my new 300mm 2.8 so I could stay safe, while the other photographers were using smaller lenses and therefore had to be in the danger zone. The lens was great, but with at 2.8, I was shooting too fast to make the cars look anything but static. After a while I put the shutter speed down to about 1/160th, put the f-stop at f8 and then the cars started to show a little more speed in the photos.
As the sun began to set, I suddenly remembered another trick to making the cars look like they are zooming around: tilt that lens. I loosened the ring mount, cranked the lens a little to the right, and suddenly the photos looked like every shot in most car magazines.
A great night and I came away with a better understanding of drifting, and how hard it is to control a car with a ton of power and way too much speed. Thanks Diane and Mike for inviting me out there.
These pictures remind me to always live my life a quarter mile at a time.
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