Four years isn't precisely half a decade, but it makes for a better title than 'One fifth of a score', so I make no apologies, especially given my previous title-related transgressions.
As the yearly trek to Mid-O now seems like a given rather than something that needs to be thought about, I though I would reflect on how the event has progressed for me photographically over the last several years.
Although I'd taken pictures since we started going in 2000, I didn't really start taking it 'seriously' until I went with my first DSLR in 2009. As the years have progressed, I've tried to look at what kinds of photos I want from the event, and focus on trying to get them rather than just taking a bunch of pictures. It's been pretty interesting to look back and see how the shots have changed over the years. Below are a few excerpts from each year, along with what I felt I learned and tried to improve in the following year(s).
As the yearly trek to Mid-O now seems like a given rather than something that needs to be thought about, I though I would reflect on how the event has progressed for me photographically over the last several years.
Although I'd taken pictures since we started going in 2000, I didn't really start taking it 'seriously' until I went with my first DSLR in 2009. As the years have progressed, I've tried to look at what kinds of photos I want from the event, and focus on trying to get them rather than just taking a bunch of pictures. It's been pretty interesting to look back and see how the shots have changed over the years. Below are a few excerpts from each year, along with what I felt I learned and tried to improve in the following year(s).
The first year I shot at Mid-O was right after I'd decided that photography, and specifically motorsports photography, really interested me. For that race I rented a very nice 100-400mm zoom lens and in my attempts to get some decent shots I wound up taking something like 1500 photos in one day.
In general, I was happy with the way the shots turned out at the time, but my overall goal for that weekend was more about quantity than quality, and it shows in the photos, with shots of many riders, but not too much variety.
In general, I was happy with the way the shots turned out at the time, but my overall goal for that weekend was more about quantity than quality, and it shows in the photos, with shots of many riders, but not too much variety.
The two shots above were probably the best out of the 1500-ish taken. Not exactly a great keeper rate, but that's what practice is for...
2010
By 2010, I had decided that photography was something I still really wanted to do, and had invested in a nice 300mm lens that I talked about earlier with the intention of getting some even better bike shots.
This year I decided to walk around a little more before just shooting away, which is where I noticed how great turn 1 is for getting some shots of riders really cranked over, including these of Geoff May and Eric Bostrom.
I walked around a few other spots, trying to get some interesting angles, but overall didn't walk away with too much else in terms of racing action, except a few battles back in the pack during Superbike.
This year I decided to walk around a little more before just shooting away, which is where I noticed how great turn 1 is for getting some shots of riders really cranked over, including these of Geoff May and Eric Bostrom.
I walked around a few other spots, trying to get some interesting angles, but overall didn't walk away with too much else in terms of racing action, except a few battles back in the pack during Superbike.
2011
2011 was the year of racing, in that I tried to focus on the (excellent) battle for the lead in the Superbike race, from a great vantage point at the bottom of turn 9. I grabbed shots of the leaders from basically every lap, watching Josh Hayes and Blake Young trade the top spot at least a dozen times over the race.
I was definitely pleased with this location, and the technical output of the shots, but they lacked a certain impact that I was going for. Looking back at my shots this one of Chris Filmore on the KTM coming through Turn 1 stood out as conveying the kind of message I was looking for.
Unfortunately I didn't try many shots like this, so this was really the only one that 'worked'.
2012
This year, thinking back through my own previous experiences and having spent a fair amount of time looking at other motorsports shots, I decided that I really wanted to focus on getting shots with a very specific look, and something at least approaching an intentional composition. My previous approach has been to ensure that I have a high enough shutter speed to get consistently sharp photos which has definitely improved my keeper rate, but puts limits on how effective many motorsports images can be in terms of conveying a sense of speed.
Despite a wealth of life experience that would indicate that fortune does not favor the bold, I decided that I would make panning with low shutter speeds my primary mode of operation and to hell with the keeper rate.
As an added bonus, I looked for some more interesting ways to interpret areas of the track that I'd shot before, specifically by introducing some tilt to the camera to improve the compositional interest and being more patient with rider position before pressing the shutter.
Overall, I feel like it worked out well, and I've listed a few of the images I'm happy with, as well as some things I still feel I could do better.
The photo below of Josh Herrin coming through Turn 1 is very similar to other shots I'd taken in previous years, but the slow shutter speed and slight angle add a clean feel and visual interest that I feel was lacking previously. The fact that I was lucky enough to nail the focus during the pan is merely icing.
This shot of Supersport race winner Dustin Dominguez was taken at the bottom of Turn 9 and was the result of more panning practice. I took maybe 10 of these shots and was lucky enough to have one that was sharp with the composition I wanted. I love the way you can see his eyes through the visor - one more reason not to worry about potential rain quite so much.
This photo of Josh Hayes coming into Turn 8 was one of my favorites from the weekend, because it's exactly what I see in my head when I think about T8. Having ridden this track myself, the elevation change from 7-8 is at first intimidating and then great fun. I felt like the tilt of the track sloping dramatically upward in both the foreground and background helped to convey what it's like to go into this corner as a rider.
While I'm very pleased with how a great many of these turned out, I'm hoping to continue to find new ways to produce images with more impact. One of the reasons that I was drawn to photography initially was that there are always new and interesting ways to interpret the same things, and always improvements to be made to technique and creative vision.
Looking forward to next year (and beyond), I want to get out and explore other parts of the track and look for new and interesting vantage points. I also feel like I've been focusing too much on the racing, when there are so many other interesting things going on around the track, both in the pits and the spectator areas.
Knowing what I was able to 'find' just taking a second look around areas I was already comfortable with, I'm sure that Mid-O has some more great shots lurking around every corner.
