[blwnhr]

Strictly speaking it is, but there is no creative skill involved.

At the drift round I shot a few weekends ago this guy was there. I heard him trying to get media accreditation, he used the old "I've got thousands of dollars of gear and you say I'm not worthy of going out and shooting?" What he failed to mention was that all that gear was borrowed from his friends work.

Below is a shot of his set up. A Canon 1D MkIII with 70-200 2.8 on a tripod. He positioned it (facing into the sun) at one corner, set it to continuous shutter and, clipped on the cable release and stood there all day. When a car would come he would hold down the button on the remote cable, rattle off 10-20 shots and then flick through them until the next car came.

So, is this photography? Yes he is producing a photo, but there is no soul or feel to the photographs. All they are are bland, static shots at weird angles with terrible shadows.

Anyhow, that's my vent for the month...




What he was producing:


My shots FWIW: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/post-your-photos/29370-drift-racing-some-...lery-link.html

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Last edited by blwnhr; 06-11-2008 at 10:19 PM.

[Arpe]

It's photography Jim, but not as we know it...

Live long and prosper.

[SpecialK]

...rattle off 10-20 shots and then flick through them until the next car came.

Don't expect too much from a point-and-shoot camera.

[OniFactor]

whew man. musta been hard keeping the jitters from 2 red bulls showing up in his incredible panning sho- oh wait.

[LaRee]

Well, errr, how the heck does he see what he's shooting with his set up like this? It doesn't even look like he can see in the viewfinder the way the tripod is set up. To each his own I guess?

[blwnhr]

He precomposed the shot...about 10AM and stood there until 4PM taking the same shots all day.

[nakey]

yeah, i call it photography. it's taking a photo

Whether it's good photography, that's a different issue

BTW, your drift pics rock.

[roentarre]

Don't you know that only good cameras produce good photographs?

[Venturi]

I love how he's got the tripod *fully* extended so the camera is at 6' above where he's standing which appears to be 5' to 6' above the track. I'm guessing his shots were mostly motion blurred tops of cars on stark pavement?

Nice shot by you, btw. I'll be making my first attempt at race photos next weekend at the ADRL drags here in Tulsa. Should be fun and quite a learning experience.

[dws1117]

I like the one lens just laying on the ground to his front left.

[Photo Tramp]

When all is said and done he may have one good picture in a thousand. In his mind and that of many sport shooting photographers this is how to get results. To us that take the camera to our eye and are able to set up and focus and shoot from the hip and pan the subject to the right point in time You have the right idea about what it takes to be a photographer. I love your shot of the drift great motion and even greater composition. Congrats you should take pride knowing you have the right stuff to produce this kind of quality.

[lithos]

If you see him next time, ask him what he's setting his camera. Aperture, ISO, shutter speed.

He will get a good picture though. One. One good picture - it'll only be one, because if he gets two, well, it doesn't matter, because they'll both look the bloody same.

You gotta move. Find not only THE angle, but several angles. As many as you can.

[Mike Cash]

Don't you know that only good cameras produce good photographs?

More importantly.....Good cameras produce not only good photographs.

[Tom S.]

One motion sensor set up by the track would put him out of a job!

[KrisK10D]

I've had to take shots into the sun because of circumstance before but who stays in the same place at a track? (Unless it's a really really good spot )

He's nub! I would've pointed and laffed, but that's just me