Motorcycle Track Days

[kmarriner]

So far this week I have shot 2 track days and am doing a third tomorrow, I thought I'd share a few of the images from today's.
This was a day put on by Team ProMotion on the Thunderbolt Circuit at NJMP, there were a lot of AMA teams running in the race group, they are practicing and preparing for their upcoming race on Sept 5th here.

1.


2.


3.


4.


5.


6.


7.


8.


9.


10.


The rest from today can be seen here: Thunderbolt August 23, 2010 - 20b Photography

And yesterday's can be seen here: NJMP Lightning August 22, 2010 - 20b Photography

[timbertoes]

Some great shots, congrats on getting to shoot these....I'd kill for that! ok maybe not kill ;)

[sbfuller]

what were your camera settings for those?

[swjim]

Very nice set! #1 and #5 are my favorites.

[Mosephus]

Love number 1!

[rab3rd]

great panning work. DOF is spot on too.

[kmarriner]

Originally Posted by sbfuller

what were your camera settings for those?

All ISO/ASA100 with a 300 f/4L

1. 1/60 f/16

2. 1/160 f/13

3. 1/160 f/10

4. 1/160 f/10

5. 1/160 f/13

6. 1/100 f/11

7. 1/160 f/10

8. 1/100 f/16

9. 1/100 f/14

10. 1/60 f/16

Generally when shooting motorsports I shoot in Shutter Priority(Time Value) due to the changing light since I am always moving, this is just a small selection from this week, I varied anywhere from 1/30th to 1/600th this weekend. I shot just a little over 3700 photos in about 5.5 hours over two days.

Originally Posted by timbertoes

Some great shots, congrats on getting to shoot these....I'd kill for that! ok maybe not kill ;)

These were not in the fence, this were all from spectator accessible areas.. not to say that some weren't a hike. I do get to go inside the fence sometimes, either when I am asked to shoot it for a publication or when I pay a vendor fee and try to make some money. This weekend I was asked to go take some photos by a few friends who were running, so I didn't get to go in the fence.




Thank you everyone else for your comments, it really means a lot.


Now that brings me on to a question for you guys, I am moving to Austin in a little over a week, can anyone point me in the direction of the nearest tracks? Road course, kart/minigp, dirt ovals, anything? That is one thing I am going to really miss when I move, having a world class road course and kart track 20 minutes from my house.

[cooltouch]

Hey Kevin,

Really nice looking shots! I used to shoot motorsports (mostly auto races) back when I lived in SoCal. That was in a different life, too -- manual focus film cameras. But I loved it. Since I've moved to Houston, I've had to make do with a handful of drag races and air shows. I've been meaning to make it out to Texas World one of these days during a track day, just haven't done it yet.

Speaking of which, the only track I know of south of Texas Motor Speedway up in Dallas is Texas World. It's a decent multi-purpose track with a good road race course. It's located outside of College Station, about 100 miles from Austin. Not so bad --- I used to drive that from LA to Willow Springs on a regular basis to cover the SCCA races up there.

Texas World Speedway

[kmarriner]

Originally Posted by cooltouch

Hey Kevin,

Really nice looking shots! I used to shoot motorsports (mostly auto races) back when I lived in SoCal. That was in a different life, too -- manual focus film cameras. But I loved it. Since I've moved to Houston, I've had to make do with a handful of drag races and air shows. I've been meaning to make it out to Texas World one of these days during a track day, just haven't done it yet.

Speaking of which, the only track I know of south of Texas Motor Speedway up in Dallas is Texas World. It's a decent multi-purpose track with a good road race course. It's located outside of College Station, about 100 miles from Austin. Not so bad --- I used to drive that from LA to Willow Springs on a regular basis to cover the SCCA races up there.

Texas World Speedway

I did see Texas World, and I will have to check it out, it is 130 miles from where I will actually be, which isn't too bad at all. I am hoping that I can figure out a way to cover some track days and/or club events as a vendor.

Thanks for the compliments, and to be fair.. I still drag a manual focus film camera along with me to the track sometimes..

These are bad walgreens scans of some expired slide film that they processed c41 for me:

[cooltouch]

Okay so you got me curious. What do you sell as a vendor at the tracks? Pix to the racers? I used to do a fair amount of that back in the day, but there weren't any requirements that I declare myself as a vendor back then.

[kmarriner]

Originally Posted by cooltouch

Okay so you got me curious. What do you sell as a vendor at the tracks? Pix to the racers? I used to do a fair amount of that back in the day, but there weren't any requirements that I declare myself as a vendor back then.

That's exactly what I sell..of course now you have to usually pay a vendor fee, while also having permission from the track renter, be it scca or trackdaze or any other club.

[w9ctm]

Kevin,
You are aware they're building the F1 track here just outside of Austin (East of the Airport along SH130 tollroad) and will start racing there in 2011 or 2012, right?

[kmarriner]

Originally Posted by w9ctm

Kevin,
You are aware they're building the F1 track here just outside of Austin (East of the Airport along SH130 tollroad) and will start racing there in 2011 or 2012, right?

I actually did know about that, but I am not sure if they are going to use it for other purposes or just F1.

[w9ctm]

Originally Posted by kmarriner

I actually did know about that, but I am not sure if they are going to use it for other purposes or just F1.

While I am sure the first couple of years, we'll see only F1, I am also confident that no one is going to let a $250 million dollar investment get used only once a year. It may take time for other road race events to start taking place there, but I can forsee many well-attended races of different varieties making use of such a venue.

[kmarriner]

Originally Posted by w9ctm

While I am sure the first couple of years, we'll see only F1, I am also confident that no one is going to let a $250 million dollar investment get used only once a year. It may take time for other road race events to start taking place there, but I can forsee many well-attended races of different varieties making use of such a venue.

Very true, I need to figure out who to get in touch with about that track haha.

Wonder if they have a website up yet.