2013 Season

This weekend the 2013 bike season kicked off with the WSBK (World Superbike) round 1 at Phillip Island, Australia.  Race 1 saw Sylvain Guintoli beat teammate Eugene Laverty, with Michel Fabrizio coming 3rd.  For race 2 the positions were reversed with Eugene in front of Sylvain, and Marco Melandri taking the final podium position.  This means that the Aprilia Racing Team have come away with maximum points are leading the manufacturers championship.

Sylvain Guintoli WSBK 2012 (Silverstone)

Eugene Laverty WSBK 2012 (Silverstone)

The British riders had a reasonable day even though none of them made the podium.

Race 1		Race 2
4th	Chaz Davies	5th	Tom Sykes
5th	Tom Sykes	8th	Jonathan Rea
7th	Leon Haslam	9th	Leon Camier
8th	Jonathan Rea	10th	Leon Haslam
9th	Leon Camier	17th	Chaz Davies

My schedule for the 2013 season is now taking shape.

Month	Series	Location
Mar	BSB (test)	Brands Hatch
Apr	BSB	Brands Hatch
Jul	BSB	Brands Hatch
Sep	MotoGP	Silverstone
Oct	BSB	Brands Hatch

I am still undecided as to whether I will be doing the BSB round at Silverstone, and there are now question marks over WSBK as during the weekend there were strong rumours that the Silverstone round will be dropped leaving only Donington in May.

MotoGP

2 weeks ago we went on our annual pilgrimage to the British round of the MotoGP.  The weather was good for the Friday and Saturday, resulting in over 800 photos being taken.  On Sunday the weather was bad but the racing was good.  Still can’t believe how they managed to race bikes at 150mph+ in the pouring rain.  Although Cal Crutchlow was injured and couldn’t race, we still had somebody to cheer for.  Bradley Smith, a rookie in the Moto2 class, started at the back the grid and managed throughout the race to move through the pack, ending up 2nd.

Valentino Rossi (f/10.0 1/200 300mm ISO 200)

Alvaro Bautista (f/8.0 1/250 300mm ISO 200)

Toni Elias (f/11.0 1/125 300mm ISO 200)

Jorge Lorenzo (f/10.0 1/250 300mm ISO 200)

Bradley Smith (f/7.1 1/250 300mm ISO 200)

Photographers Day Out

Yesterday I went to the Masters Historic Festival at Brands Hatch and met up with a number of local photographers.  This was organised by Glyn Bareham and Paul Dunmall in response to a similar meet-up they organised last year.

“This is aimed at being a fun day in the company of fellow enthusiasts but as last year if anyone requires help with the intricacies of Motor Sport Photography, Panning, places to get the best angles / views etc. this will again be available as we will have at least two & hopefully more photographers on hand well versed in such matters.”

It was a good day, being both enjoyable and informative.  Plus the weather was good, not raining until after the last race had finished.

Aston Martin DB4 (f/7.1 1/250 300mm ISO 200)

Ford GT40 Mk1 (f/8.0 1/250 300mm ISO 200)

Taydec Mk3, Chevron B16, Chevron B16 (C) (f/8.0 1/320 190mm ISO 1600)

 

Aston Martin DB4 (f/14.0 1/80 95mm ISO 200)

Josh Brookes

Yesterday Laguna Performance Centre had an open day and Josh Brookes (BSB rider for Relentless Suzuki) was there signing autographs.  So I went along and managed to get him to sign one of the photographs I had taken of him at the recent British Superbike round at Brands Hatch.  The shot is of Josh exiting Druids but to make it more interesting I adjusted the angle of the image to give the rider and bike a more upright look.

Josh Brookes @ BSB Round 1 Brands Hatch (f/8.0 1/640 300mm ISO 400)

Update

Well it is over a year since my last entry, so I thought that I should pull my finger out and provide an update.

I have always been interested in photography and in June last year (as a reward to myself for graduating) I purchased my first non “point & shoot” camera, a Canon EOS 450D.  At this point I was a total noobie, so things like aperture, exposure and depth of field were all alien to me.  Now after reading numerous articles, both on and off line and having joined 2 local photography clubs I am starting to get to grips with my new hobby and gaining a better understanding of it’s technical side.  One book that has certainly helped is “The Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi/450D Companion”, it covers all the bells and whistles of the camera, giving good and helpful explanations as to when, why and how to use the different settings.  Although still very much a novice I am growing in confidence and in March of this year signed up for the OU’s short-course  “T189 - Digital photography: creating and sharing better images”.  T189 is a 10 week course with the first week starting on the 1st May.

For a number of years my other interest has been motorsport, primarily motorbike racing, and am now combining this with the photography.  Last year I went to a number of meetings (MotoGP, WSBK & BSB) and each time my technique has got better.  Its a slow process and requires a lot of practice, but I do feel that I am improving.  If you would like to see my efforts so far, take a look at me Flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/ianmcy/.

Luke Helm @ BSB Round 1 Brands Hatch (f/5.6 1/320 300mm ISO 250)