Tag: blancpain gt world challenge north america

Motorsports in Black and White lV

When it comes to a black and white motorsports image, this is as close to perfect as you can get. What little background distraction there is has been blurred out by the slow shatter speed panning.

Overview

In this fourth installment of our series on motorsports in black and white, we will focus more on tools and techniques. While some photographers may not know, many of us can look at an image and know how, and what tools were used to process the image. From the person who just clicks the convert to black and white button, to those who put some serious work into adjusting contrast, highlights and shadows, and a few extra touches in an effort to make the image something special. When I use to pour over racings mags in my youth, there was one constant. The best photos were in color on the covers, or the in the center. All others were in black and white. This was mainly due to the cost of publishing in color. Color film has been readily available to consumers since the early 30s, but of course the cost was higher than black and white. So you would have to have a reason to justify the cost. Today there is only a small niche market of photographers who shoot primarily in black and white, weather it be film or digital. For me and the subjects I shoot it constitutes more of an art form. In the world of motorsports photography, many, or should I say most shots do not lend themselves well to good black and white images.

Most distractions in this image have been pushed far into the background by selective use of contrast adjustments

Subject

Choosing the right subject for black and white processing is the first critical step. My first criteria is a background that is as distraction free as possible. Fences, grandstands, people, and large groups of cars should be avoided. The vehicles color is also an important element. Some colors are harder to work with in black and white. I’m not saying it can’t be done, it is just more work. If you can also avoid images with large areas of shadow such as front air intakes, or rear diffusers. These areas can be corrected, but again you will have to do more work.

Trees are one of the appealing background elements that lends it self well to black and white

Tools

Even the most bare bones image editor can create black and white conversions. Some of the more common ways offered are a convert to black and white button, which will essentially remove all color from your image. Other ways of accomplishing the task are desaturation, or a channel mixer tool with sliders to remove colors. The channel mixer when used properly can produce satisfactory results when combined with some of the other tools built into most editors. Another option is to purchase a third party package with more advanced and sophisticated conversion tools. I have used a few of these, and have found in my opinion DX O’s Silver Effects to be superior to anything else I have uses. It is just one module in the NIK filters bundle. I use about half of the nodules in this package on a regular basis, but if Silver Effects were the only one I used, I would still buy the package just for it alone. The key to any conversion software whether basic or advanced is to take the time to learn how to use them effectively.

There is something special about catching a vintage race car just right for black and white. It looks natural.

Theory

The most important part of understanding black and white photography, is understanding the single basic element of photography itself. Light and Shadow. For all the talk of film vs digital, 6 vs 60 megapixels, and DSLR vs Mirrorless, it comes down to one simple inescapable factor, all cameras do the same thing. Capture light. How it does it, in what way shape or form is just a matter of the choice of the photographer. However understanding the relationship between light and shadow is what will make the biggest impact on your photography. The camera is just a tool.

Joel

Speed and Sport Shorts: Tough Shots (Eye of the Driver)

This is something I try to do every chance I get. So what makes this a tough shot? First you have to have the right conditions. Most preferred are early morning, or late afternoon. During these times the low sun shines directly in to the car. At these times most drivers tend to have their visor either partially or fully up. Another condition that will offer this kind of shot, is cloudy and heavy overcast. In these conditions many drivers will wear a clear visor for better visibility. Second, you have to be able to get close enough to track side to see directly into the front windshield of the car. It doesn’t matter if it is on a strait or curve. Both offer unique views, and expressions on the drivers face. Third you must have a long enough lens to zoom in tight on the driver.

What is it I like about this shot? In the drivers eyes you can see focus, determination, and intensity. You will see them looking at the apex of an upcoming turn. Glancing in the mirror to see who is around them. Also a calmness of a person at work going about their job. What ever the expression is, it fascinates me, and I often find myself looking at these shots for long periods of time trying to determine just what they might have been thinking at that moment in time. After all isn’t that what still photography all about, capturing moments in time?

Joel

 

Unpublished #1

Every photographer I know has them, lots of them. Images that were taken at an event but were never posted or published anywhere. If you are like me, many have never even been edited. So when I am going through archived folders and run across one or more I think are worthy of publication, I copy them to a folder named hold for processing. Then from time to time when I am looking for something to post online, I go to this folder first. Most times I find what I need there. With that said I am going to start a new recurring series titled Unpublished to highlight some of these images, so they can finally see the light of day.

I have taken many shots go this Jaguar, but none that I thought were more than just average and not worth doing anything with. But somehow I miss this one.

This is one of my more unique images, but if you are going to shoot driver change practice, get permission first as I did. A guy who came along after while I was reviewing my shots did not asked. He learned a few new German swear words.

Here we have an interior of one of Blackdog racing’s McLaren’s shot in the first year of them operating them.

Joel

Speed and Sport Shorts: Tough Shots 1 (Rain)

When shooting motorsports much of what you shoot can be considered tough shots, but there are those situations that require a great deal more work and patience. Those who normally shoot slower moving, or stationary objects don’t appreciate the challenge of shooting really fast moving targets. You have track, lock onto, compose, and capture a subject that will only be there for a few seconds or less. Even with all of that there are other variables that make things more challenging. In this first post we will discuss one of them, rain.

Unlike NASCAR or IndyCar on the oval tracks, sports car racing doesn’t stop for rain unless it is so hard that it forms large puddles on the racing surface. Otherwise they switch to rain tires and continue. For the photographer this means putting on rain gear, covering your camera with a protective covering, and most likely standing in mud or a puddle to get the shot. While it can be very tough conditions to shoot in, the results are very rewarding.

So while the fans put up umbrellas, or run for cover, you will see these intrepid individuals covered in plastic carrying large cameras headed in the other direction, into the rain to try to capture what may be some of their best shots of the year.

 

Joel

Motorsports in Black and White ll

Black and White motorsports photography while once the norm is now a speciality form of photography. Many try it, few do it well. In this day and age fo high megapixel color photography, black and white gets relegated to a seldom used, or just lost art form.

When considering wether too process a photo for black and white, the first thing you have to understand is that not every shot will look good in this medium. Shots with busy and distracting backgrounds will not work. Next you have to consider the subject matter. Dark blue, green, and black cars or bikes are likely to lose a lot of detail in conversion, and just look like a badly underexposed image. Packs of multiple vehicles close together will leave the viewers eye wandering trying to find the main subject of the shot.

When going through your work, look for shots with one or two subjects isolated on a relatively clear background. This will take the viewers eye directly to the main subject. From there they can explore the rest of the image. If the background is slightly blurred, that makes it even better. Overcast and rainy days also lend themselves well to black and white. All in all you should choose your subject matter carefully.

As for tools, any image editor will give you good results as long as you take the time to learn what you can do with the tools at hand. Spend some time experimenting with sliders and filters to squeeze the most you can out of your software. Just selecting convert to black and white from a preset menu will give you mediocre results at best. I’m partial to NIK Filters Silver Effects for black and white conversion. There are several other stand alone, or plug in programs out there, but this is my personal favorite. So all that is left to do is jump into the deep end, and see what you can create.

Article inspired by Kurt Roussell @ Fast Car Photos.

Joel

My Choice, GT

It’s the kind of subject that can spark endless arguments and debates, but I just have to get it out there. For me the only type of racing I can see myself never getting tired of is GT racing.

In my youth the first kind of racing I ever paid any real attention to was Formula 1 and IndyCar. Not from being able to attend any races, It was from reading about these series. I read anything I could get my hands on about racing in general. There was a newsstand in front of the “L” station near my house, and the guy who ran it knew I was interested in auto racing, and would get magazines from his distributor and hold them until I came by. It was in reading the varied magazines I bought from him that I discovered sports car racing such as, Can-AM, and Trans-AM racing.

Before this it was IndyCar, NASCAR, and Drag Racing. Being from the inner city midwest, that was pretty much all we heard about. Upon reading about the different road racing series I began to lose interest in IndyCar, and later NASCAR. However these were still the only televised series, so I continued to follow them for the most part. On the rare occasion they would show sports car racing on TV, it would be edited to fit within a 60 to 90 minute time slot with commercials. Lots of commercials.

My interest in IndyCar faded after some time, but returned when they began to run majority road courses. The cars and level of competition has improved immensely in the past decade also. As for NASCAR, my interest level dropped significantly when they decided the words “Stock Car” in their name was no longer relevant. Then there is also the matter of 40 plus car fields (at least 10-15 of whom should not be out there) riding around in a circle waiting for someone to cause several of them to crash into one another.

So with all that said just what brought on this whole line of thought? Watching the TOTAL 24 hours of Spa, and one of the most exciting endings I have seen in some time. Seeing Dries Vanthoor’s Team WRT make the perfect call to switch to rain tires just before a downpour to get the race lead from Ferrari. Then watching Alessandro Pier Guidi recover from a huge deficit to catch, then pass Vanthoor on the outside in the rain and drive the Iron Lynx Ferrari 488 to victory. It started me to thinking just how many times I have seen close, exciting racing like this in GT racing. Then there are the intangibles for the fans that go along with this type of racing.

For all the technological brilliance that goes into Formula 1 and Prototype race cars, they are never something you can (or will) ever see yourself owning or driving. While cars in GTE, GTLM, GT3, and especially GT4 are you cars you can aspire to someday owning. You see many of these same cars on the streets of your town, you know the names, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, Corvette, Aston Martin. All the way down to the GT4 ranks where you see Mustang, Camaro, Elantra, and Supra. Picturing yourself behind the wheel of any of these cars is not hard given the right circumstances.

 

So the rest of you enjoy your Formula 1, NASCAR or any other racing you are into. I have nothing against any other form of racing, and I shoot many of them, but if I were forced to choose just one, it goes without saying that it would be GT racing.

Joel

Single Make Series

Overview

The car pictured at the top of our story is a Maserati Grand Tourismo of the now defunct Maserati Super Trofeo series. This series suspended operations at the end of their 2016 season, and has not come back since. One of the primary reasons was due to the age of the car. As of this date it is now a thirteen year old platform that still has not been updated. Conversations I have had with Maserati at first promised a return of the series with a new car, and now a statement that they are refocusing their efforts on a luxury SUV line. While the series was very competitive and entertaining, this was not enough for a company with one of the oldest names in Motorsports to keep it going.

This highlights what can happen to a single make series when it’s manufacture loses interest. Thankfully for us there are other single make series who have not suffered this fate. This brings us the long way around to the focus of this article, single make series. These series are sometimes called “spec” series. This is technically not true. On the enthusiast or club level this is a more accurate term. Also in development series such the Road to Indy series the term may be applied. In single make series drivers are from all levels of proficiency, although a driver may be listed as an amateur, it only means they do not make they’re living as a race driver. It has nothing to do with driving ability.

Porsche GT3 Cup

There is no shortage of Porsche only series around the world. Some even run by Porshe themselves as driver development series. Since 2005 this popular U.S. and Canadian series has provided some truly exciting racing. Many of its drivers honed their skills here before moving on to other series. There however a few gentleman drivers who continue to run here either full or part time. One note to add is that this series through the years has had some of the best liveries seen on a race car.

Lamborghini Super Trofeo

While having been around since 2009, Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America has only run since 2013. With the addition of North America, it is another three continent series. There are four classes of competition. Pro, Pro/AM, amature or AM, and LB Cup. This has become one of my personal favorites. Many of its drivers compete here as well as other series, often in the same race weekend. It has a mo ster season finale with cars and drivers from all three continents competing against their own region first, with the top points earners moving on the the finals to complete against the top drivers from the other regions.

Ferrari Challenge

First run in 1993 Ferrari Challenge is what known as a series for “gentlemen drivers”. Participants purchase and maintain their own cars, and pay all entry fees, sometimes with a little sponsorship help from friends. The level of talent pretty much runs the gamut from pure amateur to professional. Like similar series, there are divisions in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

Saleen Cup

This is the latest in the single make series. Starting mid 2019 with the development of the Saleen S1, this looks to be an entry level series for new driver development. Starting in mid season 2019, there are plenty of bugs yet to be worked out. Some with the brand new Saleen S1 developed for this series, and street production. Others with competitors and racing rules. There is not a lot that can be said about this series just now having only a partial season under its belt. What can be said is that it looks to have a lot of promise. One cool idea for its inaugural season was using historic liveries from famous race teams.

Mazda MX5 Cup

Exciting, competitive, close racing, and fun. These are just a few of the descriptions you will hear to describe the Mazda MX5 Cup series. Boring, dull, uninteresting. These are terms you will never hear to describe it. You would be hard pressed to find any other sports car series this closely contested. More often than not the winner is decided on the last lap.

Wrap Up

The series listed are either pro or development series run in the the United States, and Canada. There are many more amateur, hobbyist, or local single make series.

Joel

GT 3 Racing

It’s the sort of topic that comes up when you are sitting around chatting with friends. You also see it on social media. It goes something like this. If you were stranded on an island what record, food, or other possession would you want to have with you. Sometimes its one item or three. But the concept is the same.

So the other day I was thinking how could I apply this to motorsports, and this is what I came up with. You are stranded on an island with a big screen TV which receives a different auto racing series on each channel. You have to tune to one, however once you make your selection the TV can no longer be tuned to any other channel. It will pick up only the channel you choose from now on. What will it be, Formula 1, IndyCar, NASCAR, NHRA, Prototype, maybe Moto GP or MotoAmerica. You get the point.

I’ll let you ponder what your choice will be, but for me the choice was easy, GT racing, and GT3 in particular. I have had different favorite series through the years, but I always come back to GT. I wish I could say for sure why, but I believe it isn’t any one thing. The one that first comes to mind is they represent the finest in automotive engineering that is available to the public. They are not purpose built cars that are designed only to be used on track, but modified versions of street cars, albeit expensive ones. None the less they inspire dreams, and give us something special to wish for. Then there is the shear variety of cars.

– Ferrari
– Porsche
– BMW
– Lamborghini
– Audi
– Mercedes AMG
– Acura
– Lexus
– McLaren
– Aston Martin
– Bentley

 

Also the level of competition in these series around the world is hard to match. And then there is the option of cheering for a favorite driver, car make, or team. I’m sure after I am finished writing this I will think of more, but that should give you an idea of my thinking on the subject. Now you can mull it over and come up with your own favorite.

joel

BlancPain GT World Challenge North America

I have always looked up to the Pirelli World Challenge as one of the most forward thinking series in racing. Many of the changes in other series that we take for granted have come out of world challenge. Among the most important were first the adoption of the GT3 standard, then the GT4. Both of which are used in Europe and Asia. With the adoption of GT3, car counts and team participation grew enormously. It provided a competitive and cost efficient platform for teams to build on. The next year IMSA adopted the standard for it’s GT Daytona class.

When World Challenge went to the GT4 standard for it’s GTS class, not only did it produced more participation, but in it”s first season it brought cars to the series that had previously only raced in Europe and Asia. Cars such as the Sin R1, KTM XBow, and the Ginetta G55. These cars raced against Mustang, Camaro, Porsche Caymen, and Maserati. It was at the very least an interesting mix of car makes. IMSA’s Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (now Michelin Pilot Challenge) was suffering from plummeting car counts and team participation. However since going to GT4 they have seen a resurgence, fielding as many as 37 cars per event, and the level of competition among cars is close from green to checkered flags.

Their latest move is probably my favorite. By joining the with the BlancPain GT series they are now part of a worldwide GT racing series. Something I have wanted to see in North America for some time. For years the only option I had to see GT only races were YouTube videos from Europe. Having such a series here in the U.S. is just what the doctor ordered, for me anyway. Now billed as the BlancPain GT World Challenge North America, they compete with Europe and Asia for Driver and Manufacture championships. Another welcome change is longer races with pit stops for driver and tire changes. In the old 50 minute sprint format, due to caution and red flags, I have seen races with as little as 20 minutes of green flag action. This was very disappointing to everyone involved. While GT3 is, and will always be my personal favorite, the level of competition in GT4 is truly outstanding. It is the kind of racing that always has you looking forward to the next event.

So what next? Maybe a couple more races on the calendar, but definitely one or two more in the in the interior of the country. Whatever the future holds we can only hope that it further adds to the excitement of GT racing in the U.S.

joel

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