amateur photo thread.

[Nico_Ble99]

Went to see the ELMS race at Spa-Francorchamps yesterday (which was a free entry event by the way) and decided to bring the camera along.

 

[Team THRT Drift]

Trying out my new Nikon Z8. My ISO settings were all over the place as I had accidentally bumped it back to Auto ISO while I was fiddling with the custom buttons. Speaking of which, there is so much customization available!

First impressions were amazing! The autofocusing system is a godsend, and it's so intuitive to use! I just need to get used to the body and learn all the features it offers.

Lens: Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6 ED with FTZ II adapter. This lens has never felt shaprer/quicker, thanks to that adapter. I am looking to get the 180-600mm Z lesn or one of their primes with a teleconverter integrated into the lens, but that's for the future. For now, this lens is perfect.

​

 

[Team THRT Drift]

Went out to try and photography birds last weekend, but there weren't any so I found some cars instead.

Still using the same 200-500mm Nikkor.

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Oldsmobile Delta 88

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396 SS

DSC_0480 by Automotive Buff, on Flickr

DSC_0481 - Portra 400 Emulation by Automotive Buff, on Flickr

DSC_0483 - Portra 400 Emulation by Automotive Buff, on Flickr
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Because I had my camera sling wrapped around my forearm, when I was bringing up my camera to capture this Camaro flying by, a section of the sling was still in front of the front element, so it was trying to focus through the sling. As a result, it wasn't super clear so I decided it was a good candidate for some film emulation.


And my favorite passer-by, the Plymouth GTX:

DSC_0517 by Automotive Buff, on Flickr

DSC_0520 by Automotive Buff, on Flickr​

 

[Nico_Ble99]

Big ol' V8 time: Here are some photos I took during the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series event at Circuit Zolder yesterday.


There even was a guest starter from the US!






The guest starter: Ryan Vargas

 

[Team THRT Drift]

These are my favorite shots from that set!

 

[tbtstt]

Big ol' V8 time: Here are some photos I took during the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series event at Circuit Zolder yesterday.

Great set! Seen the Whelan series in the UK a couple of times and I enjoyed the racing.

These are my favorite shots from that set!

Those two are my favourites from the set as well!

 

[Nico_Ble99]

These are my favorite shots from that set!

Thank you! I had actually had to improvise, since I forgot my monopod. I put my camera on the guard rail, put one or two fingers below the grip and my left hand below the lens to stabilize everything. 😂 I'll post more head on photos later!

 

[Nico_Ble99]

Great set! Seen the Whelan series in the UK a couple of times and I enjoyed the racing.

The racing is really competitive! Even as a photographer (whose job is to take photos and not watch the races for free, obviously 😂) I enjoyed the racing on Saturday. Close battles and daring overtakes (especially into the first chicane, where I was standing most of the time) galore.

 

[AOS-]

Here is one of my favourite figures to date:

No assembly required. The artist who came up with the arrangement of the parts creates this "figure 8" of movement where your attention is directing all around.

Would you believe me if I said this character originated from a mobile video game?

 

[Team THRT Drift]

Caught my first Osprey. There's a couple that hunts together but I couldn't get their dives. They were circling looking for seagulls or for some easy fish to catch out of a pelican's beak. These were really harsh conditions as the sun was almost at high noon, but it was just behind all the birds I photographed on that day.

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Speaking of pelicans:

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It's like watching a Stuka divebomb.... maybe a Stuka pilot from War Thunder since they can never pull up from their dive.

 

[Venom800tt]

Some DSLR pics from Petit LeMans:

 

[Team THRT Drift]

Some DSLR pics from Petit LeMans:

Does the Cadillac participate in these? If so, what was it like in-person? I feel like, even though the sound is orgasmic, most microphones don't do that engine justice.

 

[Venom800tt]

Does the Cadillac participate in these? If so, what was it like in-person? I feel like, even though the sound is orgasmic, most microphones don't do that engine justice.

Indeed Cadillac runs their LMDh/GTP car in it and it sounds like thunder. Very imposing in person. 4th pic of my post is the yellow and black Cadillac leading a BMW.

 

[tbtstt]

Went to the final round of the Rallycross France Championship at Dreux again. Another absolutely brilliant weekend; great entry, some fantastic racing and a really well run event. Took quite a few pictures, here are some faves...

Hyundai i20 4x4 T16 (17) (Davy Jeanney) by Steve White, on Flickr

Audi S1 4x4 T16 (90) (Yury Belevskiy) by Steve White, on Flickr

Volkswagen Polo 4x4 T16 (21) (Damien Meunier) by Steve White, on Flickr

Peugeot 208 4x4 T16 (40) (Jack Thorne) by Steve White, on Flickr

Mercedes A Class (363) (Nicolas Beaucle) by Steve White, on Flickr

Hyundai i20 4x4 T16 (17) (Davy Jeanney) by Steve White, on Flickr

Audi S1 4x4 T16 (90) (Yury Belevskiy) by Steve White, on Flickr

 

[Team THRT Drift]

Peugeot 208 4x4 T16 (40) (Jack Thorne) by Steve White, on Flickr

My favourite shot from the set.

Also that A class Merc is kinda cool. Seeing Mercedes in a rally/autocross setting is a little weird but welcomed.

 

[tbtstt]

My favourite shot from the set.

Also that A class Merc is kinda cool. Seeing Mercedes in a rally/autocross setting is a little weird but welcomed.

I was really pleased I caught that. Saw he was carrying way too much speed into the corner: great to catch him hanging onto it!

It isn't quite as A class as it looks: cars in that class are largely space frame and typically mid-engine. Haven't actually seen under the panels of his car, but I am pretty sure it is the same. It was all black last year and a bit bland, but the 2023 livery looked fantastic.

 

[tbtstt]

Back to Lydden for my last motorsport weekend of 2023. Two days of very mixed weather conditions and, if I am honest, my worst weekend for pictures of the year (my fault: not the drivers!). Bit of a disappointing way to finish the year with the camera, but makes me even more fired up to get back to a track in 2024!

Peugeot 208 4x4 T16 (GB1) (Patrick O'Donovan) by Steve White, on Flickr

Proton Iriz 4x4 T16 (2) (Ollie O'Donovan) by Steve White, on Flickr

Hyundai i20 4x4 T16 (100) (Mikko Ikonen) by Steve White, on Flickr

Hyundai i20 4x4 T16 (33) (Liam Doran) by Steve White, on Flickr

BMW E92 M3 (60) (Slawomir Woloch) by Steve White, on Flickr

 

[Nico_Ble99]

Took this photo during a Danko Jones concert in Amsterdam last night with my phone, I think it looks quite good after I put a b/w preset on it in Lightroom Mobile.

 

[Team THRT Drift]

I am going to Toronto this weekend though, so I'll bring them with me and see how they perform.

Are you seeing any issues with the back focal distance of the glass to the CMOS? Vignetting etc.

I use a few adapters for old glass on my Fuji X and I love it. I have to keep reminding myself of the magnification issue of using a film based glass on an APS-C sensor.

Here are some images I took at a park with the Z8, Pronto adapter, and the 85mm f/1.5 Helios 40-2. I didn't really have any interesting subjects but there is no vignetting, thankfully, only the small amount I add in post to go for a certain feel.... which in this case it is that of burnout 😂 I forced myself to go out and photograph today, not the best idea in the world.

The images were mostly shot at f/2.0 or f/2.2. Some are shot wide open at f/1.5. The ones shot wide open are generally soft because of that razor thin depth of field so it's not viable for general use, maybe for artistic expression or some soft portraits. Also, for the first half of my horsing around I was using AF-S instead of AF-C so I would be standing for upwards of 30 seconds in the cold waiting for the Pronto adapter to acquire focus and let me shoot. Once I flipped my focusing mode to AF-C it was smooth sailing and it would fire away instantly.

020 by Automotive Buff, on Flickr

034 by Automotive Buff, on Flickr

055 by Automotive Buff, on Flickr

070 by Automotive Buff, on Flickr

143 by Automotive Buff, on Flickr

196 by Automotive Buff, on Flickr

226 by Automotive Buff, on Flickr

245 by Automotive Buff, on Flickr

256 by Automotive Buff, on Flickr

332 by Automotive Buff, on Flickr

336 by Automotive Buff, on Flickr

340 by Automotive Buff, on Flickr

434 by Automotive Buff, on Flickr

475 by Automotive Buff, on Flickr

535 by Automotive Buff, on Flickr

565 by Automotive Buff, on Flickr


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I'm also quite miffed because I inadvertently shoved my lens, front element first, into a twig without realising. Thankfully it's only a slight scratch on the surface coating and not a deep one on the element itself.

 

[TRLWNC7396]

Awesome pics!

 

[Team THRT Drift]

021 by Automotive Buff, on Flickr

022 by Automotive Buff, on Flickr

023 by Automotive Buff, on Flickr

024-2 by Automotive Buff, on Flickr

025 by Automotive Buff, on Flickr
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Focus was off as I was shooting through my window's reflection and I was in the wrong shooting preset, I usually reserve Shooting Preset A for wildlife but I was on D probably when I was fiddling with the Helios from a couple weeks ago. Not the ideal circumstances but I've been stuck at home battling an illness so when I saw my neighbor's cat, Ràul, I figured it was on opportune moment to take a picture. What is fascinating though, is that he stopped the second I let off the first burst. Maybe saw my shadow through the window, who knows. But he kinda stopped, looked to his right, shrugged it off and kept going.

I'll try to get cleaner images so I can showcase his blue eyes a little better. Apparently I shot this at ISO 400, 1/500sec f/8.0 at 500mm. Settings wise it seems okay so I'll have to look into why it didn't grab focus.

 

[Bosozoku]

First non-motorsport photos in ages

 

[TRLWNC7396]

Those are AMAZING!

 

[Venom800tt]

For some odd reason this phone pic has a nice vibe to it:


Also here is some DSLR fun:

 

[Team THRT Drift]

First non-motorsport photos in ages

View attachment 1313675View attachment 1313673View attachment 1313671View attachment 1313669View attachment 1313668

These are my favourite from the set!

 

[kjeldsen]

delete

 

[kjeldsen]

Ooops, plz delete

 

[Nico_Ble99]

Went ahead and started retouching some photos from last year's 12H Spa-Francorchamps, I went a bit more "artsy" with this one.
Apart from the usual editing (exposure, lights, contrast, etc.), I also did some masking, worked with some radial filters and brush strokes.

F/10 | 1/320 | 105mm | ISO 200​

 

[TRLWNC7396]

I've been doing videos of a major road construction in my home town of Asheville, NC. I put together screen shots of a bridge being built, and set them up as a 1 second per pic time lapse.

It's not awesome, but I was staring into the sun when it wasn't raining or cloudy:

French Broad river bridge time lapse

 

[Venom800tt]

Some pics I took up on the Foothills Parkway in Maryville, TN: