Syntax's Gallery - Updated 09/08/2011 some boring couples shots... no cars here :(

[C-ZETA]

Love the number 11 shot, brilliant close up it is.

 

[boiltheocean]

I love the first shot, you've got some really good results 👍

 

[Syntax error]

Thanks guys, appreciate the feedback. I was going to take a few more photos with film today but I was in a bit of rush to get to my spot on the track which is a shame. Anyway, I'll post some digital shots of both the historic races and the motorbike races from today over the next few days.

 

[Syntax error]

Alright... gone through a few of the digital images from the historic races on Saturday. It was a slow start as there was a three hour delay so I was taking some shots of the rally school next door in my boredom. Mind you I wasn't game enough to go too close, far too much dust in the air and I hate cleaning my sensor!

 

[boiltheocean]

The two black and white images are lovely Seriously good stuff man, I really like the colours on the Porsche too 👍

 

[Syntax error]

Thanks dude. I’m really happy with the way those b&w’s turned out and I’m usually quite critical of my own work

I've noticed a pretty disturbing trend when I'm out at the tracks, most of the photographers seem to find one spot and camp there the entire day. Maybe it's just me, but I won't/can't sit in one spot for more than one race. I feel that if I where to be in one spot the entire time I'd get almost always the same images but with different bikes/cars, and that's not really fun photography.

Anyway enough rambling.... here are some shots from Sunday at Eastern Creek Raceway. The St George motorcycle club was out on a track day, but I had gotten a phone call on Thursday from one of the guys racing in the BEAR's Nationals as they decided that they where going to have an impromptu round as well.

My mate Paul Bailey’s bike in the garage.

 

[Dougboy]

That second last bike shot.... once again, i cannot belive how Tourist Trophy-like it is

And that shot of the orange carrera is also spot on 👍

 

[Syntax error]

Thanks BB, I've gotten a few comments like that actually. I didn't realize at first either but a few people started mentioning it to me and to tell you thr truth, I kind of like the effect so I stuck with this pp process for a few of my shots. 👍

 

[boiltheocean]

The first shot is lovely! I detail, tones and depth are perfect.

 

[Mad94d]

Loving the shots of the historics at Oran Park! That is fantastic. (You can tell I like Oran Park and motorsport. A shame to see Oran Park going.)

 

[Syntax error]

The first shot is lovely! I detail, tones and depth are perfect.

Thanks dude

Loving the shots of the historics at Oran Park! That is fantastic. (You can tell I like Oran Park and motorsport. A shame to see Oran Park going.)

Cheers mate, it really is a shame. It will certainly be missed s it makes way for property development. I'll definitely be making as many trips out as possible this year.

 

[Mad94d]

Cheers mate, it really is a shame. It will certainly be missed s it makes way for property development. I'll definitely be making as many trips out as possible this year.

Yeah, we want to go to the "Shannons Nationals" in late August and possibly the NSW road racing championship to watch a person we know race his Supercharged Lotus Exige race car. I don't know if drifting is on again this year, but that was always good too. So for us we will probably get out there two or three more times.👍

 

[stumpydino]

great new shots
nice and crisp

 

[Syntax error]

Yeah, we want to go to the "Shannons Nationals" in late August and possibly the NSW road racing championship to watch a person we know race his Supercharged Lotus Exige race car. I don't know if drifting is on again this year, but that was always good too. So for us we will probably get out there two or three more times.👍

Yeah I definitely want to get out there a few more times before it shuts and get as many photos as I can. I'm going to try and make an effort to get out to the Shannon’s Nationals as well, If you see a lunatic wandering around aimlessly with 2-3 camera bodies hanging from him, it's probably me

great new shots
nice and crisp

Thanks mate 👍

 

[Watchman]

Wow, great new shots 👍

 

[in.s@ne]

I love that first shot the most. It's so well composed and the slight blur on the left sets the bike so perfectly.
Fantastic!

 

[semilife]

Hi Syntax,

As ever a pleasure to browse your new work since I was last on your thread. Great work especially the black and white pics, so evocative almost of bygone racing days perhaps.

You have got resized pics in accordance with the posting rules, could you post via links to external hosts higher resolution versions of the pictures.

Also one last thing, I have some pics in my own thread here:

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=116659

and would value any comments/criticisms from you my friend if you can take the time.

 

[Syntax error]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. Really appreciate it.

You have got resized pics in accordance with the posting rules, could you post via links to external hosts higher resolution versions of the pictures.

Thanks for the comments semilife, appreciate the time you took to look through my gallery.

There is actually another reason I don't usually post links to larger resolution images as well, and that is because some of the shots are commissioned, and others I sell as prints to a lot of the racers. If I make the hi-res shots available, they'd have no need to pay me

I will however be making a few wallpapers of some of my shots in the near future so stay tuned 👍

 

[dougiemeats]

Missed quite a few updates to the gallery, but I've enjoyed catching up.

One question: Do you find that taking photos take away from the race experience as a spectator? I've always wanted to shoot an event (motorsport, games, etc.) but I fear I'll miss out on the actual action. I don't have to worry about it for quite some time since I don't have the proper camera and lenses for it though.

 

[Syntax error]

One question: Do you find that taking photos take away from the race experience as a spectator? I've always wanted to shoot an event (motorsport, games, etc.) but I fear I'll miss out on the actual action. I don't have to worry about it for quite some time since I don't have the proper camera and lenses for it though.

Seeing the race through the camera is personally how I best enjoy the show. I know a lot of guys that like to go sit up on the grand stand and watch it from there (not much fun at a track like Eastern Creek as it quite a large circuit, but great at smaller tracks like Oran Park) but I prefer to be closer to the action, mingle in the pits etc, plus I really enjoy post production side of photography so in a way I get to re-live some of it at a later date as well.

I don’t doubt that I miss a lot. There are a lot of races that I won’t even know who won as I was too busy setting up for the next race, looking for another good location where I think a lot of action might occur.

 

[Speedster502]

Woah, quite a lot of work here since I last visited. I'll mainly comment on the car stuff as thats what I'm most used to. I'm pretty keen on all the car shots, even the rally one. The rally one has a nice feel to it, it shows that you don't neccessarily need to be close to car to convey action. With your shot showing the dust trails makes it seem interesting. The black and white photos and the pan of the Porsche work incredibley well and look interesting. The only shot I have a minor gripe with is the Datsun shot, I think space infront of the car rather than behind it would have worked better, showing where the car is about to go rather than where its been tends to work better. But in general a very nice set.

It seems to me that you've caught the motorsport bug, I hope to see more from you 👍

Do you find that taking photos take away from the race experience as a spectator? I've always wanted to shoot an event (motorsport, games, etc.) but I fear I'll miss out on the actual action. I don't have to worry about it for quite some time since I don't have the proper camera and lenses for it though.

My personal opinion is that it doesn't take away the race experience. I find that through a camera lens you actually get to see a closer view of the action (especially with a bigger zoom). Sure, you tend to miss some stuff but then again I'd probably miss stuff if I wasn't shooting. I'd say give shooting a event a go, if you find you miss out on the action then stop. It's all down to personal preference, I personally enjoy doing motorsport and action based events more than doing static shots.

 

[homeforsummer]

I can't believe I haven't been into this thread before. There are some truly wonderful shots in this thread. The two black and white historic race shots are amazing and you've got some fantastic depth of field in them.

The first and last bike track day ones are my favourite. With the close crop of the rider on track, what photoshop work have you done, or is it just standard saturation/contrast etc? I ask because it looks a little pixellated at that crop, and even has a hint of looking like a painting.

One question: Do you find that taking photos take away from the race experience as a spectator? I've always wanted to shoot an event (motorsport, games, etc.) but I fear I'll miss out on the actual action. I don't have to worry about it for quite some time since I don't have the proper camera and lenses for it though.

I'll echo what Speedster has said above. I don't find that taking photographs at events takes much away from the experience as you're witnessing the action from a different view. Personally I love the pursuit of capturing what I'm seeing to look at again and again to remember the event by. I must admit I've frequently missed things like accidents or overtakes because I've had my lens pointed in the wrong direction ready to take another shot, but at the same time I've had some great shots because it's been pointed in the right direction before!

A motorcycle club once used one of my photos in their programme of one of their members sliding across the tarmac on his butt with the sparks of his bike alongside him! So other people can re-live the experience too!

 

[dougiemeats]

Seeing the race through the camera is personally how I best enjoy the show. I know a lot of guys that like to go sit up on the grand stand and watch it from there (not much fun at a track like Eastern Creek as it quite a large circuit, but great at smaller tracks like Oran Park) but I prefer to be closer to the action, mingle in the pits etc, plus I really enjoy post production side of photography so in a way I get to re-live some of it at a later date as well.

I don’t doubt that I miss a lot. There are a lot of races that I won’t even know who won as I was too busy setting up for the next race, looking for another good location where I think a lot of action might occur.

My personal opinion is that it doesn't take away the race experience. I find that through a camera lens you actually get to see a closer view of the action (especially with a bigger zoom). Sure, you tend to miss some stuff but then again I'd probably miss stuff if I wasn't shooting. I'd say give shooting a event a go, if you find you miss out on the action then stop. It's all down to personal preference, I personally enjoy doing motorsport and action based events more than doing static shots.

I'll echo what Speedster has said above. I don't find that taking photographs at events takes much away from the experience as you're witnessing the action from a different view. Personally I love the pursuit of capturing what I'm seeing to look at again and again to remember the event by. I must admit I've frequently missed things like accidents or overtakes because I've had my lens pointed in the wrong direction ready to take another shot, but at the same time I've had some great shots because it's been pointed in the right direction before!

A motorcycle club once used one of my photos in their programme of one of their members sliding across the tarmac on his butt with the sparks of his bike alongside him! So other people can re-live the experience too!

Thanks for the responses. I supposed it's something I'll have to try before making any conclusions. Maybe I'm just accustomed to having a live-timing screen and sometimes a forum/chatroom in addition to watching the race on television - I feel like I need all that information to really absorb everything going on during a race.

 

[Syntax error]

It seems to me that you've caught the motorsport bug, I hope to see more from you 👍

Most certainly have. There will be plenty more to come. I had a two week break as I needed to spend a bit of time with family, next week I have a big shoot at a race track (Bathurst to be precise) but it is not a race shoot, it's an automotive shoot with a car club.

I tend to agree with the 240Z shot as well, I was in two minds about it, but there was just something not quite right about it's composition.

The first and last bike track day ones are my favourite. With the close crop of the rider on track, what photoshop work have you done, or is it just standard saturation/contrast etc? I ask because it looks a little pixellated at that crop, and even has a hint of looking like a painting.

Thanks for the comments 👍 I have a set of things I usually do in photoshop that are pretty standard, boosting contrast, correcting colours etc with the zoomed shot I think I might have cropped a little too heavyhandedly and then probably over sharpened the shot.

Thanks for the responses. I supposed it's something I'll have to try before making any conclusions. Maybe I'm just accustomed to having a live-timing screen and sometimes a forum/chatroom in addition to watching the race on television - I feel like I need all that information to really absorb everything going on during a race.

I'd definitely recommended giving it ago. Head down to your local track and check out a few club events, I'm sure you won't be disappointed.



EDIT:

Just on another note, as I take so many photos, I only ever post a very small portion of them here. If anyone is interested in seeing any of my other work my blog is regularly updated and so is my facebook page.

 

[Syntax error]

Took a trip up to Bathurst over the weekend. I was originally going to rig up a few cars from a local car club that my wife's cousin is part of. We started out with having just a few cars coming which swelled to 16 plus cars and everyone was having too much fun driving around the race track, so we never really got around to it. I did get a few shots off but I haven't even looked at them yet, I might post few up later.

Anyway while up at the top of Mt Panorama, I could here a familiar buzz sound sound so I thought I'd investigate and to my surprise I found the NSW Motocross Championship finals:

 

[boiltheocean]

Those are sweet!

DoF in the first 3 shots is sooo nice and the last shot is seriously well framed. Now I want to go to one of my mates Motorcross races!

 

[Speedster502]

Lovely shots here, my favourite out the bunch has to be the first one I think. Nice PP again on these. I think the last shot would be excellent if the first bike was in full view. Thats my honest opinion though! Other than that great shots, and great panning too.

Oh and by the way, your gallery name seems to have gained a space between "Synt" and "ax".

 

[Boffin]

once again Syntax, really great stuff here. I love the colour balance on all of them, with the last being my favourite 👍.

 

[Scaff]

Excellent work SE, great stuff as always.


Regards

Scaff

 

[Syntax error]

Those are sweet!

DoF in the first 3 shots is sooo nice and the last shot is seriously well framed. Now I want to go to one of my mates Motorcross races!

Cheers dude, definitely get out there. I only had a chance to spend 20 minutes or so but I found that you can get heaps closer to the action than at a track and there is plenty of action with jumps and crashes. I'll probably make an effort to attend a few more motocross events.

Lovely shots here, my favourite out the bunch has to be the first one I think. Nice PP again on these. I think the last shot would be excellent if the first bike was in full view. Thats my honest opinion though! Other than that great shots, and great panning too.

Oh and by the way, your gallery name seems to have gained a space between "Synt" and "ax".

Thanks, I totally agree with you on the framing of the last shot. I have a few where the rider is fully visible but those shots are in landscape and didn't have the same impact as the portrait framed one.

ah.. thanks, I must have done something funny when I updated the gallery name cheers.

once again Syntax, really great stuff here. I love the colour balance on all of them, with the last being my favourite 👍.

Excellent work SE, great stuff as always.


Regards

Scaff

Thanks guys 👍