GT1, Formula 3 and British GT at Donington Park

The 29th and 30th of September saw the last rounds of the GT1, Formula 3 and British GT championships at Donington Park. I went down on the Saturday to photograph cars during practice, qualifying and a couple of races.

Donington Park GP Layout

I’ve visited the track with the GP layout before, but hadn’t explored it fully until this event. As I entered the circuit at the Fogarty Esses, I had the chance to photograph the action in the morning. There was a small delay due to a power cut at the circuit, but the action soon continued. I wanted to try out more depth of field shots, using the layout of the track, car and environment to construct interesting images.

The Ferrari chases the Lambo down through the esses at Donington Park. I used the depth of field to imply a narrative, but I could have done with a slightly faster shutter speed.

I’ve always found these shots tough – they’re easy to do in terms of setting the camera up, but the composition is always the biggest challenge. Here, I leaned the camera and waited for the Lamborghini to appear in the distance before taking the shot. I could have done with a slightly faster shutter speed to capture the Ferrari better, but I liked the implied narrative from the photograph.

Superblur at the chicane

This ‘superblur’ style of shot is one of my favourites to try and capture. High risk, but high reward if they work out. I believe the trick is to capture enough of the shape of the car to be recognisable, with out the shot looking too contrived and blurry.

Sharp enough to see the shape of the car and read the number – the key ingredients for ‘superblur’ style shots, in my book at least.

The Audi has a distinct shape, with it’s domed top and large rear wing, and this proved to be a great subject for this style of shot. I really like the way that this style turns the colours into an oil painting like blur as the car races through the photograph. For these, I disabled image stabilisation on my lens, as this creates much more consistent shots when the shutter speed is so low.

Photographing single seater F3 cars

This was the first time that I’d photographed single seaters of the modern era. I’ve photographed plenty of classic and vintage Formula 3 cars, so this was something new to tackle. The speed of these cars are much faster, and were more like the purpose built cars used for hillclimbing in terms of speed.

Fast shutter speeds were needed for photographing these fast single seaters through the chicane at Donington.

These cars were certainly fast machines, and it was great to see cars that I’ve been watching on TV all year in the flesh. This wings and slicks formula certainly produced close racing, and drivers were really taking the cars to the edge over the kerbs through the chicane.

Narrative through the environment

Racing circuits usually have a lot of different advertising banners around the track, and in certain circumstances these can really add to a photograph. I noticed the Jota Mazda MX-5 racing past a giant Mazda sign on the run down to Hollywood. This proved to be an opportunity too good to miss!

The environment provided a great opportunity to photograph the Jota Mazda MX-5 racing past a large Mazda sign on the outside of Redgate/Hollywood at Donington Park.

The multicar superblur shot

In the right position, it was possible to fit more than one car into a Superblur style shot. I photographed the Jon Minshaw/Tim Harvey Porsche 997 GT3 R entering Redgate, following the bright yellow Jordan Witt/Anthony Reid Chevron GT3. This proved to be a great combination to put together, with the vibrant greens, bright reds and splash of yellow blurring through the shot.

Splashes of colour from both the Porsche and the Chevron GT3 cars as they race into Redgate at Donington

I really liked how this photo turned out, as once again the oil painting style added to the character of the shot and gave a great sensation of speed.

A day of shooting cut short

While photographing in the late morning, the viewfinder on my Canon 5D Mk1 went completely black – I took the lens off, and saw that the mirror had completely detached from the inside of my camera. I was really annoyed that it had broken again, only a few months after having the circuit boards and shutter mechanism replaced. There was nothing I could do to fix it, so had to do as best I could with the remainder of the day. I was determined to stay and get some shots, so I whipped out the Mamiya C330F to do some photographs in the paddock.

Taking the Mamiya C330 around the paddock

I loaded the Mamiya with a roll of Ilford Delta 400. This was a decent speed for conditions that kept clouding over, and for using in the shaded parts of the paddock. With a shutter speed up to 1/500 of a second, large apertures were still possible to create interesting depth of field shots.

The ‘golden rule’ in full use on this Ferrari 458 rear light. I really liked the depth of tones produced by the Delta 400 on this shot.

A bright yellow Ferrari 458 in the paddock proved to be a great subject for photographing on 6×6. The brake light on this car provided a perfect golden rule shape, and the Delta 400 (developed in Ilford DD-X) came out with some great depth in the tones.

Jazeman Jaafar’s car in the paddock. I used symmetry to construct the shot, with the depth of field limited to the nose of the car. I thought the mechanic working in the background provided some interesting detail.

Symmetry was the best composition for the Formula 3 car sitting in the paddock, and I limited the depth of field so put emphasis onto the number and logos on the nose of the car. I was pleased with how there was a contrast in the top of the bodywork and the background tones.

Summing up my Donington trip

Despite my camera breaking midway though the day, I still had a good time at Donington. It was one of the few big events at a circuit I’d been to during the year, and despite the day’s racing being mostly qualifying and practice, I still enjoyed seeing these cars being driven right to the edge.

Futher viewing

I have created a set on Flickr for my FIA GT1, British GT and British F3 International at Donington Park 2012 set. There are only a couple events at Donington Park left, so check out their website to see what events are left to run this season. There are also British GT, British Formula 3 International and GT1 website if you want to see the results from the events.

Posted in: 6x6, Digital, Film Photography, Formula 3, GT, Motorsport