Ginetta Media Day 2013 at Silverstone

Thursday, March 7th, 2013

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With the motorsport season just around the corner, many of the championships have been holding press days to promote their racing series. I was lucky enough to be able to attend the Ginetta Media Day on behalf of RaceCarBuzz to photograph the event. The media day took place at Silverstone, with the National track configuration.

The usual equipment for Silverstone Photography

As has been the case for a number of shoots already this year, I took with me Joel Rowbottom Esq’s Canon 5D Mk2 (thanks again Joel – I will return it one day, I promise!) with the 70-200mm, 16-35mm and 24-105mm lenses. In addition to this I also took the Mamiya C330F, with both the 80mm f/2.8 and 55mm f/2.8 lenses. I would use Ilford FP4+ and Ilford Delta 400 films, later processed, as usual, in DD-X.

Brilliant conditions, brilliant blue sky

Conditions at Silverstone were fantastic – the sun was shining, the sky was a vast expanse of blue, and it was warm enough for me to potter around in a flowery shirt rather than my usual monsoon condition attire. The pit lane at Silverstone was casting a large shadow, so conditions were still a challenge when it came to capturing cars in the pits. Often I could either get the cars to expose correctly and blow out the sky, or vice versa.

Ginetta cars in the pitlane at Silverstone with a blue sky - Silverstone Photography.

A blown out sky was unavoidable without any filters – post production came to the rescue though, and I was able to make an atmospheric shot that showed what the conditions were like.

Although impressed with my post production, I’d much rather do this in camera with filters than in post production – I may look to invest in some filters for such condition, but they’ll probably need to be rather robust.

Using the environment in motorsport photography

I’ve wanted to move my motorsport photography on from simply pointing at cars and pressing the shutter, and there was plenty of opportunity to do this at Silverstone. The large Silverstone starting gantry is one of the more iconic parts of the circuit, despite being less frequently used due to the new layout.

The Silverstone starting gantry with a car racing under it - Silverstone Photography

The Silverstone starting gantry creates narrative, and using a slow shutter speed as a car went under it gave extra elements of interest.

A shutter speed of 1/30s gave the passing car a blurred effect, but was fast enough to keep the gantry sharp. The 16-35mm lens was ideal for squeezing the whole width of the gantry in, even though there is some slight distortion at the edges at this wide an angle.

Limited positions and making do

Due to the nature of the event, there were not many sections of the circuit open. This meant that being the pits was the only real option to be able to catch on track action and cars in the pitlane. This meant I had to get creative in trying to find shots as cars tested out on track.

Fergus Walkinshaw testing at Silverstone, taken from the pit wall - Silverstone Photography

Fergus Walkinshaw speeds past the pits. I captured just enough of the car sharp to create a great sense of speed while keeping the distinct Silverstone look to the shot.

I really like these rather abstract, experimental style shots. They retain enough familiarity, while delivering a unique and artistic look. The shot creates it’s own leading lines from both the blurring effect and perspective.

Compositions with drivers

With so much testing going on during the day, drivers were often sitting in their cars as setup changes were applied under the bonnet. This was a great opportunity to capture drivers in the cars, with visors open contemplating their next run.

A Ginetta driver sat in a G55 with the door open -Silverstone Photography

A Ginetta driver at the cockpit of a G55, preparing to continue testing after some setup changes.

I really liked the combination of sharp angles created by the car door and bodywork, contrasting against both a human element and the round helmet. The opening in the door frames the driver nicely, and the depth of field focuses on the eyes.

Back to the blurring

Although a bit predictable, I do like to do blurry, angled shots as cars speed by. They’re a real challenge to do, but getting the right combination of composition, car and colour can be tricky to do. I find that some cars simply make photographs better than others because of their livery, shape or style.

The Hillspeed Ginetta G55 at the Ginetta Media Day at Silverstone - Silverstone Photography

The Hillspeed Ginetta G55 was the ideal car for this type of shot; a striking colour, that really stood out from the pastel coloured background. The nose stayed sharp, with the rear wing being streched out with blur.

Fine art, from a fine camera

The Mamiya C330F never fails to impress both me and people that come up to me and comment on it at circuits. Despite it’s bulky weight it’s always worth carrying around to photograph with during the day. The prime lenses and square format are a real challenge to use in a zoom lens digital age.

Ginetta G60 cars at Silverstone in black and white - Silverstone Photography

FP4+ was the ideal film to use in these bright conditions. Two Ginetta G60 road cars parked next to the truck were ideal subjects.

I was blown away with the quality of this image – the clarity, tonal range and composition came together to create a really classy shot of two G60 road cars. I think that FP4+ has the edge over Delta 100 for me, and seems to have better (or at least more preferable contrast) in comparison. I’ll certainly be buying another load of this film stock for events in the spring and summer.

Capturing action on the C330F has in the past been a challenge, but with my newly acquired prism finder this has become a little easier. The tradition waist level viewfinder produced an inverted image, but the prism finder corrects this, at the cost of some light due to the depletion of light as it refracts through the elements. It does allow for a corrected view, which I was keen to try out at Silverstone.

A Ginetta G55 passing the pits at speed, caught on a Mamiya C330F -Silverstone Photography

A G55 speeds past the pitlane, and with the prism finder installed I was able to capture it on the C330F.

I think that this was a decent first attempt at panning with the Mamiya, and the framing came out fairly well. I’d have liked a shot with less ‘detritus’ in the bottom left corner, but with limited shooting positions this wasn’t realistic. I does show that this camera is capable of these sorts of shots now, which is reassuring. With only 12 shots per roll though, planning and preparing is a must.

A more human element

Although I enjoy taking photographs of people, I’ve actually done very little of it – even in my motorsport photography. I always feel a bit uncomfortable about asking people to pose, as they often don’t know what to do, and quite frankly neither do I. After a rather amazing driving experience in a Ginetta G40R, I asked my instructor Rick Parfett Junior (yes, son of THAT Rick Parfett!) to pose on the pitwall for me to photograph with the Mamiya. Naturally at such a moment, my light metre went completely flat, so I had to wing the exposure with whatever was the last setting.

Rick Parfett on the pit wall at Silverstone. - Silverstone Photography

Rick Parfett Jnr proved to be an ideal candidate for a portrait on the pit wall at Silverstone. I really want to do more portraits with my motorsport photography, especially with the Mamiya C330F.

I was once again astounded with the image quality from the Mamiya. The 80mm f/2.8 blue dot lens is well renowned for its quality and clarity, and combined with FP4+ produced a really striking image. There’s so much detail to the portrait, yet the background is blurred to lift it and remove detractions. I want to do more portraits as part of my motorsport photography, both to increase my confidence with people and to generate a more human element to my photography.

Summing up a great day with Ginetta

After a fantastic, beautiful and very exciting day (mainly due to my 4 laps of driving in a Ginetta G40R!) I felt that I produced some photographs that have moved my photography on, just in time for the new season start. After a long, hard winter, spring and with it the motorsport season is nearly upon me. I’m hoping to continue to take my Mamiya with me on my adventures, and with the new prism finder I hope to create more stunning shots as the year progresses.

I’d like to thank once again Joel Rowbottom for lending me his 5D MkII again, Martin Hopkins of RaceCarBuzz.com for allowing me to cover the event for his website, and the Ginetta team, especially Ruth Harrison for allowing me to attend the media day, and for organising such a great event.