Is it my imagination or are the pictures from the MCC official photographer pretty bad. I was looking at some of the proofs sent to competitors on The Exeter shot at Fingle and even to my amature eye they are awfull. Trees in the way, bad angles, to many rear views etc etc. No where near as good as the guy that used to do them or Derek Hibbert.
Anyway Mike Hayward and I will be around and about with cameras on The Lands End and you won't complain about value for money with my pictures as provided I can send them electronically I don't charge for them.
The plan is to be at Sutcombe, Daracott or Crackington in time for the later bikes, stay there for the first 60 to 100 cars. Then move onto Hoskin where we will be just above the class 8 restart (so if you are in class 7 and you fail your restart no picture!). We should see most of the mid numbers there before moving to Blue Hills to see the tail end of the field.
We are not planning to make a DVD but if we do take any video I think I have found a way to put it on the net without falling foul of my ISP's bandwidth limits.
I will be doing live reports to the blog (see above) and I welcome as much help as possible.
Michael
I really must take exception to Michael's comments about MCC photographs. Personally I think Charlie Wooding's pictures are, in general, vastly superior to anything that we used to get from Dick Lankester or Derek Hibbert. I've bought from all three, and they've all produced good and bad ones over time, but Charlie's are by far the most atmospheric, always "in context", and with no question about the section or the year. I have some very good DH photos but, for some of them, I can only tell what event it was from my number, and which section it was because he put it on the order form. Michael's proposed itinerary shows exactly the problem of the official photographer who has to select one particular section and stick-around for six hours to photograph everyone. Not for him the luxury of moving-around to see several sections. And that, I think, may be the root of Michael's dissatisfaction with the Exeter photographs, where Charlie has to select a section in the middle of one of the shortest days of the year and Fingle is the obvious choice. I've had a quick scan through some DL/DH pictures taken at Fingle in the past and, in my opinion, Charlie's are equally good if not better. To see a selection of Charlie's pics, and to judge for yourself, start here: http://www.themotorcyclingclub.org.uk/events/archive.htm Andrew
ReplyDeleteI agree with Andrew. Its definately your imagination.
ReplyDeleteNow that you have thrown the gauntlet down, we all look forward to some top quality shots on the Lands End, much better than anything we have seen in the past, not just picures of cars and bikes in the countryside, but something that really catches the action.
Well Simon from my side I will try. I usually try to take the sort of picture that I would like myself, coming in close to peoples face in open cars, wheels in the air, that sort of thing. "Hill atmosphere" has never been something I have tried to do. Something to aspire to! Hopefully not for to long as I can see a light at the end of the tunnel for me to start driving again! Regarding the pros (you get what you pay for with my stuff) I rate them. 1. Dick - 95% were good clean, sharp shots, with no trees or bushes in the way. The irritation was that to make the pictures sharp he always used flash which reflected off the windscreen. 2. Derek - Some not so good but you usually got half a dozen proofs to choose a good one from. 3. Charlie - For the reasons I said before Andrew - We will have to agree to differ on some points. I do agree that the hill and position on it are important. For example its very difficult to get the right angle on simms because of the spectators. Crackington the problem is the light with the shadows from the trees fooling the camera. Wooston is great and I think my stuff at http://www.classictrials.co.uk/Gas05021x.htm captured the atmosphere of the event. Sutcombe is the place on the LE but it will mean getting out of bed a bit early so it will probably be Crackington shadows and all. Don't know if you two guys are driving on the LE. If you are then I look forward to seeing you through my viewfinder on the higher reaches of Hoskin. Michael
ReplyDeleteI'm a relative newcomer to all this, but I do agree with Andrew and Simon, If you're job is to take photos of every competitor, you have to be relatively safe to ensure success. It's much easier, and more fun, to be able to experiment and accept the fact that you'll miss some. Anyway I hope to be at Blue Hills on Saturday, and any advice on where to get the maximum impact would be welcome. I'll publish my photo's on the same basis as Michael's. Also, as it's much more local, I'm hoping to do the Kyrle next weekend, again any advice, preferably with Map references as to where to get good Photos would be appreciated. Dave Cook
ReplyDeleteDave, if you come and see me at the start of the Kyrle I will provide you with all the info you need. I will be in the signing on area inside the cafe from 7.30 to 9.30 The start is at the BP Services at Whitchurch on the A40 northbound Monmouth to Ross-on-Wye road. Stuart Harrold, Secretary of the Meeting, Kyrle Trial
ReplyDeleteI think the MCC photographers do a good job on the whole. I guess part of the issue is that they are professional photographers and they need to capture everyone to maximise their chances of people buying an image so they can't always be at the most dramatic part of any event. It's a bit of a catch 22 isn't it because many regular triallists might think the resulting image is then not worth having because it's not so dramatic... I think the proofs over the last couple of years I've had have been very good eg Tillerton restart, nicely composed and lit shots on Fingle, interesting/different angles on Simms. Blue Hills 2 always seems to work well. My personal dislike is pictures that make it look like you're driving along a flat road, not up a steep hill. The classic front on shot makes this effect particularly likely for some reason, perhaps because camera and car are inclined at the same angle. Three quarter view or shooting up the hill seem to make things look more interesting IMHO Finally, and I know this is from a 2 seat car perspective, how about three quarter view from the passenger's side rather than the driver's? You can hardly see any of the bouncers in the photos I've got as the light always bounces of the buggy screen. It would make a better thank you/christmas 'gift' for a bouncer if people could actually tell that they were in the car!
ReplyDeleteThanks Stuart I'll see you there,
ReplyDeleteDave Cook
Ian, I agree about the screen, it's very difficult not to get reflections, I've tried to edit some in Photoshop with some success, and if I could ever get enough light and time I'd like to try a Polarising filter, perhaps on Saturday!! Anyway here's one of your bouncer, on a very foggy Clee. and another which would have been OK if only you could train him not to hold on like grim death when your bouncing up Nailsworth. http://hoits.smugmug.com/photos/53488747-M.jpg http://hoits.smugmug.com/photos/56848866-M.jpg and for what its worth, this is one of my favorites, which I think meets all your criteria: http://hoits.smugmug.com/photos/56019690-M.jpg Dave Cook
ReplyDeleteThanks Dave. Now I know there's someone out there taking exactly the right sort of pictures I'll try to train my passengers: a) to look like they're enjoying it despite the cold b) not to look like they're hanging on for grim death. I suspect previous experience may make the latter more difficult to achieve...my recollection of Nailsworth was of a gentle trickle off the restart and up the hill but your picture makes it look much more exciting. A great picture of Aaron and Dave at work and very thoughtful of Dave to drive near enough to the netting for some close-up shots!
ReplyDeleteLands End 2006 - Blue Hills 2 photo" height=450 alt="Dave Cook (hoits) > Lands End 2006 - Blue Hills 2 photo" hspace=0 src="http://hoits.smugmug.com/photos/64712007-M.jpg" width=321 border=0 name=mainImage> Is this really the sort of photograph we want for this site?????? (Sorry Dave)
ReplyDeleteSimon - There are others! following Daves advice I have signed up for Snugmug. My pictures can be found at:- Crackington http://classicalgas.smugmug.com/gallery/1374666 Hoskin http://classicalgas.smugmug.com/gallery/1374706 Bluehills 1 http://classicalgas.smugmug.com/gallery/1374731 Michael
ReplyDeleteFor those of you who cannot follow the link to Dave Cook's site, I guess I shall have to spoil the joke by explaining that the link leads to a picture of Michael in close up at Blue Hills
ReplyDeleteI think this is the link you need:- http://hoits.smugmug.com/photos/64712007-M.jpg But if you think thats bad try this one:- http://hoits.smugmug.com/photos/59598425-M.jpg Dave Cook
ReplyDeleteThere's worse at http://spaces.msn.com/classicalgas/
ReplyDelete