Mobil1 12 Hours of Sebring - Pictures

26Apr07

This year I bought a Nikon digital SLR camera and set of lenses, primarily for photographing auto races. This includes a D200 body, a 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens, a Sigma 150mm f/2.8 macro lens, and a Nikon AF-S 300mm f/4 telephoto lens. In the fours days I was at Sebring watching sports car racing, I took nearly 5000 photos, most of them in continuous bursts of 5 shots/sec of cars shooting around the track at over 150 MPH. I’ve slowly been culling the bad shots and selecting some good ones using Adobe Lightroom, which is a pretty cool piece of software although it is quite memory and processor intensive (read: it can be slow and run out of memory). I’m not done, but I have at least made a decent start to a photo album, which can be found here.

Next up is the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix in June. After that we plan to attend the ALMS Petit Le Mans (1000 km) at Road Atlanta in October. I can’t wait to go.


Filed under: ALMS, Motorsports, Photography   |  

7 Responses to “Mobil1 12 Hours of Sebring - Pictures”  

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  1. 1 Dan Lewis on Thursday, 26 April 2007 said:

    Nicely done! I notice that the cars look different from one another…more so than the other racing leagues I have seen. Is there a “formula” they have to follow?

  2. 2 Dean Wette on Thursday, 26 April 2007 said:

    That’s the great thing about ALMS (and the European Le Mans series) racing. You have four classes of cars racing simultaneously. They race for overall position, and for individual class position as well (there are 5 podium ceremonies at the end). Two classes (P1 and P2) are prototypes — purpose-built race cars — and the other two classes (GT1 and GT2) are production — based on sports cars you can buy and drive on the street (homologation calls for 2500 production cars). Within the two categories (P and GT) the classes differ in car weight and engine power.

    There are rules (not a formula) that govern the series determined by IMSA (International Motor Sports Association) and the ACO (Automobile Club de l’Ouest, the sister organization that governs the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the European series).

    The leaders in the ALMS series have dominated the 24 Hours of Le Mans podiums since 2000. The 12 Hours of Sebring is a pretty good preview of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

  3. 3 Jeff Brown on Thursday, 26 April 2007 said:

    Dan,

    In ALMS there are 4 classes… LMP1, LMP2, GT1 and GT2. A brief introduction to the classes is at http://americanlemans.com/assets/pdfs/classesofcompetition.pdf.

    jb

  4. 4 Mike van Oostveen on Tuesday, 19 February 2008 said:

    Hey Dean

    Great pictures of the Sebring Race, I am going this year and I just purchased the Nikon D200, and I was wondering what settings you used and which lens for the cars in the motion pictures.

    I was at Daytona 24 hours, and made pics myself, but even with panning I was not able to make a lot of ultra sharp pics of the cars, they are decent but not great

    I would appreciate if you could help me with the setting and which lens you used.

    I have the 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens

    Thanks in advance

    Regards
    Mike

  5. 5 Dean on Tuesday, 19 February 2008 said:

    Mike…

    When I was there last year I used a D200 with the 18-200 VR, a Sigma 150/2.8, and the Nikkor 300 f/4. I don’t remember what settings I had then because I’ve been fiddling with them since. If you search around (like the NikonCafe and Nikonians discussion forums) you should find D200 recommended settings for action/sports photography for the D200. That’s pretty much what I use.

    It is hard to get good shots. For every photo I like, I probably take 100+ I throw away. It’s about panning technique, practice, and luck.

    I still have the D200, but have changed to a different set of lenses. I now have the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR with a TC14E for the track, and a Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8 for the paddock and other shots. I also have a 50mm f/1.8, but don’t carry it at the track.

    We just bought our tickets and will be there again. I park in the BMW Corral. You might find me there, or hanging with friends at Turn 15.

  6. 6 Mike van Oostveen on Thursday, 21 February 2008 said:

    Hey Dean

    Thanks for the info, I will be coming on Wednesday, and might look you up

    What is a good spot to take some great pics ?, since I am not familiar with Sebring, some inside woudl be appreciated

    Mike

  7. 7 Dean on Tuesday, 11 March 2008 said:

    MIke…

    I don’t really have a favorite. I have friends at T15 and I’ll be at the BMW corral at T17, but I walk the entire track at least once. Be sure to check out the hairpin at T7.

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