Sports Photography as a Spectator Part 2: Rally

-

I hear it said a lot that motor sport is difficult to shoot without a media pass.  Well that is very true for circuit racing, especially at the big venues like Silverstone or Le Mans, but there is one form of motor sport that does afford great access for spectators and that is rallying.  

 To prove the point I went along to the opening round of the British Rally Championship the Border Counties Rally in Jedburgh, which was also Round 2 of the Scottish Rally Championship.  All the access during the event was on a spectator pass, I paid for the car park on the special stage and I shot from the designated areas.

 The result was a great set of images that couldn't really have been bettered if I had been wearing a media vest.  Yes the media photographers could visit all of the special stages, where as spectators were limited to a few, but the pros had to submit a plan of the areas they wanted to visit for approval by the event safety manager BEFORE the event and they couldn't change their minds once they started shooting.


On the subject of safety, anyone visiting a rally must follow the safety rules and obey the marshals and officials.  CLICK HERE to visit the Motor Sport Association UK's website with full details of the dos and donts when spectating at a rally event. 

 Anyway if you want to read the full story here is a link to the feature I wrote for the Fujifilm website - CLICK HERE - and here is a copy of the video I shot during the day.


Photographing the Border Counties Rally as a Spectator from Fuji X Adventure on Vimeo.

Finally here are more images from the day at the Border Counties Rally on Saturday 18 March



















































CLICK HERE to see the first part of the Sports Photography as a Spectator on Rugby.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS ON THIS PAGE
By clicking on the adverts you are helping support this blog - thank you.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ALL IMAGES (UNLESS INDICATED) ARE THE PROPERTY OF MACLEAN PHOTOGRAPHIC AND CANNOT BE USED FOR ANY PURPOSE WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION


MacLean Photographic run Tours and Workshops in East Lothian and the Borders of Scotland.  CLICK HERE for more details and availability


Jeff Carter is an Official Fujifilm X Photographer and was named as a Fujifilm brand ambassador in June 2015. In 2016 he worked with the company on the launches of the Fujifilm X-Pro2 in Tokyo and the Fujifilm X-T2 in Paris in July 2016.  You can view his profile and gallery on the Fujifilm website HERE

If you like what you see on this blog please visit our Facebook page and click 'like'

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

REVIEW: The New Fujinon 2x Converter

-
Image
Yesterday Fujifilm launched the latest edition to the Fujinon XF lens line up, the XF 2X TC WR teleconverter for use with the XF50-140mm f2.8 and XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 zoom lenses.  In April I was invited by Fujifilm to test the new converter and here are my thoughts on this new lens. Before I go into details I need to be upfront about something.  I've never been a fan of 2x converters because the optical quality of the lens is usually affected to a large degree.   I did have a 1.4x and 2x converter for my lenses when I was shooting with Nikon. While the 1.4x converter was regularly attached to my long f2.8 lenses, the 2x converter was probably used about three times in the 18 years I used Nikkor lenses.  I didn't like the results when using the converter so tended to not use it. Anyway back to the X-Series!  The 1.4x Fujinon converter was launched in 2015 and I have been a fan of this diminutive lens attachment on both the 50-140mm and 100-400mm....
Read more

Review: Little and Large - Using a Fujifilm X-T20 for Sport

-
Image
In July 2015 I posted a review of the Fujifilm X-T10 which I tested alongside my X-T1 as a lightweight alternative to the larger and more expensive camera.  So when Fujifilm announced the launch of the X-T20 I was keen to put one to the test.   I took an X-T20 along with me to the FIA World Endurance Championship event at Spa-Francorchamps and also shot the TCR International Series race during the European Le Mans Series event in Monza.  I also took a few shots with it during the recent Water Ski event at Hazelwood Ski Centre last month and these three events really put the X-T20 through its paces. Like the X-T10, the T20 is tiny compared to it's bigger brother.  Even with the battery grip removed from the T2,  the picture above shows the larger camera dwarfing the X-T20.   Now this can be seen as a good thing if you are traveling and need a lightweight camera with a big punch but when using it with long lenses such as the 50-140mm or 100-400m...
Read more

REVIEW: Using Nikon Lenses on a Fuji X Camera

-
Image
I've been using the Fujifilm X-Pro1 for the past month and I haven't enjoyed my photography so much since I bought the Fuji X100 12 months earlier.  The only issue I have with the X-Pro1 is the lack of a long telephoto lens.  The longest lens I have is the 60mm f2.4, which is the equivalent of a 90mm telephoto; it's a great lens but I sometimes wish my Fuji system had a bit more pulling power.   Fuji have provided the X system with a telephoto zoom, the 55-200mm f3.5 / f4.8 R LM OIS and I will be testing this lens next week for three days. I will be showing the results on this blog. However my Nikon kit has one of the best short telephoto zooms in the world, the Nikkor 80-200mm f2.8 AF-D.  I bought this lens brand new in 1996 for £1600.00 and it has been a faithful companion ever since. I've bought and sold plenty of SLRs / DSLRs in the past 18 years but I've never felt the need to upgrade the 80-200mm because it is still optically the best lens I own and it ha...
Read more