Welcome to The Viewfinder on AdoramaTV,
My name is Marcin Lewandowski
and today I will share with you some
thoughts and ideas, around motorsport photography.
Looking at photographing motorsport
from the perspective of someone that spent
quite a bit of time, at the trackside.
It's really worth asking the question,
What are you trying to get out of it?
is it a professional career that you
want to pursue? Or just a love for cars
and racing in general? If it's a
professional route that you want to
chase, then you should start thinking
about getting some sort of official body
accreditatio,n but most of all hone your
business skills and selling skills.
It's a photography business like any
other, so being adept at finding clients
and selling photographs is as important
as the skills behind the camera. So let
me jump to the fun part. If you happen to
just love photography, and things powered
by internal combustion engines, then
following your gut might be a rather
enjoyable experience! It's true that's
standing on the side of a corner, without
a fence, and spectators between
your camera and the track can offer
spectacular perspectives, and alternative
vantage points, usually without
obstructions. But at the same time it
might put your creativity to sleep
especially at the beginning, when it can
become really overwhelming!
You will be restricted to only certain
parts of the track, often standing and
waiting for hours, in most remote parts
of it, so let's get to the race day!
Whether we have a media pass or not, come
early, or even very early, and have a walk
around looking for interesting
perspectives, you'll have most of the
area to yourself. The morning is also the
time when people, equipment, etc
will start arriving, especially at smaller
meetings, providing interesting
situations that might get lost in the
crowds later in the day! It might be
tricky to circle Nordschleife on foot,
but if you scale down this thought
process to stock cars, or even speedway
ovals, then finding an alternative
perspective can be a fun challenge in
itself! Additionally if you don't thwart
creativity by limiting yourself to where
the race action takes place, then the
whole new world will open. Instead of me
try to explain alternative approaches, have a
look at few of my photographs in this
episode, and for example Trent Parke's
2002 coverage of The World Rally Car stages
in Australia. Or any Martin Parr's
photos from F1 races. An additional
alternative to race meetings, and very
often the starting points, are car
meetups! The proverbial kicking tires, and
chatting might give you interesting
leads, and sometimes an extraordinary
piece of machinery will show up as well!
Saying all this I assure you that I
really like motorsport and photographers
like Darren Heath or Rainer Schlegelmilch
where my early influence some 15 odd
years ago. I always liked that motorsport
can be presented in a very graphic or
even abstract way. Darren Heath's usage of
high contrast and panning are exemplary.
He mastered these very basic techniques
almost to the limits, and used his skills to
photograph our highly photogenic topic.
It's a beautiful match, but whether you
look at F1 in technicolor, or banger
racing in gritty black and white, it's
always about your personal approach, and
having fun. If you can along the way,
convince people to buy photographs from
you all the better!
Stay safe whatever you do, and enjoy some
internal combustion action while you can!
Subscribe to our channel for more
photography banter, and check out the
Adorama Learning Centre for great tips
tutorials and photography related
resources. You can also check me out
@soundofphotography on Instagram.
This was Marcin Lewandowski for AdoramaTV.
I'll see you again soon.