HMSA Spring Club Races 2013 – f8 Student Photo Gallery
The 1974 Porsche 911 RSR of Dennis Singleton is ignoring the adage to keep all four wheels on the ground. (photo: Andrew Buckley)
The inaugural f8 Motorsports Photography Workshop was held March 22-24, 2013 during the Historic Motor Sports Association (HMSA) Spring Club event at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Laguna Seca was even more beautiful than usual with the wild flowers in full bloom and the normal brown hills a bright vibrant green. The ten students attending not only had perfect weather and spectacular backgrounds but also a great selection of historic race cars to shoot over the two-day event.
The students gathered at the track on Friday evening for a 2-hour class that covered shooting techniques, equipment, safety and media requirements. The experience of the participants was varied with a few having shot at Laguna before to one student who only wanted to learn how to photograph his grandkids’ sports events and thought that if he could learn how to shoot a race car at 150 MPH, then taking pictures of children would be easy. Jeffrey Dahl, Llew Kinst and Sports Car Digest’s own Dennis Gray offered personal insight from their lifetime behind the lens as well as hands on practice of different shooting techniques.
Saturday the group was split in half with some following Jeffrey and the others following Dennis out in the field and over the fence for their first time up close to the cars. Each student was given full media credentials and a photo vest to complete the experience of working as a pro. At lunch the conversation and excitement was almost as fast as the cars on track. Techniques were reviewed and a new set of locations explained for the afternoon shoot.
Once the last race was over everyone gathered in the track classroom where John Lamm of Road & Track spoke of his experiences and what to expect as a professional. The second guest speaker Allan Rosenberg spoke on the art of editing and post production. Allan is a master of taking images to that next level of excellence.
Sunday morning was spent shooting people in the paddock and then the students were allowed to take off on their own to shoot what and where they wanted. Over lunch, Pam Shatraw from Victory Lane talked about the ins-and-outs of working with publications and how to get into the business.
Group f8‘s first East Coast event will be held July 13-14, 2013 at Canada’s Mont-Tremblant for the Sommet des Legendes. A new Laguna Seca event has been added to the schedule and will be held during the Legends of Motorsports 50th Anniversary of McLaren, June 15-16. Judging from the grins on each student’s face, we would highly recommend attending. For more information, visit www.f8photoworkshops.com.
The Group f8 students submitted their best work for critique, with our 50 favorite shots displayed in the full-width view of our website. The remaining images can be found on the last page of the article, offering a comprehensive view of all the photographs submitted by the Group f8 participants.
HMSA Spring Club Historic Races 2013 – f8 Student Photo Gallery (no particular order)
Nick Colonna has the power down coming out of Turn 3 in his 1959 Lister Chevrolet. (photo: Victor Varela)Jeffery Giannini drives his 1968 Chevron B-14 down pit road. (photo: Victor Varela)Chris Locke waits patiently in his 1963 Lotus 27. (photo: Victor Varela)1973 Chevron B23, driven by Francois Castaing. (photo: Victor Varela)Alex Curtis keeps the back-end of this 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing in check, coming out of Turn 11 (photo: Victor Varela)
Danny Baker’s 1963 Lotus 27 Formula Junior shows off its cockpit and instrumentation. (photo: Victor Varela)Peter Giddings points the 1935 Scuderia Ferrari – Alfa Romeo Tipo C 8C-35 into the apex of Turn 11. (photo: Victor Varela)Chip Connor negotiates turn 8 at Laguna Seca in his Porsche 911 IROC. (photo: Andre Urruty)Francois Castaing – 1973 Chevron B23. (photo: Andre Urruty)Michael Sweeney’s Ginetta G4R uses all the available real estate at Laguna Seca’s Turn 5. (photo: Andre Urruty)
HMSA Spring Club Historic Races 2013 – f8 Student Photo Gallery Page Two
Glen Oliveria exits Turn 11 in his 1955 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint in Group 2. (photo: Doug McDonald)Peter Giddings powers through Turn 11 in his 1935 Alfa Romeo Tipo C 8C-35 in Group 3. (photo: Doug McDonald)Dennis Racine drives his 1966 Morris Mini Cooper S in Group 2 on the Rahal Straight at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway. (photo: Doug McDonald)Alex Curtis drives his 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing past Turn 6. (photo: Doug McDonald)Lynn Park in a 1964 Cobra sweeps through Turn 5 and Steve Park trails in a 1962 Cobra. (photo: Doug McDonald)
Mark Cane in a 1966 Shelby GT350 exits Turn 5 at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway. (photo: Doug McDonald)Dennis Adair – 1960 Lotus Elite (photo: Marc Fontes)Jon Norman – 1971 Alfa Romeo GTV (photo: Marc Fontes)Joe Rossi – 1964 Porsche 356C (photo: Marc Fontes)Howard Swig – 1957 Monsterati (photo: Marc Fontes)
HMSA Spring Club Historic Races 2013 – f8 Student Photo Gallery Page Three
Pony Love – Camaro and Mustang (Photo: Kelly Silverthorn)Momo-sponsored Porsche 935 of Chip Connor (Photo: Kelly Silverthorn)Momo-sponsored Porsche 935 of Chip Connor at speed (Photo: Kelly Silverthorn)Details on the Lola T70 Spider (Photo: Kelly Silverthorn)1964 Shelby Cobra driven by Chip Connor at turn 2 (photo: James Milne)
1959 Costin Lister Chevrolet driven by Nick Colonna (photo: James Milne)Peter Giddings’ 1935 Alfa Romeo Tipo C 8C-35 (photo: James Milne)Charles McCabe in a 1965 Le Grand Mk 3B (photo: James Milne)1959 Costin Lister driven by Erickson Shirley (photo: James Milne)1966 Shelby GT350 driven by Mark Cane (photo: James Milne)
HMSA Spring Club Historic Races 2013 – f8 Student Photo Gallery Page Four
Tom Morgan – 1956 Morgan 4/4 (photo: Richard Schwarz)Noel Park – 1958 Chevrolet Corvette (photo: Richard Schwarz)Don Stark – 1962 Lotus 23B (photo: Richard Schwarz)1964 Cobra with Tim Park at the helm, taking the outside at Laguna Seca. (photo: Andrew Buckley)1974 Porsche RSR with Dennis Singleton, down the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca. (photo: Andrew Buckley)
Not your ordinary Sunday drive – Porsche 911 IROC of Chip Connor. (photo: Andrew Buckley)The 1974 Porsche 911 RSR of Dennis Singleton is ignoring the adage to keep all four wheels on the ground. (photo: Andrew Buckley)1953 Kurtis 500S with John Linfesty. (photo: Andrew Buckley)1965 Brabham BT-18 at the top of the Corkscrew (photo: Nick Nickerson)Chevrolet Camaro leads the Shelby GT 350. (photo: Nick Nickerson)
HMSA Spring Club Historic Races 2013 – f8 Student Photo Gallery Page Five
1956 Alfa Romeo Sebring, Turn 11. (photo: Nick Nickerson)1970 Porsche 914/6 (photo: Nick Nickerson)Greg Meyer’s Devin SS followed by Nick Colonna in the Lister Chevrolet (photo: Nick Nickerson)Erickson Shirley, 1959 Lister Costin (photo: Nick Nickerson)Nick Collonna takes his Lola T70 Spider into the corkscrew. (photo: Nick Nickerson)
Steve Cook in his 1976 March 75B brakes for turn 11. (photo: Larry Albarran)Ted Stroscher in his 1955 Mercedes-Benz 190SL leads Alex Curtis’ 300SL out of the Corkscrew. (photo: Larry Albarran)Lawrie Alexander races his 1952 MG TD Special out of the Corkscrew towards turn 9. (photo: Larry Albarran)Chip Connor’s ex-Denny Hulme 1974 Porsche 911 IROC. (photo: Larry Albarran)A Lotus soaks up some early morning rays. (photo: Larry Albarran)
HMSA Spring Club Historic Races 2013 – f8 Student General Photo Gallery (click image for larger picture and description)
A new Laguna Seca event has been added to the schedule and will be held during the Legends of Motorsports 50th Anniversary of McLaren, June 15-16. This event will feature a number of ‘Big Banger’ Can-AM cars. If you have never photographed these monsters up close and at speed this is the chance. More information will post on http://www.f8photoworkshops.com today. Any questions please drop me a line. [email protected] and i’ll do my best to get you an answer. Dennis
Well Dennis, looks as if your “students” were listening… Great photographs, my top 10, the photo of Noel Park, 1958 Chevrolet Corvette photo 90 / 156,exploring the outermost limits of his cars handling. #50 /156 a gaggle of touring cars, #81 /156 Lola T70, #92 showing the land contours, then my other favorites but not in any order of merit, #s 94, 102, 109, 115, 116, 129. But in saying that all the photographs are excellent.
Having a credential and access is very nice but getting them at most events, especially a major event, is much more difficult than the film era. I strongly recommend the student photographers keep tabs on their best locations and investigate how they would get the same shot from the other side of the fence. Laguna Seca has more non credential viewpoints than Sonoma Raceway due to extensive catch fences. The photos are great but now the challenge will be to do the same without credential access. I know from experience from the first races at Laguna Seca in 1959, the Can Am era of the late 60s and 70s, the Mille Migilias of the mid l980s and 90s, and now the historic era.
Steve. One of our goals with the f8 workshops is to get our students exposed to the outside world including editors. We will be working with our students on portfolio presentation, self promotion, and other areas that the working pro uses everyday. We can’t insure that each student will get an assignment to cover the Historics but we can insure they get exposure, a portfolio of images, and ideas on how to place that portfolio in front of editors. Then it’s up to each student to insure he folllows through. We know it’s not that simple and we tell all the students that having a portfolio of wonderful images is just the beginning of a long slog to accreditation. f8 is a starting point and a place to find ideas and support in this slog. Jeff, Llew and I have used our experience to build a program we wish we had stumbled onto twenty years ago.
Thanks for your comment on the f8 images. Dennis
By the way you beat me by a year. My first Laguna race was 1960.