Originally, I had planned to photograph the sand track race in Altrip today. Located practically on my doorstep, it is one of the world's most renowned venues for this sport. Year after year, the event takes place on Corpus Christi.
Unfortunately, the weather decided not to cooperate this time. Thick clouds, followed by rain later in the day. Over the years, I have photographed this race in all kinds of conditions, but sunshine is simply unbeatable. The dust kicked up by the bikes starts to glow in the light, and when combined with a panning shot, it creates an almost painterly effect.
Since I was feeling a bit frustrated about the weather and decided not to make the trip to Altrip, I went digging through my archive instead and chose a 20-year-old photograph to give a complete rework as a small anniversary project.
This image was captured using a panning technique during a Speedway race and remains one of my personal favorites from that era.
📷 Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark II
🔭 Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm
🔍 Focal Length: 150 mm
🌞 Aperture: f/13
🌙 ISO: 100
⏳ Exposure: 1/80s (panning shot)
📅 Captured: June 15, 2006
Almost two decades later, I can still feel the dust just by looking at it. The technology has changed, but the excitement of capturing the right moment never has.
Odyssey1812 wrote:
Stefan, that's a fantastic photo with one of my old cameras. Flat-track racing is insane!
Wing.
This might seem nit-picky, but I mention it as a former motorcycle racer and mechanic. In the motorcycle world 'Speedway Racing' (pictured here) and 'Flat Track Racing' are different types of racing. Flat Track Racing is 1/4, 1/2, & 1 mile oval racing, and also TT Racing (right and left turns).
Speedway races are generally 1/4 mile or less, and are very short in duration, generally only 4 laps, and the bikes burn very high octane Methanol and only have one gear.
Both forms of racing are insane, but Speedway is very spectacular due to the power of the bikes and the fact that riders are sliding sideways for the entire race.
That is an awesome Speedway shot. Sharp focus combined with the motion blur really portray the action well. Those Speedway bikes are kind of like 2-wheeled Bottle Rockets.
