Sidepodcast

This post is part an occasional series from Sidepodcast, giving you a behind the scenes look at podcasting, specifically in the Formula 1 genre. We want to share the pitfalls, the problems, and the triumphs that go into making the show what it is. As this is a joint effort, to provide you with both sides of the story, I will be writing in plain text, whilst the geeky one will add his two cents in italics.

The above picture looks pretty good, right? David Coulthard isn’t exactly hard on the eye, it’s in focus, it’s framed nicely by the crowd of people and the Autosport backdrop. Generally, it’s fair to say that’s a good photograph. Not perfect, not outstanding, but good. We don’t claim to be professional photographers, but we do like to snap a good shot, and the above is a prime example of that.

It wasn’t always this way.

That picture is truly awful. It was taken in 2005, with the first digital camera we owned. It was small, it wasn’t designed for heavy use, and as you can see by the blurry DC, it wasn’t really designed for close up’s either. Immediately after taking the above, we elbowed our way to the front of another crowd of people, this time lining his route from the signing podium out of the public eye. When his time was up, he strode over towards us, spotted me trying to take his picture, paused, smiled and went on his way.

I stamped my foot, swore a little bit, and threw the camera on the floor in disgust. It couldn’t cope with a moving object, even one that was paused for a second or two. It wouldn’t even take the shot, it just refused anything that was even slightly blurred. And yet it was fine taking the ridiculous mess above.

The very next time we were in town, we bought a new, better camera.

Thus the header pic for this post, taken at Autosport International 2006, was taken, without any swearing whatsoever.

If I were being picky, I’d say that the focus on the top picture is a little soft and the woman in the Honda hat is the devil. It is without question a darn sight better than the second picture though, and I do prefer it when there’s no swearing involved.

So, now we have a camera that takes a good picture indoors, works with people even if they’re moving, has scope to add whatever lens you want, and is generally a trusty little thing. Not so little, actually, it gets heavy after a long day dragging it around in search of F1 cars. But I imagine any decent camera would be the same.

For the technically inclined, the camera is a Canon 350D, which was purchased during the height of it’s popularity but has since been somewhat superseded.

As I understand it the lens is often as important, if not more important than the body and for that we used to have a Tamron 70-300mm. Sadly, it disagreed with Britain’s idea of a summer and broke during the Silverstone GP weekend. It’s since been replaced by a similar model made by Sigma.

The next step in our discovery of just what it takes to be a Formula 1 photographer, was to turn up at an actual Grand Prix and see what we could get out of there. Let me tell you something that should be obvious but needs reiterating in this context - those cars are fast! Forget about a single driver walking in a straight line towards you, stopping and smiling. Try snapping a picture of an F1 car approaching a corner at high speed. It takes some practice and we are absolutely by no means perfect, but after Silverstone testing for a couple of days, and then three whole days of the Grand Prix, we managed to capture some decent shots.

This is what I believe to be ‘hit and miss’ photography. Memory cards are cheap and have huge capacities, so keep pointing and clicking in the hope that something good comes out of it.

In years gone by we’d have wasted hundreds of rolls of film, luckily technology caught up in time to save our backsides.

Brendan often comments about the number of pictures of pretty girls there are on our site, compared to the number of cars. But look at this:

They are standing still, posing, looking beautiful, just waiting for you to take their picture. In fact, the whole reason they are there is for you to take their photograph.

The one problem we do have with the booth girls is the artificial lighting used at some of these venues. You can see it in the picture above, the girls all look a bit too orange. We need to work on that some more this year methinks.

We’re always learning, and we always want to get better. With F1 cars, I imagine, it’s always going to be an uphill struggle, but it’s definitely fun trying.

Part of the problem we have is that photography isn’t the main thing that we do, but the results do enhance the site considerably.

It is the basis of endless debates in the Sidepodcast household, whether or not official glass made by Canon is worth the additional expense (in most cases, twice the equivalent price). If anyone has any experience in this area, especially relating to taking pictures of fast cars, we’d love to hear about it.

As we wind down the show and the site for the year, we thought it might be nice to have a look back at all the fun things we got up to this year, via the medium of the still photograph. We’ve tried to keep things fresh, by including images not posted elsewhere.

Autosport International

Autosport International touts itself as “the racing car show” and I suppose you could accept that. For die-hard F1 fans like ourselves, there are not enough exhibits about the premier motorsport that we love, but generally, the atmosphere is one of petrol head bliss. Imagine our surprise this year, then, to find ourselves walking through the booths, admiring the cogs, only to be presented with Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari hanging upside down from the ceiling.

You may think we have just upended a picture, but if you look closely, the tyres are strapped to the metal structure to keep the Ferrari from falling on anyone’s head. There’s also a reflection in the top left - a wibbly representation of the red devil - not to be confused with another car sitting on top of the original.

There didn’t appear to be any reason for this bizarre display of F1 technology, and I know that we would have been much more interested to see the underside of the car, had it been suspended from the ceiling the correct way up. Either way, we were grateful to see a flash of F1 in amongst the Porsche’s and the pretty girls, albeit an odd tribute to the prancing horse.

Donington Collection

We’d just finished traipsing round the wonderful Donington Collection, looking at all the old cars, helmets, and trophies. We’d filmed some stuff inside the museum, but wanted a nice introduction with me standing in front of the great tribute. The statue depicts Ayrton Senna and Juan Manuel Fangio, and where better to film your first piece to video? This was my first attempt at presenting anything, and it was slightly stressful. Aside from being generally nervous, I was also incredibly conscious of the people walking behind us, in and out of the building. They looked at us as though we were crazy (especially the man with the decent video camera, laughing at our embarrassingly mediocre equipment).

Look at the sheer desperation in my expression. I am trying to remember what it is I’m supposed to be saying, whilst at the same time wondering how I can run away and not be in the video without anyone noticing. Thankfully I didn’t, because I went on to love being in front of the camera, and I’m always wanting to get some practice in.

I’d quite like to go back and show that man our video camera now, just to show him that we are getting more professional all the time.

GPLive

GPlive was not only a new experience for us, but for everyone else as well. A brand new event, it went off very well, and there were plenty of good things to do and look at. There was room for improvement as well, but generally, we had a great time. One of the best things for us, though, was watching the film crew who were trying to capture everything.

EPI TV were covering the event, and there were plenty of guys in black t-shirts running around hefting wires, equipment, and plenty of black tape. When we were waiting for the interview with Martin Brundle, we couldn’t take our eyes off the crew setting up. Where to put the lights, were the microphones working, how would they get questions from the audience, was Martin even going to turn up? Fiddling with switches, raising volumes, and wielding that black tape, it was great fun.

We learnt a lot, and then we got to hear from Brundle and Moss. What more could you ask for?

Silverstone Testing

I didn’t get to go to Silverstone testing this year, and I won’t let him forget it, but I heard many tales about the event. The most prevalent one though, was about all the other cameras and their enormous lenses. This picture serves as proof that size does matter!

What it really shows is how lucky those professional photographers really are. They turn up in a minivan at a prime location, whereas we have to park amongst everyone else, scrabble through the crowds, sharpen your elbows, just to get a decent view. They just have to point and click their enormously expensive cameras, adjust their ridiculously long zooms and capture some brilliant shots. We struggle with changing between our close up and long range lenses, miss the perfect moments, and generally get rather stressed out by the whole experience.

That’s not to say we don’t love it, it’s really that we’re incredibly jealous.

Talking of being jealous, you see that little clump of business men by the white van? They’re being ferried around on a tour by Toyota. Do you think they are really interested in F1 testing or do you think they are just there because their employer sponsors the team? We would appreciate that tour so much more! But hush, little green-eyed monster.

Goodwood Festival of Speed

It’s no secret that Goodwood, for me, was all about Franck Montagny. We saw him all over the place and my heart was truly stolen by the beautiful Frenchman. For those three days, I probably couldn’t have told you who Jenson Button was. Anyway, what I’m not sure about is why I would have kept this picture.

It’s out of focus. There’s some kind of pillar in the way to the left. There’s an odd looking man with bad sunglasses, and his hand in a position that could be misconstrued.

I do know why I’ve kept it though. Even though it’s a bad photograph, and is actually one of many poorly taken (and hidden away) shots that we have, it sums up what Goodwood is all about. Drivers doing what they do best in an atmosphere that is not perfect but is one of love and respect for all things motor and all things speed. It may be a dodgy photo, it may be a dodgy pose (and let’s not get started on the pink helmet), but for me, it is Goodwood personified.

The British Grand Prix

Picture the scene. It is the end of a long, outdoor weekend. We have enjoyed a marvellous race and are worn out, but want the experience of the apres-race. We spy a crowd by the exit and wait with them. A couple of mechanics and engineers walk past. A rumour goes up that we are waiting for Murray Walker next. I turn round to say something to the man and he is gone. I spy him by a different fence. He snaps the above picture.

Why you would want a picture of a Renault mechanic dismantling the motorhome, I really don’t know. He says it’s something about getting the intricate details of the team’s weekend, and I can believe that. Whether the intricate details are interesting or not, well, that’s up to you to decide.

It is nice to see the other side of the coin though. You get to see the glamour of the big screens, the grandstands and the cars (I’d say glamour of the grandstands, which might be pushing it…), but what goes on behind the scenes? Apparently, guys in shorts take bits of metal apart.

Roll on next year.