Thanks, Paul. I'm glad you liked it. More reaction below:
PAUL STENQUIST wrote:
> "Moss Corner, Mosport, 1973" by Frank Theriault.
> I love motorsports and motorsport photography, and this is an excellent
> example of the art. I'm not familiar with the Praktica LTL, but I
> suspect that it's manual focus, which makes this shot all the more
> commendable.
The LTL basically had the features of an SP. Manual focus, TTL stop-down
aperture match-needle metering (except the LTL had centre-weighted
metering). I guess that everything in the mid-70's was manual focus! :-)
> Are you certain that the shutter speed was1/250; it looks
> like somthing in the neighborhood 1/60?
I usually panned at around 1/250th for races. This one may have been as
slow as 1/125th (hard to remember after all these years), but I'm certain it
wasn't 1/60th.
> However, I ask that on the
> assumption that the car was not moving extremely fast at this point on
> the race track.
Moss Corner is a hair-pin, and is the slowest part of the track.
> Achieving a smooth pan at optimum focus is something
> that can only be learned through extensive practice.
You're right, you get better with practice. Pretty simple, though. Small
aperture for depth of field. Pre-focus on the track, pick up your car in
the viewfinder as early as you can, follow it through to the pre-focus
point. Someone once told me that the secret to panning is the same as a
golf or a baseball swing: it's all in the follow though. Keep following
the car well after you squeeze the shutter - it really smooths things out.
> You apparently have
> learned it. In terms of BW craftsmanship, I would cite the photo's nice
> range of middle grays, along with almost white highlights and almost
> black shadows. Your exposure and processing must have been just about
> dead on. This one's a keeper for me. It goes in my files.
Keep in mind, too, that I would normally bring 10 to 20 rolls of film with
me to a race weekend. If I got 20 or 30 "good" race shots, I'd be happy.
So, my success rate wasn't particularly high, although it did get a bit
better with experience. I guess if you take enough shots, a few of them
will turn out okay!
Thanks again.
-frank
>
> Paul Stenquist
> -
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