Melbourne Set To Showcase New Era 2014 Formula One To The World.

Formula One. (C)

    Nervousness, anticipation, excitement. All feelings felt by everyone from drivers, team personnel, media, promoters through to the fans themselves as Formula One is about to commence another bumper season at Melbourne's stunning, lakeside street circuit at Albert Park. 
    Never more so than this year as this will be the first time the new era F1 cars have run in anger. The regulation changes this year are extensive and has effectively meant that this year's chariots are designed from scratch, rather than evolutions of previous year's cars. We covered the changes before (see Archives Aug. 2013), but in short - 1.6 litre V6 Turbos with extensive Energy Recovery Systems, single exhaust with no bodywork behind, fuel capacity and fuel flow limits, 8 forward gears, lower rear beam wing outlawed, and lower noses brandishing narrower front wings. All designed to reduce downforce and promote fuel efficiency. With some teams, including world champions Red Bull, struggling at pre-season Winter testing from problems ranging from hydraulic leaks, electrical failures, and most notably, cooling issues, the focus at Albert Park will be on reliability. Any brave souls want to tip a winner?
    In the past in our Australian F1 GP previews we've suggested some great spots to visit in Melbourne, plus outlined some excellent vantage points to watch F1 cars around Albert Park. This year we thought we'd try something different. 
    A lot of people ask us how we deal with photographing motorsport through the safety catch fencing at street circuits? Quite often, "the fence is in focus and distracts you from the action", they say. "Do you use manual focus", they ask?
    Whilst we take great pride in our photos and no exposure you see on formulafrontrow.com is edited whatsoever, we certainly don't profess to be professionals. We simply love motorsport and sharing our photos, as an incentive to you to attend events of your choice. 
    Bear in mind the tips we share are tailored to punters utilising d-SLR cameras. If you're using a point-and-shoot or a (ahem) camera phone, well, err, good luck. 
    Although the auto modes and scene preset modes work quite well on a d-SLR, it doesn't give you much control over how you want the shot to look. We shoot in Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, or full Manual Mode. For motorsport, we predominantly shoot in Shutter Priority. Remember a fast shutter speed (typically 1/640s or faster) will freeze the motion and blur the background, and a slow shutter speed (typically 1/500s or slower) will blur the motion and give the illusion of speed.
    Now, let's deal with fence. Here's one technique we hope you find helpful. Have your camera's focus set to Auto. More importantly, have the focus mode set to 3-D Tracking. When the shutter release button is pressed halfway, have it set so that it only locks the exposure, not the focus as well. Therefore, you can exploit the number of focus points your camera possesses when you pan the camera. When ready to shoot, meter the light. You do this by simply pointing your camera in the direction you want to shoot to get a reading on your display. Next, adjust your shutter to your desired speed. Now, the tricky bit. Through the viewfinder, line up your shot through one of the holes on the fence on a piece of circuit that you know the racing will pass over and press the shutter release button halfway. At the appropriate time, simply fire the shutter and the 3-D Tracking will keep the racing in focus, especially useful if you choose to pan. Voila! Happy hunting.
    Any motorsport photography tips to share? Let us know at: [email protected] or simply leave a comment. Maybe you'd like to let us know how Aussie Daniel Ricciardo will fare in his home GP on debut for champions Red Bull Racing?
    Melbourne, here we come....

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