Milan Dragway reopens!

Brownie

Brownie

All-Pro
Supporter
After being closed all of last year due to bad ownership practices and bankruptcy, the new owners had a soft opening today. It was great to be back out there. This was invitation only for the racers, a chance to break in the track and get some practice in. They were also working through some new equipment bugs and training their food service staff. I decided to go out and shoot since I hadn't used my new gear in this setting. I found a couple things I want to change and tweak before next weekend, which will be the first weekend of NHRA racing. I was able to cull the shots from both cameras and begin processing. I think there are about 35-40 done with about 100 yet to go.

52142391080_0eef2fe6de_o.jpg
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
DSC02704 by Shotglass Photo, on Flickr

52141020467_3c0e692c66_o.jpg
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
DSC00801 by Shotglass Photo, on Flickr

52142045061_fee33a22dd_o.jpg
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
DSC00990 by Shotglass Photo, on Flickr

52141925998_e59dacbf73_o.jpg
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
DSC02410 by Shotglass Photo, on Flickr

52141924848_16fa27b7c2_o.jpg
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
DSC02452 by Shotglass Photo, on Flickr

52140881017_003fa60fa7_o.jpg
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
DSC02496 by Shotglass Photo, on Flickr
 
Brownie said:
After being closed all of last year due to bad ownership practices and bankruptcy, the new owners had a soft opening today. It was great to be back out there. This was invitation only for the racers, a chance to break in the track and get some practice in. They were also working through some new equipment bugs and training their food service staff. I decided to go out and shoot since I hadn't used my new gear in this setting. I found a couple things I want to change and tweak before next weekend, which will be the first weekend of NHRA racing. I was able to cull the shots from both cameras and begin processing. I think there are about 35-40 done with about 100 yet to go.

View attachment 316701DSC02704 by Shotglass Photo, on Flickr

View attachment 316702DSC00801 by Shotglass Photo, on Flickr

View attachment 316703DSC00990 by Shotglass Photo, on Flickr

View attachment 316704DSC02410 by Shotglass Photo, on Flickr

View attachment 316705DSC02452 by Shotglass Photo, on Flickr

View attachment 316706DSC02496 by Shotglass Photo, on Flickr
Click to expand...
It's amazing how those drive tires ripple and warp under the stress of launch! I've never noticed that in video.
 
Super fun! And funny for me as I’m about to go and see a load of East German Trabant (“Trabi”) motor vehicles which couldn’t be more opposite to the ones shown in your images.
 
WhidbeyLVR said:
It's amazing how those drive tires ripple and warp under the stress of launch! I've never noticed that in video.
Click to expand...
And these are just bracket racers. The tires are bolted to the rims so they don't spin off under torque. When you get to Top Fuel it's utterly amazing. When a top fuel car does it's burn out the tires will actually 'grow' over a foot in diameter and get much narrower. Then when they dig-in like in these shots, they can wrinkle so much the rim will almost bottom out! Top Fuel cars approach 10,000hp.
Stu said:
Great stuff Brownie!
The things that surprise me are the relatively slow shutter speeds you used!
Click to expand...
One of the things I want to change before next weekend. I set up a custom in each camera that was about the same, AF-C, center spot/flexible, etc. etc. in P mode. It makes it easier to adjust things when the action is moving quickly. The problem comes when the sun goes behind a cloud and the aperture is wide open. I used the EC dial a few times, but I'm really more comfortable in M, where I can spin the dials to my liking. I may also try Auto ISO, something I've hated and been dead-set against for years. I understand Sony's is extremely flexible in that I can set a minimum shutter speed, max ISO, etc. I haven't dug into it yet, but plan to here over the week.
 
Well I'm geeked. Milan Dragway chose the photo at the top of this post to announce the official opening on their Facebook page. Because they posted it, it's been shared all over the place including a streaming 'radio' station that caters to drag racing and some of the other racing organization sites. I'm waiting to see if they use it on their website too, which has yet to be updated.

My Flickr page got 7,560 views yesterday.
 
Not sure it's really 'published', but thanks!

This morning instead of using the photo in an announcement they posted a link to the album. Right now my Flickr stats are showing over 20,000 hits today. WOW! I can't believe how many people they reach. I couldn't get 20,000 views of my photos in one day if paid people to go look!

Edit: Noontime update, over 30,000. This is crazy. :eek:

I'm going to guess this is a one shot deal, it's a combination of the long wait and enthusiasm for the reopened track, and the fact that I was the only one there that day. I'll never see this kind of traffic again. :unsure:
 
Last edited:
Brownie said:
I'm going to guess this is a one shot deal, it's a combination of the long wait and enthusiasm for the reopened track, and the fact that I was the only one there that day. I'll never see this kind of traffic again. :unsure:
Click to expand...
Never say never; you have a craft/skills-set and they will come back to you...:drinks:
Really nice set of images and I hope you kept your eardrums intact!

Regards,

Edd
 
AlwaysOnAuto said:
I see you're using the 100-400 lens a lot. How's that working out for you?
Click to expand...
I like it pretty well. A better question is: How do the images look to you? :p

I set the A7-IV up with the 100-400, and the A7R-III with the 24-105 so I don't have to change lenses, just walk to a different spot.
Roboticspro said:
Never say never; you have a craft/skills-set and they will come back to you...:drinks:
Really nice set of images and I hope you kept your eardrums intact!

Regards,

Edd
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for the kind words! :drinks:For eardrums, I use a set of auto-closing ear plugs designed for shooting. I can hear almost as if I don't have any in for normal sound levels, but once it gets loud the little valves close immediately. I've only used these up to Alcohol Funny Cars and dragsters so far. This year will be my first time shooting around nitro burners, and I'm planning a set of headphone style protection over the top of the plugs!
 
That's a good idea on the ear plugs+headphones. I used that combo at the Winter Nationals at Pomona one year and it was still LOUD when Top Fuel went off.

Your pics look great. I think I really need that lens....

Oh, and I think you'll like the way auto iso works too.
 
AlwaysOnAuto said:
That's a good idea on the ear plugs+headphones. I used that combo at the Winter Nationals at Pomona one year and it was still LOUD when Top Fuel went off.

Your pics look great. I think I really need that lens....

Oh, and I think you'll like the way auto iso works too.
Click to expand...
The Sigma has some advantages and some disadvantages as compared to the Sony. It's a little smaller and 1/2 lb. lighter, which is important in the bag and on long days. It's also $900 as compared to $2400. It is a bit slower though, if memory serves maybe 2/3 stop on the short end and 1/3 on the long. I'm not sure that's worth another $1500.

Oh yeah, and it ain't white... :p

Just make sure to check into the firmware issue. It's posted somewhere in the Sony section of this forum. Make sure the place you buy it from can confirm version 2, you cannot do it at home, it has to be shipped to headquarters in NY.

Going to dig into auto ISO. :hide:
 
AlwaysOnAuto said:
Told you so.

Nice shot!
Click to expand...
Yeah, I know. I'm bullheaded. I posted about it over at TalkE.

When I shot the set up I describe earlier in the post I was getting some slower than desired shutter speeds. @Stu pointed them out in his post. I had used this same setup in M-4/3 with no such problem and at first I couldn't figure it out, then it occurred to me that my primary lens back then was 2.8-4, so quite a bit faster. It went ok that day, but the slow shutter speeds whenever the light changed were bothersome. Moving the dial to adjust the shutter would bottom out the aperture and drop the shutter way too low.

Before heading out the following week I set up another spot on the mode dial that was identical (without abandoning the first one, just in case). This time I used M, which is really my happy place anyway, and Auto ISO set up to max out @ 800 for 3 full stops of cushion. It worked great! It was almost like using P except I had full control over the shutter and aperture. for the most part I'd just spin the shutter dial and left the aperture alone, I prefer a deeper DOF on these shots, the shot above shows why. The camera rarely went to 800, hovering mostly between 200 and 500.

I'll probably just write another custom over the P mode version someday, probably something for air shows. I doubt I'll ever use it again, no need.

I'm bit bit less of a luddite than I was last Sunday...
 

Similar threads

E
    • Like
Basilica of San Simpliciano in Milan (Italy)
Replies
0
Views
755
e.engelmann
E
E
    • Like
House Museum Poldi Pezzoli in Milan (Italy)
Replies
0
Views
623
e.engelmann
E
E
    • Like
Ca' Granda in Milan (Italy)
Replies
0
Views
792
e.engelmann
E
Back
Top