What kit is considered "standard" for a newcomer to the professional ranks?

[Steve Tarrant]

Hi All

With my impending redundancy from office work happening in less than 2 weeks' time, I am now starting to look to the future and see myself changing vocation completely, using my existing skills and knowledge within motorsport to start a new career as a journalist/photographer.

Most of you know I still operate from my wheelchair whilst I still attempt to recover from the Goodwood accident, and therefore I am looking at what camera equipment I should be considering buying when using this means to get around.

I am a digital camera user (not the point and shoot variety!!!!!), so understand what I need is a digital SLR. And because I use the wheelchair for much of the time, longer lenses will be needed as I will not get the same trackside access as the more-able bodied of us. And then shorter lenses for pitlane/garage shooting.

Can you suggest which makes and bodies I should be looking at, to help me narrow down the options, which manufacturers give good support, etc?

Many thanks


Steve

[Britcarfan]

Hi,

I am not a pro, I only photograph motorsport as a hobby, and have only been doing it for 7 months. However I am quite happy with how far my skills have developed in that time.

You will have lots of decisions to make, the first of which is likely to be whether to go with a Nikon or a Canon setup. I currently use:

Nikon D200
Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8D ED AF Zoom-Nikkor (cars on track)
Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 EX DG MACRO (pitlane and paddock)
Kenko Pro 300 2x Teleconverter
Manfrotto 680B Monopod and 234RC Monopod Head

Rough cost with memory/spare batteries of around £2500. My next purchase is going to be a big prime lens. My setup is definitely NOT pro standard, but I for one could not afford a pro setup.

The results I get with this setup can be seen at: http://rsmp.zenfolio.com/

Hope this helps,

Ray.

I have to add that it must have been totally awesome to meet Alex Zanardi and I wish you good luck in whatever you decide to do.

[thebear]

We can also discuss this when you arrive in JAN for the Rollllllex 24. I have several Nikon bodies w/lenses & tri/monopods should you wish to practice here.

[badgerbaiter]

use what you feel comfortable with and what gives you good results. dont feel the need to buy the most expensive equipment just to fit in with the other photgraphers. i've seen people with 350ds take better photos than some people with 1ds mk2 becuase they are better photographers in the first place.

if you are going to put all your eggs in one basket and rely on this as a career to pay your rent then i would either a) forget it b) make sure you have something else to fall back on. (i obviously dont know your personal situation and maybe you've got it all sorted so you can make some money, if so then ignore me )

maybe i'm being ignorant here but isnt your wheelchair going to limit the places you can photgraph from? i dont think a long lens is going to really help as people will be getting in your way all the time.

not meaning to wii on your fire though, if you think you can do a good job and make some money then go for it and good luck! (someones gotta make some money from it, so why not you?)

[Tim the Grey]

Realistically you are looking at Nikon or Canon. That's where the current guys go, and most likely with good reason!
I personally use Olympus kit, and it does what I want, but I don't do THAT much motorsport, much though I may wish to do more.
You can get an E-1 with a 50-200 and TC14 converter for around a £1000 used. This gear is built like a T34 tank, and weathersealed. Mine has been used in stair rod rain, no worries.

The problem is AF is slow, image write is slow, and the choice of glass limited right now. So while I love my gear, I wouldn't reccomend it!

Canon 300/350D used, or 400D new, with a 70ish to 300 zoom will do you fine for cars on circuit. Get a 16/17-70ish zoom for paddock and pits.

All the set ups mentioned will get you off the ground, without spending a small fortune. It's when you start lusting after 300+ f2.8 lenses you know you're doomed.

The single biggest issue you will find is catch fencing. It REALLY gets in the way!

[Steve Tarrant]

Thanks for the comments so far, all interesting points to consider.

I know all about motorsport being how to make a big fortune go small, and that photography can be the same!

Badger, yes fencing is going to be an issue. But being a marshal for the past 15 years I know where I can and can't get to. That why longer lenses may be needed, because I can't climb the banks behind tyre walls but instead use natural breaks instead.

I currently use a Sony DSC H1, and the result can be seen at http://motorsport-marshal.spaces.live.com/ These are uncropped pictures at present.

Cheers again

Legless!

[badgerbaiter]

ahh well if you are a marshall i bet you can pull a few strings to get a few places you wouldnt normally be able to

[Piglet]

Hi Steve, as a marshal with an "other half" who is a photographer and an uncle who has been fully wheelchair dependant for the last 30 years I know where you are coming from!

As you recognise your biggest issue is going to be access and physically getting around circuits. I'm trying to think where most of the media centres are at circuits and with the exception of Rockingham I can't think of many that are fully wheelchair accessible? Not sure about Donington - I guess it might be now? Deff not Oulton or Brands and I don't think so for Silverstone but I guess Snetterton is? Le Mans I think has wheelchair access, Spa doesn't currently but I don't know whether this might be incorporated in any rebuild - you'd think so......

If you can't get into the media centres you're going to struggle to be able to download images, get out of the rain/cold/sun/heat (delete as applicable!). I guess the advantage you have is that you'll have somewhere to put your kit. You will though need to take vast amounts of kit to a circuit and you'll need somewhere to put the excess whilst you're working - often you'll be parked some distance away and going back to your car to get kit isn't always practical.

What and where are you thinking of shooting?

What sort of chair do you use - my uncle has had several, some deal with rough terrain well and some have ditched him out at the first indication of a gradient or edge. As you know the ground around circuits is often very rough and ready.

The second issue is that I don't know many (I've toyed with putting "any" but I'm not sure that's quite true although it's VERY close to it) pro photographers who are making money at this game. By the time you've invested in kit, tracked down contracts, paid your travel and accomodation to and from circuits, processed imagines, invoiced and finally managed to get money out of custoerms it's pretty tough to make any money let alone good money.

Happy Snapper was made redundant from his real job 18 months ago and has now finally found a flexible working option that will allow him to carry on doing the motorsport work if he wishes. I think though that he will do considerably less this year as there is absolutely no money in it at all, all the time you accept that it gives you a fun hobby and a way to see race meetings and ocassionally brings in a few bucks then it's fine - if you're trying to earn a living this way it is very difficult for anyone to do, let alone adding in the additional problems that you will face.

You mention Motorsport journalism though, so perhaps your looking at it from a bigger angle than just motorsport photography? That might well be a better angle although again if you're going to circuits you have the access problems and you will of course be competing against vast numbers of people who would like to break into this field.

Good luck Steve, I hope you don't think I'm being unduly negative, it's just I've seen the way the figures stack up and it's not good.......

Cheers

Piglet

[Tim the Grey]

Sorry to carp on, but then we get back to the Catch 22 situation of NOT being allowed to sell images from events, unless accredited, and you can't get accredited until you can show published images?
So it kinda takes the fun out of things, no?

Tim

[Steve Tarrant]

Originally Posted by Piglet

Good luck Steve, I hope you don't think I'm being unduly negative, it's just I've seen the way the figures stack up and it's not good.......

You don't need to worry about that!!!! Ever since the accident at Goodwood that disabled me, part of my life's challenge is now confronting problems and overcoming them, just to survive and exist. And that has already put me in positions where other disabled persons haven't been allowed before and my challenging rulings!!!!! Like in many other fields of life, we "disadvantaged" are showing more and more that Victorian attitudes of not being seen or heard anymore are old concepts, and that through negotiation, greater things can and are being achieved.

I am financially solvant, so if I don't write an article or publish a picture one week, it is not going to stop me eating or living. But it will afford me the opportunity to live through the things that please me in life, in comparison with all the things I've lost or suffered since June 2000.

This thread was specifically aimed at the photographic side of things, but it is half of a bigger picture of journalism as a whole. Working from home will be better suited to me, allowing me the time to both work on my health and fitness, and then work the hours I can or want to.

Badger - being a marshal doesn't give me any more priviledges!!!! Being in a wheelchair already means I as a marshal am barred by our MSA from going trackside or into pitlane when it is live, and these are concepts I have already learnt to accept (it's called Health and Safety - go abroad and they are far more willing to allow me to do things the UK authorities won't - see below me working at Le Mans this summer!).




BUT I do see things from a different angle sitting down against your standing up - the viewpoint changes and the resultant photographs change with the different perspective. When you look down over cars when standing, I am looking straight at cars at eyelevel and therefore they fill the frame with more menace!!!!!

Anyway, thanks for the thoughts everyone.

Cheers All


Steve

[thebear]

Originally Posted by Steve Tarrant

BUT I do see things from a different angle sitting down against your standing up - the viewpoint changes and the resultant photographs change with the different perspective. When you look down over cars when standing, I am looking straight at cars at eyelevel and therefore they fill the frame with more menace!!!!! Steve

After having spent several months in a wheelchair in '05 I can vouch for the `different angle'. What is really disturbing is the apparent `cloak of invisibility' that seems to show up while shopping or in any crowd of people. Driving the electric carts provided by the supermarkets taught me to stop at the end of any aisle no matter what direction I was travelling. People are just not used to looking DOWN.

[Piglet]

My points about figures and negativity are aimed at the financial side of motorsport photography - as I said, if it's something that you can afford to do because of the non-financial things that it brings you then great because it's highly unlikely to provide much more. That's not because of your disability that's because of the way the market is for this kind of thing generally, there is very little money out there at the moment and lots of "pros" chasing it and lots of others doing things cheaper and cheaper.

On a more humourous note, my friends' twin boys are car and bike mad and are also very used to being around my wheelchair using uncle - he had a new electric chair the other day, the boys walked in took a look round it and wandered off saying "cool wheels!"

[Steve Tarrant]

Originally Posted by Piglet

My points about figures and negativity are aimed at the financial side of motorsport photography - as I said, if it's something that you can afford to do because of the non-financial things that it brings you then great because it's highly unlikely to provide much more. That's not because of your disability that's because of the way the market is for this kind of thing generally, there is very little money out there at the moment and lots of "pros" chasing it and lots of others doing things cheaper and cheaper.

Thanks Piglet, I appreciate the concern and better to air these things now rather than later. Luckily I am now in a situation where I can dictate things for my future, rather than my future be controlled by influences outside of my control.

Originally Posted by Piglet

On a more humourous note, my friends' twin boys are car and bike mad and are also very used to being around my wheelchair using uncle - he had a new electric chair the other day, the boys walked in took a look round it and wandered off saying "cool wheels!"

And that's the way it should be!!!!!!

[badgerbaiter]

Originally Posted by Steve Tarrant

Badger - being a marshal doesn't give me any more priviledges!!!! Being in a wheelchair already means I as a marshal am barred by our MSA from going trackside or into pitlane when it is live, and these are concepts I have already learnt to accept

ahh i wasnt sure if you might be able to pull a few strings and maybe get photos from riding in the back of the pace car etc

with regards to the comments about getting in the media centre, i dont think thats a big hurdle. 3G card in your lap top and you've got your own media centre wheelchair

as someone suggested, rockingham might be a good place to start. i think i'm right in saying that you could probably get trackside access all the way around as its all flat and loads of space to get around.

(havent forgotten your PM btw, will send you a reply a bit later - gotta drive to lovely stansted now )

[Happy Snapper]

Originally Posted by Tim the Grey

Sorry to carp on, but then we get back to the Catch 22 situation of NOT being allowed to sell images from events, unless accredited, and you can't get accredited until you can show published images?
So it kinda takes the fun out of things, no?

Tim

Just to clarify. Because you have accreditation doesn’t give you the right to sell you images, I accept many people do and that discussion has taken place many times on this forum and I’m NOT starting again…

Gaining Accreditation gives you the ability to complete the assignment, which your editor has given you. Most circuits require a separate agreement if you sell you images commercially. The ACO require we sign an agreement, which specifically excludes us as accredited media from selling images without written consent of the ACO.

I’ve been lucky enough to have the support of a newspaper and hold membership to the newspaper society which to quote “ the holder of this card is a bona fide newsgatherer” my media card is registered with Scotland Yard. So I concider myself to be MEDIA

I wish you the best of luck Steve and if at anytime you need assistance or advice, please ask. I’ve been around Motorsport for about 30 years now , and as Piglet has said its less likely next year other than a few selected events, I’ll be using the camera..

Back on subject you were asking minimum kit from what I’ve seen in pit lanes over resent years and phone with a camera on it! You need to decide what you want to produce,and what your going to do with it and how much budget you want to invest in your new “hobby”. PM me or Piglet and we can chat if you want