I did my first track day on Saturday at the RAF valley airfield in Anglesea.
It was awesome and I've got the bug to do alot more, shame its so expensive, going to have to get saving.
I don't have many pics or videos as my missus was usless and the pro camera guy wants loads of money (£15 each for the full res .jpgs) for the pictures he took of me the cheeky git.
The only one I have so far but I'll dig more out.
(http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/10504_10151161116898899_2049552545_n.jpg)
I learnt alot but still have alot to learn as some of the guys where going past me like I wasnt moving.
I was very happy that I was overtaking loads of people on similar and faster bikes though so not all bad and even made my rear tyre overheat at one point so actually managed to drift the bike around one corner :worried:
perfect example of my wifes amazing camera skills. :roll:
Your video comes up flagged as private. Looks like a blast that though, I bet its even more hair raising than throwing a car round a track. You must get some real nutters going past you at breakneck speeds.
Sounds like you had a blast. I never did get round to going on one when I had my SV back in 2005/6 days... Kept saying I would but it just never came up (and then I wrote the bike off).
A perfect excuse to leave another TT link http://vimeo.com/46856767
Ps. Get your video fixed. :P
Quote from: Bacon on August 13, 2012, 11:43:56 AM
A perfect excuse to leave another TT link http://vimeo.com/46856767
Ps. Get your video fixed. :P
Want to watch but at work.. grr! Now also want to go home and watch Closer to the Edge again. :P
Video should be public now but it is crap.
Another one aswell.
http://youtu.be/kDPrp0s4Xic
Quote from: Leon on August 13, 2012, 12:58:59 PM
Quote from: Bacon on August 13, 2012, 11:43:56 AM
A perfect excuse to leave another TT link http://vimeo.com/46856767
Ps. Get your video fixed. :P
Want to watch but at work.. grr! Now also want to go home and watch Closer to the Edge again. :P
Closer to the Edge was fantastic, worth watching if anyone missed it. :D
Indeed. I went to the cinema to see it and was actually on the edge of my seat for a large portion of it... been a while since anything did that. Got it on BluRay soon as it came out and have watched it a few times since and its still great :)
Quote from: DEViANCE on August 12, 2012, 22:43:52 PM
I don't have many pics or videos as my missus was usless and the pro camera guy wants loads of money (£15 each for the full res .jpgs) for the pictures he took of me the cheeky git.
I wonder how much money he makes per track day. I'd probably find it easier to do than weddings. Pick a good bend, set the camera up, manual focus at the point everyone passes, and just high-speed continuous burst. Quick transfer to a laptop when the day is over and hook it to a decent screen so people can see the photos and pick any. Not exactly difficult :D Not like constantly changing scenarios at a wedding, indoor, outdoor, portrait, action, candid, different distances etc.
I'm guessing though of that £15 a chunk of the money goes to the track owners/organisers as a "royalty" for allowing him to operate on site.
Quote from: zpyder on August 13, 2012, 15:49:00 PM
Quote from: DEViANCE on August 12, 2012, 22:43:52 PM
I don't have many pics or videos as my missus was usless and the pro camera guy wants loads of money (£15 each for the full res .jpgs) for the pictures he took of me the cheeky git.
I wonder how much money he makes per track day. I'd probably find it easier to do than weddings. Pick a good bend, set the camera up, manual focus at the point everyone passes, and just high-speed continuous burst. Quick transfer to a laptop when the day is over and hook it to a decent screen so people can see the photos and pick any. Not exactly difficult :D Not like constantly changing scenarios at a wedding, indoor, outdoor, portrait, action, candid, different distances etc.
I'm guessing though of that £15 a chunk of the money goes to the track owners/organisers as a "royalty" for allowing him to operate on site.
Thats the annoying thing this trackdays was on an RAF air field and for charity to I doubt he has to pay anything.
I dont mind paying a bit but it seems excessive to me.
Anyway it was great and will defo be doing another soon.
Did he offer a bundle option?
I would have thought, if the photo was good and either printed nicely, or provided on say a memory stick, £15 wouldn't be too bad. Each, is pretty pricey (but then again I'd imagine a lot of track day people would have £££ to throw around anyway) but say £15 each or 3 (or even 5) for ~£30 isn't bad.
I think if I were to give it a go I'd probably try and get a load of cheap 2-4gb memory sticks. Put some promo material on them, and then charge around £10 for the full res photo, 3 for £20, 5 for £30 (assuming you have that many of that person). I'd also offer canvas prints but pricing on that would vary on size of canvas etc.
I guess though with that kind of event there aren't many kinds of shots you could take. You've got the pose by the bike/car, the action corner shot, and the on the straights shot, so discount options may not be that popular.
Could the prices have been high as he was giving a % to the charity?
I think its a complete rip off, its like you said its not much different than waiting to press the trigger if its all setup properly, they're hardly going to appear on the front cover of Time. I can't stand people like that, I bet you could really pee someone like that off by taking a few mates along to take some simmilar quality snaps and offer them out for free to people, get them to work right next to him in fact :lol:
this is the guys website so you can see all 1484 pictures that he took, so he is going to be getting some cash if people do want pictures.
http://www.gr8eventphotos.com/
He should use it to buy a better website, that's bloody awful.
sounds like great fun
£15/photo is taking the piss tho... he should stick them all on DVD for £15/person
if they're cheap enough I guess most people will buy them ?
and/or have them on the website to buy printed copies, or download photos for £1 each ?
Admittedly looking on that website the photos aren't exactly the best quality (all the ones I saw seem to be a little overexposed) but I do think charging £1 is also taking the piss. This is the reason why I gave up trying to do photography professionally, as I agree that everyones got a camera now, and most people look at photography as pointing and pressing a button. Charging a reasonable amount now is difficult as that mentality has devalued the artform.
For the photos they had of the bikes, I'd say £5 max. £15 would be of the quality I've seen on the canvas and poster prints at my sisters house from major events, where exposure and focus, and everything else is just right. I would love to see the exif data of one of their images to see just exactly what they were using and how...
Id love to have a go at this, terrified of:
A) trashing my bike
B) doing myself in
mostly A tho lol
Did you ride there and back, id be tempted to trailer my bike behind my car to an event so once im ruined I can comfy seats it back home.
yeah I rode there and back (hour each way) was completely knackered afterwards though, had some mates that drove up with bikes in vans/on trailers that seems better.
Doing it again on 6th October at the same place, you are more than welcome to come if you want, a long long way for you though. It £60 for the Saturday.
I would say there is less chance of you binning the bike here than there is on a normal saturday blast out on the roads, no traffic (except other bikers), no pot holes, no oil, super super grippy surface (basically the sandpaper you get on roundabouts and tight bends) it is a great experiance and would recomend it to any rider.
another quick pic:
Me leading most my mates (causing a traffic jam more like :p )
(http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/193586_10151187005788899_1247856134_o.jpg)
Hehe yeah a very long way, drove past there a couple of times last week, was on holiday around snowdonia
Did it again on sunday was lots of fun again although I had a couple of 'moments' on the first session which knocked me abit soon got back to being a nutter again though.
Couple of vids of the first corner.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UizCL5WRbbM&feature=bf_prev&list=ULbmy6z7MifkQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmy6z7MifkQ&feature=bf_next&list=ULUizCL5WRbbM