Max again

Here is a photo I took during the last couple laps of the FIA Formula 1 USGP in Austin Texas.  These race cars are super fast.  I’d get one good, focused photo out of every 10 photos.  I have one of the fasted shooting and focusing cameras in the world and the cars are too quick!! 

It appears that Max Verstappen will win the 2021 season Championship with only a handful of races to go (he has a 12-point lead with 5 races to go).  That’ll make a ton of Red Bull racing fans happy, but I’d prefer to see Lewis Hamilton win his 8th Championship.  It doesn’t look like that will happen this year.  Max will probably get his first.

Winner...Max Verstappen

@jasonpohuski and I hustled to the finish line to make sure we captured the end of the FIA F1 USGP race.  Red Bull Racing Honda’s Max Verstappen won the race with his rival (Lewis Hamilton who drives for Mercedes) right behind him in 2nd place.  It was a fun event to cover and probably the most difficult thing I’ve ever photographed.  It was a technical and logistical challenge from the beginning to the end.

 About this photo, the winning pit crew always runs to the wall to cheer for their driver going passed the finish line.  At this track, at this time of day, it was a tough shot to get because of the harsh sun, shadows from the grandstands, the speed of the car and several other factors.  So it isn’t the best photo in the world, but it captures some of the emotion involved in the sport.

Lando Norris

I’m very sorry I haven’t posted anything since October 17th.  My job has been extremely busy with most days starting at 7am and going until late into the evening.  On top of that, I caused some of my own stress by spending a long weekend in Austin Texas.  While down there, I also has an extremely busy schedule because I was covering the FIA Formula 1 US Grand Prix, Formula 4 and W Series races at the Circuit Of The Americas race track.  Big thanks to Golden Sky Media for allowing me to cover the event for them.

 I covered the three days:

·      Friday – practice sessions

·      Saturday – practice and qualifying

·      Sunday – races

Over those three days covering the track, pit lane and the paddock, I took over 27,000 photos.  So, I’ve had two weeks of now stop action and a packed schedule.  Again, I’m sorry for the absence.

Here is a photo of Lando Norris who drives the number 4 McLaren race car.  Lando finished in 8th place. 

Michigan Autumn

I took this photo last fall during our Michigan wine trail trip.  We experienced great fall colors while we were there.  This cool little road is actually the exit off one of the vineyards.  So many great wineries in the Traverse City area.   

G550

Here is another photo from our August automotive photo shoot.  @jasonpohuski, Blair and I spent some time photographing a Ford 150 and this Mercedes G550 in downtown Pittsburgh. 

Chernobyl Bumper Car

I’m not sure why I didn’t share this photo in the past.  Regardless, here it is!!  I captured this in Pripyat, Ukraine a few miles from Chernobyl nuclear reactor number 4.  The entire region is abandoned and will be for decades to come.  There was a carnival setup for a village celebration, which of course never happened, with the nuclear reactor meltdown.  The carnival rides are some of the most popular tourist attractions within the Exclusion Zone.

To view a larger version, click HERE

Detroit Glory

This abandoned automotive factory is a wonderful explore.  I’ve been there a couple of times and would go back again.  It isn’t as big as the abandoned Packard Plant, but it is massive in its own right and there was a section full of unopened hockey sports cards…. 

To view a larger version, click HERE

Lombard Street

Like all tourist who visit San Francisco, I went to see Lombard Street.  I have to admit, it was fairly cool.  I visited it twice during my last SF visit.  I was there the first time during the daylight (bright light).  So I went back the next night to photograph it during and after sunset….  That’s when I captured this beauty looking up hill.

To view a larger version, click HERE

Don’t forget to check out my photo galleries.  I update and add to them often. 

Car Park

During a past visit to Detroit, Rodney and I went over to the Pontiac Silverdome.  We were hoping to photograph the inside, but work crews were actually within destroying the facility.  So, we launched the drone and took a punch of photos of the old girl before she was gone.  In the parking lot around the old stadium were thousands of cars.  I assume one of the local automotive plants was storing them there before they are sent off to dealerships around the country. 

To view a larger version, click HERE

Don’t forget to check out my photo galleries.  I update and add to them often. 

Packard Plant

Recently I spent a few days with a group of like-minded urban exploration photographers in Detroit.  We didn’t go there for fun, although we had some fun, we went to Detroit to photograph as many sites as possible.  This photo is the classic Packard Plant via my drone.  You can see much of the abandoned complex in the background.

To view a larger version, click HERE

Don’t forget to check out my photo galleries.  I update and add to them often.  PLUS….don’t forget you can get a free gift and 10% off great Think Tank camera gear by using this link: http://bit.ly/2FVW0eg

Dealership

I hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend.  I still haven’t recovered from the last few weeks.  I need a week of bed rest.  But that will have to wait. 

Last weekend while I was in northern Michigan, I flew my drone between scuba dives out on Lake Huron. It was a good way to waste time while conducting our mandatory surface intervals. 

Today’s post is a picture from a local car dealership at night.  I like the patterns, colors and perspective.

To view a larger version, click HERE

Don’t forget to check out my photo galleries.  I update and add to them often.

31st Street Bridge

I need to get out and take some more Pittsburgh photos soon.  Believe or not, I’m running out of photos to process and post from my great city.   I took this photo last fall on a photo walk with Brad and Dave.  I didn’t get a ton of wonderful photos that night, but I had a good time.  This one was taken just past sunset.

To view a larger version, click HERE

Don’t forget to check out my photo galleries.  I recently updated them.

Sunset in Pittsburgh

Self Portrait

I’ve seen this type of photo before and decided I wanted to try it.  Last night, I was on the North Shore area of Pittsburgh taking photos with Brad and Dave (I’ll post some of those pictures on another day).  In advance, I packed some extra gear so I could try this on the way home.  I’d call this a test photo….not the quality I’d like for a final photo. 

I knew to do this right I’d need a helper with me.  That helper could drive the car while I sat in the back seat taking the photos.  From there I could adjust the camera settings and make sure I captured a great photo.  Because I didn’t have a helper, I did the best I could with the settings configured in advance.  I couldn’t adjust them while driving and I used a remote camera exposure trigger so I could drive without being distracted.  I figured I’d get some test shots, so that when I had a helper in the future, the photos would be great.  And I was right.  Now I am ready to really get this right.

Anyway, I think the test shots turned out pretty good.  Certainly, not perfect.  What do you think of the photo?  Leave a comment to let me know.

To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, click the photo above.

Porsche 911 Carrera S

I took this 7 auto-bracketed exposure HDR image of this Porsche 911 Carrera S at the dealership in east Pittsburgh a few months ago.  I took MJ’s Mini Cooper in for service and spent my time photographing Porsches.  The dealership didn’t seem to care…..so I took a bunch.

Here are my blog posts with other photos from this photo walk:

http://brook-ward.com/blog/2013/8/30/porsche-tattoo

http://brook-ward.com/blog/2013/8/24/porsche-911-carrera

To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, click the photo above.

Porsche Tattoo

Here is another shot from my photo walk at the Porsche dealership.  I took over the show room for about an hour…..Just 4 beautiful cars and me.  Most of my shots on this day were close up, detail shots.  These are different from most auto photos which are of the entire car sitting somewhere with an interesting background.  Unfortunately, the show room wasn’t interesting.  So I made the best of it.   

Have a great holiday weekend. 

To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, click the photo above.

Porsche 911 Carrera

Yesterday, I took MJ’s car into the dealership to get a quote for some repair work.  I knew from prior a visit, that right down the street is a Porsche dealership.  I packed my camera gear knowing I would have a long wait at the dealership.  What I didn’t know was whether or not the Porsche dealership would let me in the door, let alone take pictures of their cars. 

Well as it turned out, they didn’t seem to care I was even there.  Matter of fact, none of the sale men even got out of their seats when I walked in and stood in the showroom.  So either they are lazy (which I doubt) or they knew from a glance that I wasn’t a potential client. 

Regardless, I snapped a ton of pictures moving in and around the showroom floor (I never touched a single car).  Today’s picture is a close up of the left front headlight on a Porsche 911 Carrera. 

To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, click the picture above. 

Pennsylvania Trolley Museum

MJ and I needed something to do on Saturday morning.  We’ve traveled the county and most of southwestern Pennsylvania a ton in the last three years.  But we’d never gone to this museum even though it isn’t far from our home.  It just wasn’t high on the “To Do” list. 

Well it was nice because it was cheap, didn’t take to long (about 1.5 hours), they have about 30 different trolleys (some over 100 years old), and you get an actual trolley ride.   It wasn’t exactly uber exciting, but it was fairly interesting.

Today’s Photo:

I took this photo at the stop during the trolley ride, which allows everyone to walk the inside of the trolley storage facility.  It is a 7 exposure auto-bracketed shot (+3, +2, +1, 0, -1, -2, -3) HDR photo merged in Photomatix Pro and edited in Photoshop CS6.

​To purchase a print or view the entire photo gallery, please click the link above.