94th Annual Loudon Classic – Bike Week 2017

I enjoyed taking pictures at the Loudon Classic on Saturday with Kevin and Hunter.

 

 

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Loudon Motorcycle Races - NHMS

 

I have taken pictures during Loudon Classic motorcycle week.  There are other motorcycle race events during the summer so I decided to take pictures at another event.

I arrived before the races started to take pictures in the garage area.  When walking around I saw a few motorcycles I had taken pictures of in the past.

It was overcast all day with thunderstorms in the area.  Cloudy skies can make colors pop so I was hoping for some good color.  I felt rain drops mid-afternoon but nothing came of it.
 

There were 13 motorcycle races scheduled.  When the first race started I was in position and ready to take pictures.  As the different races progressed I took pictures around the track and infield then decided to head for the grand stands which I haven’t done before.  Several weeks from now there would be a couple hundred thousand people in the stands for the NASCAR race.  For now there were just a people in the stands. 

I found a couple locations by the track fence I liked and started snapping away.  It gives a different perspective.  I progressed from the first corner down the straight to the far corner stopping when I thought I had a good spot.  I also headed up

to the top row in the stands to zoom in on other parts of the track.

I took many shots from different angles.  I also slowed my shutter speed down and practiced some panning.  I should do that more as I didn’t feel fluid in my movement following the riders.  It’s called being rusty.  Sometimes when you experiment it can be unpredictable but can create some unusual pictures.

I headed back to the infield, over the pit wall, to the track wall.  I thought I would practice more panning.  I slowed my shutter speed down and played a bit more with panning.  It was more difficult than I thought as the motorcycles were pretty close, going well over 100mph when they were passing me, and they were accelerating as I was in the middle of the straight.  I tried to keep my camera movement level and was successful on some but not on others which created more unusual pictures.  It was fun to experiment and practice and I need do that more often.

Just when I was having fun experimenting and thought things are going well my low battery indicator gave the red light and shut my camera down.  Really … my battery died

 … no spare battery … I was done after race 7.  Nuts!!

I know zooming in and out wears a battery more quickly.  It happened to me at the AMA Hillcimb for the same reason.  Guess I should buy a backup battery.

I watched a bit longer then headed home.  Fun stuff … 

Go to the search bar at the top of my blog and type in Loudon Classic to see past posts.