Black White Photography - UK (2019-11)

33

B+W

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What is it like working in those
extreme lighting conditions?
Lighting is really crazy – sun, cloud, snow,
rain, hail, wind, sometimes all at once!
I often use auto ISO in the pit, it’s set to roll
up to ISO 3200 on auto. The garages are all
so different, just walking round a car can
either be light or dark. Auto saves a lot of
time. On the Fujifilm system it’s a perfectly
acceptable image in that ISO range.

Is it dangerous work?
I guess pit lane is one of the most extreme

How do you manage not to get in

the way?

This comes with practice, you almost learn

the dance moves of the pit stop; when you

first start you tend to shoot a little further

back, there’s a lot of guys moving quickly,

carrying tyres, air hoses, fuel hoses. Trust

me, it’s better to be out of their way.

You tend to get closer to the action with

more experience. The pit stop is over in

seconds, but it doesn’t always go to plan.

I’ve been sprayed with fuel, even knocked

out briefly by an Italian pit crew during a tyre

change. I went for that tight shot of the crew

changing the tyre, but forgot about the other

guy coming from the side with two tyres in

his hands at full pelt. I woke up to a

headache and a very battered but working

camera. Those Fujifilm X-T1s are tougher

than you think.

What kit do you take?

Fujifilm X-T3 for sports and action images

(anything where I need fast AF and frame

rates), Fujifilm GFX 50S for details and

portraits, Fujifilm X100F for candid work and

travel, and Fujifilm X-Pro2 for back-up and

studio portraits. I carry a full set of zooms,

but also the primes. Primes just have a look

that is so cinematic.

‘It’s a bit like street

photography in the central

reservation of the M25.’

and dangerous environments I have ever

worked in. You have to have eyes in the

back of your head all the time and some

idea of the procedures. It’s a bit like street

photography in the central reservation

of the M25.