Rally Shoot

I may not have any solid ideas for what to shoot for this year’s project and whether it will even fit in with the previous years’ work, but I am never going to miss out on the chance to take photographs of an event that is local, free and could be entertaining.

Motoring

Thus when I spotted a Motor Rally Ceremonial Start on Facebook my interest was piqued and I arranged to be in Shrewsbury Town Centre for the correct time the next day. This Saturday, or yesterday as I write this, my wife and I went into town, parked up and walked to the centre. I continued on to the start line where 150 rally cars would be making their ceremonial start from. It was in Claremont Street and the road had been blocked off to allow for rally cars to queue up and then be waved off on the flag, for the journey on towards Weston Park, where they would then spend the day competing.

I noticed a bench seat the size of my bottom and went and sat down, it was opposite the gate where the cars would be released so I figured, there would be nobody in front of me and I would have unfettered access to photograph the cars as they sped out of the gate. I waited there for around 90 minutes and spoke to another photographer who was keen to talk about his previous experiences at races etc.

With a few people getting in the way and having to be moved on by the marshals to get them off the road (I was sat at the kerbside). The cars turned up a few at a time and were released according to a rather mixed up schedule by the chief timekeeper’s clock and the mayor with his Shrewsbury Flag.

Ceremonial

They “sped off” at a very sensible speed, which was disappointing, but with the people gathering around the gate it was really no surprise that they were being safe. The cars were flagged and released in order, the first safety cars being 00 and 0 respectively, then the rest from 1 to 150. A mixture of modern and classic vehicles made their way through the gate. After about 15 cars I wanted to move and get some photos of different angles, including parts of the town centre that would be of interest in the future. Shop signs change regularly in the town and you can often tell the time period by which shops were in the background.

I moved up the intiial launch area and tried taking photos of the drivers and navigators through their small windows before being bothered by the large crowd gathered here. I moved up and around the corner working my way backwards down the route that the cars were following to get here.

There was a section outside Jessop’s in Mardol where the cars were stopping to sign paperwork with the marshalls etc so I waited here a bit, meeting Max from Jessop’s who had borrowed a shop demo camera and was taking photos with the shop in the background. He was having to alter “every single setting” as people had been messing around with the demo camera.

Moving

From here I moved a little further around to Music Bros and got my camera low to the ground for a better perspective, with them coming upwards too it provided a better angle I think. The camera I was using was my Canon R5 Mk II with the 24-70mm lens on the front and the moveable screen on the rear was a god send for this angle. The 5D Mk IV I’d traded in for this did not have the screen so I would have been shooting blind or lying on the pavement to get the same shots. It did annoy me a little as the focusing point kept moving when the screen was touched and I’d find that the point was in the top or bottom corner meaning I’d be missing the focus on the subject. I would have to use the joystick on the rear of the camera to move it back to the centre or where I wanted to start the focusing. It was a nuisance because I couldn’t see it immediately so didn’t know where to move it from, but today I read up about it and found that if I’d just pressed the joystick, like a button, it would centre it automagically. Doh.

From this location I moved down towards the Smithfield Road where incoming cars and outgoing cars were passing in the opposite directions. I took a few here as the cars were stuck in the locally famous traffic that seems to be a constant in the town centre, then walked along near Al Piccolino’s famous pizza takeaway opposite the Shrewsbury Railway Station and Castle. My logic was that there were a few cars to come through, not many, that would be on their way to the start point and if I got on this junction I could capture photos with the Castle in the background, tying the location down for viewers in the future. There were a few delays for the strangely timed traffic lights and blockages so I walked along towards the Signal Box and caught the last of the 150 cars.

I walked back up and spoke briefly with the occupants of the cars before taking a few photos through the windows and getting thumbs up and a few smiles. As I got back to Al Pic’s and the Castle I continued up Castle Gates and snapped a couple of cars as they did their final part of the route before heading out of town. Again I was aiming to get some of the local landmarks in the background, some of the Railway Station bridge, then the Castle/Library area and finally Castle Street with it’s instantly recognisable M&S store and other shops.

Afters

With a few hundred photos of cars in the CF Express II card it was time to head back to the car and head home for a cup of coffee, and uploading the photos to the NAS at home. The finish to the day was waiting for a phone call from my daughter and friends for a lift from the pub so I got on with editing and exporting as small jpgs for use on the Facebook and Instagram platforms, I don’t often use the Facebook photos sharing but as it was a local event I figured it would be ok.

I found that the experience of photographing the cars was good fun, and the photos I selected seemingly appeared to be of the more classic cars, such as the Ford Escorts and Vauxhall Chevettes rather than the newer Subarus and Mitsubishis. When I looked at the Insta post it was virtually all Escorts, but they had restricted me putting more of the other cars up in the post.