Yeah Charles! I know you have some good action shots! Just pick 10 good ones and upload them to your picaso account and share.

 

I did not get any video of you. Next time, let's coordinate a little better and I can follow you. We can do that at PIR in September if you are interested.

 

I found someone else's video from the lap day.. Guess who?

yep, the Fit! (and no, it wasn't a stock fit WebXtreme.. )

http://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-...forums/fit-pictures-videos/46046-july26-irdc-lapping-event-pacific-raceway.html

that part on the backside during third session with Dfocusin and that late pass. It looked like the other was trying to drag race you or something.

 

that part on the backside during third session with Dfocusin and that late pass. It looked like the other was trying to drag race you or something.

That was a little strange. Wait until you see it from my car. I was just trying to figure out what he is doing. He was waving me by but not slowing down and he was all over the place, you can even see him hit the dirt.

Still a great day. So much fun!

 

Correct, just read that he did give you a point by. A late one. I wouldn't of taken it that late in the zone.

As far as dirt that is pretty common for the race Miatas in that area to touch the dirt. They do the same thing when they track out on T8.

Why would he need to slow down? You're the faster car. I never slow down let someone pass. Plus, I don't even give them a point by unless they are 3 car lengths behind me. Anymore distance and they wont be able to make the pass, unless of course they have a lot more HP. In his case he loses momentum since he is slower HP car.

 

I was trying not to pass that late but he was forcing it. We almost freeking stopped. He had to slow for me to get by because I was stuck behind both him and the Fit. I had no drive out the turn.

 

after watching from the video how much better control his car had through turn 3, I am really considering my next upgrade (after tires) changing out the diff. The last time I dealt with posi diff's was back in my drag racing/street racing days and the difference was like night and day, course those were all RWD cars. I didn't realize how much of a difference it can make on a FWD car..

I wish his camera could have caught his rearview mirror better, because I know in the third session I spent most of my time behind him.

 

DJ - I didn't have an LSD in my SVTF and my car was 10x more planted than your car.

If I had your car I would do these mods 1st.

Suspension - coilovers and sway bars.
Brakes - pads, slotted rotors, stainless steel lines and better fluid.
Tires - any Ultra High Performance tire.
LSD
Seat with harness bar or roll bar - you're really going to feel the feedback of the car strapped into a racing seat.

 

^^ I agree and wording in constructively will be a challenge. Did they even go over flags in the Drivers Meeting?

 

I didn't notice any errors this morning and Picasa says I've only used 72% of my space (1 GB, free account) so everything should be there. I haven't been through yet to pull out the pictures of parts of cars, blurry, fuzzy, etc... One of these days.

http://picasaweb.google.com/caggenbach

Full resolution (6MP JPEG Basic) files should be available out of Picasa if you click in the right spot. If you want the NEF RAW files send me a list of file names.

 

The check-up pucker factor is more than trying to stop sometimes...lol

 

Nice shots! Your camera took some great Hi-speed shots Charles!!

I already got the sways and am going to the SVT suspension that Kim sold me, so after I get my 60 lb injectors, I will focus on upgrading brakes and tires (those oenes I had on are really toast!

I will see if Santa brings me a LSD or racing seat this year...

Thanks for the pics again Charles, it's already making me anxious to hit the track again!

Also, I was a bit surprised they didn't review some of the flags, the last couple times I have hit PIR they did a quick review the morning of.

 

Those are very good pictures Charles! I still can't believe you got these shots...

 

Yeah, I didn't see it (I was taking an entire rotation of the sun for me to get around the track!) that is crazy! Has anybody heard if he got everything all sorted out?

Also, I was looking through the photos, and even with my setup, the Focus is pretty decent handling, my body roll wasn't nearly as bad as some of the other cars out there. Thank god Ford UK knew what they were doing when they designed the Focus!

 

Thanks Charles. I've added some of these to my car blog's "hello" slideshow. It's a lot tougher to get cars with that stationary/moving look (spinning wheels) than it looks, eh? When you're shooting down there at shutter speeds of 160/200, panning in one dimension and holding the image steady is an art! One buddy shoots down at 125 and tosses out 15 to 20 images for every one that is decent. But when he gets it right, he gets an amazing shot. ALL blur, but the car and driver.

 

It's worse with autocross when you're shooting maybe 1/60 or 1/80th of a second due to the typically lower speeds. I think I have a bunch of settings screwed up on the camera from messing with things over time and will probably reset it and set stuff back up from scratch. I think also it ended up in Aperture priority instead of Shutter priority at one point. Ugh.

I'd just upload the Blue Angles pics but I know I don't have enough room left in Picasa. I'm not really thrilled with the idea of paying for more than 1 GB of storage with them. It sounds like Flickr is a better deal BUT my account there has been screwed up for years. Last time I tried I couldn't get Yahoo to reset my account (non-email if that's even possible) which is the root of the problem.

 

I'd just upload the Blue Angles pics but I know I don't have enough room left in Picasa. I'm not really thrilled with the idea of paying for more than 1 GB of storage with them. It sounds like Flickr is a better deal BUT my account there has been screwed up for years. Last time I tried I couldn't get Yahoo to reset my account (non-email if that's even possible) which is the root of the problem.

If you're willing to spend a few bucks, try SmugMug. No limit and I think it's a much better overall service. There are some quirks, but I figure to be switching over to that for big file uploads. Picasa has been handy, but I really only use it for limited uploads.

 

I'll probably shop around a bit to see what's out there but SmugMug does look good. For others interested, here's their 3 plans:

http://www.smugmug.com/photos/photo-sharing-features/

Video would be nice to add in the future but since I don't currently own a video camera of any sort it's kind of silly right now. :lol: Hopefully I'll purchase something this winter...

 

Some good advise I got when I first started shooting action shot (20 years ago) was treat the camera like a rifle, start panning your shot early to get a smooth motion going. Course, I haven't picked up my SLR in about 5 years, I tend to use my Panasonic Point-n-shoot 95% of the time (it's got a tremendously faster capture then other digital's I have had, and pretty stable despite its lighter wieght.)


Maybe next time, I will have to dust of the Rebel and try and get some shots (I think there is still some Ilford in the fridge..) If I can remember how to use it!

 

Those are some cool pics! I really need to invest in a really nice camera

 

OMG, Charles... thanks alot for the pics, they are amazing, DAMN we are looking good out there guys , great camera BTW.

 

D40's are cheap and getting cheaper now that Nikon has a replacement for it (the D3000). 55-200mm VR lense lists for $250 and you can find it for closer to $200 (or even a little less if I'm selling a used one and buying a 70-300 VR ).

 

Isn't it fun when they spin right in front of you...lol Even more fun when you're coming up on T4 and a car is finishing it's flip in front of you.

 

It was cool. He handled it well. Now a flip on the other hand would be crazy.

 

if you wanna find a good deal on a DSLR body, keep an eye on passwird.com, I have seen some really great deals that if I didn't need to keep dumping money into my car, I would pick up... Last month, they had a D60 with a basic 18-55 for $429..

 

When I was shopping for my DSLR I was looking at either the D40X or the D80. I went with the D80 because I could use the lenses that I have been using with my N80. Looking back on it I am glad I did because I don't have to go into the menu to make adjustments. It's setup a lot like the N80 where I can adjust settings with a push of a button and a turn of a knob.

On a side note some times it the way the person behind the camera. Give someone that has no real experiance a high end camera and you might end up with bad pictures. Give a pro lower end point and shoot you should bet good picures.

 

Did this forum become kits camara personal ad campaine....

 

Yes it did!

And now I am going to completely derail it..

I bought some new shoes last week from Ross. I thought they looked pretty cool, not really paying any attention to the brand other than I thought the colors looked pretty fly. Well, long story longer, I finally busted them out today and put them on, and low and behold I actually looked at the shoes, and it seems I got a pair of these for $20 at ROSS:

http://www.piloti.com/products/product_details.aspx?cat_id=3&prod_id=1617&prod_sku=PR24-1

what's crazy, is they had several pairs at the Lloyd center ROSS!

they are nice..

 

Kewl shoes. Piloti are starting to make some shoes that are not certified driving shoes which is kewl. They are more stylish anyways...lol