A question for 2018 Pylon Press photographers

[wingman]

Something I've been wodering about -- so a question for the 2018 Pylon Press that are posting here: Is there any access to Unlimited Pylons 4 and 5 these days? I've been curious, because I'm seeing a lot of great shots so far, but most of the pylon stuff is pretty conventional and looks to be mostly Pylon 2 with a bit of Pylon 8. I'm not seeing much Victor Archer style "in your face" stuff where you can tell whether the pilot plucks his nose hairs or not. I've always loved those pictures ever since Victor showed us it could be done. I've always found those cropped closeups to be dynamic and romantic, and to me they say "Air Racing!". I still remember the "Holy Crap" moments I experienced when I first saw Victor's material and realized I was going to have to seriously up my game here.

Actually, I guess which pylon matters less than the light direction and where the photographer stands, as I think all these were done from the regular pylons. But I'd really like to see some stuff like this from 2018. I've had hopes for Wayne to have some, but I'd be interested in anything form any of the Pylon press folks.

Neal

[Race5]

Re: A question for 2018 Pylon Press photographers

Something I've been wodering about -- so a question for the 2018 Pylon Press that are posting here: Is there any access to Unlimited Pylons 4 and 5 these days? I've been curious, because I'm seeing a lot of great shots so far, but most of the pylon stuff is pretty conventional and looks to be mostly Pylon 2 with a bit of Pylon 8. I'm not seeing much Victor Archer style "in your face" stuff where you can tell whether the pilot plucks his nose hairs or not. I've always loved those pictures ever since Victor showed us it could be done. I've always found those cropped closeups to be dynamic and romantic, and to me they say "Air Racing!". I still remember the "Holy Crap" moments I experienced when I first saw Victor's material and realized I was going to have to seriously up my game here.

Actually, I guess which pylon matters less than the light direction and where the photographer stands, as I think all these were done from the regular pylons. But I'd really like to see some stuff like this from 2018. I've had hopes for Wayne to have some, but I'd be interested in anything form any of the Pylon press folks.

Neal

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No access to 4. Five is by lottery only.

[Big_Jim]

Re: A question for 2018 Pylon Press photographers

Pylon 4 had been the 'drawing' pylon since the accident in '11. This year they switched it to 5...and you know good and well how great a place that is to shoot from. I went out there on Thursday afternoon and got some spectacular shots.

[RAD2LTR]

Re: A question for 2018 Pylon Press photographers

Years past have been pylon 4, but this year, we had pylon 5, and I was one of 10 picked to shoot from there. What an awesome spot. Far better than 4 to shoot from (yeah yeah, the trees are great at 4, except you can't frame the shot because you can't see the planes till they are going over... thanks, I'll pass.)






I like 5...

Will

[wingman]

Re: A question for 2018 Pylon Press photographers

That's the kind of stuff I was hoping to see. I too actually preferred 5 to the "new" 4. My problem with 4 was that I always had trouble acquiring and locking onto airplanes as they roared over the hill. The issue I did have much of the time at 5 was that the airplanes tend to be pretty high as they pass the pylon. My best stuff there tended to be the headons against the hills like Will's. Having said that, the faster Racers are usually in a pretty good bank there, so even though you're shooting over your head the aircraft attitude often really worked.

Thanks for the information and the pictures.

Now for more closeups! I wanna see nose hairs! ( and what Brad got at 5).

Neal

[Big_Jim]

Re: A question for 2018 Pylon Press photographers

( and what Brad got at 5).

Neal

A few shots. I haven't gone through all of them yet, so I may still have some more to pull out. The Scott Farnsworth shot I only included because at 500 mph I managed to completely by accident get it perfectly full framed...AND in focus. Go figure.

[wingman]

Re: A question for 2018 Pylon Press photographers

Nice. Definitely different angles and light back there. For some reason a lot of my best Jet Class shots were done from 5. But then, I never did many jet shots, so best is relative, I guess.

Thanks

I got to wondering about access back there because I've been poking about in the Wingman archives for forgotten gems, and ran across a bunch of Pylon 5 stuff from a decade ago. This stuff really got me remembering the light back on the back of the course...




The second shot is quite heavily cropped. It's always worth remembering that if you shoot sharp enough, for on screen use (as opposed to prints or paper publication) you can crop the Hell out of these digital images and really get photos with impact.

Neal