Burnin', burn, pitlane inferno

Latest picture on my screen saver 2012-11-06: Motorsport.com art director Eric Gilbert presents the photos that he actually uses as screen savers (and that he has actually shot, also). He presents those photos on his personal Facebook page and is now sharing them on Motorsport.com. Enjoy.

IndyCar Series, Fontana, California, 2012-09-15.

That sunset really got me going last month at California Speedway. Here's another visual interpretation of it.

A pit stop is already quite dramatic: a combination of physical work, perfect choreography and mutual trust between a driver and his/her crew. This whole drama reaches an entirely new level when multiple pit stops are performed at the same time because of the sheer energy of all cars fighting for the same piece of space. But when you add the orange glow of a sunset in the mix, we are really looking at a new dimension. Almost an inferno dimension.

On a technical level, this is the kind of photo that speaks for itself and once you're on the scene, it really is just a matter of shooting. It's all in the scene and the framing… Oh, and planning, too - like checking your favorite weather web site to figure when the sunset time is. The rest is fairly easy: shoot fast and slightly underexpose - do not use any of those sissy program modes, please…

For more pictures from the 2012 IndyCar Series Fontana race weekend, click here.

http://www.facebook.com/Eric.Gilbert.Motorsport