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05-FEB-2006 GaryNZ

GaryNZ

Lake Karapiro, Cambridge, NZ

2006 U.I.M. WORLD GRAND PRIX HYDROPLANE FINAL

At 170+mph, 1800hp, Grand Prix Hydroplanes are the fastest automotive powered boats on water, utilizing a maximum of 510 cubic inch engines leaving 300ft thundering rooster tails in their wake.

This was shot as they rounded the bottom course marker for the second to last time to pick up the white flag. The pair had been neck to neck through out the whole breathe taking race, neither giving up any ground until the final lap where the white boat grabbed some dirty water (rough water) allowing the yellow boat, Annihilator GP 007 with Warwick Lupton from Wanganui NZ, to win the world title.

Canon EOS 20D ,Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM
1/2500s f/9.0 at 200.0mm iso400 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time05-Feb-2006 15:53:57
MakeCanon
ModelCanon EOS 20D
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length200 mm
Exposure Time1/2500 sec
Aperturef/9
ISO Equivalent400
Exposure Bias
White Balance (-1)
Metering Modepartial (6)
JPEG Quality (6)
Exposure Programaperture priority (3)
Focus Distance

other sizes: small medium large original auto
comment
Guest 08-Feb-2006 16:34
Nice catch.. very exciting..
Rafi
Digital Rebels06-Feb-2006 21:00
Wonderful shot KK..I just love the spray...

Bob II
Janet Forjan-Freedman06-Feb-2006 06:30
Nice work capturing the excitement and thrill of the race! Janet
Jess. ( Lady.D.)06-Feb-2006 04:49
Exciting image, great water shot. Very well done Gary.
Jess
Martin Schiff06-Feb-2006 03:59
This is a very exciting shot, Gary. Great job! I think the water in the foreground is good, because it gives those fast moving boats somewhere to go (other than in my face!).
Rod Rees 06-Feb-2006 03:17
Great rooster tails. Regarding the horizontal, in this case I'd violate true horizontal and make it "look" horizontal. But that's a nit.
Guest 06-Feb-2006 00:59
wow! amazing!
Digital Rebels06-Feb-2006 00:52
Absolutely awesome!!!!!! Perfect exposure, lovely color and I'm super impressed with
all that big white water!!!
--Tam
Keith Lamond 05-Feb-2006 22:49
Great shot Gary. It really gives a sense of the power of those boats with the huge tails behind them.

I'll also echo the comment about cropping a bit from the bottom. I understand your trying to follow the rule of thirds, but the calm ocean is a bit boring compared to the rest of the shot. I'd keep a little of the ocean in front for the contrast between the tails behind the boats, but not much.

A good quote about rules (came from music) 'We learn the rules so we know when to break them'.
Digital Rebels05-Feb-2006 18:14
The horizon is straight, I picked that up as well, but the wake lines running on a slight angle and also the two boats not being exactly level and coming around a tight right hander which has them also leaning to the left give the appearance of the photo being slightly tilted to the left....

The spray from the white boat is level but the spray from the yellow boat is tilting which doesn't help.

Sorry, but I didn't crop any from the top, I wished I had backed off the zoom slightly and as for the water out front, I am trying to stick to the rule of thirds and leave the boats somewhere to run.....

thanks
GaryNZ
Jim Thode05-Feb-2006 18:06
Impressive picture, good action shot. Since this picture is mostly about the roster tails as opposed to the boats, if possible you may want to consider not cropping as much.
dawn05-Feb-2006 18:00
this is fabulous! my only nitpick would be to perhaps crop out a tad of the ocean at the bottom, but this is great.
Gary Martin05-Feb-2006 17:51
Fantastic shot Gary. Love the low viewpoint which accentuates the height of the spray. One small nitpick - straighten the horizon.