With the 2018 racing season over, it’s time to look back at our best photos of the year. Today it’s João Filipe’s turn, showing off his favourite photos from the 24-hour races at Spa and the Nürburgring, and races in his homecountry Portugal.
MORE BEST OF 2018: MIGUEL BOSCH | MARCEL WULF | JUREK BIEGUS
Featured photo:
Spa 24 Hours | GALLERY PT.I | PT.II
Canon EOS 1DX + 50mm f/1.4 | 1/500 sec. | f/1.4 | ISO 500 | 50mm
Nürburgring 24 Hours
Canon EOS 1DX + 400mm f/2.8 | 1/15 sec. | f/8 | ISO 50 | 400mm
Nürburgring 24 Hours
Canon EOS 1DX + 400mm f/2.8 | 1/640 sec. | f/2.8 | ISO 500 | 400mm
European Le Mans Series at Portimão | GALLERY
Canon EOS 1DX + 50mm f/1.4 | 1/6400 sec. | f/1.4 | ISO 250 | 50mm
Spa 24 Hours | GALLERY PT.I | PT.II
Canon EOS 1DX + 16-35mm f/2.8 | 1/13 sec. | f/9 | ISO 50 | 16mm
International GT Open at Estoril
Canon EOS 5D Mk.IV + 16-35mm f/2.8 | 1/320 sec. | f/3.5 | ISO 200 | 29mm
Nürburgring 24 Hours
Canon EOS 5D Mk.IV + 70-200mm f/2.8 | 30 sec. | f/8 | ISO 100 | 100mm
International GT Open at Estoril
Canon EOS 5D Mk.IV + 400mm f/2.8 | 1/800 sec. | f/2.8 | ISO 250 | 400mm
Nürburgring 24 Hours
Canon EOS 5D Mk.IV + 16-35mm f/2.8 | 1/250 sec. | f/2.8 | ISO 1250 | 35mm
Nürburgring 24 Hours
Canon EOS 1DX + 400mm f/2.8 | 1/800 sec. | f/4.5 | ISO 100 | 400mm
Nürburgring 24 Hours
Canon EOS 1DX + 400mm f/2.8 | 1/2000 sec. | f/2.8 | ISO 50 | 400mm
Nürburgring 24 Hours
Canon EOS 1Dx + 16-35mm f/2.8 | 30 sec. | f/14 | ISO 200 | 16mm
It was very late and I was very tired–maybe it was 23 in the evening? The storm was approaching the Nürburgring and the forecast said it would be a big one… Soon we understood that things would get a bit crazy, which is normal in the Eifel. We saw the lightning from the media center and thought it could make for great pictures, but of course with lighting also came rain. We started thinking of which places we could do nice long exposures and decided to go to the Karussell.
I don’t like the forest at night too much. It was dark, raining heavily. We had to wait a while under the marshal’s post for the rain to calm down before I took out my tripod and start taking a long exposure at the Karussell. By then the lightning was gone as well, but the unexpected happened as I got the last lightning in the distance in my shot. The lens was wet from the rain and even though at 16mm it was not easy to fit the whole corner in the frame, the picture turned out really cool due to the storm. There’s nothing like a bit of lucky.
Nürburgring 24 Hours
Canon EOS 1DX + 400mm f/2.8 | 1/800 sec. | f/2.8 | ISO 200 | 400mm
International GT Open at Estoril
Canon EOS 5D Mk.II + 70-200mm f/2.8 | 1/400 sec. | f/2.8 | ISO 125 | 78mm
Spa 24 Hours | GALLERY PT.I | PT.II
Canon EOS 5D Mk.IV + 70-200mm f/2.8 | 1/640 sec. | f/2.8 | ISO 800 | 200mm
Spa 24 Hours | GALLERY PT.I | PT.II
Canon EOS 1Dx + 50mm f/1.4 | 1/1000 sec. | f/1.4 | ISO 50 | 50mm
Nürburgring 24 Hours
Canon EOS 1DX + 400mm f/2.8 | 1/1600 sec. | f/3.5 | ISO 100 | 400mm
I always love to go to the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring, even if it’s just for fun. This is where it all started for me.
Saturday evening and we were walking from the highest part of the track down to Brünnchen trying some new stuff. The back light together with the aggressively looking headlights from the BMW M6 GT3 turned out great. Falken always have really cool liveries, making the life of a photographer sometimes easier.
Spa 24 Hours | GALLERY PT.I | PT.II
Canon EOS 1Dx + 70-200mm f/2.8 | 1/5 sec. | f/29 | ISO 125 | 200mm
Spa 24 Hours | GALLERY PT.I | PT.II
Canon EOS 1Dx + 70-200mm f/2.8 | 1/13 sec. | f/20 | ISO 50 | 85mm
Nürburgring 24 Hours
Canon EOS 1DX + 16-35mm f/2.8 | 1/125 sec. | f/5 | ISO 250 | 16mm
The reason what I like about this picture? It shows that motorsport is not just about the driver and the car. It’s amazing the amount of people on the backstage to make everything work. More than that, it shows the complexity of endurance racing. I love the fact you have two mechanics changing the brake system–something so cool and you rarely see it outside of 24-hour races. Another mechanic ready with oil while the others are checking the engine. At the same time there’s fresh tyres going onto the car and another guy refueling. Something else to love about this photo: where else can you watch this Lexus race? I really miss the LFA.
V de V at Estoril
Canon EOS 1DX + 70-200mm f/2.8 | 1/50 sec. | f/5 | ISO 1000 | 145mm
European Le Mans Series at Portimão | GALLERY
Canon EOS 1DX + 400mm f/2.8 | 1/640 sec. | f/4 | ISO 640 | 400mm
European Le Mans Series at Portimão | GALLERY
Canon EOS 1DX + 400mm f/2.8 | 1/2000 sec. | f/2.8 | ISO 125 | 400mm
Portimão, a great race track in my homecountry. I always preferred to see the European Le Mans Series at my hometrack Estoril, but it is not that bad that ELMS moved to Algarve for the last two years. The track is in a much better condition to receive this high-level competition and really good for us photographers.
I was walking around during the morning free practice and the sky was always changing when I saw a small orange gap between the grey clouds. I was at the right place at the right time. I got the Algarve Pro Racing car pushing the limits of the track, giving me the perfect composition.
Spa 24 Hours | GALLERY PT.I | PT.II
Canon EOS 1Dx + 50mm f/1.4 | 1/640 sec. | f/1.4 | ISO 500 | 50mm
Spa 24 Hours | GALLERY PT.I | PT.II
Canon EOS 1Dx + 70-200mm f/2.8 | 1/500 sec. | f/5 | ISO 1250 | 200mm
This was definitely a hard one to get. It was super dark at Les Combes during the night of the Spa 24 Hours, I could only see the lights of the cars and a lot of dust from them cutting the corners. I had to use manual focus–not easy when it’s pitch black–because the lights of the car in front of the camera was too bright and too fast to use autofocus. I got lucky to get the car right behing the Nissan GTR to illuminate the shapes of the GTR and the dust around it.
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