Drag Racing Portraits at Manson Raceway Park, Thanet , Kent
A Day Out at the Raceway - Making Portraits at the Drag Races
A driver prepares to join the fray at Manston Raceway Park
Kent is normally a bit far off my manor, but with a day spare and some energy to make something interesting, I took up an idea floated by another photographer I know on Instagram , and drove the hour and a half east to reach Manston Raceway Park the new home of drag racing in the south of England.
It’s not widely known but I LOVE cars - not in a “hey is that a 1978 Ford Diamond with the 200 horse power straight 6 and the extra flanges” kind of way (even that sentence rather gives me away) but more in a “that thing looks f*****g cool and the person who made/drives it is super interesting too” kind of way. On this day, the raceway also had Velocity Vintage Drags with all their rat rods and vintage vehicles so that ticked another box for me.
Vintage dragsters on the way to the track at Manston Raceway Park
It was a blazing hot day as I made my way onto the tarmac of the former RAF base and sought out the best positions for the cars and more importantly, for the drivers. I immediately hit a snag at trackside, and that was that the safety barriers were too tall for me to properly see and shoot over (don’t laugh!) so next time I’ll be taking a step so that I don’t get the barriers in every shot taken as the cars go down the track. I wanted to hone my panning skills and try out those super cool shots of cars in motion with background blurring and cars in focus - yeah I got one passable shot like that (below) and while I’d like to blame it on those barriers cramping my style, the reality is that there is a reason why motorsports is a specialist photography discipline!
Practising my panning skills - pretty pleased with this one!
Portraits wise I was a little hesitant as I always prefer to photograph people with their permission, and their awareness and also to give them my details so that should they want copies, they can contact me for them. Of course that requires the putting on of the big girl pants and going to talk to total strangers - with the associated likelihood of being told no, or just looked at like you’re not right in the head. However, I needn’t have worried as people were really lovely, and willing to stop for a quick picture with their vehicles they obviously lavished so much care and attention on.
Of course the cars are the stars at any motorsport event and the environment at Manston also makes for a great backdrop with a massive clear sky vista and fields behind the route to the track itself and the hurly burly of the pits and the spectators and vendors at the trackside.
All in all a great few hours (would have stayed longer but honestly it was so hot!) and much fun had both talking to people and having the time and space to make some interesting photos. I reckon I’ll be back at Manston before long - maybe see you there?
If you see your face or your car here please email sian@siantphoto.com for copies