Wahgunyah Speedway at 105mm

I've mentioned before how Speedhunters is one of my main inspirations for pursuing motorsport and car culture photojournalism.  One of the many articles that still remains with me is Paddy McGrath’s Tokyo Auto Salon coverage​, where he stuck to a focal length of 50mm.  That article was posted back in 2018 and since then I’ve been wanting to try the same.

Every time I go to an event however, even when I’m not shooting for a client, I take the day very seriously, trying my best to create the finest pictures to represent the motorsport meeting using the multiple lenses I have at my disposal.  Sorting out my calendar this year, travelling to a multitude of new tracks, I knew that I would get the chance to challenge myself with this idea.

The lens I’ve picked is my Nikon 105mm Micro f/2.8.  Although I don’t use this lens often, it’s a treat when I do, with macro capabilities and a wide aperture for a shallow depth of field or use in low light situations (yes, f/2.8 is wide ok!).

A focal length of 105mm might be a bit tight in the pits, but I was hoping it would come into its own when the cars got on track.

As it turned out, 105mm wasn’t ideal for shooting from the outside, and the cars would appear small when shooting infield.  But, because I’m a Nikon photographer, I had plenty of gadgets in my many pockets.

Before I get into that, I think it's time to introduce Wahgunyah Speedway.  The story of Wahgunyah Speedway began in 1951 with the formation of the Corowa Motor Sports Club.  The very active club was involved in many forms of motorsport at the time, and in 1958 would make Wahgunyah Recreational Reserve home to their racetrack.

The Wahgunyah Hot Rod Track was opened on Easter Sunday 1958, a five corner circuit with the length of 5/8’s of a mile.  After taking multiple forms, the current sand and clay banked speedway would emerge.  With a length of 630 metres, Wahgunyah Speedway is one of the longest dirt speedways in Australia.

In 2022, the Murray River peaked at 8.1 metres of water, flooding surrounding areas including causing substantial damage to Wahgunyah Speedway.  After a mammoth effort from volunteers and the speedway’s team, racing would return to Wahgunyah in November 2023.  The passion for speedway in the north of Victoria is immeasurable and clearly evident when you visit both Wahgunyah and Wangaratta.

Another example of this is how they share the speedway experience with the young next generation of fans.  Kids would be given gift bags and be walked around the pits, meeting drivers, collecting stickers.  A few kids would also be chosen to hand the chequered flag to the winners of the feature races which I though was a really cool idea.

For Wahgunyah Speedway's final event of the 2023-24 season, Production Sedans would join the AMCA State Challenge, Standard Saloons, Sports Sedans and Humpy Holdens.  There would also be three Vintage Sprintcars that would join in.

​​Alright, back to the photography, because I had a few ideas including filters to try out.  The first filter I had never used before, and it gave a frosty look to a third of the photo.  The effect looked good for still pit photos, but it didn't really do anything for me when panning with it on track.

Not to worry, because I had a multi-prism filter that I would end up using quite a bit to repeat the subject across the frame.  At first, it's quite tricky to use because the filter skews your vision, making it difficult to actually find what you were looking to take photos of.  However, on track the original subject was actually clearer, probably because I was shooting from a further distance.

The last filter I would use gave a bold rainbow effect to any bright highlights from lights or the sun.  This filter also has no name, and no thread, so it's quite mysterious, also meaning I'd have to hold it up to the lens and pan.  By the end of the night, I was experimenting with having multiple lens filters on at the same time for some bonkers results.

When you take lots of photos with the same focal length, you learn to know where to place yourself in order to get the framing you want, without having to look through the viewfinder.  By the end of the night at Wahgunyah, I was starting to know where to place myself when shooting at 105mm, meaning my night had been a success.  

When you set yourself a challenge like this, it's so you get to take photos that you would have never visualised, whilst also allowing you to do some research and development for future photoshoots.  And I've definitely got some ideas thanks to my time at Wahgunyah Speedway.

Bonus Gallery