Why the tilt

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Delphin

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As posted earlier, I shall be at Brands Hatch for Euro NASCAR and American Speedfest.
I've done very little motorsport, and looking at other people's images I wonder why are they all titled over, very few are what I would call straight.
 
Delphin said:
As posted earlier, I shall be at Brands Hatch for Euro NASCAR and American Speedfest.
I've done very little motorsport, and looking at other people's images I wonder why are they all titled over, very few are what I would call straight.
Click to expand...
Too much liquid lunch :)

I thought it was maybe because the person taking them was getting on in years, as I remember many many years ago magazines used to print photos like that, I always had to urn the magazines to see then straight, and then I used to think it was just a way to add action or drama to an otherwise very ordinary photo.

I have also see lots of normal photos, so it doesn't seem universal.

Have to add that since F1 went to pay TV, I haven't watched or been to any motorsport, so I am not up to date :)


Take your how you enjoy them
 
In an attempt to make the images more dramatic.
 
I seem to remember it was called dynaism or something similar? back years ago. As Steve says it was to add drama, make the image dynamic... or what was the other word... started with a C I think... carp maybe??? ;)
 
Is it to mimic images from the banked oval tracks in the US ?
 
"Artistic license" being used to mask slight incompetence?
 
Delphin said:
As posted earlier, I shall be at Brands Hatch for Euro NASCAR and American Speedfest.
I've done very little motorsport, and looking at other people's images I wonder why are they all titled over, very few are what I would call straight.
Click to expand...

I think it is called "Dutch Angles" it is done to add drama to a relatively dull image.
Can work well with Drift Cars or Bikes in corners sometimes cars in various banking or if they really are pushing round corners.
 
The "tilt" is done to add something different and some like it and some don't. To those who are paying a lot of them like it so take it as that. It's really all about trying to get that different shot, I for instance do lots of filling the frame shots. Personally I like them but if others don't it's water off a ducks back as it's not their work.
 
Tilt of less than about 5 degrees is probably accidental or down to Camber as Andrew's shot. I generally keep my camera pretty level & don't worry if the vehicle looks tilted (it often is)
This is an extreme example where the camera is close to level:
'e-Bay crashed' by Mike Kanssen, on Flickr

Note The car in the background looks tilted purely from heading away...

Diagonal lines are supposed to make an image more dynamic, this is employed deliberately by some with the horizontals tilted by 20 or more degrees - I don't think I've seen more than 45 degrees of artificial tilt in a decent image :)

This compositional trick cab be very effective, but if employed all the time it looses it's effectiveness IMO.
 
It's to add a sense of excitement and movement, as already suggested. Often the pictures are competent but not exciting seen 'straight' and used well, this can give them a boost. Over-use can look bad though, making it all too obvious.
 
Delphin said:
As posted earlier, I shall be at Brands Hatch for Euro NASCAR and American Speedfest.
I've done very little motorsport, and looking at other people's images I wonder why are they all titled over, very few are what I would call straight.
Click to expand...

As a major perpetrator of this issue, I feel I should at least try to justify myself. As others have mentioned, the Dutch angle is often used to add drama, but in my experience, there's more to it than that. For a start, most cars tend to be pretty long and thin, if you're not shooting head-on and intend to use some level framing then you're gonna have a significant amount of dead space in both the foreground and background at the top and bottom of the frame - I'm not sure how many tracks you've been to but typically you're gonna end with some pretty manky looking fences and porta loos in the background of your shots - tilting it allows you to minimise how much those distractions draw a viewers eye away from the subject.

Another reason, that many people will like even less, is that social media has an optimal post size, using an 8:10 ratio on Instagram for example takes up more of the feed for users so gives your image a better shot at chatching somones eye - now the only way you can fit a pan shot of a race car in an 8:10 frame is to either shoot it super wide so it fits level (then you're gonna have so much space above or below it you have the previous problem) or you fill the frame and rip it at 45 degrees.

Dont get me wrong if you have control over the background, it can totally be done - but you'll find especially at places like Silverstone and Donington, the backgrounds can be pretty barren.

Saturday by Jonny Henchman, on Flickr

ham-pan-big by Jonny Henchman, on Flickr
 
Fireproof Creative said:
As a major perpetrator of this issue, I feel I should at least try to justify myself. As others have mentioned, the Dutch angle is often used to add drama, but in my experience, there's more to it than that. For a start, most cars tend to be pretty long and thin, if you're not shooting head-on and intend to use some level framing then you're gonna have a significant amount of dead space in both the foreground and background at the top and bottom of the frame - I'm not sure how many tracks you've been to but typically you're gonna end with some pretty manky looking fences and porta loos in the background of your shots - tilting it allows you to minimise how much those distractions draw a viewers eye away from the subject.

Another reason, that many people will like even less, is that social media has an optimal post size, using an 8:10 ratio on Instagram for example takes up more of the feed for users so gives your image a better shot at chatching somones eye - now the only way you can fit a pan shot of a race car in an 8:10 frame is to either shoot it super wide so it fits level (then you're gonna have so much space above or below it you have the previous problem) or you fill the frame and rip it at 45 degrees.

Dont get me wrong if you have control over the background, it can totally be done - but you'll find especially at places like Silverstone and Donington, the backgrounds can be pretty barren.

Saturday by Jonny Henchman, on Flickr

ham-pan-big by Jonny Henchman, on Flickr
Click to expand...

When I see those images, I think it blows the Carp comment out the water.... Its something I need to try more often.... but having done more rally in recent years, I've kind of gone the other way and try to make the car as small and incidental to the photo as possible, but you are right its hard at circuits these days as they are pretty lifeless.
 
Delphin said:
As posted earlier, I shall be at Brands Hatch for Euro NASCAR and American Speedfest.
I've done very little motorsport, and looking at other people's images I wonder why are they all titled over, very few are what I would call straight.
Click to expand...
My mate had the photographer at his wedding apply that technique so that his future mother in law would look normal!
 
I tilt a lot when I photograph at Goodwood...for the simple reason just to add tension in the images due to a bland background.

Nothing to do with Veuve Cliquot.
 
I think in some situations having the photos at an angle looks great, but it can be overdone. I don't get the ones where they're rotated by almost 90°.
 
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