FMP – Steve Etherington's Formula 1 Photography Techniques

FMP –
Contextual Statement
and Research
Daniel Morland

Formula 1 Photography/
Motion Photography
Steve Etherington
Steve Etherington is hired by the Mercadies F1 team as their
team photographer. His photography incorporates the
energetic team operation while also allowing him to capture the
extreme speeds of the F1 sport both parties are in.
Etherington started his career in 1977. The photography he
captures earned him the aware of the NCTJ in press photography.
His photography in journalism developed to the point where he
was in F1 and then directly in the Mercedes F1 team roster.
Working with an unspecified specialist sports agency working as a
senior photographer, he covered world wide sporting events,
which he then transitioned to becoming a freelancer photographer
directly within F1.
Through his photography in F1, Etherington earned himself
the Sports Photographer of the Year award while also obtaining
first in the Sasakawa World Sports Photo Contest.

Motion Photography
Steve Etherington
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WQYaWO38aI
Through the Mercedes F1 team's YouTube channel, Etherington
released this video where he explains how he captures all the
events in and around the F1 sport.
He has a variety of lenses that he uses while on and around the
track he visits. Because he cannot get as close as he would like to
an F1 car, he explains how he uses a 400mm tele zoom lens to
mitigate the distance between himself and the car using the
detailed zoom on the lens.
Filters and ND polarisers allow Etherington to mechanically
reduce the light coming to the sensor which provides more natural
lighting compared to changing settings on his camera like the
shutter speeds.

Motion Photography
Steve Etherington
Because F1 is a prestigious sport, he explains that his pass allows
him to get in and around areas which are not available to the
general public.
Each weekend Etherington runs into different issues. Being given
a debrief sheet by Mercedes allows him to work with the issues
that the team runs into. Allowing him to adapt to the situation.
Steve's race weekend structure
Arrives Wednesday
Thursday – the beginning of the weekend, mainly interactions
with the divers and other team members in and around the
paddock. Press conferences.
Friday – Free practice 1 and 2 (FP1 and FP2) occur on this day,
and Steve will always be on-track for the cars and drivers going
round.

Motion Photography
Steve Etherington
Saturday – includes FP3 and qualifying, as the tension increases.
Sunday – is race day, where the cars will be fighting on track.
Steve explains that the images he takes are primarily for the
Mercedes team for such reasons like social media posts,
marketing and other new paper magazines.
Steve elaborates that he finds it useful to know what he is taking
photographs of before he goes ahead and does it. Listening to
what the Mercedes team will be doing that day will be useful
information for when the cars are going on track, when the
drivers get in the car and importantly what side of the car they
are entering.

Motion Photography
Steve Etherington
"You need to pick a subject that you enjoy photographing"
"plan … and visualise your photography"
Try to separate the subject from the background. "is there a glare
which takes away from the subject" Steves walks the viewer
through the thought process he experiences when taking photos.
It will be useful to observe and theorise the images you will be
taking before you take them.
"Always make sure the eyes are in focus … that is where we
communicate" on a human-to-human level, we always observe the
facial expressions that others have.

Motion Photography
Steve Etherington
Ways that Steve captures fast moving objects:
A fast shutter speed. For example, 500 hundredths of a second.
And maybe 250th of a second. Will create a shape and dramatic.
Make sure for the subject to fill the frame.
Another way Steve takes photos is "Panning." By increasing the
duration of the shutter speed being open and following the car as
it travels, it will create a disturbed background while keeping the
subject in focus if don’t correctly. A difficult but effective
technique. Using a shutter speed between a 60th to a 15th of a
second long. Creates extreme movement of the background which
infers movement in the image as a whole.

Motion Photography
Steve Etherington
"Break the rules and explore all the possibilities" experiments
with different angles, shutter speeds and other camera settings to
develop different images and find what works for you.
"we all make mistakes; I still make mistakes" Steve admits that
nobody can take 100% perfect images immediately. Following
from the last statement, he suggests that its ok to not take good
photos straight away, you can always delete the bad ones.
This video gave me loads of ideas for my personal sporting
photography. I'm going to use what I leaned here in my work
100% whatever vehicles or other moving objects I take photos of.
Steve is at the top echelon of motorsport photography. Everything
that Steve has taught me here I can bring forward into my
photography production for the future. An experienced
perspective like Steve's has been a treat to learn from.

Virtual reality
Filmmaking
Celine Tricart
Tricart is a well-established storyteller who has
developed a style which is recognisable and involving.
She has participated in neuromeres film festivals
globally such as SXSW, Sundance Film Festival and
others.
Celine earned herself of a golden Loin award for the
Best VR immersive work during the film festival of
Venice which is the highest award to be given. She has
accumulated countless other awards for her work. It is
safe to say that she is an experienced, established and
successful cinematographer.
Tricart has been experimenting with virtual
reality cinematography with her films surrounding the
"Sun ladies" in 2019 who were Yazidi members who
were fighting ISIS in Iraq. Her high amount of
experience within the field of VR technology encouraged
her to establish a company in 2016 by the name of
"Lucid Dreams" which publishes her work.

Virtual reality
Filmmaking
https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Virtual_Reality_
Filmmaking/FN5CDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=vir
tual+cinematography+theory&printsec=frontcover
Celine Tricart
Tricart describes her experiences during her
productions within her book: Virtual
reality Filmmaking.
"in VR (Virtual realty), the audience has a more active
role" a viewer isn't locked to one perspective like a
normal shot movie. They can move their vision around
to view areas of interest.
"Virtual reality as an artform seems to be the missing
link between gaming and traditional filmmaking." I
would have to agree and disagree with that statement,
as I do believe that VR draws the viewer closer and
closer to the experiences film, but I also believe that
there is so much room for improvement with the
technology.

Virtual reality
Filmmaking
Celine Tricart
The image to the left explains the process at which the
scene is filmed converted to a sphere which is then
viewable within VR.
As the technology develops and becomes more accessible
to the general public. I definitely see this style of film
making becoming more desired over the conventional
style of viewing. Currently however, the technology
hasn’t reached an appropriate point to be useful.
What I can learn from this book is the processes that
Tricart uses to achieve her desired results. Instead of
thinking about what will be in frame, she has to take the
entire surroundings into account. Such is the freedom of
360 degree vision.
I'm not sure how I will use the techniques within my
work, however it does encourage me to look around at
other areas of the scene and not become tunnel visioned
on what the camera sees.

The Moving Eye of the Beholder
https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1
093/acprof:oso/9780199670000.001.0001/acprof-
9780199670000-chapter-5
Christoph Klein and Raphael Rosenberg: looked
into the directional habits of the viewers of
artforms like historical paintings.
For context: Christoph Klein is a German
Pediatric Hematologist/Oncologist (medical fields
surrounding children) and Raphael Rosenberg's
main research are aimed at the art of the 19th
centry. A time during massive urbanisation, higher
levels of productivity, profit and prosperity.
Understanding the changing directional view of
the audiences around paints is useful to know how
the viewer interprets the painting and its
qualities.
Raphael Rosenberg
Christoph Klein

Using modern eye tracking equipment; Klein
and Rosenberg were able to full observe exactly how
people transitioned their view around historical
artworks. They deemed this term "Gaze movement."
"Gaze movements have been an issue in the history of
art long before they became a research topic in
psychology" For as long as art has been around, the
movement of the audience's perception has always been
taken into account. A 19th painter cannot create a
successful piece of work without understanding how the
audience will 'gaze' around the painting.
"Vision constantly shifts suddenly, for the beholder is
utterly unable to select which particular detail he
should admire more than all the others." This
statement can be expanded out to all areas of historical
and modern art. No one object/subject on the canvas is
the reason why a painting looks good. It’s a combination
of everything on the page which make a fantastic
painting an enjoyment to take in and observe.

"In applied research, gaze movements have been used
to study, for example, product designs , and print
advertisements, to construct human–computer
interfaces." The technology of eye movement tracking
allowed Klein and Rosenberg to investigate exactly
where attention was being placed around a painting.
This example being Joseph-Marie Vien, St. Denis
Preaching in Gaul.
What eye movement tracking allows me to understand
is that an audience/viewer won't have a fixated view on
one object within the page. I need to think about the
frame/canvas as a whole during my production.
Anything from brand design, photography, film,
animation will all have their own fair share of
movement of the viewers attention. Making sure that I
direct the attention to the areas I want will be a key
understanding going forward.

Film Theory
Toby Miller and Robert Stam: collaborated to write the
book: a Companion to Film theory.
Toby Miller is involved in multiple field including
social science while also focusing on cultural studies
and media studies. He has worked at University of
California and New York University.
Robert Stam is an American film theorist working on
film semiotics which is using signs to convey a message.
Being a professor at New York University; Stam
teaches students about the new wave of
French filmmakers.
Together they wrote the book: a companion to film
theory which "provides a comprehensive overview of the
field" of film.
Toby Miller
Robert Stam

Film Theory
Film theory is always an interesting subject to write about with
many areas it can cover.
"Cinematic discourse interacts in a "Natural" way with the
working of the spectator's mind offering the viewer cinematic
tropes that hold his or her attention" (Page 9) following from the
work done by Klein and Rosenberg, I notice that the idea of the
movement of the viewer's attention plays a massive role within
all medias. Young and old. I see myself taking these quotes into
the specific details when considering how exactly I should take
a photo, film a scene or just draw attention in general.
"Metaphorically [thinking, you could perceive] … the camera as
a pen, the screen as the paper and the director as an author"
(page 10) the same creativity and imagination put into writing a
book can be put into the filming of movies and videos. It just
takes a different form. Expanding this to my project I want to
encourage that creativity into flexibility. How can I think about
my films/videos as books, and how will I direct the attention like
how the author directs the reader's attention within a book.
https://www.google.co.u
k/books/edition/A_Comp
anion_to_Film_Theory/
WFzKOKz9X-
0C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=
Toby+Miller+and+Robe
rt+Stam+film+theory&
printsec=frontcover

Film Theory
"Early film genres were derived by the transposition of visual,
narrative and discursive patterns from old forms of media
onto cinematic forms." (Page 27) The beginning developing
stages of film really could have developed in any direction. It
would have made common sense to take inspiration what we
already knew, and the media before film would have been
theatre. Theatre uses projection of voice and body language as
well as stage positioning to convey their messages. Which
early film really took from. Older movies and films were
completely direct and forward to the viewers. To not allow any
diversion from the story it was telling.
Thinking about this comment in the 21st centry, we are now
able to encourage inferred and implied messaging letting
audiences read between the lines which not only develops the
story in a more interesting and fashionable dynamic, but it is
the norm with most well made films. The past audiences
would have struggles to know to look between the lines like
they did with literature in the past. Mainly because film was
in its baby stages and audiences were only slightly grasping
what films actually meant. I would say now more then ever,
creativity shines in films.

Film Theory
Observing the development of film, it has plateaued in
its diversity of content. In recent years we haven't seen
as many new styles of film content other then the
development of the internet.
Relating film development to Celine Tricart's work with
VR technology a point could be argued that film is
seeing a resurgence in its creativity and we could find
ourselves within a second golden age of change in film
as people begin to experiment with the technology.
In my opinion we have to accept what we have
currently. Film isn't changing any time soon till the
increase in technological advancements within the
field's of VR and AR (Augmented Reality).
Maintaining a style of video which entertains through
the methods we have already discovered is not really a
negative. Like early development in films; it what we
know works, so why not use it?

Journalism: Theory and
Practice

Journalism: theory and Practice
https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Journalism/HulMBgA
AQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=journalism+theory&printsec=fro
ntcover
Within the content of the book; it describes Jason R. Detrani
as an associate Professor of Communications/Media arts
within Broome community college, State university of New
York and also Binghamton, U.S.A.
"There is a reactive approach to news, and there is a
proactive approach." (Page 20) Journalism is a difficult
subject to understand. As an outside it's often hard to
distinguish between a news organization being credible or
click hungry. Detrani clearly has already noticed that grey
area that news organizations can place themselves into.
Taking what Detrani says with this comment, I would want
to aim to be as transparent as possible, and preferably never
even consider looking to lie to my audience. However I do get
why news organization lie even a little. Lying for narrative
and drama is commonly seen across all medias, but has …

Seen a sharp rise in the last few years within the trump
presidency era. Organizations will lie to improve their read
rate. The only reason for this is because the news organization
market is one in decline, due to factors like increased internet
usage globally. Readers can now choose what they want to
read, so news organizations unfortunately have to choose
between readership or credibility. And honestly, for the long
run credibility looks much more appealing.
"You have to decide what is the most important to say, focus
on whom you are saying it to, in terms that make sense to
them." (page 31) Once a message has been published, its
public. There isn't a turn back you have only got to go
forward.
Stepping back and knowing the audience that you are
publishing to is key when knowing how they take your article
within your newspaper. Backtracking from a point made
earlier will make you look weak as a news organization
compared to the others that stand firm.

This isn't to say that you can't correct yourself with
added evidence. Correcting for mistakes if anything
will make you look more creditable and self away,
which to me (and I suspect others) will show that this
organization knows that their audience is only looking
for the truth and not the drama behind a situation.
But not everyone looks for that do they?
Where I would take these points is towards racing
news within F1 and other motorsports. Its
significantly less political then normal news like the
BBC. Honestly, I would see myself being able to
provide my readers with a more opinionated articles
that provide entertainment then just providing the
facts.

General YouTube channels
and their processes

Contextual Research
A new youtuber who became popular in early 2020 with the
rise of popularity of F1.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSawmZ2PP6R7EURKR
KRMNYXMw
Full name - Josh Revell
country of origin – New Zealand
His most popular series on YouTube is "WTF Happened to..."
where he details what happened to race drivers that have
been silent about their motorsport activities.
Using the rise of the rise in popularity of F1 during the 2018-
2020 period, Josh has seen a large spike in views in the last
2 years.
Josh's videos are useful to myself as he creates videos which
entertain through information. He has found a way to create
videos which describe in detail the past experiences common
surrounding F1. He character and style features across all of
his videos.
His channel has an established brand identity which he has
forged using his colour schemes and design choices.

Contextual Statement
"To Create a brand which targets multiple
audiences using articles and videos and how I
will accomplish it."

Contextual Statement analysis
Taking a direction which hits multiple audiences is a choice of
long term gain. By spreading out and reaching different
demographics globally, I will increase the chance someone
enjoying my content. I see the direction of brands like:
Autosport – Autosport has influence withing areas such as
their hard copy magazines, YouTube with their video and
their website. With each different media they are reading a
slightly different audience, but with the same content.
Obviously, I have to understand that they are changing the
way they structure and style each media, like how I found out
in the book: "Journalism: theory and Practice." Correcting the
connecting to the audience is key.
The Race – The Race like Autosport includes a Website and a
YouTube channel, but took a modern approach and dropped
the print magazine. By dropping the magazine, they allow for
more focus on the 2 remaining medias.

Tommo and Josh Ravell – Tommo and Josh are essentially the
same channel's but with 2 different identity's behind them.
They focus 100% of their attention towards their YouTube
content. This is down to the fact that they are solo teams
which don’t need massive amount of people behind them to
run in many different areas like a magazine.
Steve Etherington and Mercedes – Steve has adapted to the
change in environment throughout the beginning and
duration of the COVID-19 era. He takes precautions as he
partakes in his work throughout the weekend. Working
around 100s of people. If he can do it, so can I. but
fortunately, most of my work is indoors anyway,
Overall, I'm entering an already developed and concentrated
market. I am aware that there are hundreds of thousands of
people already within the market on YouTube, so I have
to create something which doesn’t already exist.

The reason I choose to enter a market such this one is
because I love racing. I have always loved racing since
the age of 3. putting forward my childhood dream to
develop my understanding of motorsport in all areas is
way enough for me to do as well as I can. And not only
loving it then, I love it even more now. If I could, I
would live, eat and breath motorsports.
The people I researched helped me forward
my understanding of how I should approach
problem and also gave me some clearer understandings
of the problems I might encore during the production
phases of this project. Its an inspiration to see that
where I'm taking this project is a professional field and
not just a random media idea, mainly because I
approached this one like I would if I were by myself.

I need to make sure to be aware of the implications
of COVID-19 as I discussed within the
statement surrounding F1 photography and
Steve Etherington. But as I said, if he can do it, so can
I.
The one concern I have for my production is not being
able to go on-location for my photography which I want
to do. A lockdown will prohibit me from going anywhere
other than my own house, forcing me to take the video
route only.

• Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team, (2020), F1
Photography Tips with Steve Etherington 📸, Available
at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WQYaWO38aI ,
(Accessed: 5/3/2021).
• Celine Tricart (2017). Virtual Reality Filmmaking. UK:
Taylor & Francis. N/A.
• Available at: https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/
Virtual_Reality_Filmmaking/FN5CDwAAQBAJ?hl=
en&gbpv=1&dq=virtual+cinematography+theory&p
rintsec=frontcover
• Raphael Rosenberg, Christoph Klein (2015). The
moving eye of the beholder: Eye tracking and the
perception of paintings. UK: Oxford University Press.
N/A.
• Available at: https://oxford.universitypressscholars
hip.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199670000.00
1.0001/acprof-9780199670000-chapter-5

• Toby Miller, Robert Stam (2008). A companion to
Film Theory . USA: Wiley. Pages: 9, 10, 27.
• Available at: https://www.google.co.uk/books/editi
on/A_Companion_to_Film_Theory/WFzKOKz9X-
0C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Toby+Miller+and+Rober
t+Stam+film+theory&printsec=frontcover
• Jason R. Detrani (2016). Journalism: Theory and
Practice. USA: Apple Academic Press. Pages 20, 37.
• Available at: https://www.google.co.uk/books/editi
on/Journalism/HulMBgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1
&dq=journalism+theory&printsec=frontcover
• Josh Ravell. (2011 (On-going)). Josh
Revell. Available:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSawmZ2PP6R7
EURKRMNYXMw . Last accessed 5/3/2021.

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