Light Painting Meet Up On The Racetrack - Part Three

You can find the previous two posts under the following links:

Lightpainting Meet Up On The Race Track - Part Two

Lightpainting Meet Up On The Race Track - Part One

The cover photo was created in collaboration with Hive account@gunnarheilmann.
I called it cardio. Somehow I always combine cycling with cardio training. 🚴‍♂️💓
In order not to give myself a crooked back when realizing the image idea, I mounted a flashlight with a blue color filter and an aperture on a tripod rod with a clamp. This meant I was able to carry out the painting work on the racetrack while walking upright. As soon as I left the camera's recording range, Gunnar began illuminating the scene with a flashlight.

After I discussed racing in the last posts, today I would like to briefly describe the architecture of the racetrack in addition to the light painting:

The project was planned by the renowned architect and ex-racing driver Clemens Schürmann.
Groundbreaking took place in October 1950 and the inaugural race took place on June 14, 1953.
The 333.3m long track was built without longitudinal or transverse joints. The seamless prestressed concrete technology was realized through a sophisticated construction of a steel skeleton. This promised good driving comfort and new speed records. Even today, the Bielefeld cycle track is one of the fastest tracks in the world.
The curves have an inclination of over 46°. The track is surrounded by stands that rise six meters above the interior. The stands offered space for 9,000 standing and 6,000 seated. A floodlight system ensured sufficient lighting for evening and night events.

Today the cycle track is one of the monuments of the city of Bielefeld and is preserved by the support association founded in 2014.

You can also donate to maintain the racetrack...

Before we realized the cardio image, Hans, Gunnar and I experimented with the shadow of a racing bike. I had previously placed the bike on the racetrack using a tripod leg as support. Now it was a matter of finding a perspective in which the tripod was hidden by the bike. In the two pictures above you can see the support either as a shadow or directly on the seat post. It's often the little things that require a lot of patience from me. 🤨

In the picture above I show some of the club members in the tunnel that leads to the racetrack. Walking through the tunnel and then back into the light with a view of the racetrack creates a very special, heroic feeling. How must the athletes feel when they enter the racetrack with their bikes in front of full stands? Gunnar and I tried to express this feeling in the following picture.

Hans was the model for this picture. Using a small fog machine I tried to fill the area behind the model with fog. I didn't really succeed because a constant draft of wind carried the mist out of the tunnel. Gunnar then set the kick light while I threw some light onto the model from the front with a flashlight.

I hope you enjoyed your trip to the velodrome and we'll see you again next Sunday here on HIVE. So stay tuned!