In Photos: Quattrofest 2014

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Having a good time at Quattrofest

Every year, the Northwest chapter of the Audi Club of North America holds their signature event called Quattrofest, in which Audi Club members can participate in driver’s education and autocross events, and get some track time in their Audi (or non-Audi) cars. This year, Quattrofest was held at Portland International Raceway on November 1st and 2nd, with a banquet and auction on the night of the 1st.

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Solar Orange Audi RS 5 having a lap or two
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Tesla Model S mingling with a pair of A3 Sportback e-trons
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Waiting for the green flag

I was out at the track both days as one of three event photographers capturing moments on and off the track. Having shot with a Nikon D300 crop-sensor body last year and migrating to a full-frame D800E this year, I had to re-adjust a lot to the shallower depth-of-field at the same aperture and the loss of immediate 1.5x crop. I was able to get around the latter by using the 1.2x and 1.5x crop options provided in the D800E settings; but, I couldn’t quite find a quick way to switch between image area settings.

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A driver’s meeting prior to going out on to the track
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Sunset Audi was giving people rides around the track in an allroad quattro
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Everything’s a-okay

The lens that I had mounted to the D800E for about two-thirds of the time that I was shooting was the venerable 70-200mm f/2.8 VR II. It was the perfect lens for doing panning shots of the cars negotiating the turns and for isolating people and/or cars from other objects in the frame. For close-up work, I went with the 16-35mm f/4 VR; which, I found to be the near-perfect replacement for the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 that I would use on the D300.

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Quick chat with the driver before an auto-cross session
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#Snowballin
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Audi R8 V10 going from pre-grid to grid

Due to a previous commitment, I was not able to attend the Quattrofest banquet this year. Those that did attend the banquet was greeted with one of the four Audi A3 Sportback e-trons that Audi of America had brought out to Quattrofest (photos of the A3 e-trons can be found in the “In Photos: Audi A3 Sportback e-tron at Quattrofest 2014” blog post).

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Nogaro Blue meets Solar Orange
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Announcements being made at an afternoon driver’s meeting
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One of three Audi R8 V10 coupes that come out to Quattrofest

You can find all of the photos that I’ve taken at this year’s Quattrofest on Flickr in the “Quattrofest 2014” album. For photos taken by myself and two of the other event photographers, check out the “Quattrofest 2014” photo group on Flickr.