Darren Heath - What it means to me

Darren Heath is a multi award winning photographer specialising in Formula One. His work can be seen on his homepage www.darrenheath.com/
I sat down with him for a couple of hours in his house in London to talk about his work and what makes him work. Darren talks about his passion for Formula One, how he approaches a racing weekend, what gear he is using and what he wants to bring across in his pictures.
To film I used three cameras, the front view was filmed with the Blackmagic Cinema Camera (BMCC), right side with a Canon 5D mark III and the left side with a Canon 5D mark II. Sound was recorded with a Senheiser ew 122-p G3 feeding a Zoom H4n. Lenses were 50mm f/1.2 L, 85mm f/1.2 L and 24mm f/1.4 L.
This was the first time I used the BMCC and overall I was very pleased, the window highlight recovery was very impressive and helped to balance the light. I could have pulled down the highlights more, but I wanted the footage to mix naturally with the 5Ds. The sharpness of the BMCC is in another league compared to the DSLRs. The interview was shot in RAW to have the highest dynamic range and enable cutting into the image without compromising on the resolution. On the flip side, rendering into ProRes for editing was very time consuming. The BMCC is an impressive camera. It needs to be exposed differently to a DSLR with more light hitting the sensor otherwise the image gets noisy, even when shooting at the native ISO 800. The sensor is also very sensitive to light changes. In total the interview as around 2h and filled 650 GB of space.
The broll was also shot with the BMCC as was the opening and closing shot. The lens used for the open and close was a 200mm f/2.0 L, on the BMCC the focal length changes to 460mm with Darren sitting 1.6m away from the lens.

[@mariomuth]

Thanks everybody! Darren is an incredible person, being able to interview him for two hours was such a pleasure. A lot of people say the best F1 drivers have extra capacity whilst driving the car at the edge to understand the race around them. Darren is like that when taking pictures.

[@serrz8203]

Great interview. One of the best motorsport photographers all time!!

[@markusholmes5161]

Brilliant doc on the masterful Mr. Heath. Thanks for creating + sharing!

[@mariomuth]

Luckely the next part is already in planing... I am glad I found a great person again to have a chat to

[@AdzSONLINE]

I know nothing about photography but this was fascinating

[@racecarshots]

Thank you for making this and posting it. Reminds me why I picked a camera up in the first place.

[@condoti]

We need more videos like this.

[@mariomuth]

Thanks John, appreciate your feedback.

[@rohitseth]

Incredible! I'm a food photographer and an avid F1 fan, but shooting with him just for a day is one of my bucket list items. It probably won't happen, but a guy can dream, right?

[@Hampus3313]

More of these F1 associated figures please! Stellar job!

[@mariomuth]

You are so right, Darren is an incredible person with such a great eye for light and an incredible appreciation for the world around him. Every conversation opens up another perspective and I learned so much. I am still very thankful for him agreeing to produce the portrait out of the blue with somebody that filming is just a hobby for. Say hello to him in Monaco!

[@arianrassoul5220]

very very well done, love the composition an especially what darren has to say. bummer you didnt make it 90 minutes

[@howark2]

Love all his shots. Amazing talent.

[@urooz]

a huge fan of his work. his images are simply outstanding. and even his watermark is the most unique i have ever seen. i have been asking my friends who are lovers of other sports, mainly Cricket here in India, whether they have come across photography of this quality. im still looking.

[@cricrijapbis]

Superb documentary and inspiring interview about motor sports photography

[@stevemasiello]

Excellent! Top quality.

[@PX2Z0226]

Superb!

[@GDH1981]

A fascinating insight

[@benjy1966]

Very excellent. Very insightful but most surprisingly of all, well over 10,000 views and not one thumbs down which says much.

[@MrJmvision]

Hi Mario.Darren is a great friend of mine.I am a cameraman working in F1 since 17 years,have a artistic approch like Darren,him and I,we speak a lot,on daily basis,about how to achieve the perfect shot.His feelings are quiet often crossing with mine and we understand each other without talking,just eyes contact.We like tough conditions,and many times,without talking to each other,met at the same track position.Darren is incredible!He is quiet shy and I feel privileged to understand his vision.

[@vidtrax662]

I see, this was done by you Mario. This was the posted on James Allen website earlier this year. Well done.

[@buildmotosykletist1987]

G'day Mario, Really well done. The fan I found annoying and it distracted my eye, maybe that's just me. Keep up the work mate. Thanks, build.

[@urgentstrategy]

This is a fake, this guy is Jamie Cullum !