First track photos, little help please

[bsmotorsport]

Well, its took some doing, I got my camera for christmas to persue my hobby of all things four wheeled, 6 months on I get to my first track day!!! A few things hit me straight away. Without stating the obvious the cars are bloody quick and you need to be ready to get the shot you want. My 70-300 cheapo lense is way to slow meaning I have to bump ISO up and get some nice noise! What Id like to know from the more experienced motorsport photographers is:-
How much blur do you need to achieve a satisfactory pan, this was 1/200 shutter and its just starting to show a hint of movement, I understand a slower shutter would generate more blur but is it necassery?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/bsmotorsport/pan1.jpg

Is there any mileage in high speed shots like this (1/800)?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/bsmotorsport/evo.jpg

This was my favourite of the day which brings the question, do you use a polariser to allow view into the cabin or is it preffered not to?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/bsmotorsport/ag-1.jpg

any tips gratefully received :thumbs:

[Dal]

They are some really nice shots. What lense are you using. Unless its a very dull day you shouldn't need to up the ISO at all.

I usually shoot around the 1/200th mark, sometimes drop it to a slower speed but i'm not the best at panning.

As for 1/800th shots, they seem to work well for rally stages to freeze the action (like mud and stones being flicked up).

Hope some of this helps.

[Flash In The Pan]

Cracking shots, I especially like the Focus one, it almost looks like it was taken from the back of another car (it wasn't, was it? :thinking:)

I usually shoot at 1/320 for panning shots, or 1/160 if I'm feeling adventurous :D Faster shutter speeds, don't imho work for panning shots, making the vehicle look as if it is parked, unless there is some other obvious sign of movement, for example some body roll or a wheel off the ground, like so (1/2500th)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3290/2621889011_269db6f5db.jpg

If that shot was side on with all four wheels on the ground it would look as if the car was parked on the track, but with 2 wheels off the ground it becomes apparent (to me anyway :D) that it is actually moving quite quickly

[MikeeB]

Depending on how fast the car is moving or the type of event, I usually shoot my drifting shots at 1/80 or 1/60 on continuous mode though this way you get more throwaways.

Still the shots you took aren't half bad! I'd stick to the slower shutters myself, the fast shutter shots just make the car look like its standing still. :)

[Matt Sayle]

Yah, I would use a polariser filter. I use 1/400th for my shots. This is for two reasons.
1. It gives a resonable amount of motion blur
2. The picture stays sharp.

These are good shots, like the Focus one!!

[BLZeebub]

Mornin,

Shutter speed is basically down to the speed the vehicle is going (and type, bike/car to some degree) and there is no right or wrong as different vehicles will travel at vastly different speeds especially in corners. Also the type of wheel (number of spokes etc) and colour can make a great difference to percieved motion blur. Another factor is how much action is going on. For example a rally car kicking up mud/water/gravel/spectators can be frozen with a high shutter speed and still give a sense of motion.

My best advice would be to practice lots. Unless you are really into one type of motorsport, try lots of different ones and keep varying the settings to see what works for you. Also look at other peoples work and ask them how they did it (or view the EXIF info on the picture!). Above all, the final pic is very subjective and what works for you may be a steaming pile of #### for someone else. :D

B->

[CopeImages]

I tend to steer clear of higher shutter speeds for side-on shots for the reasons mentioned (i.e. freezing the subject and background).

It's ok to crank up the speeds for head-on and rear-on shots as you have less evidence that the subject is moving. In these cases though you have to rely more on the action itself to depict the speed for you (e.g a wheel in the air over a kerb or a bike cranked right over or with it's front wheel in the air.)

With higher shutter speeds (i.e. a lower aperture setting) you do gain the advantage of depth of field to throw cluttered and distracting backgrounds out.

Guy

[bsmotorsport]

Thanks for all the tips, makes sense when you think about it. I didnt go any slower with the shutter speed as the panning skill was clearly still in the boot of my car!

[Kosta]

Great shots. I take it this was the MLR trackday at Croft on Friday?

Do you have a link to a gallery?

[bsmotorsport]

Kosta, it was the RS owners club regional show, takes place saturday and sunday, best bit is that hardly any RS's make it on track!!! Yet to get all the pics sorted yet, been bit busy, the red and black evo were at it all day, was really enjoyable.

[dseered]

I tend to steer clear of higher shutter speeds for side-on shots for the reasons mentioned (i.e. freezing the subject and background).

It's ok to crank up the speeds for head-on and rear-on shots as you have less evidence that the subject is moving. In these cases though you have to rely more on the action itself to depict the speed for you (e.g a wheel in the air over a kerb or a bike cranked right over or with it's front wheel in the air.)

With higher shutter speeds (i.e. a lower aperture setting) you do gain the advantage of depth of field to throw cluttered and distracting backgrounds out.

Guy


I have to agree with CI, ( he taught me everything and was also a massive inspiration to me getting more serious in photography ) with cars I ave been down as low as 1/60 -1/80 for side on panning shots, bikes a bit faster, between 1/200 - 1/250 dependent on what type of wheels they are using, spokes you can go 1/250, mags 1/200 maybe less to get continuous blur.

I slipped up with cars recently, wet day and the saloon cars head on I could use 1/1000 - 1/1250, I didn't change any settings as I was happy with the results, then the open wheeled cars came out and they were wearing wets, result, well the tyre tread showed up as stationary, lesson learned !

Havn't checked the data on this one but I guess it was a fairly slow shutter, blur on the back wheel, locked up front - it is pleasing when you nail it but as others have said there are no hard and fast rules, try and try again until you get it right :)
http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/5453/6t9q3201rb8.jpg

[bsmotorsport]

Definately need to get out more and practice like you say, it never entered my head at the time that the type of wheels would affect the shot. Also I did wonder why at the same shutter speed some cars showed more signs of motion than others which as said is down to the big difference in speeds of different cars. Alot to take into account isnt there!! Once again, thanks for the advice, just need to get out now and have a good crack at it :thumbs:

[dseered]

Definately need to get out more and practice like you say, it never entered my head at the time that the type of wheels would affect the shot. Also I did wonder why at the same shutter speed some cars showed more signs of motion than others which as said is down to the big difference in speeds of different cars. Alot to take into account isnt there!! Once again, thanks for the advice, just need to get out now and have a good crack at it :thumbs:

LOL, then there are two wheel drive and four wheel drive, drive wheels may be spinning and others trailing so that could also be taken into account - its a minefield but you have a good grounding on your shots.

I practice panning on racing pigeons that fly out of the allotments near my house, I can almost get above them at some points with the gradient and they just fly, round and round and round - pick your bird and track it, try and keep it in the centre focus point if you have that set, then as you get better swap to a different focus point and track with that, its all to easy to have another focus point selected and try and watch the centre though, I have spent hours doing it !

[gtst-chris]

Hey i hope you dont mind but ive used your first image to edit on photoshop as im trying to learn techniques.

I have just learnt how to add speed to images such as these and heres my effort.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e13/civic_chris/pan1.jpg

Chris