Alton Towers - any ideas?!

[The Reverend JT]

I'm off to alton towers tomorrow and i'm wondering about a couple of things - plus, if you have any ideas for photos i can grab i'll give it a shot and report back after the event!

i have recently purchased a D300 and slowly working my way through the horrifically large manual - but am going to use an ND filter and keep the aperture small enough to get some good motion blur on the rollercoasters from the ground. Now, i am fine with tripodding the camera and getting motion blur on the rollercoaster - like the pic below i got of a train. But getting the blur on the background and getting the rolloercoaster pin sharp - is that a job for continuous 3d tracking, or a job for panning, or both?!

would like to have it worked out by the time i get there so i can hit the ground running.

Any other interesting or unusual shots you think are possible at an amusement park during daylight are definitely welcome!


Thanks for any tips or suggestions in advance

motion blur train pic:

 

[neil_g]

first off id concider:

contacting the theme park regarding photography, im not sure theyll be too happy if you rock up with tripod and set up.

are you planning on riding the rides yourself?

(not trying to be a killjoy or owt lol)

 

[The Reverend JT]

i'll have a mini tripod and it wasn't a problem last time i went - i'm taking a 35mm so not an intrusive (you know what i mean) telephoto zoom.

it's part of a stag do i'm going on and just for fun, i'm not taking commercial pics or anything. Damn right i'll be going on the rides!

 

[barneyrubble]

When I went last september they were happy for photography, but they wouldn't let you set a tripod mini or otherwise in the actual coaster.

Depends on who is on duty as well I suppose.

Got some good shots of Oblivion from the ground, but I only took a compact (Canon G9).

 

[The Reverend JT]

have a couple of the day in question - didn't get any hassle from anyone! I did however get hassle yesterday from the guys at london underground for taking pics - had a bit of banter with the guy and all was well!:

 

[existent]

nice shots...

I like the coaster photos.