Am I wasting my time

Craig Wheeldon

Craig Wheeldon

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Craig
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Hi,

I'm after some advice. I have a 3 year old who loves cars and as such we decided to take him to Oulton Park, as I have a passion for photography I decided to take the camera as well. We all had a great day and I got some shots that I were really happy. We since moved to Essex and have been going to Essex arena and Brands Hatch quite a bit. I have been looking at other people's work and my opinion is that I don't want my shots to be a freeze frame, ie shooting at 1/500 I like to have movement in my shots so I try and take the at 1/50 or slower. As a result of this I end up with a lot of shots out of focus. The problem is I have had no training and to be honest I don't know what a good photo looks like. This is where I need your help for some cc even if it is negative. I really want to get behind the fence so I things this might have a good start. Any help would really be appreciated.
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Theyre two pretty decent shots in essence, panning at 1/50 is an artform which requires practice to get the technique fully dialled. At the size you posted, it looks like you're not far off getting some elements of the car in focus during the pan duration.
It's important to remember that during that time, a car can move about in a number of directions, and only the parts that move in sync with your camera will have a chance of coming out sharp.
Really the key is to practice, practice, and then practice some more. Brands is a fantastic circuit to shoot at, especially when the GP loop is used.
There are some fantastic motorsport photographers who post in here, so look at their work, see what works for you, and what style you wish to develop for yourself, and plan, research where the light will be, where you're likely to get action, where you can make an interesting composition. Motorsport photography (for me) isn't just about the car, there is a lot more that you can factor into a shot than just a side on pan, like your first shot.
Most of all enjoy. Don't lose sight of why you're there in the first place. To get the other side of the fence takes an awful lot of work (believe me - ive tried) and when you are there, you're not shooting for yourself, you'd be working to a brief, which isn't necessarily going to allow you to make the sort of shots that you want to!
Hope that helps, and keep posting up in the forum, I know that it has helped me a load, and there's a lot of good advice that will get chucked your way
 
Hi, welcome to the motorsports forum, my advice would be to go to as many events as you can, and take lots of photos, you will learn as you go. I would also suggest that you try and make time to photograph other subjects as well as motorsport, as this will help you improve your photography skills. Lots of practice will help you improve, try to get a good selection of shots, not just panning. At 1/50 you will get plenty of shots out of focus, you can pre focus on a spot, by setting the focus yourself, in manual, then just practice as the cars pass. Some days you might feel thats things don't go so well with your photography, but if you want to get behind the fence you will need to stick at it, keep posting your photos on here, if you need advice just ask.

I still don't know what a good motorsport photo is, but its always something taken by someone else
 
I'm not sure if it's the compression from posting it here (have you got originals uploaded anywhere we can see?), but the first shot looks like it's actually out of focus, rather than a panning issue, it looks ok from a technique point of view as the text etc isn't blurred due to a mis-timed pan. The composition of both shots is spot on, so it appears you have a natural eye for it.

From a technical perspective make sure you have any OIS/VR switched off, and I personally think you develop much quicker if you concentrate on a single shot when panning, rather than a machine gun approach which does little but prove the law of averages is alive and well. It allows for a much smoother pan if nothing else, I can nail 1/15 when going for a single shot, but rarely get any perfect if I'm firing away at 8fps or something.

It's also worth considering there is a huge difference and an awful lot in between 1/500 and 1/50. Gradually work your way down, once you have a solid keeper rate at say, 1/250, then edge downwards. It just requires an immense amount of practice, there are no shortcuts. 1/125 is a nice half-way house between blur and keeping it manageable.

Not sure if it's any use but here is my motorsport guide, it's Fuji specific but the panning techniques and shutter speed stuff is generic (and should be easier with a DSLR anyway): http://www.fujifun.net/motorsport-guide/
 
As your only in Essex you could also check out Canada Heights for some motor x stuff or lydden hill have regular track days to help get some practice in
 
Shutter speed has nothing to do with focus.The shots are blurred due to the movement of the cars. The cars move forward and it is possible to match there movement in that direction by paning but it is impossible to stop the up and down movement on the suspension so there is a limit to the speed that the shutter can be lowered to. Find nice smooth surfaces where the car is not bouncing up and down. To answer your question about not knowing what a good photo is? A good photo has Remittance Advice written at the top of it.
 
This is the usual answer from a host of people when asked about camera settings for Motorsport, set the shutter speed 1/50 sec and machine gun it too death, which is all well and good, but not great advice for someone new to Motorsport as you've experienced with the number of images your putting in the bin. Taking photos of moving subjects at this shutter speed takes practice practice practice, it takes a smooth pan, and a lot of patience to achieve a good percentage of keepers. There a great piece of advice above. Going from 1/500 to 1/50 is like walking before you can crawl.

ukaskew said:
It's also worth considering there is a huge difference and an awful lot in between 1/500 and 1/50. Gradually work your way down, once you have a solid keeper rate at say, 1/250, then edge downwards. It just requires an immense amount of practice, there are no shortcuts. 1/125 is a nice half-way house between blur and keeping it manageable.
Click to expand...

I would up you shutter speeds and find a happy medium. I agree with cars 1/125 sec is a happy medium, but practice at different shutter speeds.
 
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