International Quad racing shoot ???

[Tugster]

I have been invited to shoot what I would think is quite a prestigious event. It is UEM Quad racing in France. It is an internation team event and the british team have asked if I would come and cover the event.

Not have photographed MX before and due to it being a big event, I would like to know any tips and advice that you may have and any experience of this type of shoot. All my expenses are paid for and I have no restrictions what amount of kit I can take and also, I believe I have full access to all areas.

The event is over two days with qualifying on the first day and the final on the following day.

Available kit that I have is 2x 1D4 bodies, 400mm2.8, 70-200 2.8, 24-70 2.8,
50mm, 135mm and 11-16 2.8 WA. 4x 580exII's.

Weather forcast for the two days is constant with temperatures from 12 deg in the evening to 21 deg on the day of the finals.

Having done some research on the course itself, I believe it is quite a hilly track with wide and narrow sections. The video footage I have seen was shot in July and there seems to be a lot of dust due to the warm conditions. I expect it to be the same for this shoot.

Also any possible suggested outlets for image sales? I will not be printing on site this time.

Over to you Guy's n Girls

 

[yamahatdm900]

Im not the best person to answer this with my one meeting experience os shooting quads. Hopefully one of the beter m/x shooters will come along to give you more advice soon.

I used a 70-200 and a 300 on Nikon d300/s bodies, I had the 400 in the car but found I just didn't need it, mind you there is no harm in taking it just in case. Now im thinking the 1d4 is a full frame:shrug: so just ignore me if this is the case

I did post the pictures here if you want to have a look.
Sounds like a good weekend

 

[Tugster]

Im not the best person to answer this with my one meeting experience os shooting quads. Hopefully one of the beter m/x shooters will come along to give you more advice soon.

I used a 70-200 and a 300 on Nikon d300/s bodies, I had the 400 in the car but found I just didn't need it, mind you there is no harm in taking it just in case. Now im thinking the 1d4 is a full frame:shrug: so just ignore me if this is the case

I did post the pictures here if you want to have a look.
Sounds like a good weekend

Cheers Graham, I looked at the images when you posted them...some great shots.. The 1D4 is a cropped body (1.3).

Did you use AF Tracking ? (AI Servo on Canon kit) or did you pre focus on a specific area... I'd really like to do some panning and also get some of the dirt shots...gravel and debris in the air !...

 

[yamahatdm900]

Cheers Graham, I looked at the images when you posted them...some great shots.. The 1D4 is a cropped body (1.3).

Did you use AF Tracking ? (AI Servo on Canon kit) or did you pre focus on a specific area... I'd really like to do some panning and also get some of the dirt shots...gravel and debris in the air !...

Tug
I always use (well 99% time) AF tracking, single point ( with me choosing which one) making sure its a cross hair point - again not sure how many you have on the 1D4 - and continous hogh shooting mode. I also nearly always use the AF on button to focus.

Like I said im no expert in m/x, but hope this help. any more question please fire away I will help if I can.

I do like the dirt flying in the air so I did use slighty higher shutter speed than I would normal for events on the Tarmac

 

[Gadget-Guy]

24-70 and 70-200 should be fine as you can get really close at MX.

Have used a 300 2.8 for head on shots over jumps but the 400 would be a weight to lug round for a day and a bit too long in most cases i would think.

High shutter speeds to freeze all the dirt etc would be the way to go as pans and mx dont really go down that well.

Turn the A/F sensitivity down a tad on the MKIV as it jumps from object to object a bit to quick when on the standard setting so any mud etc or the occasional post gets into your shot and your focus will be on that rather than the rider.

Back button A/F as Graham said is the way to go if you can get used to it but it does take some time to get the hang of.

Will have a look when i get home as i have some decent links for the custom settings on the 1DMKIV at home that i can send you which are loads better than the Canon manual and are based on sports photography.

Sure that Big A or one of the other MX togs will give you some better advice later.

Dont know where you are location wise but there is the first round of the British Quad Championships this weekend on Sunday at Silverstone if you fancy having a look and a practice

 

[Tugster]

24-70 and 70-200 should be fine as you can get really close at MX.

Have used a 300 2.8 for head on shots over jumps but the 400 would be a weight to lug round for a day and a bit too long in most cases i would think.

High shutter speeds to freeze all the dirt etc would be the way to go as pans and mx dont really go down that well.

Turn the A/F sensitivity down a tad on the MKIV as it jumps from object to object a bit to quick when on the standard setting so any mud etc or the occasional post gets into your shot and your focus will be on that rather than the rider.

Back button A/F as Graham said is the way to go if you can get used to it but it does take some time to get the hang of.

Will have a look when i get home as i have some decent links for the custom settings on the 1DMKIV at home that i can send you which are loads better than the Canon manual and are based on sports photography.

Sure that Big A or one of the other MX togs will give you some better advice later.

Dont know where you are location wise but there is the first round of the British Quad Championships this weekend on Sunday at Silverstone if you fancy having a look and a practice

Hi Glen,

Thanks very much for the advice.

I travelled down to Castlenau De Levis with Team Holmes Racing. We had a great time and I was extremely lucky to be not only able to shoot the quad racing but also side car racing and a bit of MX. I'm not sure if you are aware of this track but in my humble opinion, quite a difficult track, especially with the organisers throwing copious amouts of of water on the track all night and in between practice rounds during the day.The rutts that had been created by the Sidecars were very different to those created by the quads, so this also made for a very interesting race.

The 24-70 and the 70-200 were the lenses I used 99% of the time. I carried two bodies around with me and probably used the 24-70 most of the time.

I think the gods looked down on me on the first race, I was stood so i could take the first corner shots, I was later told that this is the 'Hole Shot'. I wanted to get the feeling of all the quad riders vying for the lead at the corner so I closed down the aperture to get a deeper DOF. The French No1 who now rides in the States was taken out on this first corner, as I was shooting at a high frame rate I caught the full sequence from nothing to the eventual quad laying on top of the rider. Really amazing sequence of shots. He did not finish this first race and had to retire due to a broken chassis. I think he was ok and did not sustain any serious injuries.

As I had total freedom to cover the event, I wandered all over to capture as many angles and perspectives as I could. It was a fantastic 6 days, travelleing down to Calais with the team and then through France to the track and then eventually getting to shoot some really amazing action shots.


I think this is where I feel my photography will be in the future. I now understand the excitement of motor sport photography. I'm so looking forward to the next event, be it British or the European tour.

Once I have all the images sorted I'll post some on another thread.

The settings for the MKIV would be appreciated. I did reduse the tracking sensitivity down 1 click from standard. It helped no end.

 

[Tugster]

Tug
I always use (well 99% time) AF tracking, single point ( with me choosing which one) making sure its a cross hair point - again not sure how many you have on the 1D4 - and continous hogh shooting mode. I also nearly always use the AF on button to focus.

Like I said im no expert in m/x, but hope this help. any more question please fire away I will help if I can.

I do like the dirt flying in the air so I did use slighty higher shutter speed than I would normal for events on the Tarmac

Thanks for the advice Graham.

The back button focus is something I have experimented with when shooting rugby and football but I'm not fully confident with it, I think I'm too set in my ways to change and as this event was such an high profile one and I had to produce, I stuck with the normal focus method on the shutter release. Perhaps I should just shoot one full match using BBF and I'd probably be cured

The light levels were great at the event so I could really up the shutter speed if necesary, I used the single centre focus point all of the time during the weekend. I tried some slow shutter panning but it did not yield the expected results so I stuck with what I knew and could rely on. I did manage some great sequence shots and I'll post some later.