Taking motorsport shots...

TheNissanMan

TheNissanMan

Messages
4,189
Name
Ryan
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi peeps...

I'm off to Coombe in a couple of weeks and again for Japfest in May which should throw up some good opportunities for some high speed shots and with some good displays and track specials want to make sure I capture them as well as I can.

I currently have a Canon 500D and will need to be using the Tamron 70-300mm lens which should have a polarisation filter an possibly 720 UV filter by then to play with, no tripod at current.

Any tips to catch high speed shots would be greatly apprecaited as the colours on some of the drift cars are awesome and catching them with a tonne of tyre smoke should if I can get it right make for some stunning shots.
 
And here I show myself to be the noob I am :)

AI Focus ???

By that you mean Auto Focus ? As said in welcome section there may be quite a few stupid questions coming, sorry :)
 
Start up nearer 1/320 and work your way down to 1/60 as your confidence and technique builds.

Stand on the spot and hold the camera tight up with both arms. Swivel from the hips, try to pick up the car from the extreme of your range of motion and smoothly swing round as it passes firing off as many frames per sec as your camera allows.

You might find it helps trying to follow a wing mirror or the number on the side of the car with the centre of your sights.

Consider where you position yourself at the track - if possible keep a clear background.

It will be easier to get the pan and sharpness right at the 70mm end.

Check flickr - see if you can figure out where other good shots that you like are taken.

Speak to other togs between races - most are happy to share tips.

Expect to bin a very high percentage of shots - I'll take many hundreds in a day at the BTCC and be happy if there are more than 20-40 eventual "keepers".

Post results here on the forums and get feedback.
 
TOG's ??

I know Coombe pretty well so have some good idea's for shot locations, but with a packed day as it's open to the public could be fun lol

Have already got a good few number of Memory Cards and spare battery so going to be a case of binning shed loads after the day, if I can get one 'good' shot I'll be extremely happy on my first day out with pro drivers on track :)

From your comments is it worth keeping the zoom lens at the 70 end if possible rather than the 300 an cropping later ?
 
TOG = photographer. Good luck with the shoot!
 
Togs - photographers.

Personally I find it a lot easier to position myself somewhere which favours the short end of my 70-300mm despite possible need to crop. This is mainly because at the lower shutter speeds I find it harder to keep the car still within the viewfinder during the longer exposure - longer focal length equals more wobble.
 
May as well use the longer end of the zoom, framing the car is fairly easy. Panning shots require a shorter zoom and you can lower the shutter quite a lot, but for a front 3/4 you'll probably want a higher shutter speed or you'll notice camera shake.
 
Whilst panning can produce nice motion blur, it's not worth spending too much time on unless you have a particular liking of that sort of shot. If anything interesting happens that requires a fast shutter you'll miss the moment fiddling with buttons and dials. If it's the first time you've shot motorsport, stick with freezing the action with a high shutter speed (1/500 up preferable) until you've got some shots you're happy with, then experiment with panning and whatever else you fancy. You may need to increase sensitivity if the weather isn't great to keep the shutter speed up.

Unless you spot something that looks appealing composition wise, fill the frame as much as possible with the car(s) - don't rely on cropping later, although again be conservative until you're comfortable. And pay attention to what's in the background - many a fine shot has been ruined by a bright red dustbin :bonk:
 
here's a simple rule to begin with.
If you can see the wheels then use tv mode, set it to something fairly slow and pan with the car.
If you cant see the wheels then set the aperture to maximum and fire away in Av mode.

That will get you a decent set of shots to begin with.

number 1 thing to not do with motorsport is have a bunch of photos where the car is doing 100mph, but looks like its parked. Anyone can do them, and they look bl:):)dy awful
 
Are you by chance on the Hampshire Jap Cars forum??

I will also be going to Japfest this year, perhaps we should organise a TP meet up there...
 
Tv mode is very useful, because you get the control over whether you want to freeze the action or blur the background with panning shots. The camera worries about the aperture!

I got trackside at a kart racing day at Lydd with a friend, and I used a 400D with 75-300mm lens. I found it was too long, most shots were taken between 75 and 200mm

Take a look here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/32244379@N02/sets/72157623230695408/
That day was a clear, sunny day - ISO 100, shutter speed 1/80, aperture F8 seemed to be the most successful.
All the image data is intact so you can get a 'feel' for what settings work :)


That was my first attempt at track photography... those 10 images were the best of about 540 (would have been nearer 800, but I deleted stuff between races!)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top