First racing photographs, Help needed.

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

07/18/2004 04:38:53 PM · #1

//figz.com/~deters/photos/index.php?dirarg=20040717

**Working on making this 56k friendly...
These are all unedited, straight from the camera, no blur effects, no color adjustments, nothing. I'm quite pleased with the results. I will be out there today sometime around 2pm... I do have a few questions though.

1.) What can I do to get the cars more in focus? I noticed that really 1/2 the car is in focus and half isnt really, most people dont even notice it.
2.) Rip these photos apart, I really need some insight. I dont know anyone thats big into photography. I need to learn more.

Let's hear what you think...
Some of my personal favorites:

Message edited by author 2004-07-19 13:46:46.

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

07/18/2004 05:03:54 PM · #2

On the most part I would say you've done a good job. What might help is a faster shutter speed and remember to continue your pan even after you've pressed the shutter. Just like tennis, there's followthrough in photography.

MAK

Leica M Monochrom

Voigtlander Ultron 21mm f1.8

07/18/2004 05:06:21 PM · #3

Im not really sure that I am qualified to make any comments but I do have some suggestions that I hope may be of some help. I logically deduced that a car travelling at a speed, as these do, would be dodging in and out of focal range 5 times a second at least so either you may want to try

1.using a continuous auto focus
2.manual focus but timing the shot as opposed to travelling with the car
3.try an F-stop as tight as poss (f16) and a shutter speed as high as poss 500+ you will loose a bit of the shallow DOF

I thought that these pics looked very good though to be honest, it is very hard to photograph fast moving objects I usually use a super fast shutter and shallow DOF, depending on the light i try to use about f4 at over 1000 shutter to capture it but I am very much an amature and still experimenting.

Canon EOS-60D

Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS

07/18/2004 05:07:20 PM · #4

I really like the shot of the red car marked #7...and I think you did a great job! I also like the one of the 240SX burning rubber. Wish I knew how to assist you...they look good to my untrained eye! :o)

Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF

07/18/2004 05:08:18 PM · #5

This photography stuff is a lot of work... I really have to give you guys props who do this for a living...

I took 370 photos that day... 160 or so where satisfactory to me... I noticed a lot of them do get blurry from panning. These are also hand held. Would a tripod help me out more? It gets difficult to hold the car in the frame when it's doing 70-150mph.

The lens I used was the 70-300mm Sigma APO II. i tried to keep the photos around the 70-100mm range since I like the blurring effect with the 1/80 shutter speed.

PS More posts as I posted this. I did take a few with shutter speeds of 500+ but i didnt like the frozen action look of them. Kinda looks like they just set a car out there and pretended it was racing. With the 1/80 shutter i got a good amount of motion blur.

I also noticed that black and yellow cars were hard to shoot. I dunno why but the majority of those ones were blurry or overexposed. That silver WRX, man my camera loved that car, 90% of those photos turned out great.

Message edited by author 2004-07-18 21:12:27.

faidoi

Pentax K10D

07/18/2004 05:12:05 PM · #6

You have to scout out a good spot, tripod, and a faster shutter speed. You may want to contact bod. Some examples of Paul's motorsports pictures.

Message edited by author 2004-07-18 21:15:06.

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

07/18/2004 05:13:09 PM · #7

Originally posted by faidoi:

You have to scout out a good spot, tripod, and a faster shutter speed. You may want to contact bod.

Contact bod.? Help me out... I'm a newbie.

#7 was a FC body RX7, and the majority of the 240SXs out there were drifting.

Message edited by author 2004-07-18 21:14:21.

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

07/18/2004 05:15:20 PM · #8

I think he means this user...

//www.dpchallenge.com/profile.php?USER_ID=4411

Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0L USM

07/18/2004 05:17:03 PM · #9

AHH, hes got some really nice ones!

Thanks for the comments so far guys/gals.

Message edited by author 2004-07-18 21:19:57.

anonimo

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

07/18/2004 05:51:14 PM · #10

Any Nissan 350Z Pics? The photos look cool, I like the Red number 7 car. good job.

nborton

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

07/18/2004 05:51:36 PM · #11

I've taken quite a few shots of NASCAR before. In my experience the best way of keeping the car sharp and the background blurred, is to use manual focus and set the focus to where you know the car will be eventually. That way your lens tends not to hunt and waste time when you could be shooting. Also, to get the entire car in focus, the car needs to be moving parallel to you. So if the car is slightly comming toward you, like in a curve or something, then the whole car won't be in focus. Also, the advice of following through is a big key to getting nice shots.

I think you've got some pretty good ones so far, and it seems like you have the basics down pretty well.

I've got a few in my sports folder if you want to check them out.
Sports

07/18/2004 08:54:46 PM · #12

Thanks,

350z came out today, I should have some more (140 some) up tonight sometime.

Thanks for the tips on the parallel issues. Now that I come to think of it some of the clearest ones were me facing perpendicular to the track where the car is. On the next event Ill try and pay more attention to that along with attempting some manual focusing.

Your NASCAR photos look a lot like the ASA series. Nice shots and again thanks for the comments and tips.

07/19/2004 06:40:04 AM · #13

Here's a couple of my shots. Night photography though. When I do day time panning, I use an ND filter and leave it at 1/60 sec. Always works! Don't forget the tripod. As for focus, that takes practice.

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

07/19/2004 07:15:32 AM · #14

Nice shots, did you just have the driver drive by you or how did you create those effects?

Maybe ill need to invest in a better tripod. The one i have is an el cheapo $25 from walmart.

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

07/19/2004 07:34:14 AM · #15

They are nice shots but a little large for the forums. Clickable thumbnails work better to keep the forum dial-up friendly.

anonimo

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

07/19/2004 07:42:46 AM · #16

Thanks for showing the Nissan Z pic, looks really kool...that's my favorite car for now.

C_Steve_G

Apple iPhone 12

Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 35-135mm f/3.5-4.5

07/19/2004 09:11:58 AM · #17

It's about pan & follow through, prefocus & (with my slow camera) shutter depression timing. The images you posted certainly look like your timing is good, (I have lotsa "no subject" pictures, too).
Practice, practice, practice...

07/19/2004 09:20:04 AM · #18

does it really bother you to have big pics?

Originally posted by cpanaioti:

They are nice shots but a little large for the forums. Clickable thumbnails work better to keep the forum dial-up friendly.

07/19/2004 09:30:06 AM · #19

Thanks man. I too have an el cheapo tripod. To answer your questions regarding my pics...1. Turn the car off. 2. Open the hatch/trunk. 3. What I did was have the tripod stick outside the left side of the car. Held down by bungie cords and a baby stroller. 4. get the view you want. set exposure setting. for the vw i used f4 8sec. then using a wireless remote my camera came with, i snapped the pic. 5. while the shutter is open, have a friend push the car. remember the car is off to prevent camera shake. 6. have another friend control the hand brake and steering wheel so that your car doesn't roll away. He/she should sit on the passenger side. 7. you have a badass shot. no need for photoshot!!

Does this make sense?

Originally posted by CptCorN:

Nice shots, did you just havethe driver drive by you or how did you create those effects?

Maybe ill need to invest in a better tripod. The one i have is an el cheapo $25 from walmart.

Message edited by author 2004-07-19 13:33:04.

07/19/2004 09:47:48 AM · #20

Wow thats a really good idea. I gotta try that. I'm a little weary of hanging my 300d off of a cheap tripod though. That made perfect sense btw.

GoldBerry

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

07/19/2004 09:50:55 AM · #21

shots are alright, but they all seem a little on the grey side

07/19/2004 10:02:48 AM · #22

That may be becasue of the weather. It was humid/hazey/cloudy ... no direct sunlight. Taking that into consideration, I'm not experienced enough to compensate for that.

07/19/2004 10:10:42 AM · #23

where was that race btw?

Originally posted by CptCorN:

That may be becasue of the weather. It was humid/hazey/cloudy ... no direct sunlight. Taking that into consideration, I'm not experienced enough to compensate for that.

bod

07/19/2004 11:05:44 AM · #24

I've been at the track all weekend :) so missed this thread starting up.

Alexius, some very good shots, especially for a first attempt.

Regarding getting the whole car sharp - this is often impossible. If the front or back end bounces slighly, it will blur. I think that if the middle of the car/driver is sharp then it's okay to have it slightly soft at either end. Over the weekend I was trying to pan three-quarter front shots of open-wheeled cars so that the driver's helmet was just about the only sharp part of the shot ... I need a lot more practice at that!

I can't really add much to the tips in here. Your shutter speed is in the right area (I've been known to shoot at 1/40s but my 'hit rate' was terrible!) and you really have to hand-hold. A tripod or even a monopod will hinder you too much for side on panning.

Try tilting the camera occasionaly for some dynamic angles. If you can get on the outside of a corner you could get some good head on shots, especially if the cars start locking up ;)
Otherwise just keep practising and having fun.