Your favourite motorsports events

[Roo]

Just a few shots to show there is more happening on and off the track than just the F1 and V8s On track action included Historics demonstration laps (1926 Talbot to a 1971 Alfa GTAM), Mazda 3 Celebrity races, Carrera Cup, C63 vs V8 supercar vs F1 (great to hear the screaming v8) and targa rally cars. Off track included Tony Hawk and his Vert Jam (my mate showed his age asking who is Tony Hawk and who is Vert Jam?), various bmx/motorcycle stunts and a lot of cars on display.

The woman in the pic is the gorgeous Lydia Lassila, winner of gold and bronze medals in aerials skiing at the last 2 winter Olympics. She was in the celebrity race but that is not her very secondhand 'All New' Madza 3! I do need to figure out out to fix up the bottom part of her photo in LR5. Taking that shot also made me realise I need to afma my new lens!

 

[IMG_0001]

Great images Roo, I particularly like the one where the tire carcass lies to the outside while the Force India' torn sidewalls are thrown around and the Sauber broken nose is clearly visible.

It is also great to see you had a nice weekend.

On a side note, did you try some slower shutter speeds during the weekend? I find many of your images are quite well framed (and timed) but could convey more sense of speed and movements. Using slower shutter speeds helps there by having the wheels and tire threads/lettering blurred. I think you could also give a go at panning shots. Considering how your images look, I'm sure you'd get good results.

Regards

 

[Roo]

Great images Roo, I particularly like the one where the tire carcass lies to the outside while the Force India' torn sidewalls are thrown around and the Sauber broken nose is clearly visible.

It is also great to see you had a nice weekend.

On a side note, did you try some slower shutter speeds during the weekend? I find many of your images are quite well framed (and timed) but could convey more sense of speed and movements. Using slower shutter speeds helps there by having the wheels and tire threads/lettering blurred. I think you could also give a go at panning shots. Considering how your images look, I'm sure you'd get good results.

Regards

Thanks. I agree about the panning but I didn't play around too long on it as even @f8 and iso 160 I was still getting a shutter speed of 1/640 which is nowhere near slow enough. I already have a new plan for the Friday next year. High on the mound at turn 9 will allow me to shoot over the fence in one session and then I'll go back to turn 14 for the slightly faster sweeper. In the meantime - plenty of panning practice!

 

[CarlTN]

Great images Roo, I particularly like the one where the tire carcass lies to the outside while the Force India' torn sidewalls are thrown around and the Sauber broken nose is clearly visible.

It is also great to see you had a nice weekend.

On a side note, did you try some slower shutter speeds during the weekend? I find many of your images are quite well framed (and timed) but could convey more sense of speed and movements. Using slower shutter speeds helps there by having the wheels and tire threads/lettering blurred. I think you could also give a go at panning shots. Considering how your images look, I'm sure you'd get good results.

Regards

Thanks. I agree about the panning but I didn't play around too long on it as even @f8 and iso 160 I was still getting a shutter speed of 1/640 which is nowhere near slow enough. I already have a new plan for the Friday next year. High on the mound at turn 9 will allow me to shoot over the fence in one session and then I'll go back to turn 14 for the slightly faster sweeper. In the meantime - plenty of panning practice!

Panning shots are only one aspect of car racing photos, it seems to me. If you were at a slow shutter speed then many of your shots above would have been blurred.

 

[IMG_0001]

Great images Roo, I particularly like the one where the tire carcass lies to the outside while the Force India' torn sidewalls are thrown around and the Sauber broken nose is clearly visible.

It is also great to see you had a nice weekend.

On a side note, did you try some slower shutter speeds during the weekend? I find many of your images are quite well framed (and timed) but could convey more sense of speed and movements. Using slower shutter speeds helps there by having the wheels and tire threads/lettering blurred. I think you could also give a go at panning shots. Considering how your images look, I'm sure you'd get good results.

Regards

Thanks. I agree about the panning but I didn't play around too long on it as even @f8 and iso 160 I was still getting a shutter speed of 1/640 which is nowhere near slow enough. I already have a new plan for the Friday next year. High on the mound at turn 9 will allow me to shoot over the fence in one session and then I'll go back to turn 14 for the slightly faster sweeper. In the meantime - plenty of panning practice!

Panning shots are only one aspect of car racing photos, it seems to me. If you were at a slow shutter speed then many of your shots above would have been blurred.

There was really now offense meant. I totally agree, some of Roo's shots are terrific as is. He captured some of the trackside action, some great head-on shots which are quite well framed and timed (although they can be taken at slower speeds, I'm not all that found of that look) and generally, the quality is good. I thought that was about clear in my original post. It is just that I also saw a few images that would have been good candidates for slower shutter speeds and was convinced Roo could have nailed them.

His explanation about there being to much light totally satisfies me. Although I personally don't mind shooting at F16, I understand that some people can't stand the risk of diffraction. I'm eager to see more of his and others work on that thread as well as on any other subject. I know I'll post some more of mine in June after the Canadian GP.

 

[IMG_0001]

...

Thanks. I agree about the panning but I didn't play around too long on it as even @f8 and iso 160 I was still getting a shutter speed of 1/640 which is nowhere near slow enough. I already have a new plan for the Friday next year. High on the mound at turn 9 will allow me to shoot over the fence in one session and then I'll go back to turn 14 for the slightly faster sweeper. In the meantime - plenty of panning practice!

By the way Roo, I think you tried the Tamron 150-600 at the GP. How did you like it for F1? I'd like to find one for rental for Montreal's GP, otherwise I'll probably rent a 100-400 as I did last year.

 

[Roo]

...

Thanks. I agree about the panning but I didn't play around too long on it as even @f8 and iso 160 I was still getting a shutter speed of 1/640 which is nowhere near slow enough. I already have a new plan for the Friday next year. High on the mound at turn 9 will allow me to shoot over the fence in one session and then I'll go back to turn 14 for the slightly faster sweeper. In the meantime - plenty of panning practice!

By the way Roo, I think you tried the Tamron 150-600 at the GP. How did you like it for F1? I'd like to find one for rental for Montreal's GP, otherwise I'll probably rent a 100-400 as I did last year.

The Tammy was fine but I only used it on the Thursday and Friday. On the weekend there are far more people and it just becomes too big to use from my seat. The 100-400 would be a bit better for that. The focus limiter on it is a good thing but a couple of times it did go hunting but I didn't miss anything because of it. It tracked well when it was locked on to a subject but there were times when 600 was too much lens. At turn 14 I could get a really nice head on shot as they turned into the corner and then track them to get the side on shot but at 600 it there was a lot more car than frame lol (see the Ricciardo shot). I found myself getting down to 300 for the side on shots but from my seat 600 was perfect.

 

[TheJock]

I've noticed that there are quite a few of my panning images where I would say the centre is in focus but the main subject in total should be in focus, in this image the driver and number plate are sharp enough for the time of night on an outdoor track, but the rest of the kart is blurry.
The settings were ISO 6400 (70D is awesome!), 1/80th, f5.6 with the 18-55mmSTM, the metering was on spot, AWB and Al Servo. Would evaluative be a better option to keep the whole vehicle sharp, or is there something else I'm missing?? I'm thinking that if I used a faster lens (f2.8) then the image would have even more blur at the centre (but I could have turned the ISO down), right??
Thanks in advance for any tips

 

[LightandMotion]

I actually find when the whole vehicle / cart is not in focus appealing. When panning it's only in one direction. However, the vehicle / cart is moving in different planes, particularly around corners when there is lateral movement as well as forward movement. It adds to the dynamism of the image.

I talk about it here in the last 3 images:

http://www.lightandmotionphotography.com/section467038_165834.html

 

[TheJock]

I actually find when the whole vehicle / cart is not in focus appealing.....It adds to the dynamism of the image.

I talk about it here in the last 3 images:

http://www.lightandmotionphotography.com/section467038_165834.html

Thanks for the reply, and I agree with you for most cases, but in this example (the kart) there is not a lot of vehicle length front to back, however a Formula 1 car in comparison is really long front to back, so I ideally want to perfect my skill in getting as much of the vehicle in focus as possible, love your site by the way, lots of inspiration there

 

[IMG_0001]

I've noticed that there are quite a few of my panning images where I would say the centre is in focus but the main subject in total should be in focus, in this image the driver and number plate are sharp enough for the time of night on an outdoor track, but the rest of the kart is blurry.
The settings were ISO 6400 (70D is awesome!), 1/80th, f5.6 with the 18-55mmSTM, the metering was on spot, AWB and Al Servo. Would evaluative be a better option to keep the whole vehicle sharp, or is there something else I'm missing?? I'm thinking that if I used a faster lens (f2.8) then the image would have even more blur at the centre (but I could have turned the ISO down), right??
Thanks in advance for any tips

I think it is just that the kart is yawing around the driver. The farther apart from the yaw axis, the faster the movement, so the extremities of the car are blurred. I don't see anything other than a faster shutter speed or a flash shot to prevent this. Moreover, the car is pretty close to the curb, so there might have been some track roughness that shook the bodywork but that was 'damped' for the driver and steering column.

I think that smaller apertures might just add a layer of too shallow DoF over the movement blur so it would not help in anything except allow a lower iso for the same shutter speed and exposure.

 

[mycanonphotos]

Panned at 1/160 with the 5D3 and the 100-400

More at my site: http://jasonsphotography.net/f512183673

 

[scottkinfw]

A question!

Is this limited to teresterial or can it include airplane races? The Red Bull Air Race World Championship is coming to Texas and I could use some tips.

Thanks.

sek

 

[gazzo]

Hallo,

Keep Smiling!


About 9.000 HP !


Sorry - no winner!

 

[IMG_0001]

A question!

Is this limited to teresterial or can it include airplane races? The Red Bull Air Race World Championship is coming to Texas and I could use some tips.

Thanks.

sek

All motorsports are ok for me.

As for tips, I am no specialist in plane photography, (some are found on that other topic http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=18673.0) but what I know is that :

- If shooting against a bright sky, you should use either spot metering on the plane or exposure compensation (+2/3 to +1 1/2 should do the trick I think) to tell the metering not to be fooled by the sky's brightness.

- If there is landscape and/or other structures showing, using slow shutter speeds and panning (yes again, I know) can help convey a feeling of speed.

- Don't use very fast shutter speeds as these freeze the propeller motion and make the planes look a bit distressed... I think the low hundredths should be fine but try it out to check.

- Red Bull Air Race = try do take some general ambiance pictures and images of sideshows.

- Post your images for our delight.

Regards

 

[IMG_0001]

...

Thanks. I agree about the panning but I didn't play around too long on it as even @f8 and iso 160 I was still getting a shutter speed of 1/640 which is nowhere near slow enough. I already have a new plan for the Friday next year. High on the mound at turn 9 will allow me to shoot over the fence in one session and then I'll go back to turn 14 for the slightly faster sweeper. In the meantime - plenty of panning practice!

By the way Roo, I think you tried the Tamron 150-600 at the GP. How did you like it for F1? I'd like to find one for rental for Montreal's GP, otherwise I'll probably rent a 100-400 as I did last year.

The Tammy was fine but I only used it on the Thursday and Friday. On the weekend there are far more people and it just becomes too big to use from my seat. The 100-400 would be a bit better for that. The focus limiter on it is a good thing but a couple of times it did go hunting but I didn't miss anything because of it. It tracked well when it was locked on to a subject but there were times when 600 was too much lens. At turn 14 I could get a really nice head on shot as they turned into the corner and then track them to get the side on shot but at 600 it there was a lot more car than frame lol (see the Ricciardo shot). I found myself getting down to 300 for the side on shots but from my seat 600 was perfect.

Thanks Roo, I found I wanted a bit more reach than the 100-400 for photographing the grid from my seat and to shoot from the bridge to the casino straight, so I think I can deal with more mm in the long end, that is if I can find a rental Tamron.

As for shooting from the stands, I do have a good seat, but as you said, shooting with a big lens really can get on the nerves of the other attendees. I've had some problems with that already so I sometimes stay in a small enclosure that is restricted to ticket owners but where there are mostly photographers who are more forgiving. Actually, the bigger the lens, the more room you get!

 

[CarlTN]

Hallo,

Keep Smiling!


About 9.000 HP !


Sorry - no winner!

Looks bigger than Top Fuel engines!

 

[gazzo]

Hallo,

originally, the engine of "Dragon Fire" was a Diesel.
It´s a M503A Zvezda with 42 cylinders, used in russian torpedoboats. After five years, it was useable for tractor pulling. Now with 147 liters, 126 spark plugs, 160 meter of ignition wire, methanol.
I had the chance to take picture of the event. Barefoot on track...
The vibrations and the infernalic sound of thousands of horses was shocking. I nearly forgot to take pictures!
http://www.marine-s.de/124001.html
https://plus.google.com/photos/108556723239090830412/albums/5018168963610081217?banner=pwa

It´s better, to feel it:
DragonFire
Hassmoor 2010 Dragon Fire


gazzo

 

[TexPhoto]

REX78329h by RexPhoto91, on Flickr

REX78144h by RexPhoto91, on Flickr

REX78167h by RexPhoto91, on Flickr

Untitled by RexPhoto91, on Flickr

 

[dhr90]

I bet no-one gets stuck behind that bus! ;D