Day at the racetrack - DPChallenge Forums

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

04/26/2004 03:43:11 AM · #1

Sleekr and I went to the racetrack today. Open day where anyone could register and have a ride on the racetrack. Rather than ride we both decided to do the photo thing.

Here are a few of my pics from today, my first attempt at race photos. The first one is by far my favourite.

Spent most of the day messing around with shutter speed ... do I really need 1/4000 for everything???? Didn't really come to any stunning conclusions though, so still haven't worked out the best speed .... ideas anyone?

Lost a lot of photos due to shooting handheld at 300mm (well, I'm blaming that) and can't wait to do the same thing with an image stabilised lens *bounce bounce bounce as hope to have one soon*

Comments, advice, etc most welcome.

Message edited by author 2004-04-26 07:53:41.

faidoi

Pentax K10D

04/26/2004 04:10:41 AM · #2

Motorsports. One reason that is keeping me from buying a prosumer compared to a DSLR. The longer lenses. Sigh.

You found an interesting corner to get some great dynamic shots. Did you take all shots in 1/4000? Wonder in which order the photos were shot. Just curious about the #33 passing the #99.

Anymore shots?

Message edited by author 2004-04-26 04:11:41.

04/26/2004 04:47:48 AM · #3

Yes, the long lens was a neccessity for these.

The first one, my favourite, was at 1/2000. Most of the shots I did were in the 1/1000 - 1/4000 range. All seemed to work/not work to the same extent, so I never really decided which I preferred. Maybe 1/1000 was fast enough and thus anything over that didn't matter too much?

Took heaps more but those are the pick of the bunch, the rest are pretty average.

The order was 99 in front first, then over taken by 33. 99 made it back by the next lap. There were a heap of riders, many on street bikes, but these pair seemed well ahead (skill wise) than most, and also their bikes had the full race look to them, and the colours worked well (as the light was not very good).

Adrian Tung

Canon EOS-10D

04/26/2004 06:12:35 AM · #4

I was also involved in a local motorsport shoot over the weekend. I haven't sorted out all my shots yet (took several hundred), these were F3-class cars with a top speed of 260km/h.

Personally I've found 1/3200s enough to freeze the action of the cars, this may be nice for head-on shots (like your first four) but for the side shots (e.g. your fifth shot) I would go for a much slower shutter speed (around 1/125 to 1/250s) and pan.

Here's a quick edit last night before going to sleep, auto-contrast, resize and USM in Photoshop. Will do more serious editing over the next few days.
28-135IS lens at 135mm, f/8.0, 1/200s, ISO100:

:)atwl

Message edited by author 2004-04-26 06:15:25.

Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR DG IF-ED

04/26/2004 06:44:20 AM · #5

Great shot there Adrian :)

Yes, I tried the panning shots but I really haven't got the technique right. All the shots turned out blurred as I obviously wasn't panning at quite the right speed :(

Drake

Nikon D850

04/26/2004 06:50:59 AM · #6

A shot from Gingerman racetrack near South Haven Mi - this past Saturday.

Adrian Tung

Canon EOS-10D

04/26/2004 10:56:30 AM · #7

Nice capture Drake! Love the composition of the three heads! :D

:)atwl