Motorcycle racing pics

rookieshooter

My first time shooting motorcycles. I rented a 200-400mm VR lens from lensrentals.com for it, and the only major problem was I didn't have a press pass so I had to be pretty far away and had to shoot from the stands. Anyway, here are the pics. I shot most of them at shutter priority 1/800 but found that 1/250 gave the best background blur.







two bikes:

gallery: http://joshnorem.smugmug.com/gallery/8243689_JYfXL#539088547_LgpH5

torags

Nice...

Man that 200/400 is a load isn't it? Where were they taken?

Raphy

Nicely done. I shot motogp last year and 1/160th - 1/250th was the best as well for me.

Love the 2nd last shot!

Great photos man !!

rookieshooter

torags wrote:

Nice...

Man that 200/400 is a load isn't it? Where were they taken?

yeah it was big and heavy. All the civies were looking at me like WTF? And some of the pros, who were in front of the barricades gave me some looks like where did you get that lens?

This was in Sonoma last weekend. The thing that pissed me off the most was as a spectator you can only shoot them turning right, away from you, so I don't have any pics of them coming out of a corner, just going into it.

I was considering going to Laguna for MotoGP but not sure if there are any good places to shoot from. IIRC the only place with a low fence is turn 2.

torags

Well first of all , if you want to get a different angle you have to move. Were you shooting from the grassy area near the kids playground?

I was up near the grandstand where the TV camera was. I was there Sunday, here's one from my angle. They're coming up from the dip that's under the bridge to that area



Laguna Seca is nice just don't speed near there.

ian408

You can shoot action as it's headed toward you.



You might need to head up the hill or find a spot that you can shoot over the fence but it is possible. And with a 100-400, you should be able to do that--get a 1.4TC to go with that to extend it (but only if you need to).

torags

Hey Ian... a rare capture... superbike racing supermoto

rookieshooter

torags wrote:

Well first of all , if you want to get a different angle you have to move. Were you shooting from the grassy area near the kids playground?

I was up near the grandstand where the TV camera was. I was there Sunday, here's one from my angle. They're coming up from the dip that's under the bridge to that area



Laguna Seca is nice just don't speed near there.

I walked around half the track (the hilly portion) but was hauling a lot of gear and my feet were killing me because I just spent a week in New York, but yeah....ultimately I would have liked to have walked the entire course to scout more.

ian408

torags wrote:

Hey Ian... a rare capture... superbike racing supermoto

Also known as a Track Day

The SM put up a fight and probably passed more than he was passed too.

torags

"
I walked around half the track (the hilly portion) but was hauling a lot of gear and my feet were killing me because I just spent a week in New York, but yeah....ultimately I would have liked to have walked the entire course to scout more."

Yeah. It's a long haul, especially with 200/400. But you only have to do 1/2 the track the other half keeps riders in the shade.

I have a mountain bike I use, it works good. I sold my 125cc pit bike cause they don't allow them (Laguna Seca&Infineon) around the track. Laguna will ticket you. But they have an accessible area called the corkscrew, where you can fill a frame with 300mm on FX as an uncredentialed photog. Its on a slight treed hill overlooking the course.

anvilimage

I was there, too, but spent more time on Saturday up at the supermoto track. It may be heavy like you said, but it definitely paid off because I need to fill my frame more like you did. Since I don't see myself getting a media pass (I may be able to for supermoto), the long lens sounds like the way to go...

nice pics!

-joe

picturegirl

rookieshooter wrote:

yeah it was big and heavy. All the civies were looking at me like WTF? And some of the pros, who were in front of the barricades gave me some looks like where did you get that lens?

This was in Sonoma last weekend. The thing that pissed me off the most was as a spectator you can only shoot them turning right, away from you, so I don't have any pics of them coming out of a corner, just going into it.

I was considering going to Laguna for MotoGP but not sure if there are any good places to shoot from. IIRC the only place with a low fence is turn 2.

I will be at Laguna in 40 days!!!!
I really liked shots #2 and #3!! Laguna has many fences too, I found a couple of nice spots up by the cork screw. One is right after you cross the bridge (if you are coming from the campground side) and come out on the other side, you can get them coming down the hill. The other was more towards the bottom of the corkscrew, before you get to the bridge. You would get them going away from you. It's is actually kinda cool because they are going soooo fast down through that turn and are pretty much laid all the way over touching the ground! There are quite a few spots where you can see the track and the bikes but the fences are in the way. I would get a pass if you can, Laguna is a really nice track!!

torags

anvilimage wrote:

I was there, too, but spent more time on Saturday up at the supermoto track. It may be heavy like you said, but it definitely paid off because I need to fill my frame more like you did. Since I don't see myself getting a media pass (I may be able to for supermoto), the long lens sounds like the way to go...

nice pics!

-joe

That's where I spent most of the day (at Supermoto). The access is so much better. I had a black Element there and might have seen you

anvilimage

My buddy Paul and I were standing at the end of the first straight... I'm on the right.

torags

Looks like I was on the other side, near the water truck



I didn't see the getoff

dadwtwins

rookieshooter wrote:

My first time shooting motorcycles. I rented a 200-400mm VR lens from lensrentals.com for it, and the only major problem was I didn't have a press pass so I had to be pretty far away and had to shoot from the stands. Anyway, here are the pics. I shot most of them at shutter priority 1/800 but found that 1/250 gave the best background blur.

by far, the 200-400 lens is my fav. You just showed why. Nice pics

rookieshooter

dadwtwins wrote:

by far, the 200-400 lens is my fav. You just showed why. Nice pics

Yeah, it's a great lens for sure. Too bad it doesn't weigh a few pounds less though

I might still go to Laguna just to see what I can get. I had a lot of fun shooting the race and it's too bad that Infineon and Laguna are the only high profile events in CA all year.

torags

rookieshooter wrote:

Yeah, it's a great lens for sure. Too bad it doesn't weigh a few pounds less though

I might still go to Laguna just to see what I can get. I had a lot of fun shooting the race and it's too bad that Infineon and Laguna are the only high profile events in CA all year.

Well the BITD race is coming up. Reach out to desert racing, it's addictive....

dadwtwins

rookieshooter wrote:

Yeah, it's a great lens for sure. Too bad it doesn't weigh a few pounds less though

I might still go to Laguna just to see what I can get. I had a lot of fun shooting the race and it's too bad that Infineon and Laguna are the only high profile events in CA all year.

I think Laguna has much better views for picture taking. Have fun and enjoy taking pics at the corkscrew

anvilimage

I need practice before Laguna so I'm going to try to hit a couple of AFM events and maybe even Stockton for some more supermoto on Mondays.

Where can I get info about the desert racing?

-joe

torags

BITD= Best in The Desert; 1000 mi over 3 days. google it

Baja 500 (where the pic was taken), that was 1000HP pick up truck that takes air like a supermoto bike, with 30" suspension

these events are wide open and free ...no fences. You can get up close and personal & some run into dark