ThunderHill SCCA Race

Sam

At the last minute I decided to go to this race and practice shooting cars. They be kinda difficult to get sharp...........they keep moving.

I rented a 100-400 mm 4.5-5.6L and off I went. Nice drive up Friday morning.

I took about 4500 images. Burst mode will sure eat up memory. I tried darn near everything I could think of as far as technique is concerned. It will take awhile to go through and analyze all the images and try to see what worked best.

Over all I did a little better than at the Porsche Rennsport Reunion IV.

The 100-400 was a little hard to hold at the 400 mm focal length but I got better at it it. It is a push pull type of zoom, which is a little hard to get used to, but not a deal killer. The lens is small and light and performed well. The only complaint is it does need a lot of light.

Sam

Here three examples: This is at 400 mm no to minimal crop.

1.


2. This is also hand held at 400mm.



3. This is a crop of #2.

ian408

Did you pan any of the cars?

Of the samples shown, I think you did OK.

Sam

Ian,

I did practice panning. I'll try and get one or two of those posted up.

Also the images seem a little soft when viewed from the web.

Sam

jww

lol... yes, they keep moving and rarely ever cooperate!

Not bad Sam!

On #2, I think it would be better to see a bit more in front of the car rather than behind the car. In number one, I like that the cars are larger in the frame, but might have been more interesting hiking a bit further so the curbing was more in the shot. Though as it is on the outside of the turn, they may not track out that far depending on the car class. I would be interested to see some more shots at other turns if you have them. ..also don't be afraid to tilt the camera off the horizon a bit. When shooting race cars, wacky stuff works!

Keep up the good work!

Sam

jjw,

Thanks for your input. I had a look at your website and you definitely have road racing covered.

I plan on going back and looking at your images in more detail later.

Please don't stop with the critiques! I want to learn as much as i can about photographing motor sports events.

Sam

Sam

Here is a panning shot:

aj986s

Nice work Sam! Motorsports is a lot of fun....I've been fortunate enough to photograph, crew, drive, race & instruct.

At most "amatuer/club" level racing events, like SCCA, NASA, PCA, etc. access to the cars & people is very easy. Lots of good shots can be had while cruising the paddock. Most club racers are very down to earth, and very approachable. Crews are often composed of family & friends. Also pay attention to the corner workers; their involvement is very critical to racing events, and the better/experienced workers can be fun to watch. Even the spectators can sometimes surprise you.

And FWIW, as much as action shots are cool to catch, spend some time at a venue and you'll eventually figure out where much of the "action" happens. Of course, incidents happen almost everywhere, but some spots will prove to have higher probability than others.

Sam

One more panning shot:

Sam

aj986s wrote: »

Nice work Sam! Motorsports is a lot of fun....I've been fortunate enough to photograph, crew, drive, race & instruct.

At most "amatuer/club" level racing events, like SCCA, NASA, PCA, etc. access to the cars & people is very easy. Lots of good shots can be had while cruising the paddock. Most club racers are very down to earth, and very approachable. Crews are often composed of family & friends. Also pay attention to the corner workers; their involvement is very critical to racing events, and the better/experienced workers can be fun to watch. Even the spectators can sometimes surprise you.

And FWIW, as much as action shots are cool to catch, spend some time at a venue and you'll eventually figure out where much of the "action" happens. Of course, incidents happen almost everywhere, but some spots will prove to have higher probability than others.

Thanks for the info! For a little background I raced an E production 914 in the 70's, was a scrutineer, and served on the board of directors. My first time back to a track was at the Porsche Rennsport Reunion IV at Laguna Seca two weeks ago. This last weekend was the first time back at an SCCA event. believe it or not I met people I used to race and work with. It was a great weekend.

And yes I did take a lot of worker and pit lane photos. :-)

Please keep the C&C coming!!!

Sam

jww

Sam wrote: »

jjw,

Thanks for your input. I had a look at your website and you definitely have road racing covered.

I plan on going back and looking at your images in more detail later.

Please don't stop with the critiques! I want to learn as much as i can about photographing motor sports events.

Sam

Most welcome and thanks, glad you enjoyed checking them out! ..I've been shooting SCCA and some pro events for quite some time and have learned a thing or two. Generally forget quite a bit some days as well. lol

Nice pan shot. I like the background in relation to the car, though a tad bit more zoomed in might have been nicer. I do like the sky in the pic though so it is a keeper for sure.

Edit.. just saw the 2nd. I like it, but I don't quite like the half chopped off corner station. I do like the other car though.. One of the darned if you do, darned if you don't.

Keep it up! You are doing really good!