Track Day

stromhammer

Just a few of the shots I took at a track day in Pueblo, Co last month. Any thoughts?

GregV

They look great. I'm going to shoot my first track day this Friday with my club. It'll be at Streets of Willow Springs. Hopefully I can take some nice ones like yours.

stromhammer

GregV wrote:

They look great. I'm going to shoot my first track day this Friday with my club. It'll be at Streets of Willow Springs. Hopefully I can take some nice ones like yours.

Thanks
This was my first attempt at shooting motorsports. Took half a day to figure out what I was doing. Ended up using a Sigma 75-200 f2.8 set to AV wide open and ISO 200-400 depending on cloud cover and where the sun was.

Just be patient and have fun.

gus

Great photos. I love small tracks...they are generally very cool with letting you into the centre here at least. Have you considered a tight crop of #4 ? To show the track reflection in his visor ? I love stuff like that. I only have the one but its a great angle to look into.

kelsow

I used to do a lot of this years ago. I would suggest you use a slower shutter
speed to get more movement in the wheels for your pan shots.
Sometimes a really slow shutter will get great effects. As long as something
like the riders helmet is sharp, you can pull of most anything.
For the racing shots, I found that if you didn't see more than 1 rider it didn't
look like "racing". If you can include the rumble strips at the apex it can add
to the picture. Keep an eye out for your background, sometimes an out of
focus crowd can work but an in focus car usually wont, it can ruin the
perfect shot.

I think you have done really well, keep it up.

stromhammer

gus wrote:

Great photos. I love small tracks...they are generally very cool with letting you into the centre here at least. Have you considered a tight crop of #4 ? To show the track reflection in his visor ? I love stuff like that. I only have the one but its a great angle to look into.

This isn't a good as yours. I did a little USM but still lost a lot of sharpness. I like the effect and I'll definitly watch for it next time.

stromhammer

kelsow wrote:

I used to do a lot of this years ago. I would suggest you use a slower shutter
speed to get more movement in the wheels for your pan shots.
Sometimes a really slow shutter will get great effects. As long as something
like the riders helmet is sharp, you can pull of most anything.
For the racing shots, I found that if you didn't see more than 1 rider it didn't
look like "racing". If you can include the rumble strips at the apex it can add
to the picture. Keep an eye out for your background, sometimes an out of
focus crowd can work but an in focus car usually wont, it can ruin the
perfect shot.

I think you have done really well, keep it up.

How slow? I was shooting at or around 1/1000sec most of the day. At one point I was using a 2x converter on a 200mm lens with a 1.6 conversion factor. That's effectively a 640mm lens. Although I was using a monopod most of these shots were a little soft. The pics here were mostly with a 200mm (320mm) and came out pretty sharp. How slow can I go and still not have a problem with camera shake?

I understand what you mean about multi bike shots. I will try to get more of those next time to get more of race feel.

Thanks for the tips.

kelsow

The Monopod is your friend.
I used to shoot down to 1/30 or 1/60 of a second for a blurry effect but
usually get away with showing motion with 1/125 shutter speed.
Practise your panning. Remember to follow through, like a golf swing.
As you're panning, click the shutter and continue to follow through.
It's VERY important to follow through. Keep your motions smooth and don't
push the shutter, apply it, if you know what I mean.
Here is a pic I took with my POS P+S. Notice the spokes, you can't see any.

You can always try zooming at a slow speed while exposing for some really neat effects.
At least with digital there is no processing costs, you can afford to experiment a little.
For the strait on shots, I found it hard to get stuff in focus unless the speed was at least 1/500. It never hurts to use a flash as well. Anything
you can do to fill in the shadows with a bit of detail won't hurt.


What system are you using BTW?

stromhammer

kelsow wrote:

The Monopod is your friend.
I used to shoot down to 1/30 or 1/60 of a second for a blurry effect but
usually get away with showing motion with 1/125 shutter speed.
Practise your panning. Remember to follow through, like a golf swing.
As you're panning, click the shutter and continue to follow through.
It's VERY important to follow through. Keep your motions smooth and don't
push the shutter, apply it, if you know what I mean.
Here is a pic I took with my POS P+S. Notice the spokes, you can't see any.

You can always try zooming at a slow speed while exposing for some really neat effects.
At least with digital there is no processing costs, you can afford to experiment a little.
For the strait on shots, I found it hard to get stuff in focus unless the speed was at least 1/500. It never hurts to use a flash as well. Anything
you can do to fill in the shadows with a bit of detail won't hurt.


What system are you using BTW?

Thanks for the tips. I'll try these things at the next track day.

I use a Canon 20D with a Canon 28-135 IS, Sigma 70-200 2.8 DX, Sigma 18-50 2.8 DX Macro. I have a Sigma 2x converter that I use on the big lens but have a hard time getting sharp images unless I have it on a tripod. And tripods don't mix with sports.

xtnomad

The shots look great, I am sure that the riders would purchase a few. I made a few bucks doing track days, but the day job has me working a lot of over time and can not make them any more. But giving the chance I would be back ASAP.

mercphoto

stromhammer wrote:

Just a few of the shots I took at a track day in Pueblo, Co last month. Any thoughts?

Yes, I have thoughts. On these first two I immediately thought "light". Racing photography is no different than portrait photograhpy, and you would never photograph someone's face while in a shadow. But that is what happened here (look at where the shadows lie). The part of the bike we see is in shadow and dark. Change your shooting direction, or wait until the sun shines differently at that part of the track.

Your shutter speeds are also too high for profile shots. The tires are way too stationary and look like they are standing still. 1/1000 second is way too fast. Slow to at least 1/500, but get practice at shooting at 1/250 to 1/100. It will take time and you'll throw a lot of photos away, but as you get better the shots will be well worth it.

For head-on shots the fast shutter speeds (and the large apterture required to get the fast shutter) will be better.