Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona

FearNothing321 · February 13, 2014

Here are some photos from the 24 Hours of Daytona.

This is my first time panning, that is why some of the images look a little shaky or slightly soft. I mainly stuck with my shutter speed set at 1/40th for my panning shot. A few of them have the safety fence in the foreground. I was using a monopod while panning.

The rest can be viewed here

http://bluemoonoriginals.smugmug.com/Sports/2014-Rolex-24-Hours-of-Daytona/

photodad1 · February 13, 2014

Nice photos.

FearNothing321 · February 13, 2014

photodad1 wrote: »

Nice photos.

Thank you!

torags · February 13, 2014

The all color pans are real nice

Why is the Aston Martin desaturated (or dimly resolved)

I'll be there in a few weeks for the Honda Supercross

FearNothing321 · February 13, 2014

torags wrote: »

The all color pans are real nice

Why is the Aston Martin desaturated (or dimly resolved)

I'll be there in a few weeks for the Honda Supercross

Thank you!

I manupilated the tone curve on the Aston to give it a "matte" look as well as a combination of split toning. I also didn't help that it was a dreary day that morning as well.

Jeffro · February 14, 2014

Looks like you better clean that senor.

Pics are pretty good.

FearNothing321 · February 14, 2014

Jeffro wrote: »

Looks like you better clean that senor.

Pics are pretty good.

I did do some dust cleaning the other day. I've got to check out a few recent photos to see if it is still present.

Thank you

Gary752 · February 16, 2014

Great job on the panning shots! How were you focusing? The ones that look a bit soft could be either missed focus, or they were under exposed and exposure brought up in post.

GaryB

FearNothing321 · February 16, 2014

Gary752 wrote: »

Great job on the panning shots! How were you focusing? The ones that look a bit soft could be either missed focus, or they were under exposed and exposure brought up in post.

GaryB

Thank you, this was actually my first time panning

I was using AF-C with the dynamic 9 point autofocus, I'm thinking now I should have used the 21 point option.

Most of them did turn out over exposed however

torags · February 16, 2014

FearNothing321 wrote: »

Thank you, this was actually my first time panning

I was using AF-C with the dynamic 9 point autofocus, I'm thinking now I should have used the 21 point option.

Most of them did turn out over exposed however

21 pt?... the convention is 9 pt.

SS sort of depends on the lateral speed the subject is going, but panning rhythm improves with practice

This is a good first effort

FearNothing321 · February 16, 2014

torags wrote: »

21 pt?... the convention is 9 pt.

SS sort of depends on the lateral speed the subject is going, but panning rhythm improves with practice

This is a good first effort

Thank you

I usually use the 9 point when doing regular sports, but I thought since I'm shooting a subject that is larger and moving faster 21 was better.

RacinRandy · February 20, 2014

I went at looked through the gallery on your website. You have some really nice shots there.
The ones you posted here could have been much cleaner and in focus with a couple of settings tweaks.

Most all of these were shot at 1/40th and f16 or smaller. f9 and 1/125 would have helped a ton and been good exposure. For a first attempt its pretty decent stuff. I know you wanted that motion blur and a clear car, which is good. I just wouldnt go for the super slow shutter drags until you have a pretty solid panning rhythm and technique mastered. JMO

photodad1 · February 20, 2014

What focal length lens were you using?

Gary752 · February 20, 2014

FearNothing321 wrote: »

Thank you, this was actually my first time panning

I was using AF-C with the dynamic 9 point autofocus, I'm thinking now I should have used the 21 point option.

Most of them did turn out over exposed however

When I am doing panning shots, I don't use auto focus. I use manual focus and pre-focus on a spot on the track, and double check my focus on a couple cars as they go by my predetermined spot. I then point my toes to that spot, then turn at the waist to start tracking the car, and when my lens is pointed in the same direction as my toes, I fire off a shot, and continue tracking the car as it passes me. You don't want to stop tracking the car as soon as you press the shutter button, unless you want some funky looking motion blur.

Do you go to the 12 Hours of Sebring? I'm looking at possibly going for the 2015 race if I can get the time off from work.

GaryB

FearNothing321 · February 20, 2014

RacinRandy wrote: »

I went at looked through the gallery on your website. You have some really nice shots there.
The ones you posted here could have been much cleaner and in focus with a couple of settings tweaks.

Most all of these were shot at 1/40th and f16 or smaller. f9 and 1/125 would have helped a ton and been good exposure. For a first attempt its pretty decent stuff. I know you wanted that motion blur and a clear car, which is good. I just wouldnt go for the super slow shutter drags until you have a pretty solid panning rhythm and technique mastered. JMO

Thank you for the advice. I'll definitely that into consideration when my next opportunity comes.

I was using 1/40, because I was experimenting with the technique and wanted to see what my results would be. Plus I wanted to learn panning the hard way lol

photodad1 wrote: »

What focal length lens were you using?

I was using a Nikkor 70-200 2.8 VRII, I'm trying to save up for a 300 f4

Gary752 wrote: »

When I am doing panning shots, I don't use auto focus. I use manual focus and pre-focus on a spot on the track, and double check my focus on a couple cars as they go by my predetermined spot. I then point my toes to that spot, then turn at the waist to start tracking the car, and when my lens is pointed in the same direction as my toes, I fire off a shot, and continue tracking the car as it passes me. You don't want to stop tracking the car as soon as you press the shutter button, unless you want some funky looking motion blur.

Do you go to the 12 Hours of Sebring? I'm looking at possibly going for the 2015 race if I can get the time off from work.

GaryB

Thank you for the focusing tip.

I'd like to go to the Sebring race, but I haven't been able to yet. My goal one day is to cover motorsports events for various race teams.

Oso · March 6, 2014

Nice shots! I really like the one of the 94 car. Great mix of colors.

FearNothing321 · March 6, 2014

Oso wrote: »

Nice shots! I really like the one of the 94 car. Great mix of colors.

Thanks you

TonyCooper · March 7, 2014

Some nice shots, and it appears that some of the racecars were going almost as fast
as the spectators were that were leaving the race and driving on I-4.

wtlwdwgn · March 7, 2014

Nice shooting for a first time especially considering your choice of shutter speed and AF. Back in the days of MF I would use the prefocus trick and an exposure of 1/125 at f/8 to get the car as sharp as I could while keeping the blurred BG as OOF as possible. In any case you got some really good shots there. :cool

FearNothing321 · March 7, 2014

TonyCooper wrote: »

Some nice shots, and it appears that some of the racecars were going almost as fast
as the spectators were that were leaving the race and driving on I-4.

Thank you

Yea I'm not a fan of I-4 either

wtlwdwgn wrote: »

Nice shooting for a first time especially considering your choice of shutter speed and AF. Back in the days of MF I would use the prefocus trick and an exposure of 1/125 at f/8 to get the car as sharp as I could while keeping the blurred BG as OOF as possible. In any case you got some really good shots there. :cool

Thank you

It was definitely a fun learning experience.

Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona

Comments