Jefferson wrote:
When I shot these, I was under the impression that shots had to have fast shutter speed to be sharp... I think these were ISO 800 and 1/2000 or something... my pans looked like parked cars...
Found these from '09 ... ran them through LR4... don't do graphics so I just use LR...
Just making lemonade from some lemons... maybe too much sugar...
Sunny day racing photography 101: set the camera to ISO 100, Manual exposure f/8.0 1/500s and start shooting your basic car shots. From here you go lower until you see the action you're looking for. Tires will show blur at 1/500s and most will be in focus. With manual exposure, white cars won't mess with your metering, black cars won't mess with your metering. That's what we did in the 90s when shooting Provia and I'd still do it today shooting digital (after checking my histogram). On darker days we pushed the film to a rocking ISO 200 and paid the lab an extra dollar, so we could shoot at shutter speeds reasonable likely to get us 5 usable frames per roll, which in the film days was a good roll.
Man, this thread isn't good for me - really am getting the itch to go and do this again, at least a few times a year to keep it fun.
pburke wrote:
Sunny day racing photography 101: set the camera to ISO 100, Manual exposure f/8.0 1/500s and start shooting your basic car shots. From here you go lower until you see the action you're looking for. Tires will show blur at 1/500s and most will be in focus. With manual exposure, white cars won't mess with your metering, black cars won't mess with your metering. That's what we did in the 90s when shooting Provia and I'd still do it today shooting digital (after checking my histogram). On darker days we pushed the film to a rocking ISO 200 and paid the lab an extra dollar, so we could shoot at shutter speeds reasonable likely to get us 5 usable frames per roll, which in the film days was a good roll.
Man, this thread isn't good for me - really am getting the itch to go and do this again, at least a few times a year to keep it fun.
it depends on what you think the problem with those images is.
As I see it, they were shot in midday sun, the shadows are right under the car. The dark areas have been pulled up at the expense of the highlights getting blown, most notably in the camaro image, and it makes the tires more gray, and they get noisy from being pulled up so much.
The risk of shooting at f/22 is loss of focus at the edges. So for that, an ND filter, 2 stop at most IMO, will let you still shoot mid day and not be at such a small aperture. You won't get any more in focus at f22 than f8 in that shot, its a side pan, focal plane perpendicular to most of the car, so most of the side of the car will be in focus, if you nail it at 1/30.
I am not sure what manual could do, other than intentionally shoot darker to avoid the blown highlights, or to shoot brighter to bring up the dark areas in camera...and that can be adjusted while shooting in Av/Tv by exposure compensation.
Think I'll get a B+H ND and try to do most of my slower shutter speed shots... pans and angle shots in the morning hours when I have much better light,then late afternoon, shoot more head on stuff... doing what pburke suggests,... starting point for mid-day shots... maybe 250 to 500... ISO 100 after lunch 'tll late afternoon or more overcast conditions...
Here's two shots... both are within a min. or so of each other... both are 1/30... both are ISO 100,
One shot is f/8... the Camaro, and the other shot is f/22... The shots are about 1 min. apart under the same conditions... same location
Shot in shutter priority... center focal point... spot metering...with a 30D and 300 f/4L IS...
Would shooting manual help this?... Would using a ND filter be of value?
Depends on your question. If you are asking for a slower shutter speed then yes, an ND filter would help. If you are wondering why the big difference in aperture between the shots then the ND filter won't do a thing. Yes, manual exposure mode will help with that. My guess is the spot metering in the first shot picked up on the car and thought it was darker so in shutter priority, it added light by opening the aperture. The second car is lighter so the camera didn't have to add light. The meter also may have picked up on some other light/dark surfaces between the two shots. Manual mode would not have been affected by the light/dark of the subject and would have exposed the two shots the same.
Here's two shots... both are within a min. or so of each other... both are 1/30... both are ISO 100,
One shot is f/8... the Camaro, and the other shot is f/22... The shots are about 1 min. apart under the same conditions... same location
Shot in shutter priority... center focal point... spot metering...with a 30D and 300 f/4L IS...
Would shooting manual help this?... Would using a ND filter be of value?
Jefferson
well, the shutter speed seems to be fine, and you probably don't want to go lower than that. f/22 is not a great aperture for many reasons and you're maxxed out. So clearly, a 3 stop ND would be perfect for the lighting conditions to get the light level down and still be able to shoot 1/30s
Now, if you mean the metering was too bright and you just wanted to get a different exposure, the ND filter won't do anything about that. You'd have the same result, just at a different shutter speed. To get the exposure right, use the histogram - meter the pavement or a wibal card (very useful toy), and set the thing manually.
Back in the day when it was super bright it was always a great day to pull a roll of Velvia and set the ISO to 40. After that it was just a saturation feast at low shutter speeds in the sun. Can't put an ND on the 14mm anyway
Jefferson wrote:
pburke... "Man, this thread isn't good for me - really am getting the itch to go and do this again, at least a few times a year to keep it fun."...
I did buy a 600mm f4.0 last week.... been 12 years since I last had one
Thanks... Manual Mode shooting seems to be the way to go... Already playing with manual shooting off my front deck... Haven't shot manual mode before now...
Will shoot some bikes next week... weather permitting... all manual mode, will adjust using the histogram... won't have a ND next week, but won't be long...
If I'm not careful, with this level of advice, I may end up actually knowing what I'm doing
And it wasn't random. I have been looking for one for quite a while. And it doesn't have "nano coating" or silly things like auto focus, whcih does keep the price in a more reasonable zone
Travis Rhoads wrote:
roboticspro, nice to see some new shots from the Porsche Museum, what a cool place that is.
Thanks Travis, here are a few more from that visit. The red 911 (last of the air-cooled) was being run-up for monthly P.M., and the sound was all there, in spite of the extraction system.
Roboticspro, the last image, of the white Carrera with green details...here is one of the same car, but converted to B&W...the concept was street car with the heritage of the racing cars...I had to sit and wait for a moment with no people.
