Does anyone have any links to resources, advice, etc, on how to approach shooting motorsports?
After a long hiatus of not shooting, I've been shooting again for about a year, but not motorsports, (mainly landscape, nature and wildlife). A local circle track car owner asked if I'd shoot his car for promo sheets, and maybe action at one of the events.
This isn't my first foray into photographing cars as I worked for an car magazine publisher years ago, and assisted some of the photographers on shoots, helping to shooting some cover work and feature cars spreads, but it's been a while since aiming a camera at a moving car...
My current long gear includes a Canon 80-200/2.8 and a 100-400L. The camera I shoot with is a 20D. But I am trying to pack away funds for a 500mm L.
Race cars are way easier to shoot as they turn in to a tight corner. They are going slower, and present a nice range of profiles to the camera - from head-on to 3/4.
Position yourself on the outside of a bend for this, shooting at the apex (sun behind you) is a good location to start out.
Use you LCD screen to review your progress - see how well you time your shot - do you fill the frame? - any distracting backgrounds? - could you be closer? - could you move around the bend for a better angle with the trailing cars visible behind the target car?
You're tracking each car with the AF point you pre-selected - trigger half pressed to engage the AI Servo Focus - You wait for the car to drop into the perfect spot and squeeze a few frames off
Don't be afraid to move around to try new locations.
Do take extra batteries and memory cards if you have them.
If that's all going well, find a spot where the cars run parallel to you at an even speed, drop on a shorter lens - drop your shutter speed to 1/300 or so, and try panning with the car shooting as you go.
You'll get the speed blur effect on the wheels and background
i mainly just learned by trail and error. I am a member of www.automotivephoto.com and they have some good suggestions. To get good motion blur I usually shoot around 1/200 or so around F9 and F11 on a sunny day.
First off, a huge thanks for taking the time to not only write all of that, but share examples. Some of it I did know and it got jogged back up in my head by reading your post, but a good portion of it is new to me, so thanks for your willingness to share.
BTW, That GT3R shot is incredible. Classic looking.
First off, a huge thanks for taking the time to not only write all of that, but share examples. Some of it I did know and it got jogged back up in my head by reading your post, but a good portion of it is new to me, so thanks for your willingness to share.
BTW, That GT3R shot is incredible. Classic looking.
-Ed
Ed,
no problem, happy to assist.
Shooting digital with the latest Canon cameras has some real advantages, like decent AI Servo, noiseless high ISO settings, and instant replay on the LCD, so I wanted to be sure you were aware of them ahead of any action.
The camera out of the box can do a fair job, but with the right set-up and technique you can really increase your hit rate.
The 100-400L is a good motorsports lens. Just ask John Thawley!
It all depends on what kind of shots you want.. typically most of motorsports shots are all panned shots. You can get some really good blurred backgrounds to make your subject just POP! Don't be afraid to keep the lens at 400 and crop in close with the camera. Just be sure to vary your style through an event to get more variety in your shots. I'm usually use the center focus point, AI Servo mode with CF4, RAW, in Tv mode with speeds from 1/15 (or lower) -1/250.
Edward illustrates the speed blur technique superbly.
Not sure I agree that 'most of motorsports shots are all panned shots', just check Getty Images for some good examples of both styles - looks about 50/50 still vs pan.
One important thing to remmeber is that if you are going to be getting shots on the outside of a corner stay behind the barriers. You really don't want to be in the crash zone.
Personally I find the DOF while using ISO 100 fine.
Chris Dodkin wrote:
Edward illustrates the speed blur technique superbly.
Not sure I agree that 'most of motorsports shots are all panned shots', just check Getty Images for some good examples of both styles - looks about 50/50 still vs pan.
Can't get much better than that as a resource.
Chris.
Thanks Chris. Now if only I could get a job doing it...
Definetly not all shots are panned, of course you can get some great shots that are not using this technique. Just be careful, if you freeze the car on the track you can make it look like it's "parked" which comes out pretty boring.
It's funny you mention John Thawley's name. When I first joined the forum here, I saw his name on a post, and didn't think it was the same John Thawley, although how common of a name is that? But, then I got to talking with Dave Baker at a meet and auto photography came up, and Dave mentioned his name.
John's is quite skilled and his work is incredible. He's actually done a bunch of work for the mag publisher I had worked for, back about 7 years ago, although from what I remember I thought he went under the name "E. John Thawley".
If you can't get some work with shots like that...you just aren't looking hard enough!
Haha... thanks! Yeah, I'm not looking too hard. Being in school and working takes up most of my time. I should really get a portfolio together and try to get some work. Motorsports photography is a blast, I love it!
eeprete wrote:
From one Ed to another, great stuff!
It's funny you mention John Thawley's name. When I first joined the forum here, I saw his name on a post, and didn't think it was the same John Thawley, although how common of a name is that? But, then I got to talking with Dave Baker at a meet and auto photography came up, and Dave mentioned his name.
John's is quite skilled and his work is incredible. He's actually done a bunch of work for the mag publisher I had worked for, back about 7 years ago, although from what I remember I thought he went under the name "E. John Thawley"....Show more →
With a name like Ed you can't go wrong.
Yeah, John's got some great work. I had lunch with him last year, it was fun meeting with some FM'ers here, especially with the talent that John has.
When I was watching the race at Mosport, I was trying to get a hold of John, but could not get any cell phone reception. Funny enough, afterwards, I found him in one of my images!
It is on a different forum, but it was written by Jim Sykes, who goes by "vwpilot" here on FM.com. I got a lot out of it when I first read it, and I think it covers a lot that was already said here, but it does go more in depth in a few areas I believe.
Hope it helps.
Scott
Edited by Scotts007 on Feb 23, 2005 at 01:24 AM GMT
eeprete wrote:
From one Ed to another, great stuff!
It's funny you mention John Thawley's name. When I first joined the forum here, I saw his name on a post, and didn't think it was the same John Thawley, although how common of a name is that? But, then I got to talking with Dave Baker at a meet and auto photography came up, and Dave mentioned his name.
John's is quite skilled and his work is incredible. He's actually done a bunch of work for the mag publisher I had worked for, back about 7 years ago, although from what I remember I thought he went under the name "E. John Thawley"....Show more →
E. John Thawley is not me. I haven't really seen any racing work from E. John... he does beautiful work, however what I've seen is import and beauty shots... real nice stuff. His father is also an automotive writer.
On one point that Chris mentioned, use a single sensor in your view finder... but try to move away from the center one. It tends to cause you to shoot with "center syndrome." Select one to the left of right of center and DEFINITELY try moving to below center... much better perspective.
Another point of contention... of course after you're comfortable, try to get away from always having the sun behind you... there are lots of nice effects. Also, long lenses and full frames ARE NOT always the answer. Pull back.... put the car into a story.... show me what's happening. Give me a photograph that puts the story into context. Tight cropped shots can relay the energy and "anger" of the car...
Finally, a note about panning. While there may be suggested shutter speeds, they are totally irrelevant when discussed out of context of the lens focal length and the distance from the car. Sorry.. it's simply a ludicrous discussion.
It is a combination of the lens, distance from the subject and the speed of the camera's travel. Trust me, if you are 5 feet from a car doing 25 miles per hour, you'll pan much faster than you would standing 50 feet from a car doing 125 mph. Ultimately, successful panning is accomplished when you find your own comfort zone of a steady and smooth rhythm. It's all in the rhythm. Here's one done at 1/45th - f/5.6 at 100mm ISO 400 no flash. The car was doing about 110 mph around 25-30 feet away.
This one is at 1/350 at f/5.6 IS0 100 shot at 400mm from about 20ft away and the car was probably doing about 90-100 mph
So, you see, both have plenty of action and blur.... but the settings are at opposite ends of the spectrum.
I was being cautious on the choice of center AF sensor - not knowing the 20D's arrangement of sensitive AF points.
I know in some of the Canon range, as you shift the AF point away from the center, especially with longer lenses, you loose a great deal of AF sensitivity which can adversely effect AI Servo.
May or may not be an issue on the 20D, I don't have one to try.
Of course, you can always break any rule, that's what's so great about photography. So here's one shot that breaks my center AF point rule completely..
I moved the AF sensor way down to the bottom of the frame, in portrait orientation, to allow me to focus on the foreground lone biker as he chased down the leaders...
edtang wrote:
The 100-400L is a good motorsports lens. Just ask John Thawley!
It all depends on what kind of shots you want.. typically most of motorsports shots are all panned shots. You can get some really good blurred backgrounds to make your subject just POP! Don't be afraid to keep the lens at 400 and crop in close with the camera. Just be sure to vary your style through an event to get more variety in your shots. I'm usually use the center focus point, AI Servo mode with CF4, RAW, in Tv mode with speeds from 1/15 (or lower) -1/250.
Hi Ed
I went to the local races last year and noticed that several photograhers were taking photos with the camera tilted at approx 45%. In your images there are some the same what is the reason for this, my thoughts are it is to do with the longer diagonal across the view finder and the car traveling through it.
What a small world. A bunch of guys named John Thawley shooting motorsports and cars. The other John, or "E. John Thawley (I think it was E. John Thawley III), was doing a lot of work for Mustang Monthly, Super Ford, Corvette Fever, etc, shooting mostly magazine features and spreads, but I think covered a fair amount of 1/4 mile track work.
Thanks for taking the time to respond and giving me those tips. I really appreciate it. Great responses and feedback by everyone in this thread. I really appreciate it.
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