advice photographing a red letterday

keatsy

keatsy

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jay
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one of my friends at work has a red letter day in september driving lambo's and ferraris, he has asked me to tag along to take some pics for him. im unsure of what settings to use as it will be the first motor event i have been to where the cars are moving :lol:, what would people advise ........

kit i have is nikon D5000
18-55mm vr kit lens and a sigma 70-300mm lens.

cheers in advance jay. :thumbs:
 
Tv mode is shutter priority apparantly, so that's S on the dial. Why's it called Tv mode on canons? It makes no sense at all to me :'( The codes on a Canon mode dial have always confused me.
 
What Andrew said, plus:
- Don't hang around, he won't be in the cars for very long, 3 or 4 laps at most.
- Read the Panning tutorial (in the Tutorials > Photography Technique forum)
- Get yourelf along to a track day or race to get some practice before hand.
 
You will need both lenses, the 70-300mm for the track and the 18-55mm for the paddock and maybe the indoor shots after the racing.

I shoot just jpeg for this type of photography and set the camera for continuous shooting. I would select a couple of corners to take shots with the cars coming towards you and set the focus at A1 servo or the equivilant Nikon. 1/400 is probably okay for these shots. You will also want some panning shots, which if you haven't done any, I would suggest you start at around 1/125 and try and get down to 1/40.
 
What's the circuit - Thruxton?

Most of these days have a photographer there plus in car footage so you can spend even more money.
 
andrewc said:
Av (Aperture value)
Tv (Time value)

I get confused with your Point And Shoot Mode dial on Nikons!
Click to expand...

Ah I see, Canon users need it in simple terms, as in "Time Value" instead of shutter speed, too much jargon, I see :p

P mode is the only thing on Nikon cameras that's never made a great deal of sense to me.
 
Boopop said:
Ah I see, Canon users need it in simple terms, as in "Time Value" instead of shutter speed, too much jargon, I see :p

P mode is the only thing on Nikon cameras that's never made a great deal of sense to me.
Click to expand...

Canon users have them labelled correctly, as shutter speed would be in meters per second (distance travelled per time unit) rather than seconds. ;)
 
Boopop said:
Ah I see, Canon users need it in simple terms, as in "Time Value" instead of shutter speed, too much jargon, I see :p

P mode is the only thing on Nikon cameras that's never made a great deal of sense to me.
Click to expand...

My camera is always set to P mode when on a walkabout ready to take a quick picture. I have the camera settings that I want including ISO and RAW mode. The P setting balances the Aperture and Speed depending on the focal length so if you zoom in on something the speed increases and aperture opens. It's ideal when using my 18-200mm zoom for quick shots.
 
thanks for the advice, so i want the camera in s mode on the dial and my shutter speed at 1/125 and work my way down?. i want to try panning but it will have to be on the day i am there :). would anyone advise using any filters?
 
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Yes the camera in S mode for all action shots. I was suggesting about 1/400 for head on shots in the corners and the 1/125 downwards for the panning shots. No need for any filters.

And dont forget to set A1 Servo for the focus with continuous shooting. Take about 3 shots continuous and you should get a good one from each set.

Good luck!
 
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keatsy said:
one of my friends at work has a red letter day in september driving lambo's and ferraris,
Click to expand...

Hi Jay

What circuit is he driving at ??

I had a track day with the Lambo's and it's baby sister the R8 - was bloody awesome :D , but mine was at MIRA and you were strickly forbidden to take any camera (even a mobile) in with you. If you were seen / caught, no excuse, no 2nd chance you were evicted - apparently they had to take this very hard stance to be able to hold track days there.

Worth checking and I bet he'll be like me and not stop grinning like a cheshire cat :D
 
he's driving the cars at a place called prestwold hall????. never heard of it myself before, cheers gordon im a little unsure as to what A1 servo is :(
 
Sorry, it's the auto focus setting on the canon that continues to adjust the focus all the time you are shooting. I'm not sure what it's called on the Nikon, I think it may be AF-C.
 
My advice, just take some photos of him posing/getting in/sitting in the car in the pitlane.

Out on track he'll be there for just a little time and you won't be able to tell who it is behind the wheel. Buy a photo from the event tog if you really want one.

I speak from experience after I did a M3 experience at Brands a little while back and my colleague came along to shoot it. We know Brands pretty well and he really had to move to try and catch anything but the best shots are the in and out of the car shots - don't forget the huge grin shot at the end :D
 
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