first go at fast cars

[Madmoggy]

I'm going to Elvington tomorrow to take photos of a friend doing a driving experience thing in a Ferrari and an Aston Martin, and want to check Ive understood everything Ive read so I can get him some nice shots. Ive not done high speed vehicles with an SLR before.
If I have it right, ISO 100 using shutter priority and setting the shutter to whatever the zoom is, multiplied by 1.6 to allow for the crop factor, AI Servo. Is that right? I'll be using a Canon 1000D with 70-300 Sigma
Thanks

 

[andrewc]

AI Servo yes
ISO - lowest you can get away with.

Shutter speed - for head on shots you can use a higher shutter speed - say 1/400 or 1/500 as you'll still get some tyre blur but you can't see the wheels.

For side on pans you can lower the shutter speed but you'll need a smooth panning action. With practice you can get the shutter speed very slow eg 1/50 or even lower and have a sharp car and very blurred background.

The 1/focal length x 1.6 is a rule that isn't usually obeyed in motorsport photography.

 

[Madmoggy]

Great, thanks for that Andrew, big help.
He's only doing a few laps in each car so I dont have much chance to practice, but I might try to get there early and practice on people I dont know

 

[andrewc]

...shooting into the sun will make things harder...

Practicing on other people will help.

 

[andyred]

Great, thanks for that Andrew, big help.
He's only doing a few laps in each car so I dont have much chance to practice, but I might try to get there early and practice on people I dont know

Yes, best thing you can do, especially if you've not done this before

Hope it works out for you today ...

Hope you friend has a great time - don't forget the shot of him grinning like a cheshire cat when he gets out of the car

Pop some shots up here so we can see how you did...

 

[Bambi72]

You will probably find they have a photographer on site so they can sell all the drivers images of the day. Get chatty with them, you never know it might pay off.

 

[Madmoggy]

Hope you friend has a great time - don't forget the shot of him grinning like a cheshire cat when he gets out of the car

He wasnt the only one, I did two passenger laps in an Aerial Atom and havent stopped grinning since

Pop some shots up here so we can see how you did...

Will do, just uploading the memory cards now.

You will probably find they have a photographer on site so they can sell all the drivers images of the day. Get chatty with them, you never know it might pay off.

There was one, and I had that idea, but unfortunately he was trackside and I couldnt get to him as we weren't allowed past the fence.

 

[Madmoggy]

Having had a quick look through the cards, I seem to have mixed results, ranging from

to

to

Sorry if I should have started a new thread for posting the images. I dont have many where the cars are crisp sharp images, even though I was following the panning guide. Focusing was on the centre of the image. I'm guessing the shutter speed was too low? Its in the area that it suggested when on auto, so I played from there going between 1/60 to 1/250 through the day

 

[Tanegashima]

Bump the ISO about to between 400 and 800, close the lens to make about 1/500 to 1/1000s SS and the car doesn't escape from the DOF, follow the car with your body (hips).

Open both of your eyes so you can track better the car.

Cares move REALY fast (as you know), conventional shooting techniques for humans don't apply. Keeping the car in that angle is very hard.


I am the Stig

 

[Madmoggy]

Thanks. I think its also partly user error, as some of the distant shots are nice and sharp and some arent, so I'm assuming I am not as steady as I thought and am getting some hand shake. Should have probably tried the monopod but they didnt look too bad on the back of the camera so I just kept shooting