Manual Shooting help please

mewstar

mewstar

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Martin
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sorry if this has been covered before...

(weather dependant) im taking some photos of a friends motorbike. he wants some parked up pics, and also some of him riding it on the road.

would u shoot the parked up pics on auto setting?
and what manual settings are recommended for the motion pics?

im new to manual photography, i know what iso, aperature and shutter are, but as for the actual settings. they dont mean a lot to me.


so any help greatfully received. for the motion pics im after him being sharp, and the bike, so u can see the fireblade logo etc... but want some sense of motion too
 
I'd recommend taking a look around the motorsports section of the forum & checking out the exif data of shots that you would like to emulate.
The stationary shots shouldn't pose too much of a problem, just make sure you use a low enough aperture (high "f" number) to get all of the bike in focus - given that Goldwings are big bikes.
The motion shots are a whole different world of photography, balancing shutter speed, aperture & good panning techniques to get a sense of speed requires a lot of practice before you'll get the best shots.

I'd highly recommend reading up on the tutorials section & researching as much as possible about photography - you really do need to know how each of your cameras settings relate to each other. Try looking into a book titled "Understanding exposure" by Bryan Peterson (ISBN-10: 0817463003) it comes very highly recommended :thumbs:
 
Never shot motorbikes, but have a few cars.

In the little bit of experiance i've encountered, it's far harder to be stationary and take photos (panning shots) of something going past than it is to be along side that something.

Basically, what i'm trying to get at is, for the moving shot's you may benifit from being along side him, at the same speed, passenger in a car works well. That way, you can take your time, and make sure you get a nice, clear shot. It benifits in a lot of ways, if you're moving along side him, you can take 3-4 photos to get a minter, where as if you're panning he'll have to do 3-4 runs past.

Shutter speeds will vary on a lot of things, weather being a good one i guess? Obviously, if it's good, bright weather you'll need a faster shutter speed so you don't over expose. If it's a cloudy, dull day, you'll need a slower shutter speed so you don't under expose.

Having said all this, you will have to find a balance between under exposing, over exposing and also getting a shot which shows momentum ie. him moving, blurred background etc.

I'd seriously think about the car idea dude, i think it'll be your best bet if you're unsure. Atleast you'll beable to work with him, using hand signals to get him to come closer, back away etc, and if you find a nice stretch of road you'll have plenty of time to trial & error without wasting time.

I'm by far no professional, but i hope i've helped in some way.
 
Personally I'd do it the other way round. Stationary shots on manual, (after all it's not moving yet) The settings would depend on what you wanted to portray. You could shoot details with a small f stop to keep just the detail in focus or you could shoot the whole bike and still use a small f stop if you have good separation with the background. If not you could shoot at something like f8 and keep some of the background.

For the moving shots, I'd be tempted to sue shutter priority and make sure you get it fast enough if you are looking to freeze the subject. Consider increasing the ISO on this one too. Good advice to have a look at the motorsports forum, it's not really my strong point :)
 
Think I agree with AliB, if you wan`t to use manual then do so on the stationary shots, using your aperture settings to decide how much DOF you wan`t and then setting the shutter accordingly, think about whats in the background.
As for the panning, use shutter priority and select a reasonably fast shutter speed so as to freeze the motion enough that your picture is sharp but not enough that you loose all sense of motion (bout 200 to 250), decide where you wan`t to take the shots (thinking about what will be in the background) and then when he starts his pass, pick him up early, track him (AI Servo), and then hit the shutter slightly before he gets to the point that you actually wan`t the shot. You`ll wan`t it on the 5 (or 6?) fps drive. And continue till hes past it.




May be obvious but hope it helps.


Mark
 
Hi Mewstar,

I shoot bike racing so have some experience of fast moving bike composition. Take a look in my gallery for differing styles etc and feel free to throw any specific questions at me and I'll help where I can.

A way to get slightly different appearing motion shots is to have you and the camera in a vehicle travelling either in front of or alongside the subject. Might be worth thinking about as you don't have to master the "motorsport" techniques first to guarantee good sharp shots (i.e. the speed you go at simulates the panning speed you'd need to freeze the subject but blur the background/spokes etc).

Guy
 
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