Motorsport - Advice please - Goodwood Revival

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jgs001

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I'm off to the Goodwood Revival in a couple of weeks and looking forward to getting out by a track this time. I understand what needs to be done for Panning and I'm hoping to improve on those type of shots. However, the Revival is all about racing, not time trials up a hill (FOS). As a guide, what sort of settings should I be looking to use to capture the racing action, am I looking to freeze the action, or get some motion blur, or for that matter both depending on what's going on. Is it best to setup Shutter and Aperture priority in advance say 1/80 panning, and f8 (depending on conditions) or some such for action freezing and switch between on the day ?

Thanks for looking, and any advice would be gratefully received.
 
I just use shutter priority set to either 1/80 or 1/60 however the slower you go the more likely it is you will get more throwaways. Raise it to either 1/100 or 1/120 and you will get less throwaways but also slightly less background blur.

Whether you want to capture the motion or freeze it is up to you, however capturing the motion is the most common practise ;)

GL and enjoy the Revival, the FoS earlier this year was brilliant I hope to go to the Revival next year.
 
Wear old garb...otherwise you will look the odd one out! 60s hippy gear should be good for a 'tog.

Motion blur and freeze frame canboth be done with aperture priority. I would rather use A and control my shutters that way. Each to their own.
 
It's not as simple as that John. Motorsport is not easy to shoot well.

You need to think about what you want to convey in your image. If you want to convey speed, which after all is what motorsport is about, you need to use a technique that graphically demonstrates that.
The blurred background in a panned shot can do this.

This shot has nothing going on but the pan to convey motion. 1/160 was slow enough for this fairly fast straight.
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You can use the dynamics of the car to show speed.
The heavily loaded suspension here conveys a sense of motion even though 1/200 was too fast for panning
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A combination of blur and dynamics works better
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You can use frozen motion too. This frozen shot conveys the intensity of the action by showing how close the riders are
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Remember that a still has to show evidence in the attitude of the car or context with the surroundings to demonstrate motion.
In this shot you can see that the Ferrari has turned in early by the position of the front wheels. It doesn't show that the driver is just setting it up for the corner and that the BRM is carrying a beautifully balanced 4 wheel drift. Complete fail on my part :bonk:
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If you are lucky you might be in the right place at the right time. This is the first of a sequence showing the ensuing carnage
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So find a spot on the track where something dynamic happens. Position yourself where you can make the most of panning. Think about what it is that makes that frozen moment in time convey the image you are seeing.
Look at other peoples motorsport shots. Try to work out what it is that seperates the great shots from ones that look like they could have been taken in a car park ;)

I don't know how your camera works but with mine I can set my aperture/shutter priority settings and when I switch between the two it will go back my settings. So I set shutter priority to 1/125 ish for panning and set aperture priority to an apropriate DOF for the lens I'm using and can switch instantly between the two.

But the most important advice I can offer for the Revival is.....don't stand in my way :nono:
 
Thanks for the advice. Mike and LL, I went to the revival last year, took bucket loads of pics but didn't have a clue what I was doing with my bridge camera, it was fun though. I didn't dress up in "old" clothes, but what I did wear didn't stick out. Great pics Stuart, thanks for the pointers and tips, I managed some panning at FOS, I think I probably need to go for a faster shutter speed than I used to get some more keepers, the tip for the "still" was just what I was looking for. Promise I'll keep out your way :thumbs: :D
 
In my experience you still have to focus on one car, and try and capture a good background with other cars for context.

Spannerdude has posted some excellent examples. It looks like he used a fairly fast shutter speed so he hasn't compromised sharpness, but as said, less motion blur.

1.
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2.
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3.
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4. (Could do with some more processing but it should give you an idea.)
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Thanks very much for the tip Shak :thumbs:
 
Also, photos 1, 2 and 3 from my examples; the main focus point is set to pretty much exactly where the number plate is, hence how I can try and capture a good background.
 
:thumbs: thank you
 
also, if you have a search on the forum for 'motorsport advice' or something along those lines you'll find some extra help as the subject has been brought up a few times.

i reckon your best bet is to see if anyone from the forum is also going to the revival.. nothing like a few tips hand on
 
Shak said:
Also, photos 1, 2 and 3 from my examples; the main focus point is set to pretty much exactly where the number plate is, hence how I can try and capture a good background.
Click to expand...

just dont spend all day looking for cars with number plates at the revival :)
there wont be that many :)
 
Thanks BB, yeah, not a lot of number plates on the old motors on track :D.
 
I find shutter speed on panning can also depend on the speed of the cars as they pass you. If you are moving slowly the background may not have much blur.
I took shots on Sunday as high as 1/250 and achieved good wheel and background blur. In fact I couldn't get below 1/125. It shouldn't take you too long to decide on your ideal settings once you get therte and start shooting.
Good luck and can't wait to see the results.
 
Thank you. I shall bear that in mind and experiment.
 
Your shutter speed for panning will depend on several things.

1. Focal length of lens in use
2. Distance of subject from camera
3. speed of subject across the framing arc.

Think of these two situations and the RELATIVE SPEED OF THE SUBJECT ACROSS THE ARC

1. A pedestrian walking past you at arms length. Normal walking speed.
2. An airliner crossing the sky at 30,000 feet.

We know that the pedestrian is doing 3 mph (average human walking speed)
We also know the airliner is doing about 550 - 600 mph.

BUT, the pedestrian goes through your shooting arc very much faster than the airliner does! Why? Because of the distance of the subject from the camera (you).

To pan with the pedestrian you would need to swing much faster in order to keep up with the subject.
For the airliner, to create any kind of blur would require a very slow shutter speed, and it would be very difficult to swing steadily without inducing camera shake at that slow speed of swing.

These two situations Ihope illustrate that panning is not just a function of the speed of the subject, but more a function of their speed RELATIVE TO THE FILM PLANE.

You choose your lens focal length to frame the subject according to the distance it is away from you. You then have to select a suitable shutter speed that will give you an open shutter for the period of the swing arc - however long or short that may be.

As a rule of thumb, for a starting point to get you going, choose a shutter speed roughly half the focal length - so for a 200mm lens, START by trying your panning shots at 100th and work DOWN from there to 1/60th and so on. You will get better results on a smooth section of tarmac. Bumps will cause motion thatis not on the same plane as your swing - and so they will blur.

If you can picture what is going on inside your camera it will help. Think of the "car" going past some trees. As you swing the subject "the car" remains STATIONARY in relation to your film plane. On the other hand the trees are being swept across it. THAT is why the car remains sharp and the trees blur.

Now imagine that same scene, but the car hits a bump...the motion of the car changes in relation to your swing - and so you get an upward ghost in your pictures.

Hope that helps.
 
Thanks very much Lensflare, very useful :thumbs:
 
JGS, I live next door to Goodwood so give me a shout if you want to practice during a manufacturers/owners club day. :)
 
Some really good tips in this thread, very well explained and with example shots :thumbs: Its threads like these that make this a great forum :)

I've not got any race track shooting planned for for a month or so but will be trying to improve my technique with what I've just read :)
 
Thanks very much for the offer Shak, just got too much on at the mo, the revival will be here in no time...
 
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