Night Photography at Silverstone

Lester

Lester

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Lester
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Hi, has anyone got any advice for shooting motorsport at night?

I'm going to the Brit Car 24 Hour at Silverstone soon and I'm hoping to get some glowing brake disc shots, light trails, etc., but I'm not sure how to go about any of it or even if I have the right equipment? If need to, I may hire a more suitable lens, if anyone recommends anything better? I'm usually on the outside of Luffield corner and will probably be there this time to start off with, but I'll probably move around during the night.

I have the following; Nikon D90, 18-105mm VR, 70-300mm VR, Sigma 150-500mm and an SB600 flash, if that helps.

Thanks in advance.
 
There are two schools of thought with this, flash or no flash, I don't personally like flash so here are my non-flash tips...

- Shoot somewhere with a relatively bright background (ie pitlanes or more built up areas)
- push the ISO as high as you're comfortable with and use a slow a shutter speed as possible.

Basically I practised in the day using as slow shutter speeds as possible, then continued shooting in a similar way at night. It's not easy but it's great fun.

http://chrisharrison.smugmug.com/Motorsport/Britcar-24hr-2008/6023215_sQRczw#376901473_YDzDi
 
Im also doing the event, anyone have any tips for using the flash?

What flash settings etc, my flash is a 550EX
 
I'd give the flash a miss Rich.

It freezes the subject and just looks a bit pants. With Rally you have a bit more flexibility to play around, but not at a circuit.

The secret to night motorsport at circuits is to shoot where there is some light... a section of the track with some lights. Other than that its light trails, headlights or cars lit by other headlights because your camera will have nothing to focus on.
 
thanks for the tip, ive used flash for rallying before but never track stuff, hope there is more light than last year then as only the pit lane had lights if i remember right
 
Lester, I work for a race team and will be there as mechanic/pit crew. The team I work for is called bpm racing, keep an eye out for us. We have a green Ginetta.

Jim
 
Thanks for the tips everyone. Sorry for the late reply I've been away.

Jim, I'll look out for it and if I get anything worth while I'll let you know. I won't charge, as I'm far from being a pro.

To be honest the night time will be a complete experiment and by the sounds of things I need to get near the pit lane with the lights.
 
For light trails, put a tripod in the boot then when it gets dark get the tripod set it up, go into tv and turn the dial till you get 15'' and see what image you get, if you want a longer trails go into manual and adjust the shutter speed even longer eg 60 seconds and adjust the aperture.if you put the camera on timer, and set it off before a group of cars come round that why you avoid camera shake from where you press the shutter button.
I hope you understand what i mean, i find it easier to show rather than write.
 
Hi Dex, thanks for the reply and I'll take the comments on board. I have a strong, light tripod that I can strap underneath my bag, so I'll bring that and I have an IR remote as well. What is TV mode, is that for Canon? What is the Nikon equivilent?


D-pearce92 said:
For light trails, put a tripod in the boot then when it gets dark get the tripod set it up, go into tv and turn the dial till you get 15'' and see what image you get, if you want a longer trails go into manual and adjust the shutter speed even longer eg 60 seconds and adjust the aperture.if you put the camera on timer, and set it off before a group of cars come round that why you avoid camera shake from where you press the shutter button.
I hope you understand what i mean, i find it easier to show rather than write.
Click to expand...
 
TV mode is shutter priority :)
 
I would have to disagree with the forget the flash advice. Slow down your shutter and you'll get some nice effects but you will need to experiment or you will end up with laser beams flying out of the headlights.


1/5th, F3.2, ISO100.


1/8th, F2.8, ISO100.

The big issue will be focusing as your camera won't be able to see what to focus on. Do consider pre-focusing on a particular spot although you can use the AF if you can focus on the headlights. It's all a bit hit and miss really and you will throw a lot away. Finally shoot RAW as you will underexpose a lot of what you shoot.
 
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