Blurry Effect

[Buszaj]

Sister was attempting wheelies on a bike, tried out the "blurry effect." What do you think?

 

[Jon, The Elder]

Yup....the whole image, it's definately blurry.

 

[wildmaven]

You almost got the panning correct. It can be really hard to get the subject sharp and blur the background. Nice try and I can't wait to see more.

 

[WDodd]

I practice panning on cars driving by in front of my house at around 50-55mph since I live on a major road. It can be quite fun when you are just killing time.

 

[keith204]

I thought it looked pretty good. It is hard taking 'blur effect' on a shot like that. The bike is not only moving right to left, but also is twisting sort of... the front tire is probably going up or down, and that would explain the bit of blurriness that people are seeing. That is a tough shot to get, and you did pretty well. Best way, is practice practice. You can get some pretty cool shots after some practice. Note that these pictures are after about 2,500 "practice" shots from previous races

 

[WDodd]

Keith, is the 70-200 your choice lens at the race track? Manual or auto focusing? Do you use a tripod/monopod at the track?

I'm going to mid-ohio to shoot a NASA car club event for fun this weekend and after the last club event I did I wasn't really pleased with the results.

Sorry to hijack the thread...

 

[keith204]

Thanks for asking! This is a lot, but I wish somebody would have given me all these tips when I started.

Lens:
My 70-200 is my lens of choice at the tracks.

Pod:
The cars are going in circles where I photograph, and believe it or not, a monopod gets in the way when touching the ground. When you're spinning in circles, you trip over the monopod unless you actually walk around it. Anyway, I find it more effective to use the monopod hanging about 1 foot from the ground to simply add some weight balance to the camera. Then I handhold the camera.

Mode: Shutter Priority; 1/60th second
This will vary depending on how fast the cars go, and how close you are to them. 1/60th is my sweet spot, where I can get about 80% good results with sharp cars and that coveted blurry background.

Focus:
Auto, AI-SERVO, Center-Point
The 70-200 2.8 Sigma has a HyperSonic Motor which does super well at keeping the subject in focus. Before I knew about this, I didn't have AI Servo on. By the time I would focus, and then I would click the shutter, the car was already out of the depth of field, and a lot of the cars ended up blurry. AI Servo and a fast-focusing lens will save you here.

Tips:
Follow the car for awhile, before clicking. You'll get more reliable results that way, because you will get a much better feel for the speed. In this bicycle picture, it would be tough to do this because there's simply not time to 'follow' the bike... once you follow it, she'll have both wheels on the ground again. With race cars, you have more time.

Look at your lighting. At night, in order to shoot at 1/60 and an aperture of 2.8 without the picture coming out too dark, I have to up the ISO to 1600. I have no choice. Remember, a grainy picture is better than a picture that's too blurry to use.

All in all, I'd say these were the things that helped the most:
AI Servo, learning shutter priority, and 'hanging' the monopod for centerweight. Oh, and practicing a steady hand.

Also, as I mentioned it took me FOREVER to get this down. Cars going 100+ miles an hour can be a pain in the butt sometimes and racing photography isn't about capturing the car, it's about capturing the ACTION. Blurry backgrounds rock when it comes to this.

You can see my progress (pitiful shots at first, and the last couple weeks getting better) at www.w3Bolivar.com/cpg.

 

[WDodd]

Hey thanks for the tips. I'm pumped to try out AI Servo, my biggest problem was the slow focus. I would assume that the USM is much the same as the Sigma HyperSonic Motor.

 

[keith204]

Hey thanks for the tips. I'm pumped to try out AI Servo, my biggest problem was the slow focus. I would assume that the USM is much the same as the Sigma HyperSonic Motor.

I think USM is faster

 

[keith204]

Out of your lenses, which one are you planning on using? If you get into a lot of race photography, I would REALLY recommend a 70-200 2.8 of either Sigma or Canon. My race earnings for the past 2 months from one track alone has easily made up for the 900 I paid for this Sigma lens (I got the nicer Sigma). You'll be surprised what 2.8 and super good glass can do.