Motor Sport In Multi-storey Car Park

[markg]

On sunday I took some photos of my mates riding around a multi storey car park. I just got the results back - not good. 5 of 25 came out, and weren't very good.

The ones that came out were still shots, mates posing next to bike etc.. they came out blurry, i used the camera's pre set nothing special function for that.

The rest however, i'm looking at the negatives now and they are all blank, there's a few with something on them.

So what was I doing wrong?

Was it was becuase I was using a really cheap brand of film rated at 200.

Or was it because my shutter speed was to fast? I set it at 1/1000 sec to capture the racing.

Or was it because it was to dark? The blurry photos don't seem to be to dark.

Or was it all of the above?

Hellllppp!

 

[Big Mike]

1/1000 sounds too fast for indoor photography, especially in a car park which was probably very poorly lit.

What aperture were you using? My camera (most modern ones, I would think) gives a warning when it can't adjust for the lighting conditions. For example a light would blink if I set it at 1/1000 for a dark car park...becuse it can only set the aperture as wide as the lens will allow...which would not be wide enough for proper exposure at 1/1000.

The ones that were blurry were probably due to camera shake at a slow shutter speed.

The simple solution is to use a flash. Set the shutter to your camera's sync speed and then fire away. The flash will freeze the action of the racing and give better light for the still shots.

 

[markg]

Thanks I'll keep that in mind (hope I don't stun anyone).

Whats the range on this method? Would the flash capture the action if the action if the action is down the other end of the car park? If not what do I do about those shots?

I'm going to try again this weekend. I've done a bit more research as well, I think I need to get some better film to. 400 or 800.

Any other tips I would be most grateful for. The lads weren't very happy when their photos didn't come out.

 

[Big Mike]

The range will depend on the power of the flash. Any flash unit should have a guide number which can be used to work out the range and correct aperture for proper exposure. I'm not really up to speed on the details but the info will not be hard to find.

If your subject is really far away...a flash won't help much. Using a tripod and a long exposure might help but not for moving subjects.

Faster film will also help. ISO 800 or 1600 would be better than your 200. Maybe you could try some fast b&w film and then pushing it a few stops. It would be grainy but that might be a nice effect.

Of course a faster lens will help as well. What is the max aperture on the lens you are using?

 

[markg]

I was using a Canon EF 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 II lense!!?! If that helps!

 

[drlynn]

As Big Mike said, try getting faster film. Fuji makes a color 1600 speed film. You can rate it at ISO 3200 without special processing.

That should help you get some higher shutter speeds.

 

[markg]

I've had a few tips from other people to.

Use a faster film. I think 800 should be enough.

Shutter speed, shouldn't really need anything faster than 1/500.

Wide aperture.

And where possible (without causing accidents) use the flash.

We're probably going to do pretty much the same kinda thing this weekend, so hopefully i'll be able to put the theory practise.

Thanks.