Motorsport -- panning, SS & motion

lambertpix · Nov 12, 2013

Rather than hijack someone else's thread, I figured I'd start a new one here. Feel free to add panning & motion shots, tips for panning, etc.

The context of the discussion in the original thread was that slower shutter speed helps create a sense of motion, but the speed needed to do so is somewhat variable. To that end, here are a handful of shots that (I think) show motion pretty well.

Both of these first two were at 1/250 -- the first shot is turn 3 at Road America:

Brembo by lambertpix, on Flickr

The small size doesn't show it too well, but at 1:1, the lettering on the brake calipers is tack-sharp, and the brake glow helps the sense of speed, too. This next one was the little straight at Indy:

This one, also at Indy, was at 1/125:

If you're just looking at wheel motion, some show it more than others, and some show it only on one wheel (I especially like the "RF" in chalk on the front wheel):

Braineack · Nov 12, 2013

those are really sharp. what glass and body are those with?

probably a good idea to not threadjack, that wasn't the intent

lambertpix · Nov 12, 2013

Braineack said:
those are really sharp. what glass and body are those with?

probably a good idea to not threadjack, that wasn't the intent

Thanks - the first was a 40D, the other three were a 7D. All of them were a Canon 70-300, which isn't known as a super-sharp lens, but isn't too shabby when it's stopped down a bit. This lens also has a "panning mode" for its IS control, which (if you remember to set it) seems to work pretty well. I do believe some of Canon's newer (and better) lenses detect panning automatically, and thus, don't need you to set it yourself.

I didn't mention this earlier, but one of the other things I've noticed with any sort of panning is that the more square you are to the direction of motion, the easier it seems to be to get good panning shots. I'm sure this is due in part to the fact that focus is changing very little as the subject moves across the frame, but I think it also helps that the subject is square to the lens when you shoot. I've seen shots that have cars approaching at an angle with the front of the car sharp and the rear OOF -- I've not been able to recreate this myself (aside from seeing various degrees of OOF from front-to-rear), but this can also be a really cool "speed" shot if it's done well.

Going back to one of the comments in the other thread, I'd love to have credentials to go wherever I wanted and set up exactly the right angle, etc. -- especially somewhere like Laguna Seca where there's an iconic chunk of track like the corkscrew. I figure if I'm lucky enough to convince someone to credential me, I'll have accumulated enough experience to be able to take advantage of it!

Braineack · Nov 12, 2013

I've always wondered what anyone would do if I just went where I wanted without care...luckily the two tracks I go to (VIR and Summit Point) have pretty decent vantage points.

DBA · Nov 12, 2013

I can probably count the times I've attempted panning on my hand, here are a couple favorites though.

Both shot freehand with a 300mm (2.8) at 1/200.

Only advice I really have is to follow through with the panning motion, basically keep panning for about .5-1 sec after hitting the shutter.

lambertpix · Nov 12, 2013

Nice - #2 looks great -- like he's crashing right through the underbrush!

DBA · Nov 12, 2013

lambertpix said:
Nice - #2 looks great -- like he's crashing right through the underbrush!

Thanks Lambert! Yeah it does look like that, but in reality the track is 10-15 feet wide. :mrgreen:

12sndsgood · Nov 12, 2013

I have found you can vary your SS a bit depending on how fast the object your shooting is going. I generally start out at 1/100 and go slower and slower I try for crisp shots but i'll live with a little blur if it has good movement to it.

1. shot at 1/20th a sec on my tamron 70-200 which is a little slow to focus compared to others and no vibration reduction. she was probably going around 30mph

NASRA-69 by Square1 photography, on Flickr

2 this one I was on 3 days of shooting and like 8 hours of sleep for the entire weekend so I started out slow before I got down to the usual speed. this was 1/250th a sec and he was going around 100mph by this point. huge difference in speed between the first two. but also a huge difference in SS to match.

NHDRA-1 by Square1 photography, on Flickr

3 this is my more typical panning shot at 1/60th a sec around 100mm with the same Tamron lens. entry speed was probably around 60mph at this point

MDU4-40 by Square1 photography, on Flickr

quite a lot of difference in the blur between the three

tecboy · Nov 12, 2013

12sndsgood said:
MDU4-40 by Square1 photography, on Flickr

quite a lot of difference in the blur between the three

Is that drifting? This shot is cool!

12sndsgood · Nov 12, 2013

Yeah that's drifting. I spend the summer covering Drift event's for a couple magazine.

lambertpix · Nov 12, 2013

12sndsgood said:
2 this one I was on 3 days of shooting and like 8 hours of sleep for the entire weekend so I started out slow before I got down to the usual speed. this was 1/250th a sec and he was going around 100mph by this point. huge difference in speed between the first two. but also a huge difference in SS to match.

NHDRA-1 by Square1 photography, on Flickr

The reflection here is fantastic -- great shot!

Robin_Usagani · Nov 12, 2013

Sure.. Mine is only 1 horsepower.

12sndsgood · Nov 13, 2013

lambertpix said:
12sndsgood said:

2 this one I was on 3 days of shooting and like 8 hours of sleep for the entire weekend so I started out slow before I got down to the usual speed. this was 1/250th a sec and he was going around 100mph by this point. huge difference in speed between the first two. but also a huge difference in SS to match.

NHDRA-1 by Square1 photography, on Flickr

Click to expand...

The reflection here is fantastic -- great shot!

Thanks I was pretty happy with it. I had wanted some blur on the front wheel because it looked so static. When they came back the next month,= after this as I was getting new shots of them I noticed he was basically on his wheelie bars the first few hundred feet down the track so the front wheel wasn't really moving hardly at all to begin with so that made me feel a little better about it lol.