A little C&C on Two of my fav pics

[Jklersy]

1

2.

 

[Sep]

The colors seem a little bit dull.

 

[Jklersy]

unfortunately, i took these with my old P&S Kodak. I am wondering, especially on the first one, if there is a way to make them actually look like thier moving as fast as they are? Cause their really moving at around 60 to 70mph on that corner.

That is my fav track and i make it there 2-3 times a year for diff races. i like that corner because there is a lot of passing there (and spinning into the dirt ). I have a monopod and a much better camer/lens setup and a little more knowledge, but last time out I couldnt seem to get the shot i was lookin for. I have a while now to think about it due to the fricken cold weather here in the northern states.

 

[tirediron]

To start with, it's generally best not to tell people that they're your favorite pictures as some are inclined to be more kind in their comments because of that fact. I however have no such inhibitions.

C&C per req:

1. Good composition, but the image is spoiled by two things: (1) The excessive depth of field rendering the background sharply focused and thus distracting, and (2) the reflections on the car's hoods. The use of a much larger aperture would have prevented the former, and a polarizing filter the secondary. I would also consider cropping 1/4 to 1/3 off of the top of the image.

2. The motion blur in this one appears very synthetic; may I assume this is courtesty of post-processing? Again the reflections are distracting, but less so than the previous image. In this one, I would suggest cropping everything above the background fence. Here the composition might have been improved had you been able to capture the car a little further into the track, and not right on the edge.

Overall, nice images, good subject matter, and well captured.

Just my $00.02 worth - your mileage may vary.

~John

 

[Sep]

You're gonna need to do quite a bit of editing. Mainly blurring the background and what not.

 

[Jklersy]

thanks for your honesty tired, i really appreciate that. on the second pic i actually rotated with the car and got that blur, i was a bit surprised the car came out so sharp! I am gonna get a polorizing filter next. My GF is a graphic designer and she cropped and printed the first pic for my office, she did a great job on it cause the color is way better also. I dont have her work though, otherwise i would post that one, lol.

 

[tirediron]

thanks for your honesty tired, i really appreciate that. on the second pic i actually rotated with the car and got that blur,

Wow, if you did that by tracking, that's very well done!

 

[Jklersy]

here is a pic of the same corner with my new camera and no PS.

 

[tirediron]

Nice picture, but you get no feeling of movement. If you're shooting at f8 & 1/2000, why the heck is your ISO at 800??????

 

[Jklersy]

cause I am a noob, lol. I think I was at iso 800 for another spot and forgot to change it when I set up for this corner....

 

[OldClicker]

At that shutter speed you froze the wheels - makes it look like they are just parked there because our eyes don't see moving cars this way. (Watch the cars go by while sitting at a stop light.) Maybe try to set the camera on Aperture Priority at bout 1/125 (watch camera shake - tripod?) and set the ISO to give you the lower f-stop. Looks like really bright sun, so you may even need a neutral density filter to lower the exposure. - TF

 

[pixeldawg]

I have to disagree with the comment about the pan shot being synthetic. Looks pretty good to me, actually. Maybe a slightly slower shutter speed to make the blur stand out a little more, but otherwise, it looks good.

I wrote an article for Popular Photography & Imaging on shooting NASCAR. I know you're not shooting this, but the principles are the same. Here is the article:

http://www.popphoto.com/popularphotographyfeatures/4207/shooting-talladega-superspeedway.html

Be sure to look at the gallery of images- I think that you'll learn more there than the actual article. There's nothing wrong with stop motion in shooting motor sports either- but you need to be selective about what you shoot this way. Anyway, read the article and look at the images. If you have any questions after this, let me know. Happy to help.