Auto-X

markc · May 2, 2004

It was my turn to go to the autocross, today. I pretty much shot all from the same place, mainly because I was only there to practice my panning. I manged to get some shots at 1/30 that I'm really proud of. Next time out I'll talk to the safety steward to see if he give me a spotter so I can go out to some of the more interesting vantige points on the course. Took me a little while to get the hang of it. I shot over 100 images.

c0ntr0lz · May 2, 2004

you know what i'd like to amount to?
a speed-demon

hehe

kool shots

Nytmair · May 2, 2004

i couldn't make it out to rochacha today for the autox unfortunately. Very nice shots! I wish i could've had my shutter speed that slow. Very nice pics! i can't wait to get more practice

markc · May 6, 2004

Just for completeness sake...
I posted more in a gallery.

craig · May 6, 2004

Excellent in every way!!! If I was to play devil's advocate I would say; why not shoot theses during the magic hour?

markc · May 6, 2004

craig said:
Excellent in every way!!! If I was to play devil's advocate I would say; why not shoot theses during the magic hour?

Heh. Because everyone's gone home!

And thanks!

karissa · May 6, 2004

Ok, so I see people do this but how do you keep the subject in focus? :shock:

drlynn · May 6, 2004

Very nice shots, Mark!

And as to keeping the subject in focus, it's more a dof thing, really. You have to have a pretty small aperture to get the shutterspeed slow enough to blur the background.

Then you get the car in focus and follow it down the street. Press the shutter, remembering to keep moving the camera afterwards, or else you just have a blurry mess. Most people use a monopod or tripod to help make sure they only have horizontal motion and no vertical shake.

Mark can probably give a much more complete explanation of panning, since he is obviously very proficient!

markc · May 6, 2004

A monopod would be a very good idea. I wish I had one!

I was pretty amazed at how well they turned out, if I do say so myself. I used between 1/90 and 1/30 of a second, though the good ones are all at 1/30. For those the aperture was f22, the smallest my lens can go, otherwise I would have tried even slower speeds just for grins.

You pretty much covered it, drlynn. Basically, you pick a spot on the moving object that you try to keep the center of the lens on, and then while the camera is moving, hit the shutter, all the while keeping the lens trained on that spot. The background blurs because it's moving relative to the lens, but the object stays relatively sharp since it isn't moving relative to the lens. It's like if you took a picture of a person while you were both on a carousel, with you in the center and the friend at the outer rim. The difference here is that you don't have a floor you both are standing on to make sure you are moving at the same speed, so you have to move the camera yourself to get the same effect.

manda · May 7, 2004

You really suck at this photography thing.

markc · May 7, 2004

manda said:
You really suck at this photography thing.

I know. I've been considering becoming a gigolo instead.

terri · May 7, 2004

The autocross is totally not my thing, but these images are technically right on the money. You did a superb job here! Really well done. Give yourself a pat on the back and feel proud.

Sharkbait · May 7, 2004

markc said:
manda said:

You really suck at this photography thing.

Click to expand...

I know. I've been considering becoming a gigolo instead.

You he-whore. ;-)

manda · May 8, 2004

markc said:
manda said:

You really suck at this photography thing.

Click to expand...

I know. I've been considering becoming a gigolo instead.

:heart: :love: :heart:

thebigbillybob · May 8, 2004

nice pics i wish my long beach grand prix pics turned out like that to bad i forgot about the fence in fron of me haha and i didnt have a zoom lens so it was like a waste of 5 rolls of film... haha