First time shooting motor sports C&C please

[Cheesyman]

Hi, theres are a few of my pics that i took while at a race track here in the UK, wondered if i can have some C&C please. I know they aren't perfect but hope for first time shooting moving cars i have been an alright job.

Took on my 7D with a canon 70-200mm f/2.8

 

[CNCO]

I'm a big fan. The last is cut off a bit. Any post processing?

 

[Cheesyman]

hey yeah a little post processing just in apples Aperture, altered contrast, highlights, saturation, intensity and added a vignette to some of them, thanks

 

[Robin Usagani]

you should put the saturation back to 0 and raise vibrant instead. If you had raised the black as well I think you set it too high. Nice panning!

 

[Cheesyman]

cheers, will give that a try

 

[bigboi3]

Very nice!!

 

[bigtwinky]

I like the shots and the compositions. Nicely done.

I totally dislike your processing though. They are way way oversaturated for my taste. They are also highly contrasty. The reason I dont like the high contrast is that what is important in motorsports (to me anyways) is to find the right shutter speed that will allow you to free the car in motion but still allow motion in the wheels. Seeing the spin in the wheels is what gives the image life and makes it look more than an expensive car parked on a motorway.

But the contrast you added in the image removes alot of the detail from the wheels, and thus removes the realism and sense of motion.

 

[Robin Usagani]

Totally agree.. thats why I adviced him to reduce the saturation and use vibrant instead and reduce the black so you get the detail back from the wheels.

I like the shots and the compositions. Nicely done.

I totally dislike your processing though. They are way way oversaturated for my taste. They are also highly contrasty. The reason I dont like the high contrast is that what is important in motorsports (to me anyways) is to find the right shutter speed that will allow you to free the car in motion but still allow motion in the wheels. Seeing the spin in the wheels is what gives the image life and makes it look more than an expensive car parked on a motorway.

But the contrast you added in the image removes alot of the detail from the wheels, and thus removes the realism and sense of motion.

 

[bigtwinky]

Totally agree.. thats why I adviced him to reduce the saturation and use vibrant instead and reduce the black so you get the detail back from the wheels.

Want a cookie? :thumbup:

:hug::

 

[Robin Usagani]

a hug!

 

[Cheesyman]

cheers guys, will certainly take on board with what you are saying. I was trying to make them stand out with the colours but can now see that thats not always the way to do it

Just glad im getting good responses on the pictures them selves, was a bit nervous when i was out at the track taking them as it was my first time, but certainly looking forward to going back and getting more.

 

[bigtwinky]

Saturation and contrast aside, they are good photos for your first time.
They can be improved though (well, I think they can)

For my tastes, I find the first few are very tight in the frame. Did you crop the shot? I prefer the last one as it has a bit more breathing space. If you want tight, get the drive in nice and tight. Try and aim for a variety of shots as well, using the track angles and such to make intersting more zoomed out shots. Try and get passing action (if there is any), or different than just straight on side angles

The 3rd shot with the red car is by far (for me) the most interesting as it has more than just a side view of a car...you see the driver closer, you see some smoke. This one could be improved some by not cutting the edges of the car off (the back is fine, I would of liked more of the front), or even closer in on the driver, but you could be limited by gear.

But keep it up!! I wish my first race shots where like this. I took some this past weekend at a local regatta for the first time. Need to post them up soon.

 

[Cheesyman]

Photo's 1,2,4 & 5 are cropped as the background was slightly distracting from the car ( at least that's what i thought)

well it was the first time out with my new canon 70-200mm f/2.8 so was getting to grips with the lens and such so some of my shots where either to tight in or pulled out at 70mm, which is the reason behind the cropping.

im going back this weekend for some bike racing rather then car racing so im looking forward to see what i can get there. hopefully going to get a good position on a corner to get some good shots there