If You're Not First You're Last

Juga · Jul 14, 2013

Good morning to all! Took my children to Langley Speedway in Hampton, VA and while there I tried panning for the first time. Any C&C is appreciated but I would like tips on technique for panning. Thanks in advance.
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Not my child but I though the expression was pretty good.
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Designer · Jul 14, 2013

Panning looks pretty good, but the fence is killing you!

Cute kid with the ear muffs.

Juga · Jul 14, 2013

Yeah there really wasn't much I could do about the fence except get higher in the stands but then I don't have a lens with enough reach to fill the frame.

SCraig · Jul 14, 2013

Juga said:
Yeah there really wasn't much I could do about the fence except get higher in the stands but then I don't have a lens with enough reach to fill the frame.

Yeah, actually there is. This, for example, was shot through a fence:

Two tricks: First get as close to the fence as you can, and second use the widest aperture that you can get away with. That way the fence won't be within the depth of field and you'll never see it. When panning with motorsports leave yourself enough room that you don't bang into the fence as you turn and stay away from sections of fence that have bright sun shining on them. The reflection from the sun will make a ghost on the image that is visible.

Juga · Jul 14, 2013

Awesome shot! The security would only allow 6ft close to the fence so when I got as close as I could it kept wanting to focus on the links in the fence. How can I defeat that?

Benco · Jul 14, 2013

Juga said:
Awesome shot! The security would only allow 6ft close to the fence so when I got as close as I could it kept wanting to focus on the links in the fence. How can I defeat that?

Focus manually, tricky with such fast moving subjects but your best bet AFAIK.

SCraig · Jul 14, 2013

Juga said:
Awesome shot! The security would only allow 6ft close to the fence so when I got as close as I could it kept wanting to focus on the links in the fence. How can I defeat that?

Yeah, you're right. 6' would be tough to deal with. The track here is wide open in the infield. The grandstands may be different, but from the infield I've watched races with my foot on top of the little 2' wall at the edge of the track (no fence to deal with). As long as nothing was hanging over the wall nobody cared.

I've also shot NASCAR at Talladega but I was in the stands higher than the wall, and NHRA in Arizona. In AZ there was a wide gap between me and the cars but no fence to deal with.

On another note there is nothing wrong with your panning other than the fence. Perhaps kick the shutter speed up a little, say 1/125 instead of 1/30, so you get a little better sharpness on the vehicles but still they are very well done.

Juga · Jul 14, 2013

Thanks for the great feedback Scott.

SCraig · Jul 14, 2013

These were taken at a WERA race here a couple of years ago.

This guy was probably doing 60-ish after coming off a corner and starting to accelerate down a short straight on a road course. I shot it at 1/200 because I was trying to catch a blur of the bike in the background. It was shot at 125mm and not cropped much, I was probably within 30' of the bike as it came by me.

This guy was probably, at a guess, doing 150 or so. The shot was taken at the end of the long front straight going into the first curve (high-banked NASCAR-style curve) and he was hard on the brakes. You might have noticed that the rear wheel is off the ground

It was shot at 180mm and 1/320 second and not cropped much, so I was probably within 50' when the shutter opened.

The point of both is that shutter speed is dependent on distance, but even a relatively fast shutter speed will convey motion. That close, even with a relatively fast shutter speed, you can get really good motion blur yet keep sharpness on the subject. The first time I went to that race I shot a lot faster and was disappointed with the results. This one was taken at the exact same spot as the first one but rather than 1/200 second it was shot at 1/800. The background is frozen, the spokes on the wheels are frozen, and it just doesn't convey the motion as well. Play with your settings next time and find what works best for you, but I think you'll get a little better sharpness on your subjects with a bit more shutter speed.

Juga · Jul 14, 2013

Roger that. Faster shutter speed, closer to fences with a more wide aperture. Again thanks for the tips.

Side note, I don't know why people talk down about the AF system on the 6D. Sure it is 61 points like the 5D III but it performed pretty well for these shots I think.