Indoor Arena Racing (Motocross)

[jmthompson]

Here are some images from my second attempt at shooting indoor motocross. This arena is extremely dark, dusty, and COLD (about 40 degrees F)! I have another event coming up on February 14 in the same arena, so any critique and comments would be greatly appreciated!

These were all shot with a Canon 50mm 1.8 at 1/250 at an ISO-800, and I also shot with a Canon 70-200L f2.8 IS with a 430EX speedlite. I preferred the 50mm, as the 70-200 got a little heavy after 10 hours, and I wasn't quite sure how to follow all the action using a monopod. I am open to all suggestions, especially with composition, as there is so much background "stuff" going on, I was having a hard time with the angles, cropping, etc., all while still trying convey a sense of height in the jumps.

Thanks for looking!

 

[keybq]

Honestly i dont see anything wrong except maybe try to bounce the flash but since the ceiling are high, you would have to make a homemade bounce.

 

[gsgary]

For a start i would take the 70-200 off the monopod because it will restrict you too much, then set the flash for some 2nd curtain sinc shots so you can blur the background

 

[jmthompson]

Thanks for the advice. I will try setting the flash for 2nd curtain sync. I have never used that, as I am just starting to use the flash for more than just fill light. I did shoot from under the announcer's booth so I would have a low ceiling above me to bounce the flash from, and that seemed to helped quite a bit. I didn't shoot with a monopod, although I sure would have liked to by about time the finals rolled around! But I definitely thought it would be too cumbersome, especially when I was shooting from outside the arena through the gate; and inside the arena I wanted to be able to move fast if those bikes were coming my way ~ didn't want to be tripping over my monopod!!!

Thanks again for the pointers!

 

[Jim Stafford]

What about a pan of a rider running the tops of the whoops. Should be enough speed to get a good blur and a sense of motion.

Checked out your website, nice work.

 

[jmthompson]

Great idea Jim, thanks for the suggestion! I haven't tried much panning, but this would be the ideal opportunity.

Thanks for the compliments on my website!