Motorsport -- panning, SS & motion

midgeman · Feb 17, 2014

Another shot from the LeMons race.

1/8
f/16
50mm

'Shine Country Classic - 24 Hours of LeMons by ImidgeryByKMidgett, on Flickr

midgeman · Mar 28, 2014

petrochemist · Mar 28, 2014

Great thread with loads of cracking posts!
Here are a few of my favorites (I'll limit it to one of each class, planes, boats, cars & bikes):

Now I really must get sorted for the British Touring Cars tomorrow...

v4forlife · Mar 28, 2014

Not a fan of the larger motorsport events, well not to visit anyway. You stay in one place, limited access to everywhere..I am photographing Team Army in an endurance motorcycle series at the moment, and I get full access to everywhere I want to go. Plus the racing is just as good. But having said that, have fun bud.

petrochemist · Mar 28, 2014

Thanks, fortunately with pit lane passes our access should be reasonable

Not that you can see much of the track from the pits at Brands Hatch, but the inside of the hairpin generally works out pretty go for track shots.
I have to admit I find bikes better for photography, but I can't currently get passes for them, and even when I was working with the superbikes I only had a paddock pass.

PropilotBW · Mar 28, 2014

Man, a lot of cool photos here!

petrochemist · Mar 30, 2014

I ended up being too close to the action to use my DSLR effectively. I'd only brought the 150-500 lens for it so I could play with Infrared too with out overloading myself. At the hairpin the 150 couldn't get both wheels in for any of the cars Got some OK shots of the drivers but with no background they could have been parked.

Cleo driver by Analyst 1, on Flickr

The panned IR shots worked out OK fortunately:

Andrew Jordan - Infra red panning by Analyst 1, on Flickr

IR BTCC - Neal by Analyst 1, on Flickr

90foxbox · Apr 1, 2014

First real crack at panning.

IMG_3485 by Mikel Novack Photos, on Flickr

IMG_3207 by Mikel Novack Photos, on Flickr

midgeman · Apr 2, 2014

Boogity boogity boogity.

TheNevadanStig · Apr 2, 2014

I have yet to attempt panning, but with the racing season starting here soon, I'm going to be taking lots of shots when I'm not actually in a car. What do you guys do for these? Single focus point on a single part of the cars as it goes by with you tracking it?

midgeman · Apr 2, 2014

I pre-focus on a single point where the car will be in my composition. So, pre-focus, wait for car, pan car as it enters my planned composition, snap and repeat. People probably have all kinds of different techniques but that works best for me... I would suggest starting around 1/100ish depending on how fast the cars will be and work your way down from there.

90foxbox · Apr 2, 2014

TheNevadanStig said:
I have yet to attempt panning, but with the racing season starting here soon, I'm going to be taking lots of shots when I'm not actually in a car. What do you guys do for these? Single focus point on a single part of the cars as it goes by with you tracking it?

For mine I just used AI Servo on my 6D. I think most of mine were shot at like 1/30th. Cars were all doing under 50mph.

lambertpix · Apr 2, 2014

TheNevadanStig said:
I have yet to attempt panning, but with the racing season starting here soon, I'm going to be taking lots of shots when I'm not actually in a car. What do you guys do for these? Single focus point on a single part of the cars as it goes by with you tracking it?

I typically use AI Servo. If you find the camera hunting while you're panning, the pre-focus technique midgeman mentioned works pretty well, too.