Vrooom Vrooom!!

[ShaneF]

I went to a arm drop drag racing event today and here a few of my favorites from the day. Still working on panning and focus points but i think they came out pretty good.


1

2

3

4

5

6

 

[WesternGuy]

Not bad at all. My only suggestion for you to think about is that because the vehicles are all going from left to right in the pictures, rather than centre them in the photo, I would leave a bit more "open space" on the right side of the image and place the cars a bit to the left of centre, rather than have each of them centred in the image. This would follow the rule of thirds that suggests that things be placed in the relevant third part of the image rather than in the centre. With this "positioning", it gives the cars a space to move into and thus implies a bit of action for the car. Yes the blurred background suggest motion, but giving the car space to move into, gives a better appearance of motion. Had one or more of the cars been moving from right to left, then I would change my recommendation accordingly.

WesternGuy

 

[ShaneF]

Great suggestion, thanks. i still have alot more of these to edit and i well defiantly put your suggestion to some use.

 

[IzzieK]

From what I can see, the technique you've used here is anticipated positioning of where the car was going to pass then you shoot, not panning, as in #5 and #6. Look at the background -- they are the same, almost in the same position. I am the reverse of your shooting technique -- I've learned to pan better than anticipated positioning.

 

[ShaneF]

Thank but no anticipated shooting just panning. Trust me i was there

 

[Derrel]

Yes, shots 1,2,3, and 4 have a decent background for panning: stands with spectators in them. Shots 5 and 6 have a bad backdrop, with the portable awning and the parked cars and the building with the many repeating white panels over dark green paint...that background steals a lot of thunder from the vehicles being panned. Centering a panned vehicle or bike in the frame is one of my pet peeves. The vehicle always needs more space "to drive into", so it's almost always best to leave a good deal more space in front of the front bumper!!! The SMALLER space behind the read bumper shows the car as "moving".....where it "was", and mentally, the greater space in FRONT is the space that the vehicle will soon be "driving into".

For me, panning is one of the PERFECT examples of where using a LEFT- or RIGHT-side-of-frame, multi-point AF arrangement makes the most sense. On many cameras, not all, but many, the outer AF points are NOT cross-type sensors and are therefore not always that sensitive compared to a cross-type sensor. But, by using a multi-area AF arrangement, like say 9- or 11 AF points in various Nikons, and shifting the active AF cluster off to the side where the panned subject is, the camera can almost always get a focus lock, and can track the subject.

 

[ShaneF]

Thanks Derrel as you and WesternGoy brought to my attention some good points and the leaving space for the car to travel into makes perfect sense and i will remember that and put it into practice.

Unfortunatly my T4i only has one cross type and its smack dab in the center. I tried using a single outer focus point but was not having much luck. My choices are 1 specifc point or all of them but its good to keep in mind that you can set clusters on other cameras i dident know that, ill keep an eye out for that option when considering an upgrade.