Open wheel racing has come to the city streets of my home town! This is so cool. I can walk to the course from my house - and I have a press pass!

I went yesterday to get my credentials and tune up my shooting. I haven't shot any motorsports for a long time and the only time I actually shot cars on the track was a Miata track day. This is a little different - to say the least. Fortunately, yesterday confirmed my experience with racing photography - cars are easier than motorcycles and bicycles. It's mostly because there's more surface area to focus on. However, since they have four wheels on the ground it's a lot harder to convey a sense of speed an motion. I shot a lot at very high shutter speeds. But I think finding a balance where you can get some wheel blur is important. I think 1/160th to 1/250th of a second is the sweet spot.

If anyone has any suggestions, I'd like to hear the, Yesterday was my practice day. I'm not shooting today. But tomorrow I'll be out there shooting the actual racing. I definitely learned some stuff yesterday and tuned up my technique. But I have no illusions about knowing it all. Car racing isn't my usual subject. I'm definitely interested in doing more of this, though.

For more or less a first time John, I'd say these are great.
I like the first one because you get a good feel for it being in a metro environment.
And the colors are very nice.
I like the second because it is nice and tight on the car. I wouldn't say it is too tight, because you still see 90% of the car.
Can't wait to see more!
Brian

Thanks, Brian. I tried hard to find locations with backgrounds that were more than just road and fence. That top one was one of the best I found. I should have shot at a slower shutter speed, though. If you look, you'll notice the wheels are completely frozen. It needs a sense of motion.

The key to the second image is the hand on top of the steering wheel. That helps give it some tension and a sense of the corner the car is in. I like the tight shots. But I'd like some good long ones with cars stacked up in a straight, too. Hopefully I'll do better tomorrow. I'm happy with what I got yesterday. But I can definitely see some ways to do better. This is a great opportunity.

More are posted in CarREVIEW.com, here: http://gallery.carreview.com/showgallery.php?cat=507&password=

PJ,

You will have to come to Indiana next summer and spend a week with me if you want to shoot some racing. Lets see here, in about 5 days we could hit Indy (for IRL or NASCAR, short track oval, short track dirt, figure 8, the velodrome (those two wheel thingys), and maybe even some drag racing too.
Hey if you time it right we could throw in the hydroplane racing at Madison or one of the air shows too. Within 100 miles there are 50+ race tracks of every kind and every kind of racing.

Actually, if you really want a thrill try this one. It's the bggest and longest lasting rush to shoot because there is constant action, try shooting the 3 Hour Worlds Figure 8 Championship. It's the toughest thing I have ever shot, and the adrenaline is going so much that I can't sleep after it. Basically it starts off with 28 cars on a 1/5th mile (1/4 in the 8) and goes for 3 hours. The catch is that when a car pits another car comes on the track, but the one that pitted can also return to the race. You could end up with 50 cars on the track! For the drivers it's like running a stop sign every ten seconds......

JS

Figure eight racing is re-tahhhhhhded! How about figure eight chain racing? That's the sickest thing I've ever seen - besides swamp buggies, of course. All racing is good. But some forms are weirder and/or more dangerous than others.

I've been to Indy a couple of times to support AudioREVIEW.com at the CEDIA trradeshow. I don't know if you were around last year when I went. I doubt I'll go this year, though. I actually went out to the big track once. I couldn't believe how huge it was.

Not a big fan of oval racing, though. I like it when they turn right, too :p

If you're using a long telephoto head on, then I think you'll need about 1/500 or 1/640 so the car stays in focus.
Braking into corners. lighting up the discs, then 1/500 is too fast - the logos on the tyres will be blurred but nothing much else. If your paning is excellent go as low as you can :)
I found in overcast, about 30m from the cars, I could still get highlights on them with the 580EX flash and the 1/250 max flash sync got decent wheel/track blur.
Down as low as 1/125, even 1/50 when panning close in the pit lane if you want something spectacular, use flash to freeze the car while blurring the background and the car for the rest of the exposure.

Have a great time, and of course, wish I was there :)

Hey John,

I was certainly envious of you. I had to shoot through two levels of fencing, and then on race day had a great location but didn't have a big enough lens.

I'm not sore though, as I did get a couple of shots and the free beer did help wash away the desire to shoot with credentials. To be honest, there were some people with press passes with Rebel XT's so I was shocked to say the least.

At least you lived up to yours, and I'm sure your second day of shooting was better too.

Loren

anyhow..here's a pic from outside the fence.

The key to the second image is the hand on top of the steering wheel. That helps give it some tension and a sense of the corner the car is in. I like the tight shots. But I'd like some good long ones with cars stacked up in a straight, too. Hopefully I'll do better tomorrow. I'm happy with what I got yesterday. But I can definitely see some ways to do better. This is a great opportunity.

Now that you say that and I have looked at this photograph a few times, YOU'RE RIGHT!
I haven't looked at a lot car racing photographs before and having the hand on the steering wheel makes or breaks a photograph like that.
I learned something today!
Brian

Well, unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of this caliber. All I could see were really loud cars going by really fast.

Here are a couple of my favorites from yesterday. The first one is Sebastian Bourdais, the CHAMP race winner.

In this photo I was testing out my (new to me) Canon 1Ds that I bought from KEH. I had to focus through a fence and point my lens through a hole in the secondary fence. At the race there were two layers of fencing.

This photo was taken on Friday during practice, and at this corner is where everybody was crashing. I got this guy spinning out and going into the wall backwards. Luckily he saved it, and was able to continue.

Loren

Of course to give the race its full title it was the Taylor Woodrow Grand Prix of San Jose (pity no one told any of the UK employees, I only found out about the sponsorship today)


BTW I was photographing the historic event at Silverstone at the weekend. I'll try and post some pictures later this week.

Hi John,

I guess Sebastian Bourdais can't get enough of Indy. This shot was from practice Saturday morning for the AllState Brickyard 400.

JS