Motor sports photography

[farkengruven]

Hi All,
I had my first attempt at motor sports photography on the weekend. I would like to know if I am using the correct method for photographing moving objects.
I set up my camera on manual focus, then focused at one point on the track. When the bikes came near to the point I was focused on i just kept shooting until they were out of the frame.
It was a kind of hit and miss affair. The bulk of the pics I took were out of focus, but I did get some reasonable shots, as shown below. I had the camers set on a low f stop, which I now think was wrong.

I would appreciate any suggestions or tips.

http://gallery.photographyreview.com...0/PICT3088.jpg
http://gallery.photographyreview.com...0/PICT3116.jpg
http://gallery.photographyreview.com...0/PICT2814.jpg

[MarcusK]

Hey there,

Well it does get tricky with motor sports, i had my shot at a Rally race, and it wasn't that easy....do you want to blurr the background or not, if so then tons of questions pop up...but personally i would agree on the hit and miss affair...you get used to it after a while, but to get the gr8 ones, i don't see any other way....


Those are some nice shots you got there,,,the second is a blurred the rest I think look gr8!

Nice work!

[cr_mmurillo]

I think the second shot distortion was caused by the heatwave.

[SmartWombat]

For a first attempt this is good, you've got the action and picked your moment nicely.
Your image PICT2814 is the pick of the bunch, you can see his eyes nicely.
But I think you're at the limit of what your camera/lens can do at that distance from the track.

One suggestion is to come on over to the Sports forum ... just a few more down in the forums list
Supermoto Photography

Your photos look good, but the sharpness I would want isn't quite there.
What camera were you using?

I experienced similar problems at the WSB at Silverstone.
Superbikes
I had to use my wife's Panasonic FZ25 instead of my 1D or 20D (everything was at Canon being repaired!) and the results were much like yours.
Same at Circuit de Catalunya.
Konica Minolta A2 vs F1 cars
In the end, cropping from a P&S when the lens isn't long enough zoom wasn't satisfactory.

I would like to know if I am using the correct method for photographing moving objects.
I set up my camera on manual focus, then focused at one point on the track. When the bikes came near to the point I was focused on i just kept shooting until they were out of the frame.
It was a kind of hit and miss affair.

Yes that will be hit & miss, until you learn the timing.
Even with a DSLR instead of a P&S it takes time for me to get back into the swing of it after a week or two off.

I think this is the problem though "near to the point I was focused on i just kept shooting "
Your camera, even if it shoots 8 frames a second, at 1/100 second exposure that means there's 92/100 of a second that you aren't taking a picture.
It's always going to be hit and miss until you get the knack of taking one shot, when the bike IS in focus instead of a few shots before it comes into focus and a few after it goes out of focus - maybe with one in focus in the middle...

In the end that's why I bought a DSLR to replace my P&S, because I wanted to get away from pre-focussing and be able to capture fast moving action with fast autofocus.

Your pre-focus technique is great for the apex of the corner, but if someone goes off line and you're not shooting head on then it will be out of focus. Seems to me it's usually when they are off line they do something spectacular, like overtake, or fall off.

Keep shooting, and please post a few in the sports forum!