The Need for Speed

[maplestreet]

Caught this one at the drag races this evening. Was experimenting with different ISO, shutter speeds and aperture. I wanted a clear image of the rider in motion but with nice streaking bokeh. This was the best I could do as fast as they were going and in the evening light. Challenging conditions yes, but I'm sure I could have done better than this. Any advice would be great as long as its not "sell your camera" hehe

[IMG][/IMG]

[armando_m]

I think you did an outstanding job in the panning with a clear image of the rider and vehicle, you used the right speed to make everything else blurry communicating very clearly the sense of speed

Outstanding!

[Anbesol]

I actually think you could have done more in panning, as it is, the motion effect is faint. Doesn't look like hes going super fast - I think if you'd hit a ~ 1/15th shutter and pan motion with this, will make for a much more dramatic effect, emphasize more the speed.

And you've got a 40D... Definitely no need to sell that thing!

[llewpics]

Pano is hard to do - longer the exposure, harder it is ...did you use a monopod? If not, try it next time ...with a strap around your neck and camera as far away from you as possible - I learned that trick somewhere ...it actually stabilizes it in all directions than the one you want to pan in.

As far as a shot, I think it's pretty good ...if I would nit pick - I would tray a little bit more contrast, a little bit more saturation - and I would clone out the cones - I am not sure what they add to the scene. There is also a bit of noise in the image ...but maybe grainy look is what you were going for.

Something else (and this is just me) - when I first saw it, I did not think any of this ...I thought - that guy looks slouched and uncomfortable - and where is his racing outfit - he is wearing jeans ....just did not seem to "go together" - but that is a story in itself ...not necessarily and issue ...

[OldClicker]

I actually think you could have done more in panning, as it is, the motion effect is faint. Doesn't look like hes going super fast - I think if you'd hit a ~ 1/15th shutter and pan motion with this, will make for a much more dramatic effect, emphasize more the speed.

And you've got a 40D... Definitely no need to sell that thing!

1/15th would give less BG blur than the current 1/80th, no?

It looks like a good pan to me. Panning is hard.

You could try a little rear sync flash (looks like you are close enough with the 130mm lens) along with the pan to give the machine/rider a little 'motion'.

Terry

[Greg McCary]

I think a small crop from the bottom just above the cone on the left and the clone the remaining one on the right.

[Anbesol]

1/15th would produce more motion, you just pan longer. I've personally done that with a bike that was going very slow, and the 1/15th made it look like it was going much faster.

Granted, a success rate at 1/80th is much greater than at 1/15th, I still prefer the effect of a 1/15th.

[gahspidy]

Excellent shot. The pan is fine and the rider adequately sharp. Panning at 1/15 would certainly give more motion blur than the 1/80 you used, but with a 135mm focal length i doubt you would have captured the rider with the sharpness that you have here. i think you struck a perfect balance.
I agree with Greg about the crop. Just a bit up from the bottom to rid the middle cone. and then from the right side just enough to rid the other cone. also, this crop would get the subject out of dead center and allow him to move "into the frame" from the right.

nicely done

[maplestreet]

Thanks for all the great feedback everyone. I'm honestly thrilled to find this thread because I need all the criticism I can get since I'm just starting off.

@ llewpics I know what you mean about his outfit. This isn't a real "race" per say, it's just a track in my area where people can bring their quads/dragsters/mobile homes out and see how fast they can do a 1/4 mile run. I photographed it strictly for practice puproses because I want to photograph a lot of sports and I've been horrible at panning thus far.

@ everyone else Honestly I tried a few with slower shutter speeds and I got a blur everytime, I just couldn't make it happen. 1/80 was the only thing I could get any sharpness out of. I definitely see what you are saying though, here's a decent example from the same shoot. This one was taken @ 1/40 but as you can see, thats where my focus problems started. Though the focus is not there on THIS rider, this one has much nicer blur in the background so I can only imagine how nice it would look at 1/15. Not sure I have the steady hand or the skill required to pull that off yet I will keep practicing.


I made a couple of adjustments based on the comments and so here's version 2.


Again, thank you all for the feedback I have seen the kind of photos you all are accustomed to taking (they are spectacular and make me want to go take pictures) so I appreciate you helping out a newbie.

[OldClicker]

1/15th would produce more motion, you just pan longer. I've personally done that with a bike that was going very slow, and the 1/15th made it look like it was going much faster.

Granted, a success rate at 1/80th is much greater than at 1/15th, I still prefer the effect of a 1/15th.

Sorry, of course. Brain cell failure. - Terry