F1 pics from USGP 2004

[srika]

http://delobbo.com/img/f1/f1usgp2004.html

here are some standouts:

[mtbbrian]

Very Colorful! Very Fast!
Excellent use of panning, which creates great lines in the background.
Please post smaller images next time, as a "rule" we preffer images be no more than 600 pixels.
Brian

[srika]

sorry, I'm still a newbie... I will keep that in mind for next time.

[mtbbrian]

No Worries!
Glad you are a part of our community.
I look forward to seeing more.
Don't forget about the other forums here, especially the Critique Forum.
Brian

[statebirdme]

these are all great i was just wondering what equipment you used for these shots

[Photo-John]

these are all great i was just wondering what equipment you used for these shots

I'm wondering, too. Most of them are a little soft. But it looks like you were shooting through the fence and F1 can't be easy to shoot. All things considered, I think these look pretty good. But if you tell us more about how you shot them, including your camera, maybe we can make some suggestions for improving your next racing photos.

[srika]

yeah most of them are through the fence..... :<

using a Nikon D70 with base-line Nikkor 70-300mm zoom (the cheap one, for now) - also used a Quantaray "2x" teleconverter for some shots. did not have a tripod handy.

suggestions to take better shots definitely welcome, and thanks in advance. it was my first time photographing motorsports and I definitely have much to learn and experience.

srika

[SmartWombat]

It's usually hard from the spectator side of the fence, particularly if you're close to the action! It seems the closer you get, the harder the shot is, because the fence is closer.

I got great shots in Germany (Hockenheim 2003) because I was further back/up in the stand and could see down and over the fence.

In Spain our position wasn't too good, but I went to testing early in the year and got excellent shots from the front of one grandstand.
http://smartowner.co.uk/gallery/albu...ICT1030?full=1

Also I was able to get up on the roof of the pit lane garages and shoot down into the cars.
http://smartowner.co.uk/gallery/albu...ICT0917?full=1


I think either you have to choose to spectate, and get a nice close seat.
Or choose to photograph, and get a clear view.
Only in a very few places can you get both.

Once you have the fence in your face, then you need to do exactly what you did - pan with a relatively slow shutter speed to blur out the fence.
That makes it much harder to get a good sharp picture of the car.

Main thing is find some way to keep in practice. I was at testing for 4 days and towards the end I had a much better hit rate than the first two days. If you don't do it often enough then you have to re-learn next time.
http://smartowner.co.uk/gallery/album162

My photos of the Goodwood Festival of Speed show that. Panning was much improved after the first 30 cars
http://smartowner.co.uk/gallery/album198


It's like riding (or falling off) a bicycle, once you've done it, you'll always remember how.