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The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Creative Convention > The Dorkroom > Shooting The Jocks Who Beat Us Up As Kids: Sports Photography Megathread
 
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gh0st
May 24, 2011

 I shoot car stuff, which includes sports/race/track/drag events. If anyone has questions about track-oriented techniques like tracking, panning, car to car, etc...hit me up!
* # ¿ Jul 6, 2011 23:01
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# ¿ May 6, 2024 09:59
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gh0st
May 24, 2011

JHVH-1 posted:

I'm going to be snapping some photos at a VW car show later this month and have never done it before. What kind of setup do you generally bring? I bought a circular polarizer filter since it will be during the day shooting.

There will be autocross and drag racing events, so I may use it to try out panning. I have watched some tutorials on youtube and the like. Do you basically get a shutter speed fast enough and follow the car's movement? What kind of focusing do you normally do, like should I try one of the modes that does motion tracking or attempt to get the area where I know the car will be going by in focus first or something else?

Sorry I am a bit new to this hobby, but any tips or know of any good resources online I'd be interested. I haven't done much of any shooting subjects in motion.

generally pretty good advice already mentioned in this thread. the polarizer will be helpful for the car show portion, for the autocross and drag the panning and tracking will be most challenging. check out the AI SERVO autofocus drive function on your camera, and pick a single autofocus point instead of letting the camera guess between a dozen or so -- sure to be frustrating. you should be able to get decent results with a shutter speed between 1/50th - 1/125th depending on the speed of the cars. the polarizer will work as a bit of a density filter so be sure to leave that on for the panning. make sure you have your legs in a stable position and can rotate freely, and stretch or take some deep breaths before you get started...i find it helps be less shaky.

robertdx posted:

you'll need to be shooting at ISO 100 or 50, around f/22+ to be able to get anywhere near 1/100th of a second shutter speed. ND filters can help some but I honestly never use them.
...
The cool thing is that focus doesn't always matter so much. I mean it can, but generally you don't need to worry about setting autofocus and having your camera track with a car. At f/22 you can set something that is kind of close and not have to worry. What determines if something is in focus or not really depends on how well you pan with the object, and when you release the shutter.
Hate to be the one to say it, but if you're going to respond to advice requests you ought to be capable. These two bits in particular are genuinely bad advice, maybe even comically bad, but definitely loaded with poor/lazy shooting form. If the reason why this is bad advice does not strike you *immediately* you ought to consider adblocking the forum reply button.

A5H posted:

Is that enzo/mc12 shot car to car?
Did it get published anywhere with that post??
The Enzo/MC12 bit is car to car, from a series of crossprocessed car images I made a few years ago. The more popular/published frame from that series was shot with a different Enzo.
* # ¿ Jul 7, 2011 18:14
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gh0st
May 24, 2011

JAY ZERO SUM GAME posted:

What are those orange things in the exhaust?
Mufflers to keep radiant exhaust heat down during stops.

robertdx posted:

So how about you explain to me why my advice is bad instead of just bitching at me for the fact that I actually posted some advice. I mean if there is something about the examples I've posted that offends you feel free to tell me why. This forum works a lot better when people come with a constructive mindset. For you to say I'm lazy and that I gave comically bad advice strikes me as unnecessarily abrasive. I like your work, but gently caress off with the negativism.
Yikes, I'm not tryin' to beat you up over bad advice. As you asked, I'll put this in the simplest and friendliest terms I can :keke:
-focus always matters. offering as advice the idea of focus not mattering is bad. There are better solutions than simply ignoring it.
-shooting at the absolute limits of any lens is usually bad. wide open or fully closed you will see imperfections such as chromatic aberration, image softness, and vignetting. Especially true in zoom lenses.
-ND filters will help more than just a little bit, they are a comprehensive tool for controlling light and are used in all fields of photography and cinematography.

I HATE CARS posted:

...
long time no see sweet cheeks! :swoon:

* # ¿ Jul 8, 2011 23:21
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gh0st
May 24, 2011

A5H posted:

Cars are rad


IMG_9967s by AshBurrows, on Flickr


IMG_0078s by AshBurrows, on Flickr


IMG_0064s by AshBurrows, on Flickr


IMG_0049s by AshBurrows, on Flickr

nice work! love the corner position shots (2,4)

* # ¿ Aug 19, 2011 20:33
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The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Creative Convention > The Dorkroom > Shooting The Jocks Who Beat Us Up As Kids: Sports Photography Megathread