Night Fire Top Fuel Championships

[ozonejunkie]

Hi All,
Just to add to all the posts featuring drag racing photos, I was at the drags at Willowbank on Saturday evening.

It was really challenging taking photos in the conditions, as most of it was under floodlights after dark and it was my first time at the drags. I know there are some motor sport photographers out there - and I would love some advice on how to better these!

All pics taken with 70-200 f4L, at ISO 3200.








More can be found at: http://photos.ozonejunkie.com/v/msport/dragjan07/.

Tristan

[NJ]

that low noise is incredible! they have less noise at 3200 than my D50 at 1600!
great shots though, those flames really come to life at night.

EDIT: ok maybe the same as mine at 1600

[Kyle]

What apertures are you running?

Go for as low as you can go, up the iso, i see you haev there.. lol
shutter of around 1/150th and pan very very well, should get it looking good.
Also, try software like dxo optics to get the lighting brought up a little, can help


Here's one i took a couple of weeks ato @ wsid http://www.ks-photog.net/gallery/d/548- ... 261206.jpg


Basically it comes down to practice, you NEED to pan with the car, otherwise it will never be sharp, simple as that.

[Shoot]

Im not quite sure how to put into words what im trying to ask, but would it also be better to shoot with say a 100mm lens rather than a 200mm and then crop it to minimise blur?

-Rob.

[Kyle]

Then I think you would lose too much detail, and the amount of noise evident would kill the detail anyway

[Oscar]

Pretty good first up effort Tristan.

Love the feeling of motion from the blurred background in #1 & #3.
Nice detail in #2.

I haven't tried panning - imagine it would take a little practice to master.

Were you taking multiple shots as you panned??

Cheers, Mick

[ozonejunkie]

Thanks for the advice / comments guys!

What apertures are you running?
.......
Basically it comes down to practice, you NEED to pan with the car, otherwise it will never be sharp, simple as that.

All of these were taken wide open at f4.0.

I was aware that panning was required, but it is easier to say it, then do it.
Especially when both cars manage a run over 300mph!

Were you taking multiple shots as you panned??

I certainly was - I would get about 10-11 shots off per run, then review and delete bad ones between runs.

I was really impressed (to say the least) with the low noise of the 30D, the 300D would've laughed at me to do what I did with the 30D!

Keep the comments coming please!

Tristan

[Kyle]

You weren't panning?

You were lucky theyre as sharp as they are

[Raskill]

Im not quite sure how to put into words what im trying to ask, but would it also be better to shoot with say a 100mm lens rather than a 200mm and then crop it to minimise blur?

-Rob.

You could crop, but like Kyle said, you'll lose detail, unless you already have panning down to a fine art.

If you are shooting at 100mm, you could have your shutter speed almost down to 1/100. Your shutter speed should always be above your focal length. (***always*** depends on what your shooting, but it's a good rule of thumb).

Getting Drag cars off the mark, with tyre deformation and panning is incredibly hard. You'd usually find it easier to get them at full steam and pan with them as the speed is more constant.

If you want to get them off the mark, try a nice short focal length and get as close as possible. Ideally you'd have a constant F/2.8 (or faster) lens, which would let in the light and allow for faster shutter speeds at lower ISO.

Image three is my favourite here, with the ironic logo on the car, followed by number one. I don't mind number two, but it loses a bit (IMHO) by distance from the subject and the people in the way. But, that being said, it's still a good image.

Well done and keep em coming!

[Kyle]

[quote="Raskill
If you want to get them off the mark, try a nice short focal length and get as close as possible. Ideally you'd have a constant F/2.8 (or faster) lens, which would let in the light and allow for faster shutter speeds at lower ISO./quote]
C'mon man, i've done it with f5.6

[ozonejunkie]

You weren't panning?

You were lucky theyre as sharp as they are

I was attempting to pan, sometimes I did a better job then other times. There is no way (that I could think of) that you could get pics with motion blur, w/o panning. Except maybe Photoshop.

Tristan

[ozonejunkie]

Thanks for your words Raskill, I will try a few of those ideas next time I am at the drags.

These images are all cropped, I think most of them would have originally been around the 70-100mm mark. I was also shooting at either 1/125 or 1/160 shutter speed FWIW.

Thanks all for your advice! Feel free to keep it coming, it is all appreciated!

Tristan