Club Arnage

I have over the last few years got into my photography quite a lot. i have a good knowledge of how a camera works and would like any tips you guys have to getting that killer shot. i dont have a press pass and probably never will, unless p+o want to get one for me. ;D.
i have a 300mm lens so can fill the picture with a car but they always appear out of focus. i've posted a few from this weekends 1000km for your critisism and help?

Nice photo , where has it gone , its very out of focus.........

Or it that not on the page
 ;D

Have you ever tried to put a film in the camera before taking the "killer shot" ?  ;D  Sorry, but couldn't resist.

Hi LMSPS,

Haven't seen the photo yet but whatever you do, make sure your camera has a manual focus.

My Canon EOS3 has both auto and manual modes and I use the auto for some pitlane stuff and to preset the focus but that's about it.

Choose a marker point, and autofocus on that (or focus manually), then set to manual. If shooting head on, use a high shutter speed but if panning try for something a little longer to create an impression of speed.

I use a utility 35-350 Canon lens for everything. I know that CA Grand Fromage has much bigger lenses (compensation Dave???) and produces far better results than I can dream of but budgetary restrictions come into play here.

One bit of advice that John Brooks gave me which I think is invaluable (and assuming you have the facility available) is to fire three shots in quick succession just before the car hits your marker and theoretically at least one should be a goodie. This can obviously be a little expensive but what cost a few rolls of film for a cracking shot as opposed to a succession of "just out" shots?

Good luck!

Cheers

Rick

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That's actually a very helpfull advice. As for the cost, this might be a good reason to use a digital camera because the cost per picture (in large volumes) is much lower than with a conventional camera.
Also, the lower the shutter speed the faster the picture looks. However, the shutter speed shouldn't be too low because natural body movement reduces the sharpness.

Certainly works for me!  ;D

One major disadvantage I have when taking photographs of the race is that the ACO have put up big wire fences between me and the cars.
Plus, being a short arse, people tend to walk in front of me.

So just how do you get a press pass..............?????

If you find an answer to that please let me know.

Lots of hard graft and even harder brown nosing!!  ;)

I've got the right surname  ;)

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LOL!!  :D

thanks for the advice. Looking at my set up i was on a speed of 1/160 and an aperature of 5.6 but they just dont look as crisp as your shots. i bought a fuji finepix s602 a little while ago so have the advantage of not having to pay for film or processing. i will try the 3 continuos shooting next time at an event. i think i may be focusing wrong. i pick a point on the track and focus on it but when i release the shutter im not looking at the point i focussed on, if that makes sense :(

will try to post some pictures again............

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LM SPS, they look pretty good to my untrained eye.

thanks but if you look at the ones posted by the pros they are a lot crisper than mine. thanks anyway though.

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Two more should do it  ;)

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Good shot  ;D

Wookie



Huurah , no more a newbie.


The photos look good to me. Bearing in mind you are at least 25 metres away, at a height of 15 metres up, you are doing well .rick and Dave have brown nose passes so get the shots nearer , flatter , so to speak .

Have you tried the P&O idea yet , thats got to have some ground in it..

Morgan looks good though

Great pics guys, and thanks for the tips, I'll try some manual shutter speed on my Canon - I'll been lazy to date and use full auto (except on the focus at times)

Auto settings in a camera is like a car with an auto box - you don't choose how or when to make something happen.   Unless you are talking expensive stuff, bear in mind that auto settings are not optimised for high-speed sports photography, but for mr average to take holiday pictures.   I've found that digital cameras are great from a point of view of not wasting film, but the great difficulty with many is the shutter delay - i.e. when the screen goes black for a couple of seconds and you don't know when the shutter is actually going to open in that time - at least with a manual camera, the shutter clicks when you press the button!

Mark

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It seems there's no end to what can be done with photo manipulation on a PC.  What sort of software would ou recommend for this purpose?

cheers for all the tips guys. Very useful

Thinking about it i am a hell of a long way away ,shooting a car donig a ton ,stood on a windy hilly bank, no tripod to steady myself and on this occasion, bloody freezing. what more did i expect? Still i am british so must moan  >:(

I use photoshop 7 as my pc software. have been using it a long time now and must say it can make a hell of a difference to the pictures, when you get to know it. i would definetly recommend it but at £500 to buy it should be good. photoshop elements its a more affordable piece of kit at about £70. its just like ps7 but a more basic level.

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Very nice LM SPS!!

I use Photoshop 5.5 which does loads but intrigued to know what 7 does extra? Been wondering for a while whether or not to upgrade.

Cheers

Rick

there a few improvements in ps7. a new interface for starts. bit easier to navigate. new auto image control buttons for levels, contrast and colours. useful. i think the healing brush is new. great for quick picture touch ups when there is something small wrong( dust or marks on the picture.) similar to the patch tool. i use this one alot to improve old photos which have signs of age to them. more custom brushes. there is quite a lot new but i think ps8 is about to be released so it may be worth cosidering as im sure the price of ps7 will fall.

hope this helps.
i think i should apply to work for adobe sales.


commision?

Excellent photos guys, I just wish I could find mine out from the mid eightys all fine works of art, I had every single fire extinguisher by the track in focus, but not much in the way of cars that went hurtling past, I had my old russian 35mm with its 125 lens set on 1000th sec. I blame it on the lemonade in the pernod, I knew there was something wrong when it turned cloudy, ;D Still much frivolity, better than my mate duggie - (performance cars in Sunderland) with his posh Canon, the only problem was that duggie had glasses like bottom of milk bottles I never did see any picture in focus and BTW he blamed the brandy (not enough of the stuff by my reckoning).

... you didn't ask me for any copyright as the owner of the car  ;)

dream on gillies, dream on.

If ti's a replica, it's not a dream, just a wish  ;)

If ti's a replica, it's not a dream, just a wish  ;)


unless the owner is happy to leave his £million car in a packed carpark, im betting its a replica. nice one though  :o

No it was real, have you still got the origional photo with the registration plate on ?

That will prove it being an origional

no reg on the origonal pic. must be a dud.

good looking dud ,mind.