[Peterg984]

Ok here is my second attempt at rally pics after following advice on here

[Arkady]

Good timing, but still 'soft' - the shutter speed is right for the amount of background blur, you just need to work on your panning technique.
Check out Liberalis' site for MotoPix.

[Peterg984]

ok, i`ll practise that next rally and on a busy road some where
heres another pic

[Arkady]

Too loose. Look at all that wasted space around the car.
A picture editor would crop that down to about 10mm around the scooby.

I guess it depends on your reaons for photographing this stuff, but if you're trying to emulate the shots in the MS magazines, look harder at the way they do things. Trust me, people think I'm a harsh critic, but if you ever want to make money at this, you'd better beleive that picture editors are utter, utter Ba***rds when it comes to images they regard as not quite up to scratch.
Most of them are ex-snappers themselves and they've heard all the excuses, beleive me.

If you find that your budget wont stretch to exotic 600mm lenses, stick to what you can do - shots of the drivers relaxing between stages, pit crews, technicians etc - go for detail shots on the cars when they're being worked on - that can sometimes tell more of a story than shots of cars flying into hedges and are always in demand, because hardly anyone shoots them. That way you'll be forced to talk to the teams because you're up close. Offer to share images - teams are always on the lookout for good Page Ranking images. You may even get a break with an up and coming team and land an inside job following them from race to race.

It never hurts to try.

[Peterg984]

the reason i left it big was to get the mud flying out the back as he was in the middle of doing 180 as for a harsh critic, I prefer it that way and then i can learn but I don`t think I`ll ever be selling pictures LOL.

[Arkady]

You never know... Gotta start somewhere.

[Peterg984]

ok last one for tonight

[Joe T]

Mostly due to the weather conditions, both the first and last (and the 2nd to a lessor extent) need a boost to contrast and saturation.

Arkady is right in that tighter crops are required. You also need them to be pin sharp which means getting your shutter speed just right.

[Peterg984]

yes it was a very missy day hence the colours, as for the shutter sped and other settings, I am still trying to work out how to set them as the wife has lost my instruction book (well maybe i should have put it way in the first place).

[Peterg984]

Oh and thanks for the advice, comments and critisium.

[dod]

gotta love the 6R4's though

Here's one of mine from the speyside rally last year, lovely cars

[Liberalis]

There is many more people here better at both taking motorsport photos and giving advice than little old me, but if it help I'll share my thinking on getting a decent shot.

Number one rule: don't kill yourself, putting yourself in a dodgy spot and taking huge risks is not worth it for a shot. On a lot of my images it looks like I am in a very dangerous area, but in fact I'm behind a thick wall, trees, or I have somewhere to run to, *ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A ROUTE TO RUN*

This looks dodgy, but I'm miles away shooting at about 500mm, and the shot is cropped, I'm also next to an open gate, giving me space to run:



Before an event I always get my hands on the stage maps and drive the stages myself if they are on open roads, this way I have a better Idea on what a car will do at a particular bit, ie: if I swerve, dip, jump at normal road speeds, I know a rally car going at warp speed will also do something dramatic. on closed roads, or forrest, I'll walk them, you still a good idea.

With regards to the actual shot, I try and fill the frame with the car, using backgrounds only if it add's something to the shot, for example, fans all looking the same way:



You'll also notice on that image is that there is a little space for the car to move into, rather than a load of empty space behind it.

Blur is definatly a friend, combined with a flash, you can get some cool effects, I would not recommend practicing flash on passing traffic, maybe getting someone to roll a ball across your lounge floor while you shoot would help learn about all the settings.



I'm still learning how to pan, getting that car (or anything else) nice and sharp while getting everythign else blurred is all about practice, practice, and then maybe a little more practice, if it helps, I take a strong stance, tuck my elbows in, and swivel my hips, not my arms. try your setting out on the "Zero" cars (safety cars going at race speeds at the start of a stage)



The only occasion where a freezing the action is a good idea is either on water splashes where getting millions of water drips flying off everywhere can be an interesting shot (blurring them too is a nice effect, as shown on the blue scooby) and jump shots, the problem with slow shutter speeds on these is that the car is not only getting side to side motion, but also up and down, high shutter speeds is the priorty, boost your ISO, largest aperture, anything that helps you freeze the action ... try it on a bouncing ball.



A lot of people ask how I focus when the car is going so fast, I know some of the top guys "Follow focus" = manual focus while following the car in the viewfinder, and its well bloody hard to do, I prefere pre-focus on a spot that I know they will cross, a pebble, or the edge of a puddle ... it doesn't always work, but you cant expect every single shot to come out. I'm experimenting with the camera built in follow focus, trying to keep the crosshairs on the target while panning, its good, but still getting the hang of it.

Follow the car through the viewfinder everywhere, if something goes pear-shaped you'll already be taking the shot.



Hope some of this has been of use.

Regards

Kris

[Catdaddy]

Kris, that's all brilliant advice - thanks for posting it!

[daveyuk]

Thanks for sharing I'll try to put it all to good use this year lol

[Liberalis]

no worries, just hope it of use ... cus it took some bloody typing with one finger, lol

[Matty]

nice one Kris

Peter, i think the firsat picture is ok, as already said the weather sucked on the day, the second needs a heavy crop to focus on the car and its slide, but your getting the idea! Kris has lots of good advice there, definately worth a read!

[Peterg984]

kris thanks for the advice i will try it all out you have got some fantastic shots in there