Speedster's Gallery // July-October

I'm going to be having two closely followed updates due to a slight delay in me editing the British GT shots. So first up, British GT.

Sorry for the very late thread on this event. I've been busy polishing off my GCSE's and have had to restrain myself from doing much with these shots. I went on the Saturday (30th of June) which was mostly qualifying but I think I managed to get some good ones. I think I'm now finding my limit with Rockingham without gaining a media pass so I can't see myself visiting again for quite awhile.

Sorry they don't really show much variation but there wasn't much to work with. Gosh, I'd give anything for a media pass these days.

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Full Set on FlickR

C&C Welcome. The other set of shots (Cadwell Park BRSCC Meet) coming soon. 👍

Enjoy.
 
I love how you've caught the eye of the driver in the 2nd picture:)

and if your pictures belonged to me, I would have used the 1st picture in this weeks automotive photography competition:tup:
 
Some good shots in there. I wouldn't give up on shooting from a spectator position. You’ll find that a lot of the shots the media use are actually taken from spectator areas. Look for new angles or even look for artistic shots you can take, not just generic car shots. That's what will separate you from the pack and get the interest of media who can intern (with time) get you a pass to get in a little closer.

Shot 2 works well for me. It has a story to it. 7 & 8 are good as well, well exposed. I agree with the above post from exigeracer that some of the shots have hot spots, but I can also appreciate that it is hard out at the track as you don’t have a lot of control over lighting and positioning etc so it is quite easy to suffer from these problems. One suggestion is a circular polariser. That will cut down on blown out sections on really sunny days.
 
exigeracer
Be careful with exposure. Almost every shot has some really hot spots.
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Yeah the lighting was harsh, I tried most things to reduced the hot spots such as putting on my polariser (which didn't prove to be very helpful) and I even put a cheap lens hood on for a bit too. Neither seemed to do anything.

GTP_Grenade
I love how you've caught the eye of the driver in the 2nd picture:)

and if your pictures belonged to me, I would have used the 1st picture in this weeks automotive photography competition:tup:
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Thanks, I do like the 1st one but I just thought the Ford GT was more, interesting. But I wouldn't be surprised if your right. 👍

Syntax error
Some good shots in there. I wouldn't give up on shooting from a spectator position. You’ll find that a lot of the shots the media use are actually taken from spectator areas. Look for new angles or even look for artistic shots you can take, not just generic car shots. That's what will separate you from the pack and get the interest of media who can intern (with time) get you a pass to get in a little closer.

Shot 2 works well for me. It has a story to it. 7 & 8 are good as well, well exposed. I agree with the above post from exigeracer that some of the shots have hot spots, but I can also appreciate that it is hard out at the track as you don’t have a lot of control over lighting and positioning etc so it is quite easy to suffer from these problems. One suggestion is a circular polariser. That will cut down on blown out sections on really sunny days.
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I'm not giving up on shooting as a spectator, I enjoy motorsport too much to do that. It's mainly Rockingham being restrictive as far as accessibility to corners and many areas of the rest of the track. The only real places you can get good photographs is ontop of the pit garages (panning down the main straight) and through the fence at Tarzan (the corner), although it must be said Rockingham is great for pit type shots with people working on the cars etc. I'm still certain that I can do spectator photography at places like Cadwell Park, which is technically nearer, and I'm planning on going to some more different events over the Summer involving Motorsport in some shape or form.

Concerning the hot spot issue, I think another element to these hot spots could well be that the track is very exposed, it doesn't really have any foliage to filter sun light which makes it very harsh lighting, as previously mentioned. I'm thinking I need to invest in a better polariser seeming mine hasn't really made a difference to my shots, I even did some comparison ones on the day, but I've binned them now so I can't really show you what I mean.

Anyway, I decided to add another shot to the batch, a less than successful panorama of the circuit. To make this better I think I would have needed a tripod, definitely.

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Oh and I tried fixing the change in colour (sky) but I couldn't make it match so I left it. If anyone thinks they can do it, please feel free to have a go.
 
Speedster502
I'm not giving up on shooting as a spectator, I enjoy motorsport too much to do that. It's mainly Rockingham being restrictive as far as accessibility to corners and many areas of the rest of the track.
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You had me a little worried there that you where throwing in the towel with the motorsport shots. I particularly enjoy your motorsport shots 👍

Speedster502
I'm thinking I need to invest in a better polariser seeming mine hasn't really made a difference to my shots, I even did some comparison ones on the day, but I've binned them now so I can't really show you what I mean.
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I think one of the problem with circ polariser’s are that you rotate them so that they give you the result you want (ie. eliminate reflections, hotspots etc) and then when you focus on another object the rotating front element ruins the setup. That is unless you have a lens that does not rotate. I picked up a 70-200 f/4L a few weeks ago, and I can't put it down anymore, the front element does not rotate and when you zoom, the lens length doesn't alter either. With my other lenses however, the front element will rotate so the trick is to try and hold the polariser is place gently while you focus and shoot. This technique is particularly easy if you are a multi handed god like Vishnu but take some mastering for us mere two handed mortals.
 
Syntax error
You had me a little worried there that you where throwing in the towel with the motorsport shots. I particularly enjoy your motorsport shots 👍
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Nope! Definitely not! Infact I should hopefully be going to a rally cross event this weekend, so I'm not packing motorsport photography in at all. Gives me a chance to shoot a variety of vehicles. Thanks for your comment on my motorsport shots too, its much appreciated. 👍

I think one of the problem with circ polariser’s are that you rotate them so that they give you the result you want (ie. eliminate reflections, hotspots etc) and then when you focus on another object the rotating front element ruins the setup. That is unless you have a lens that does not rotate. I picked up a 70-200 f/4L a few weeks ago, and I can't put it down anymore, the front element does not rotate and when you zoom, the lens length doesn't alter either. With my other lenses however, the front element will rotate so the trick is to try and hold the polariser is place gently while you focus and shoot. This technique is particularly easy if you are a multi handed god like Vishnu but take some mastering for us mere two handed mortals.
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Ah I see, I'll try that next time I'm out with the camera, might make things difficult though. Perhaps manually focusing the camera instead of using AF would improve this. Maybe. Anyway, I'll try that next time :)

Moving on...

Here are my pictures from the races at Cadwell Park last weekend, races included Formula Jedi Championship, BESCR, Scottish Mini Cooper Cup and Porsche 964's. However, although I did take pictures of the Porsche's they weren't particularly interesting so I left them out.

The weather was great on the actual day, only towards the very end did it look like it was going to rain and even still we were leaving back then. I was quite pleased with the shots I took.

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More can be seen here: Full Set

C&C Welcome.

Thanks,

Adam
 
Syntax error
Cool set. My favorite is actually this one.

Shot 1 & 3 are also cool. Great panning. 👍
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Thanks, I wasn't too sure about that one due to the negative comments I got elsewhere (Canon Photography Forums and Talk Photography) on the processing style for those kind of shots, so I left it out of the actual post. I'd like to say I'm improving panning but I always seem to change the wrong settings when I'm doing it so then I don't get enough blur, its quite annoying at times.

Thanks again for your comment. 👍
 
That shot of the racing driver catching your eye is absolutely amazing, it really caught my eye! You seem to have a good eye for motorsports photography, I really should get to more events myself. We might even be able to meet up sometime! 👍
 
Moglet
That shot of the racing driver catching your eye is absolutely amazing, it really caught my eye! You seem to have a good eye for motorsports photography, I really should get to more events myself. We might even be able to meet up sometime! 👍
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Thanks very much! I suppose that if someone enjoys what their shooting then that is reflected in the photographs I guess. It be interesting to see what you could come up with at a motorsport event and yeah that would be great if we could meet up at a racing event or something 👍
 
Speedster502
Thanks, I wasn't too sure about that one due to the negative comments I got elsewhere (Canon Photography Forums and Talk Photography) on the processing style for those kind of shots, so I left it out of the actual post. I'd like to say I'm improving panning but I always seem to change the wrong settings when I'm doing it so then I don't get enough blur, its quite annoying at times.

Thanks again for your comment. 👍
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I find that generally on forums like the Canon one, most of the guys have a preconceived notion of exactly what a motorsport shot should look like which in turn is not very conducive to individuality.

With panning, it can be quite difficult. I'll loose a few shots playing with settings, but generally I shoot about 1-2 stops down from the recommended hand held minimum for the lens eg, about 1/200 at 200mm or about 1/30 at 105mm.
 
Syntax error
I find that generally on forums like the Canon one, most of the guys have a preconceived notion of exactly what a motorsport shot should look like which in turn is not very conducive to individuality.

With panning, it can be quite difficult. I'll loose a few shots playing with settings, but generally I shoot about 1-2 stops down from the recommended hand held minimum for the lens eg, about 1/200 at 200mm or about 1/30 at 105mm.
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Ah yeah I see what you mean, suppose individuality is the key to getting your images stand out from everyone else's though :)

See that last think is what I usually forget, I tend to chuck it on around f/11 which is generally about 1/100th shutter speed then go from there. If they seem to be coming out a bit unsharp then I might lower the f/stop to about f/9 or something along those lines. If the cars still aren't coming in focus particularly I tend to bump up the ISO a little. Just so then it doesn't make sound entirely stupid, these were tips which GilesGutherie gave me just before my first ever motorsport event (Richard Burns Memorial Rally) seeming I'd never panned before.
 
I'm going to be shooting a Air Show on the weekend, Waddington International Airshow to be precise. I haven't really shot aircraft doing displays before or had the opportunity to get fairly close to them. Sure I shoot them from out my back window but its not the same as a fully blown air show. So, tips would be appreciated for both jet aircraft and propellor aircraft, also should I still shoot RAW on this or JPG? Seeming the amount of shots I'll probably taking will be very high with a low keepers rate. So tips please!
 
Hardest thing to achieve with airshows is prop blur. You need to shoot no faster than 1/320s, so you'll be at ISO100, and wishing for a neutral density filter. (note: you can use a CPL for this if you have one).

Otherwise, make sure you're in AI Servo focus mode, check your histogram for exposure, and listen to the commentators, as they'll help you to anticipate where the next shot is coming from.

When you're shooting statics, include people in the shot.
 
GilesGuthrie
Hardest thing to achieve with airshows is prop blur. You need to shoot no faster than 1/320s, so you'll be at ISO100, and wishing for a neutral density filter. (note: you can use a CPL for this if you have one).

Otherwise, make sure you're in AI Servo focus mode, check your histogram for exposure, and listen to the commentators, as they'll help you to anticipate where the next shot is coming from.

When you're shooting statics, include people in the shot.
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Cheers Giles, I don't have a neutral density filter but pretty sure I have a circular polariser, but recently been having some probelms with it. But I'll still take it in case I fancy giving it a try. Concerning statics, I don't think I'll have a probelm with having people in those shots, Waddington is supposed to be packed both days.

GTP_Grenade
I'm going to Waddington too:tup: (saturday), I hope the weather is better than today.
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Hey, have fun! I'm going on the Sunday with a friend of mine so should be good fun. I'm not expecting brilliant shots (never done airshows before, well not since the F40fd which was a completely different type of camera!), but should be fun nevertheless.
 
Well, yesterday was Waddington Internation Air Show 2009. I have not finished going through all my shots yet, infact no where near. I took over 1174 shots across the whole day and I'm not even halfway through them. However, currently set as my MSN display picture is one I took. I've been told by many friends that it's quite a good shot. I'm not convinced to be honest, I do like it but its not as perfect as they all describe. I'm interested to hear your opinions about it especially since this was part of my first ever air show. As I say its been cropped a little bit.



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Enjoy!
 
My only complaint is that the two planes on the left side of the frame are blurry. But that could be fixed with a higher shutter speed. Other than that. I like it. Keep up the good work and post more of those 1174 shots.
 
bergauk
My only complaint is that the two planes on the left side of the frame are blurry. But that could be fixed with a higher shutter speed. Other than that. I like it. Keep up the good work and post more of those 1174 shots.
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I was on the fastest speed I could achieve without bumping the ISO up, which I couldn't see being necessary seeming the weather was great. Anyway thanks for your comments, and I'll get to work on the rest of the shots. 👍
 
That's a fantastic shot 👍

I had trouble all day with shooting into the sun, most of the planes in my pictures just look like silhouette's, not at all rich with colour like yours. I did have a play around with the white balance, but in all honesty I havn't a clue what I'm doing (I really must book a collage course :banghead:) so I just gave up and just watched the show, and what a so it was:tup: It's a shame the Vulcan didn't fly but the helicopter's made up for it, the Apache, Lynx and Chinhook displays were superb:tup:
 
GTP_Grenade
That's a fantastic shot 👍

I had trouble all day with shooting into the sun, most of the planes in my pictures just look like silhouette's, not at all rich with colour like yours. I did have a play around with the white balance, but in all honesty I havn't a clue what I'm doing (I really must book a collage course :banghead:) so I just gave up and just watched the show, and what a so it was:tup: It's a shame the Vulcan didn't fly but the helicopter's made up for it, the Apache, Lynx and Chinhook displays were superb:tup:
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I think the weather on the Saturday was much warmer and clearer than the weather on Sunday which would have caused the silhouettes. One thing to have a go with might be a tool called Shadows and Highlights on Adobe Photoshop. You might be able to gain some of your lost details, however try not to overuse the effect, it reduces the quality of the picture. 👍

I agree the show was fantastic, to be honest I wasn't to bothered about the Vulcan as there were other things to watch. I was amazed by the helicopter displays, sadly I only caught the end of Chinook display (without the Falcons) and the single Lynx's photos dissappeared in a transferring accident (learnt my lesson now!) but I still have ones of the Apache. What a machine that is too 👍

Thanks for the compliments on the shot, especially considering its my first proper time at a airshow. 👍
 
I like it. Yeah the two planes are a little blurry but overall it's a very well framed shot. Good colour as well. 👍
 
Syntax error
I like it. Yeah the two planes are a little blurry but overall it's a very well framed shot. Good colour as well. 👍
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Cheers Syntax, I think it probably would have been a generally nicer shot if the sky was a bit more blue. But you can't change the weather!
 
Lovely shot, can't wait to see the rest.

👍


GTP_Grenade
That's a fantastic shot 👍

I had trouble all day with shooting into the sun, most of the planes in my pictures just look like silhouette's, not at all rich with colour like yours. I did have a play around with the white balance, but in all honesty I havn't a clue what I'm doing (I really must book a collage course :banghead:) so I just gave up and just watched the show, and what a so it was:tup: It's a shame the Vulcan didn't fly but the helicopter's made up for it, the Apache, Lynx and Chinhook displays were superb:tup:
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One tip is to take a reading from a patch of grass in direct light and then use that as a manual setting. That way you will be close to the correct light reading, and the bright sky will not throw the exposure right out of range.


Regards

Scaff
 
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Thanks for the comments guys 👍

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Finally, I've shifted through most of the photographs and come across what I consider to be my best, which may or may not be true. I'll let you guys decide. Of course one thing to bear in mind is that this was my first air show, I didn't really know what to expect and how to shoot it. In this update I've got some action shots, and some static shots. Of course, these are what I considered to be the good ones of the bunch. I haven't done much editing to these other than levels really. These were not taken in RAW as I would not have been able to take the amount of shots that I did take on the day. Weather wise, it was fairly good, quite warm and it only got fairly overcast during the Eurofighter display.

Anyway, C&C welcome.

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Thats about it for now, however if you can I'd appreciate it if you could check out the full set on My Flickr.

Enjoy.

:cheers:
 
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Anything? I think my thread just got pushed down by the increase in activity around here all of a sudden. But it would be nice to get some comments.
 
Nice shots and I must confess not a subject I have ever tried taking on myself.

I particularly like the last shot, the smoke trails build nicely as your eye moves up the frame.


Good stuff

Scaff
 
Some great shots there. I really enjoy the framing of 6 & 8 in particular. A slower shutter speed would have been cool with the chopper, I tend to find blurred blades work a little better on those types of shots.
 

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