First try at Speedway tonight.

[springbok]

Hi All,
A new speedway track not 5 mins walk from my house has opened, though it'd be rude not to have a look see.

They had a press and practice night tonight.

I did struggle with the light or lack of it.
It was a cloudy day and they didn't start until 7.30PM so the little light there was faded fast.

Anyway that's the excuses over:D Not too bad for a first attempt I guess.

C&C most welcome, I could do with all the help I can get for this type of motorsport.
#1
http://www.rallyphoto.co.uk/temp/speedway2006/img_1.jpg
#2
http://www.rallyphoto.co.uk/temp/speedway2006/img_2.jpg
#3
http://www.rallyphoto.co.uk/temp/speedway2006/img_6.jpg
#4
http://www.rallyphoto.co.uk/temp/speedway2006/img_8.jpg
#5
http://www.rallyphoto.co.uk/temp/speedway2006/img_9.jpg

[Col_M]

Good pics :)
As it happens i've just left a message with one of the organisers that i semi-know about taking some pics there as it looked like a lot of fun :)

Where were you standing out of interest, inside the track or outside?

[Croasdail]

The daylight shots look good... not thrilled with the flashed shots. You may want to try to get the flash off the camera body so you don't get devil eyes. I am sure mr gavin will have some clues on how to shoot these.

[badgerbaiter]

nice photos

do they allow flash photography at the meetings?

[bikerider]

Yep that guy in #3 is a real demon on the track:lol:.......good shots though, nice and sharp.
Roger.

[gmen]

Good to see some more speedway pics springbok! Good stuff. I might be tempted to crop a little bit tighter on the solo images...

Also, which one is Jessica Lamb? That's a story in itself.

Hope you get the chance to shoot some of the competitive meetings as well. I'll look forward to seeing some shots... speedway makes for a whole variety of images and it looks like you have a nice uncluttered environment to work in.

nice photos

do they allow flash photography at the meetings?Flash is allowed from the centre green (i.e. inside the oval track). It is not allowed from outside the track looking in as that is deemed to be distracting (i.e. the rider is facing directly towards the flash as they come round the bend).

Speedway tracks are rarely well lit, so when the sun goes down, flash is often the only way to get an image. The only decision to make is how much ambient light you want in the mix... whether you want to freeze the riders in their tracks... or whether you decide to introduce some ambient light ('motion') blur using a slow sync and rear-curtain approach.

Editorially speaking, freezing the bikes in their tracks is often the better bet (as springbok has done here) - the slow sync approach can end up looking a bit too 'arty' for news publication purposes.

---- Gavin

[NordieBoy]

I really like the toe-drag in #1 :D

[badgerbaiter]

cheers for the tips gmen