Shooting RC Championship

[Carthik]

I thought this would be the most appropriate forum. I plan on shooting the Magma Indoor Championship 2007 (http://www.magmarc.ca) and would like any tips and advice. I do not have much shooting experience and need some quick pointers before this weekend. My equipment is a 10D with a 50mm f/1.8 MKII lens. Any suggestions in relation to aperture, shutter and ISO? Possible any other settings?

One mistake I constantly make is underestimate the bokeh capabilities of the 1.8.

Any help is greatly appreciated,

Carthik

[JDB]

You might find the 50 to be a bit short, but it's certainly fast enough.
I don't know how the lighting will be where you're shooting. At the indoor track I normally shoot at, I shoot with the 85 f1.8 and usually shoot somewhere in the neighborhood of 1/320 at f2.8, ISO 1600 without flash. If there's just not enough light to get sharp shots without flash, I'd drop the shutter speed to where you're still getting a decent amount of ambient light in the exposure and use second curtain sync (if you're using a hotshoe flash; I'm really not sure how effective the on-camera flash will be for this).
Pre-focus on a point on the track, and then pan with the cars until they reach that point. Don't be afraid to take plenty of pictures - the keeper rate is generally fairly low for this kind of thing. Indoor RC is a great challenge to shoot, but it can be a bit frustrating at times :confused:
If you're going to be posting these pictures online somewhere where the drivers will have access to them, I'd also recommend getting plenty of shots of people in the pits, working on their cars, hanging out, and just screwing around in general. Most people I've talked to say they find those kinds of pictures more interesting to look through than shots of the cars on the track. If you'd like to take a look at some of the stuff I've done in the past, I have my racing pictures here: http://www.jbphotography.smugmug.com/At%20the%20Races

I'm sorry that this response is kind of general, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask. with any luck I'll be able to answer them :lol:

[Carthik]

That response was not general at all, It really cleared a lot of things up. I am very new to the whole SLR thing and one thing I tend to do is set the aperture so low that only one part of the car would be in focus. you say keep my aperture aroun 2.8, does it make a difference since I'm using the nifty? I only have the onboard flash so not many options there. I will try and find some pics of the track and post them and perhaps you can advise me with ISO settings with that. I really appreciate your response.

Carthik

[Carthik]

http://www.magmarc.ca/2006/pictures/misc/images/mics%20(3).jpg

http://www.magmarc.ca/2006/pictures/race/images/Racing.jpg

http://www.magmarc.ca/2006/pictures/group/images/group%20pictures%20(1).jpg
http://www.magmarc.ca/2006/pictures/group/images/group%20pictures%20(4).jpg

http://www.magmarc.ca/2006/pictures/pit/images/pit%20(3).jpg

http://www.magmarc.ca/2006/pictures/pit/images/pit%20(18).jpg

most important:
trophie awarding;

http://www.magmarc.ca/2006/pictures/trophy/images/trophy%20(6).jpg

correct me if im wrong but those are flourescent lights right? So should I set my white balance to that or leave it on auto?

[randerson07]

dont forget to get some good shots of the guys on the drivers stand. I always liked to see pics of the goofy faces and poses me and the rest of the drivers make. The only racing pics ive ever taken were with a point and shoot and they turned out like doo-doo butter. I had planned on doing alot of racing this winter, but the local carpet track closed. I hope to see you posting some pics after the race. Good Luck

[JDB]

I would set your white balance to flourescent and see how it looks. As for ISO and aperture, I would start out at 1600 and see what that gives you; I have a feeling that's what'll work best, but I could be wrong! And I can't really tell you for sure what aperture to use, as it depends entirely on the lighting at the track and how good your timing is. Not only does the narrow depth of field make it difficult to actually get the car in focus, the (relatively) lower shutter speeds of shooting indoors may make stopping the motion problematic (although it's not such a bad thing if you're good at panning). When you get there and find a comfortable setting, you can start making trade-offs. If you think that you're doing ok with getting the car within the depth of field but there's trouble with motion blur, raise the shutter speed and open up the aperture a bit, or vice versa if you're doing OK freezing the car's motion but are struggling with your timing and find that your focus is a bit off.

[Carthik]

thanks for all the advice, I will try and keep it all in my head.

and anderson, thats too bad. Thats actually part of the reasons I quit racing RC, I just spend a hundred dollars on a track membership and they closed down the next week or so. I plan on getting back into it with this new track though.

And I will need the luck,

Carthik

[Carthik]

quick question, what is second curtain sync? how do I do this? and is it only for when using flash?

[NordieBoy]

2nd curtain sync is when the flash flashes at the end of the exposure instead of the start.
Effect is of a sharp object with a trail following.
1st curtain sync (normal) ends up with a sharp object and the trail preceeding which makes it look like it's going backwards.

[SkipD]

correct me if im wrong but those are flourescent lights right? So should I set my white balance to that or leave it on auto?I would suggest that you shoot in RAW with the camera set to your best guess as to the proper white balance. In RAW conversion, you can adjust the white balance easily.

With fluorescent lighting, there is a very high possibility that you may need to use specific shutter speeds to get a consistent exposure and color quality. If the lighting has magnetic ballasts, the intensity and color changes with the power line frequency. Some of the shots above show the kind of inconsistency that I would expect with this sort of lighting when using shutter speeds that are too fast. With magnetic ballasts and 60 Hz power, the only shutter speeds that will give you consistent exposure and color are 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, and 1/120 second (of course, you could use slower shutter speeds that follow the same trend).

To test the lighting for the problem, try shooting a quick series of shots at a much higher shutter speed than 1/120 second and preferably a shutter speed that is not easily divisible by 1/120. Compare all the shots (on a computer, not on the camera) and compare exposure levels and color balance.

[NordieBoy]

As Skip says...
If you're not sure - shoot RAW.

The more I shoot the less I use RAW but if it's an important shot and I'm not sure about the exposure/white balance etc then it's RAW time.

If I had a 20D I maybe would use RAW more as the 10D is ummmm.... sluggish clearing the buffer :D