Pacenotes rally championship at Bishopscourt

[jim9449]

Round 2 of the Pacenotes rally championship at the Bishopscourt track Northern Ireland. heavy rain then sunshine in afternoon, 40D and 70-200 f2.8, EXIF should be intact, C&C please,
Thanks for looking
Jim

#1 Derek McGarrity winner

http://jim9449.smugmug.com/photos/263413531_EwgWv-O.jpg

#2 Conor McCloskey runner up and championship leader

http://jim9449.smugmug.com/photos/263413521_LZdEM-O.jpg

#3 John Waring

http://jim9449.smugmug.com/photos/263425443_etyGX-O.jpg


#4 Paul Hughes in a well presented Mk II

http://jim9449.smugmug.com/photos/263445946_3aAif-O.jpg

#5 Laim McFall

http://jim9449.smugmug.com/photos/263630418_a5fcF-O.jpg

#6 Bob Riddles

http://jim9449.smugmug.com/photos/263630421_pVeaD-O.jpg

#7 Cathel Rodgers

http://jim9449.smugmug.com/photos/263630536_bfyow-O.jpg


#8 P J Gillespie

http://jim9449.smugmug.com/photos/263630625_HeJ5r-O.jpg

[chrispons]

Some great shots,Jim.
I reckon the paul hughes picture is CLASS !
Keep them coming.
Pons

[JustScep]

This was my first attempt at shooting rally cars, As Jim says, terrible conditions for a time...

Gallery online (http://www.aspectimage.net/gallery/bishops08/index.html)

http://www.hardiment.net/gallery/bishops08/image11.jpg

http://www.hardiment.net/gallery/bishops08/image12.jpg

http://www.hardiment.net/gallery/bishops08/image13.jpg

[jim9449]

Some great shots,Jim.
I reckon the paul hughes picture is CLASS !
Keep them coming.
Pons

Cheers Chris, some nice MkII on show rest here
http://jim9449.smugmug.com/gallery/4478446

[jim9449]

[QUOTE=JustScep;5078697]This was my first attempt at shooting rally cars, As Jim says, terrible conditions for a time...

QUOTE]

You don well for your first time JustScep, not an easy day for photography

[dessie]

Hi Jim great pics as usual but there is now way i would take my camera out in those conditions :lol:

[Simon Harrison]

Some nice stuff there Jim, in what were obviously difficult conditions. You irish guys are spoilt for choice with the mk II Escorts!

Simon.

[jim9449]

Hi Jim great pics as usual but there is now way i would take my camera out in those conditions :lol:

Thanks Dessie, made a make shift cover out of a piece of clear plastic ;)

[jim9449]

Some nice stuff there Jim, in what were obviously difficult conditions. You irish guys are spoilt for choice with the mk II Escorts!

Simon.

Thanks Simon, probably the most popular car over here, the last post when we talked AF points I used all 9 and seem to get more shots in focus, also used one shot a lot except were I thought there would be some action,

[Simon Harrison]

Thanks Simon, probably the most popular car over here, the last post when we talked AF points I used all 9 and seem to get more shots in focus, also used one shot a lot except were I thought there would be some action,

Jim, did you have all nine AF points active and let the camera decide which one to use? If so, I think you mis-understood what I was saying. I have all the AF points available to me, but I choose which one (and 99% of the time it is only one AF point - the remaining time it's two AF points) the camera will use. By selecting a single AF point, you will get better results IMHO. It's more difficult, as you have to keep the active AF point over an area of high contrast, but importantly you are in control and the camera will focus where you want it to.

Simon.

[jim9449]

Jim, did you have all nine AF points active and let the camera decide which one to use? If so, I think you mis-understood what I was saying. I have all the AF points available to me, but I choose which one (and 99% of the time it is only one AF point - the remaining time it's two AF points) the camera will use. By selecting a single AF point, you will get better results IMHO. It's more difficult, as you have to keep the active AF point over an area of high contrast, but importantly you are in control and the camera will focus where you want it to.

Simon.


I did understand what you were saying about one point, but I came across another thread about a 40D and I tried what he was saying, I use the back button to track, what do you use?

Re: What's this mystery motorsport event?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quote:
Originally Posted by jim9449
Super work Kevin, I'm in the same boat bought a 40D 2 weeks ago, not getting as good results as you, what was your set up? do you use multi burst?

Ooh, how dare you! No, I have the camera set to multi shot (in case someone crashes and I don't want to miss any action) but I choose my capture point carefully and fire the shutter once at the optimum point. At least that's the theory! Sometimes I miss the optimum point because I'm not perfect . However, I find that "spraying and praying" produces way too many pictures to sort through and way too many jibes from my fellow photographers!

All these shots, except the last one, were taken with the Sigma 100-300 F4 EX, on shutter priority with AI Servo focussing. I find that you need to give it a second or so for the focus to lock on and start tracking, otherwise the first shot is likely to be OOF if you take it too soon. I've also found that the 40D does an excellent job of tracking the focus across the 9 focus points and I tend to get better results if I choose all 9 rather than selecting just one of them. The 20D wasn't that good, so I almost always selected a single focus point.

The last shot (the Sunbeam) was with the 17-85 IS that came as a package with the camera. I'm not entirely sold on that lens yet. I've had some mixed results with it and they're not always as sharp as I would expect. I never had a problem with the 20D's 18-55 kit lens - I was always impressed with the results from such a cheap lens. Whereas, the 17-85 is not cheap at all and I expect better.

Other than that, I always use a monopod (particularly with the 100-300, or my back will give out by lunchtime!) and tend to set a shutter speed of around 1/320. The first couple of head-on shots here were at 1/500, the splashy ones were at 1/320 and the later ones were a bit slower because I was losing the light.

I've had more 'keepers' since I got the 40D and there are fewer which are OOF. I've only shot a couple of rallies with it, so I need to see how it gets on with circuit racing in a couple of weeks but I think it should perform equally well.

I liked your selection of shots but only you know how many you had to throw away! You've got some pretty capable lenses on your gear list, so I'm sure it will work out if you persevere. If not, let's talk lens swaps! I've got a lovely 17-85 you might be interested in!!

[Simon Harrison]

I'm also a back button focus man :wink:.

At the end of the day, there are many ways to skin a cat and the beauty of digital is that you can experiment to find what works best for you. My concern with using all focus points is that if something appears in the background with a higher contrast than your subject, the camera can lock onto the wrong thing.

Anyway, whatever setup you used, you achieved some good results here.

Cheers,

Simon.

I did understand what you were saying about one point, but I came across another thread about a 40D and I tried what he was saying, I use the back button to track, what do you use?

Re: What's this mystery motorsport event?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quote:
Originally Posted by jim9449
Super work Kevin, I'm in the same boat bought a 40D 2 weeks ago, not getting as good results as you, what was your set up? do you use multi burst?

Ooh, how dare you! No, I have the camera set to multi shot (in case someone crashes and I don't want to miss any action) but I choose my capture point carefully and fire the shutter once at the optimum point. At least that's the theory! Sometimes I miss the optimum point because I'm not perfect . However, I find that "spraying and praying" produces way too many pictures to sort through and way too many jibes from my fellow photographers!

All these shots, except the last one, were taken with the Sigma 100-300 F4 EX, on shutter priority with AI Servo focussing. I find that you need to give it a second or so for the focus to lock on and start tracking, otherwise the first shot is likely to be OOF if you take it too soon. I've also found that the 40D does an excellent job of tracking the focus across the 9 focus points and I tend to get better results if I choose all 9 rather than selecting just one of them. The 20D wasn't that good, so I almost always selected a single focus point.

The last shot (the Sunbeam) was with the 17-85 IS that came as a package with the camera. I'm not entirely sold on that lens yet. I've had some mixed results with it and they're not always as sharp as I would expect. I never had a problem with the 20D's 18-55 kit lens - I was always impressed with the results from such a cheap lens. Whereas, the 17-85 is not cheap at all and I expect better.

Other than that, I always use a monopod (particularly with the 100-300, or my back will give out by lunchtime!) and tend to set a shutter speed of around 1/320. The first couple of head-on shots here were at 1/500, the splashy ones were at 1/320 and the later ones were a bit slower because I was losing the light.

I've had more 'keepers' since I got the 40D and there are fewer which are OOF. I've only shot a couple of rallies with it, so I need to see how it gets on with circuit racing in a couple of weeks but I think it should perform equally well.

I liked your selection of shots but only you know how many you had to throw away! You've got some pretty capable lenses on your gear list, so I'm sure it will work out if you persevere. If not, let's talk lens swaps! I've got a lovely 17-85 you might be interested in!!

[jim9449]

I'm also a back button focus man :wink:.

At the end of the day, there are many ways to skin a cat and the beauty of digital is that you can experiment to find what works best for you. My concern with using all focus points is that if something appears in the background with a higher contrast than your subject, the camera can lock onto the wrong thing.

Anyway, whatever setup you used, you achieved some good results here.

Cheers,

Simon.

Yes you are right experiment and practise and find what works best for you, I am just hungry for knowledge I will try all the advice I'm give, thanks for your time,
Jim

[gsgary]

Great shots Jim, ive got a great crash sequence coming later

[Simon Harrison]

Yes you are right experiment and practise and find what works best for you, I am just hungry for knowledge I will try all the advice I'm give, thanks for your time,
Jim

Not a bother at all Jim. Keep the questions coming as and when you have them. Best thing about this forum is the willingness of forum members to help each other out and pass on advice.

Simon.

[jim9449]

Great shots Jim, ive got a great crash sequence coming later

Cheers Gary

[JustScep]

You don well for your first time JustScep, not an easy day for photography
Cheers Jim

[jim9449]

Not a bother at all Jim. Keep the questions coming as and when you have them. Best thing about this forum is the willingness of forum members to help each other out and pass on advice.

Simon.

Simon Looking at your EXIF I couldn't see what programme you use for PP in the Kart pics.
Jim

[Simon Harrison]

Simon Looking at your EXIF I couldn't see what programme you use for PP in the Kart pics.
Jim

I was shooting in shutter priority, mainly because the light was changing rapidly with the wind blowing the clouds along at a rapid rate of knots. If the light had been constant, I would have been in manual exposure mode.

Simon.

[jim9449]

I was shooting in shutter priority, mainly because the light was changing rapidly with the wind blowing the clouds along at a rapid rate of knots. If the light had been constant, I would have been in manual exposure mode.

Simon.

Sorry Simon I meant what do you process with Photoshop, Lightroom, Elements?

[Simon Harrison]

Sorry Simon I meant what do you process with Photoshop, Lightroom, Elements?

:oops: No probs Jim - it's Monday, and it's been a particularly long Monday as well.:oops:

All of the images were shot in RAW format, and then processed using C1 Pro. The processing was very basic, with only small tweaks to levels and exposure. I try to get everything right in camera to keep PP'ing to a minimum because (a) I'm not very good at PP'ing and (b) I don't enjoy spending hours and hours adjusting images to get them to look right. I only use PS if I need to make any additional changes prior to making a print.

Cheers,

Simon.