Auto Racing Photography

[GlassGears]

I had to opportunity to do some auto racing photography this past weekend and was very disappointed with the results. I'd like to be able to get a shot that conveys "speed!". I'm looking for the classic "speeding car with blurred background shot". I tried using a wide aperture and panning with the cars as they passed but found that I really never got the cars in focus the way I wanted them to be. I used a Canon 40D w/ 70-200 2.8, AV priority, ISO 100, very sunny day.

Does anyone have any experience with auto racing photography that can assist? I'm going to have another opportunity again this weekend.

Thanks in advance.

[teo-bingus]

The best place to post this would be the motorsports forum http://photography-on-the.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=90 . There are tons of pics with the panning look. If you check the exif info you can see the shutter speed etc. There are some stickies with tons of stuff in them.
I'd provide more details but I myself have no experience with these types of shots.

[Dennis Valet]

I would keep the camera is shutter priority mode, somewhere between 100 and 200 seems to work for me depending on how fast the cars are going and how close they are to you.

Manual focus is a must! Focus on a part of the track that you want to capture the image at, follow the car BEFORE that point and keep following it- if you can't match the speed of the car with the pan of your lens it will be out of focus. Just keep trying and you'll get the hang of it eventually- it's definitely not easy!

[Big Hands]

When panning with slow shutter speeds, you can use a smaller aperture since the background will be blurred from panning. I usually use Tv mode and as low of an ISO setting as I can without going over the max smallest aperture.

Cars and motorcycles can move pretty fast allowing you to use a a shutter speed like you're using even if you're a little ways back from them as you still have top pan pretty swiftly. Slow shutter speed panning does not typically have a high keeper rate for me, but what you do get can be really cool compared to shots that just freeze everything and don't really convey a sense of speed.

Keep trying and you'll find the right combo of shutter speed, camera movement, distance from subject and ISO to give you what you're looking for and maybe even something you weren't expecting for each different set of circumstances. It can be different depending on how fast the subjects are moving and how far you are from them.

If you get into really slow shutter speeds, you'll find that only one part of the subject will stay in focus as the speed at which the front of the car (for example) moves toward you will be different that the speed that the rear of the car moves toward you as you pivot while panning for the duration of your shutter being open. Confusing I know, maybe I didn't do a good job explaining it, but you'll see it in your shots if you pan with a slow enough shutter speed.

Here are some examples of that on a bicycle:

http://photos.imageevent.com/johansen01/letsgoracin/barrywolfe2006/Wolfe%20026a.jpg

http://photos.imageevent.com/johansen01/letsgoracin/barrywolfe2006/Wolfe%20018a.jpg

To get good panning shots and effects, you have to be a bit brave and risk not getting the shot, but although the rewards can be fewer in number, they can be very satisfying.