Shooting at night this weekend at Siverstone - Need advice.

[Coops]

Hi all,

Im covering the 24hr race thats taking place this weekend at britcar. I have always failed in taking pictures successfully at night with my flash. I will be honest an say I normally let the camera control the gun and I do not know the correct settings to use. Im looking for some advice from you all to assist me in taking better pictures in a very dark circuit. I will be using a 580EX and a handful of 2.8 lenses: a 300, a 70-200 and a 24-70 and finally a 17-40 F4. Please can the old hands offer me any advice on what settings to begin with.

Thanks in advance.

Kevin

[GSH]

Right, before anyone takes the mick this is not an example of "how to shoot cars in the dark". It is however a blatant attempt to stop this thread disappearing off to General Chat because there are no images posted... ;)

http://www.pbase.com/geoff_hubbert/image/49102947/large.jpg

As for tips i have to admit i'm open to advice on this one too. It's been a while since i shot in the dark.

I'll be at Silverstone too :)

[Coops]

Thank you very much, Im sure there are many on here who will be able to offer advice, but I thank you for your pictorial submission. Mine tend to look like that too.....

[Layyz]

im unable to contribute much here but i'm waiting to find out more! sorry!

[NFI]

anybody can gave me a lift? :)

BTW it all depends on the light of the circuit

a friend of me who cover the FIA GT at Adria Circuit (Italy) told me that he uses 70-200 2.8 ISO 1600 and times from 1/30 - 1/60 for panning shoots...but i don't know how much light there is gonna be at silverstone...

pics here :LINK (http://www.sportinfoto.it/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1813)

[Coops]

practically none!

[GSH]

Thank you very much, Im sure there are many on here who will be able to offer advice, but I thank you for your pictorial submission. Mine tend to look like that too.....

I'm pretty sure either Ian Hardy (Ian_H) or Simon Harrison posted some night shooting settings on here a while back so it might be worth a look throught their posts.

From memory, Manual Exposure, Shutter at 1/250th (maybe less depending on the shot), Lens wide open and Flash on 1/4 power may be a good place to start. Don't hold me to that though...

Let's face it we should have around 8 or 9 hours of darkness so plenty of time to get it right ;). Oh, where possible try and use available light too...Although i know what Silverstone is like in the dark so there won't be much of that :D

1 other thing to remember. Try not to fire your flash if a car is coming directly at you...drivers tend to fall off and hit barriers and they won't be happy..They'll have enough on their minds trying to avoid the Top Gear boys if they turn up...

[Coops]

Aye I have spent enough time round race teams to pick that much up!! ;)

Wanna meet up?

[GSH]

Wanna meet up?

I've PM'd you my mobile number. :)

I should be there from around 9am on Saturday.

[andrewc]

I'm gonna be there too. Would like to meet any POTN members.

[Arctica]

I'll be there later this afternoon for the last race and the Britcar night qualifying 20-22.00
Tomorrow, probably mid afternoon until 21-22.00 ish then back again for sunrise sunday!
The plus side of living a stones throw from 'stone!

[NFI]

anybody from london is coming?

[Coops]

I'll be there later this afternoon for the last race and the Britcar night qualifying 20-22.00
Tomorrow, probably mid afternoon until 21-22.00 ish then back again for sunrise sunday!
The plus side of living a stones throw from 'stone!
Im there all weekend from about 2pm today. PM me your number. Do you all use radios ?

[PhotosGuy]

I have always failed in taking pictures successfully at night with my flash. Some of the best "night shots" I've seen were taken before it's totally dark while there's still some light left in the sky. You don't need much, but you need some.

Try shooting some images with traffic a few days before. Take notes as to the weather, on what works & what time you shot them. This is called "Testing", an almost forgotten process that still works.

Use manual in those tough conditions or your exposures will be all over the place. Why?
Post #47 (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showpost.php?p=5191658&postcount=47)

Try a variation on this for the initial exposure. For a good starting point, first set the f-stop & shutter speed you need for the effect you want. Then the other parameter: f-stop or shutter speed. Then adjust the ISO.
Need an exposure crutch? (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=89123)

Bear in mind that you don't want a "correct" exposure. You want one that's underexposed so it looks like night.

[monkeynuts1]

Couple from last year
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/monkeynuts1954/Britcar24hrs2007067.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/monkeynuts1954/Britcar24hrs2007112.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/monkeynuts1954/Britcar24hrs2007090.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/monkeynuts1954/Britcar24hrs2007100.jpg

[JurekB]

I'll be there if anyone wants to say hello. It'll also be my first time shooting cars in the dark so keen for any tips.

What exactly is the form for these things, as a paying punter am i allowed to roam the circuit all night or will I be restricted to certain areas?

[christoph84]

I've been the last two years running and you pretty much have the run of the place. We walked the entire perimeter of the track last in the pitch black, great fun!

[Ade H]

Damn. I was going to go to this, but I long ago forgot about it. Life has a habit of getting in the way. Too short notice now, so I'll have to be there next year.

I haven't really got any tips for you. Sorry. I normally shoot motorsport in good light.:lol:

[Arctica]

Trial and error tonight.
Tomorrow if you see some 'bird' aimlessly wondering around in a Red Bull Technology fleece (cause believe me the temperature has been dropping big style in the evenings here) with a 40d and a 70-200L characteristcally bouncing along the tarmac say 'yo' and I'll probably scream bercause you scared me to death in the dark!

[GSH]

Well if anyone was looking forward to seeing the Vulcan at Silverstone or Goodwood this weekend i have bad news.

XH558 needs an engine change and the displays have been cancelled.. My reaction to this sounded something like "Clucking Bell".

[GSH]

I'll be there if anyone wants to say hello. It'll also be my first time shooting cars in the dark so keen for any tips.

What exactly is the form for these things, as a paying punter am i allowed to roam the circuit all night or will I be restricted to certain areas?

You'll have the run of the place but won't be able to get your car inside the circuit. I'm hoping i've worked something out that will enable me to get the car in though ;)

Take a torch and spare batteries. Away from the Stadium complex & Paddock it gets VERY dark. Catering facilities will almost certainly be located in the Paddock only so take a flask of tea or coffee if you're going for a night time wander.

If anyone is planning a return to the car / camp site for a nap i suggest you wait until after 3am. If the forecast is correct the Mist will almost certainly come down and the race will be red-flagged. My plan if that happens is to head for the Pits & Paddock, grab some shots there then get my head down for a couple of hours.

[andrewc]

Annoyed about the Vulcan :( I went to RIAT hoping to see it, but it was cancelled. At least I saw it at the LMS series last weekend.

[pumaknight]

Can I refer you to my Le mans gallery on my website - in the shoot info, there is a guide on how to shoot at night. It is for Le mans, but will work at Silverstone. Hope it helps.

[Arctica]

Can I refer you to my Le mans gallery on my website - in the shoot info, there is a guide on how to shoot at night. It is for Le mans, but will work at Silverstone. Hope it helps.
Thanks for that, some amazing images on your site.

[Ade H]

And some glaring typos that you might want to fix.;):lol:

[pumaknight]

And some glaring typos that you might want to fix.;):lol:

I know!!!!:oops: I am in the process of proof reading - my normal proof reader let me down and I had uploaded in prep for them to read - so found another and am now putting the changes in - my typing is not so good :D

Content and subject okay though????:lol: