BSB Knockhill - Friday Practice

[yee_har]

This is as much a test of my ability to put up a thread/embed pics. as anything else!
Apologies that these are a bit "samey" (to say the least). All taken at "Clark's" a.k.a. "Carlube" a.k.a. "Curse of Gregorio Lavilla" corner.

All 5D/Sigma 500/ISO800

Glen Richards - f/7.1 1/640
http://www.yee-har.net/images/richards.jpg

Josh Brookes - f/6.3 1/640
http://www.yee-har.net/images/brookes.jpg

Julien Da Costa - f/7.1 1/640
http://www.yee-har.net/images/da_costa.jpg

Gary Mason - f/7.1 1/640
http://www.yee-har.net/images/mason.jpg

Tom Tunstall - f/6.3 1/640
http://www.yee-har.net/images/tunstall.jpg

Comments welcome.

[Simon Harrison]

Your positioning and composition is excellent. Unfortunately, most look soft and a little out of focus to me. The shot of Gary Mason looks to be the best out of this selection.

Simon.

[Z FOTOTECHNIKA]

Agree with Simon. Use a faster F-stop. When I take photos at the drag strip I use f2.8 as the cars are coming off the line. This will give you a clearer image.

[GSH]

Agree with Simon. Use a faster F-stop. When I take photos at the drag strip I use f2.8 as the cars are coming off the line. This will give you a clearer image.

I also agree with Simon but the aperture has nothing to do with it. If the OP were actually using an f2.8 lens in this case the front of the bike would be in focus and not a lot else.

I suspect these are cropped images. 500mm at that part of Knockhill is about right for cars on a 1.3x body but on a 5D and shooting bikes it might well come up short.

Either way Simon's point about positioning and composition is spot on.

[yee_har]

Thanks all.

They were cropped. Do I still deserve composition "points"? - the cropping/trimming was fairly even, honest.

After then resizing for the forum, the posted images are roughly what the same sections of the originals look like at 50-60% view.

Softness/OOF and how to sort for the future?
The exif shows I was set to AI Servo but I had given up on that as it appeared to be struggling - possibly because bikes/riders were out of view until last second and therefore insufficient time to lock on? Instead I focussed (CF4-3; *) on a fixed point and tried to get my timing right.
Is it likeliest that my timing is....off? Should 1/640 have been OK for hand-held and subject matter?

Many thanks

[GSH]

Thanks all.

They were cropped. Do I still deserve composition "points"? - the cropping/trimming was fairly even, honest.

After then resizing for the forum, the posted images are roughly what the same sections of the originals look like at 50-60% view.

Softness/OOF and how to sort for the future?
The exif shows I was set to AI Servo but I had given up on that as it appeared to be struggling - possibly because bikes/riders were out of view until last second and therefore insufficient time to lock on? Instead I focussed (CF4-3; *) on a fixed point and tried to get my timing right.
Is it likeliest that my timing is....off? Should 1/640 have been OK for hand-held and subject matter?

Many thanks

We'll let you off if the crop is just to make up for length and not to hide bad composition ;-)

You've hit the nail on the head with the lack of time to track the bikes there. The top of the John R Weir Chicane is the same so all you can really do is pre-focus on a spot (the tyres or kerb will do) to give the camera a helping hand.

Get yourself a decent monopod too. Hand held with a 500mm lens is pushing your luck a bit. I suspect this is actually the main problem...

[Simon Harrison]

Thanks all.

They were cropped. Do I still deserve composition "points"? - the cropping/trimming was fairly even, honest.

After then resizing for the forum, the posted images are roughly what the same sections of the originals look like at 50-60% view.

Softness/OOF and how to sort for the future?
The exif shows I was set to AI Servo but I had given up on that as it appeared to be struggling - possibly because bikes/riders were out of view until last second and therefore insufficient time to lock on? Instead I focussed (CF4-3; *) on a fixed point and tried to get my timing right.
Is my timing....off? Should 1/640 have been OK for hand-held and subject matter?

Many thanks

I know that corner well at Knockhill. I also find bikes more tricky to shoot than cars, because they have a much smaller frontal area to find a high contrast bit to focus on, and when you do it's invariably in the wrong place to put an AF point on to and still get the composition you want.

I think that your explanation about why AF was struggling is right. The 5D needs a good second or two to lock on and start tracking. Throw in the fact that you've got poor light (it's raining and you're at ISO800) and things get even more difficult for you. 1/640s is actually a bit quicker than I would've used - I won't usually go above 1/400 or 1/500s for bikes. Handheld might be a struggle at 500mm.

Your timing may well have been off, but your DoF at 500mm and f6.3 or f7.1 won't have been much at all so even if you were a little out on your timing would be enough to give an oof image. I always try to shoot around the f11 mark.

Which Sigma500 were you using?

As for composition, for me you still get points even if you're cropping :D;).

Cheers,

Simon.

[yee_har]

Many thanks for the further comments/advice.

The Sigma is the f/4.5 EX DG HSM

[Schwany]

Thanks all.

They were cropped. Do I still deserve composition "points"? - the cropping/trimming was fairly even, honest.

After then resizing for the forum, the posted images are roughly what the same sections of the originals look like at 50-60% view.

Softness/OOF and how to sort for the future?
The exif shows I was set to AI Servo but I had given up on that as it appeared to be struggling - possibly because bikes/riders were out of view until last second and therefore insufficient time to lock on? Instead I focussed (CF4-3; *) on a fixed point and tried to get my timing right.
Is it likeliest that my timing is....off? Should 1/640 have been OK for hand-held and subject matter?

Many thanks

Great angle. I like these. Looking at the riders eyes is always a treat. I'm not that obsessed with sharpness, and I know bikes are not easy to nail down front to back, top to bottom. Perfect composition while shooting moving targets is a funny concept. This is motor sports not landscapes. Cropping or whatever it takes to make the image look good is more than OK. It's part of the job. If you would have had enough light to shoot at ISO200, these would pop right off the screen. Good on ya. I think you know what you're doing, and it shows.

I wouldn't even go outside in the rain. You deserve bonus points for that.