Help and advice

[stathlon]

Hello, :cool: I am new to photography, I have a Canon 300D :D and a 75-300mm lens as well as the 18-55mm. I have got to get used to it before I go to the Rally of Great Britain.
I am going to go oval racing in a couple of weekends, which lens do I use and do you have any advice on how to take photo's so that I get the car and not anything around the car? E.G. the fences. And so that I get the car in the middle of the photo?
As well as this do I need a stand if I am going to be walking around with the camera and taking hundreds of photo's?
Thanks for looking and I look forward to your answers. :)

[PhotosGuy]

I'm moving this to MS Talk. Meanwhile, read this, Advice needed for Rally shooting (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=292705), & go practice with traffic.

Good luck.

[stathlon]

thanks, does anybody else have any advice? Like who I could sell them to or anything else like that?

Thanks again

[DC Fan]

Hello, :cool: I am new to photography, I have a Canon 300D :D and a 75-300mm lens as well as the 18-55mm. I have got to get used to it before I go to the Rally of Great Britain.
I am going to go oval racing in a couple of weekends, which lens do I use and do you have any advice on how to take photo's so that I get the car and not anything around the car? E.G. the fences. And so that I get the car in the middle of the photo?
As well as this do I need a stand if I am going to be walking around with the camera and taking hundreds of photo's?
Thanks for looking and I look forward to your answers. :)
From a Canon 75-300mm and a D30, predecessor to the 300D.

http://www.kevinlillard.com/online/img_6687.jpg

Exposure time: 1/1000
F-stop: 8.0
ISO speed: 400
Focal length: 200.0000


http://www.kevinlillard.com/online/img_6740.jpg

Exposure time: 1/1000
F-stop: 8.0
ISO speed: 400
Focal length: 300.0000

No great secrets, no inscrutable tricks.

Long lens, tight framing. The 75-300mm will handle the job. If it was good enough for the Indianapolis 500, it'll handle any other oval race where the distances aren't too great.

The lens and camera combinations mentioned won't need any sort of stand or tripod or monopod. You'll be too busy tracking moving cars in frame to deal with that at first.

[Simon Harrison]

Like who I could sell them to or anything else like that?

Thanks again

I think you should learn to walk before you try to run. The chances of you getting anything worth selling are frankly not very high on your first go. Stranger things have been known to happen though........

In any event, if you're a member of the paying public, it is likely that one of the conditions of entry means that you will be unable to sell prints to people. That will certainly be the case on Rally GB, as the rights to those pictures will be very tightly controlled, and policed. Oh, and if you do find someone interested in buying your prints, they are likely to want them for nothing. Might seem harsh, but that is simply the way it is.

That just leaves editorial use I am afraid, and you are going to be competing against a lot of people with a lot of experience on that front.

Sorry to sound harsh, but it is simply the way it is.

Simon.

Simon.

[JurekB]

Greetings from the mother town and as one clayhead to another let me give you some frank advice.

Just because you've bought a fancy DSLR it doesn't mean you are going to take saleable photos from the off especially so considering you've already stated you are new to photography. To use an oft quoted analogy, I'm a rubbish cook and buying the most expensive pans in the shop isn't about to change that.

I'll even go so far as to say that 90% of the pictures you shoot will be utter rubbish but don't let that put you off, learn how to use your camera and learn the techniques required to shoot great rally photos. I guarantee that whatever preconceptions you have about the day will all be wrong and you'll find yourself having to deal with conditions you never expected.

Go there and enjoy the day. Learn how to use your camera beforehand and that doesn't mean simply setting it to the green square. Learn what AV and TV do and try using the manual settings which will mean learning about exposure. After about a year you will start getting some half decent photos but don't expect to sell any as that is a whole different can of worms which someone else can go into.

Finally post your pictures here and ask for advice, you will learn a hell of a lot from the folks here as long as you have a thick skin and can take constructive critisism.

Good luck and enjoy yourself and be sure to post a few of your shots.

[GSH]

In addition to what has been said in the previous 2 posts, i would suggest that you forget about selling shots for now and take photos because you enjoy it and to improve your skills.

Once you head down the slippery slope of looking for sales from each shot you'll start to enjoy it less and less. It's difficult enough selling Rally shots without coming up against the WRC licensing issues and has Simon has already said, you won't find many people willing to pay.

I won't name names, but i caught an incident last year on a Rally (as did Simon) and was contacted by the Driver wanting hi-res copies for himself and his sponsors. I responded with a quote and needless to say i am still waiting for a response....and he's a well known Driver.

Circuit racing is a different game in my experience. Initial approaches from Teams & Drivers almost always ask for prices and print sizes available and most of them go on to buy something. BUT the images have to be pretty damn good before you get any enquiries.

[stathlon]

Thank You very much for your comments, I was not thinking of selling things yet, in a year or two when I have enough experience and money to buy a better camera and will have taken thousands of photo's. I am looking at editing photo's as I am currently better on a computer as on a camera. I am practising every day with the camera and you should see the thousands of photo's I have already. I don't just think I can do it, as with driving it will take time and confidence to be able to do anything. Thanks again for your comments and I look forward to hearing from you all again.

Amy