Tips on shooting outdoor sports

[Sumoto]

I thought since I am going to MotoGP (motorcycle racing) in a few months I would ask for some obvious and not so obvious advise on how to take the best shots. Hopefully this thread will serve as a compilation of tips for future users.

Weather should be beautiful and the race should be super fast. I'll have my 10D with EF 100-300mm/f4.5-5.6 (with hood).

Im open for some neat ideas.:D

[Sumoto]

I dont know much in terms of hard rules on iso's/apt/etc. but I'll start by saying it like to post up in a position and prefocus before the action starts. That way Im ready to go.

....its a tip isnt it;)

[Sumoto]

I apologize if my newb-ness has bore you guys. Seems no one wants to give advise. No prob;)

[Skip Souza]

Ok futs, although I am a noobe myself I'll talk to you.

First learn to pan with a shutter speed around 1/250 or slower. That will give you motion blur in the backround and wheels to avoid the parked-on-the-track look. Practice, Practice, Practice.
Try attending club races and don't get discouraged. For practice try autos on the road that will be approx the right distance. Of course track speeds will be much greater, unless you are in Montana.

BTW, which MotoGP will you be attending?

[aggarcia]

I have not yet had the chance to shoot motorcycles , but I do shoot car racing. Now I have a D30 which is slower, older desgin, but here is what I have learned.

1. Shutter speed is very important. I use inly as high ISO t oget the necessary shutter speed. Most times I use ISO 200, then bump it up to ISO 400 when needed. D30 shows more noise as ISO increases. Depending on what type of shot I am after I use somewhere from 60-250.

2. Know you lense. With my Sigma 70-300 APO, it was important to almost prefocus on the location on the track. It is a consumer grade lense that focuses really quite slowely. Once I moved up to the Sigma Ex 70-200 2.8, I did not have to prefocus because with HSM it has lightening quick AF.

3. Pratice, Pratice, Pratice. I would shot any car race just for he extra experience. I quickly learned that I needed some sort of stabilizing device - even with a light lense. Holding the camera lense combo for 8 hours is tiring. I ending up buying a Manfrotto monopod. You will start trying to pan and other creative shots. If the shot does not come out, big deal, delete it later.

4. Send time researching related topics on this board and FM. There are a lot of Pro's and other serious photographers on these boards. Looks at their photographys, looks at the EXIF data, and most of the time these folks will help a newbie.

Good Luck and take some racing pictures.

[Sumoto]

Good tips for sure! I'll be at the Laguna Seca MotoGP. First time on American soil since the 70's........should be a blast. Im going to take the advise and hit up some amiture racing between now and then.

I'll post results as they come in.

[kbreit]

Thanks everyone for your advice. I am going to the Formula 1 GP in Indianpolis and plan on exercising my camera, a lot. As a result, I am curious about how to take pictures of fast moving cars (200mph+) and this answered a lot of questions.

[Sumoto]

In my quest for knowledge on the subject I found this site to bet very informative.


http://www.photo.net/learn/sports/overview

[pcasciola]

Good tips for sure! I'll be at the Laguna Seca MotoGP. First time on American soil since the 70's........should be a blast. Im going to take the advise and hit up some amiture racing between now and then.

I'll post results as they come in.How familiar are you with the track? I used to drive formula cars there about 15 years ago, and I would think a great place to get some interesting shots would be be the downhill "corkscrew". A chain of bikes coming through there can be pretty cool looking, because it's a hard left into a downhill right and left, and the bikes have to be flipped side to side pretty quickly to get through there. Then there's a downhill straightaway into a fast right hand turn which I think is/was turn 10, which is another good place for pictures (especially pans). I'm not sure what the access is to those parts of the tracks these days, but when I was there you could get just about anywhere.

Like Skip said, 1/250 for the pans, and practice before you go there for the big race.

Good luck. I'm looking forward to seeing some shots.