Looking for crit on first my first drift shots

[jrad4real]

Posted in Critique Corner and didn't get a lot of response, so thought posting here would get more feedback. Was my first time shooting a drift event, so i think i got good wheelspin in the photos, but not good backround blur. Shooting at night with a 50mm (only lens i currently own besides fisheye).
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4113/5004436319_720c75f0f3_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4151/5004440639_ee17cc28a2_b.jpg

[LiberationFrequency]

When you shoot drifting there are certain angles that you need to shoot at if you want the combination of wheelspin and BG blur. The angle you are shooting at and the position of the car at turn apex doesn't give it a lot of motion when compared to the background as that part of the turn is relatively smooth. You could use a 1/100th shutter and get the wheelspin and no BG blur even if you are tracking the car.

When I do drifting, I like to pan at 1/40th and LOWER and I would NEVER use the back/side angle like you are using here. Yeah, mad low shutter speed compared to what other people do, and yes, the keeper rate DOES go down, but when you nail it, it is absolute money.

Examples:
1/25th of a second: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alacrious/4767677995
1/40th of a second: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alacrious/4982519361
1/125th of a second: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alacrious/4841432182

As you can see, 1/125 is like the bare minimum in my opinion of drift panning to get the full effect. The blue corolla kind of has the sky blown out a touch, but you can still see it... it just was that flat of a sky that day, all clouds. Plus these were done on a 350D, so yeah, your equipment is prob better.

So, number 1 would be... get a media pass for better angles. Number 2: Crop tighter, it makes BG blur more significant. Number 3: Practice practice practice panning; go out to main street and sit there with a camera and try to get a good pan at 1/25th. Number 4: Get a lens as fast as you can for night time drifting.

I can't do night time drifting now because I need something f2.8...

[capturephotography]

you see the little grass area in your shot??... well.... thats a perfect place for you to be to capture a good drifting shot, you need to capture the front of the car getting the angled wheel with the motion whilst panning the shot.

try it next time!

good luck

[kjj512]

First off you don't have to be in front of the car to get a good shot with back ground blur. For the optimum motion blur you want to be perpendicular to the motion of travel. For drifting this usually means you will be getting approximately a 3/4's view of the front or rear of the car. You will not be able to get motion blur with the car coming directly at you or away from you. Think about the motion of the car with respect to the background from your perspective.

Secondly saying that you need to be below a certain shutter speed to get good motion blur is total b.s. unless it is with respect to a given focal length. The general rule of thumb is the lowest shutter speed you should use without a tripod is 1/focal length. So for a 50mm lens the slowest shutter speed you should use to get a crisp picture without a tripod is 1/50s. Now for good motion blur you want use that as the fastest shutter speed to use.

There are a bunch of great tutorials floating around on this site of how to pan like a pro. My suggestion is to read them so you really understand what you are doing then practice until you index finger hurts from pressing the shutter button. That is the only way you will get really good at panning. Also another tip is to not shoot in continuous mode when practicing, sure you will get more keepers because you took more photos and got lucky but that's all that will be is luck.

With time you will get it and get a media pass.

[jrad4real]

Thanks for crit! Next event my friends gettin me a press pass.