Mid-Ohio IRL practice

I took just under 3 thousand shots today, 5 classes were practicing. I've only just started going through and trashing the junk shots. Here are a couple I thought came out pretty good.

My first time shooting at race track. So be gentile on the C&C.

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Nice start, thanks for posting. What setup were you using for these? I can't wait to be there on Sunday. Maybe I'd better go buy more memory cards.

Thanks. Tips for improvement are welcome.

I used my 1d-III. Which did its job well. The battery was unreal. Nearly 3k shots, and even after downloading to the computer it had 70% charge remaining!!!!

For lenses I used a 70-200 f/2.8 with a 1.4 TC, and a 300 f/2.8 with the same 1.4TC. I found I wanted to zoom regularly, so the 300 wasn't used a lot. I think a 100-400 would be a perfect range for the track, and maybe a short lens for the paddock and pit areas.

We should be there Sunday too, but I think I spend most of my time spectating. Maybe I'll get luck and catch a crash or two, but probably won't spend much time taking general shots.

A few more. I'm still sorting. Sure learned a leason on this one. Be more selective when shooting. 3k is WAY too many!!!!!

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Some nice shots, have not been to Mid-Ohio in years. Yeah, overshooting can certainly create a burden. In my days of film I would shoot 20-30 rolls of 36 exp, would spend 6 hours just developing the film - be glad you are past those days.

I know it's a bit late, as most that are going tomorrow are asleep, but are there any restrictions on equipment you can take in? I'm going to be there tomorrow, might as well take some pictures!

No restrictions that I could find. Their website only speaks to their owning of the photographs taken by their associates(not us). And that freelancers aren't allowed in past the fence(to the guardrails). I e-mailed the track, but they didn't reply.

I saw a LOT of gear there Friday, and no one had a problem. It was just a practice day, but its all probably allowed today too. I know when AMA races Mid-Ohio everything is OK, IRL is probably the same.

Good luck shooting today.


amosher: I can't imagine the film days. I never used anything but point&shoot 35-mm film, so 1 roll at a time was plenty. I only recently started working seriously on my photography, and thankfully its all digital. It must have been a steep and expensive learning curve in film days. I have a greater respect for the pros of the past.


JohnC

JC4,

Very nice shots, crisp and well saturated.

Thanks for sharing. Have fun today.

Rick

Hey, JohnC - I probably saw you there and didn't know it. I took the XTi with 70-200 and the 5D with the 300. Lots of stuff to carry around. Enjoy today's race!

Nice stuff. I shot the Grand Am race at Mid Ohio a few weeks ago and the 100-400 got way more usage than the 70-200.

AccidentalArt wrote in post #3590876
Nice stuff. I shot the Grand Am race at Mid Ohio a few weeks ago and the 100-400 got way more usage than the 70-200.

Hmmmnnn - I'll have to keep that in mind. I was there yesterday - I used the 70-200 extensively on the XTi while I toted the 300 on the 5D. Shot around 350 with the XTi and 200 with the 5D. The zoom was more useful, given that most of the best shooting spots were not available to the public.

I think that the 100-400 would have been very useful on either body (and a bit lighter to carry around all day) at Mid-Ohio.

very nice pics! Id like to get out to a track and start snapping..most of the time Im driving and dont get a chance

Thanks for the comments and tips.

I didn't shoot too much on Sunday. I took my 300 along, but it never left the car. Today I ordered a 100-400 L, because it seems a good fit for events like this, and I'm going to the Dayton air-show next weekend, and MidOhio AMA races the following week. I had been holding off because I really like my fast lenses, so we'll see how it goes.

The track was more packed than I had ever seen. Excellent turn-out for the first IRL race. Tons of photogs there, so I'm surprised I haven't seen more pictures posted. Here are a couple of my race-day shots.

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Really great shots John.

I'm still sorting through my shots from Saturday, only day I made it to the track. Should have some up in a couple of days. Took my 300 2.8 but didn't do to well with it, cut off more of the cars in panning shots than I thought it would. With the big crowds I couldn't get a clear shot farther away from the fence. Was nice for shooting through some photoholes and in the pits though. Should be great for the bikes.

I would like to thank the MidOhio folks for putting an unused hospitality area on the inside of turn 1 so nobody could shoot from there, and a portajohn right in the middle of turns 9 & 10 so nobody could get nice panning shots.

JC4 wrote in post #3585919
A few more. I'm still sorting. Sure learned a leason on this one. Be more selective when shooting. 3k is WAY too many!!!!!

I think you're wrong. Sure, be selective... but SHOOT. I shot well over 8000 frames this week and didn't shoot ANY open wheel Indy cars. I shot strictly ALMS and SPEED World Challenge.

It's not about what you shoot, it's about what you keep.

Regarding panning... you made a reference to "how many were keepers." Again, don't worry about how many are keepers. Worry about how many are killers! I'm quite comfortable panning at 1/100 sec - 1/125 sec. and would probably easily run 70% keeper rate. But why? I couldn't possibly use that many and they're not that interesting. I rarely panned over 1/60 sec all week. Once I've got "assignment" work out of the way, I want "wow" stuff.

Shoot a lot and shoot with reckless abandon.

Just an opinion.

JT