mikenew wrote in post #5911587
Looking for some suggestions for settings on shooting outdoor flat track motorcycle racing starting around 6:00pm. I have a 40D and going to borrow a 300mm nonis lens(older lens. Also have the 28-135mm is and a 75-300mm is.
Well, I don't shoot flat track, but I do shoot motocross, supercross, and sportbike.
Not sure what suggestions you are looking for or what level of photographer you are, but here it goes and if the suggestions are too elementary or you already know them, then perhaps others will post up other ideas.
On all your lenses, do not shoot wide open Fstop. Those lenses don't perform well and are soft at the widest. try and shoot at minimum f8 if possible, you will get the sharpest pics BUT, you must have a high enough shutter speed. Early morning or overcast day you may either have to bump your ISO or open your fstop to 3.5 if you have it. If your shutter speed is not high enough then IS will not help you, the IS will stop camera shake but not motion blurr.
Try not to shoot with the sun infront of you or your subject will look dark with little color like the photo I took below that I did not like. Also, do not shoot at too high of a shutter speed like below also or the subject will look frozen and motionless.
http://www.mxphotos.net/07mra/3/313.jpg
You can use faster shutter speeds but something has to be going on to make the image more dramatic.
http://www.mxphotos.net/glenhelen08/vill1.jpg
Panning shot are great, use a shutter speed between 100 and 500.
http://www.mxphotos.net/glenhelen08/338.jpg
100-250 shutter speeds get a great blurring effect but you must be able to hold the camera steady, this takes practice. Some people take shots at slower shutter speeds when panning but they don't follow the bike exactly and cause motion blur over the whole image, they think the camera did not focus. So whe using slower shutter speeds expect a number of throw aways.
If it is overcast or late in the day and the sun is not in a good position and you are getting shadows, experiment with using the flash to fill in the dark spots.
http://www.mxphotos.net/2ndcreek04/502-3.jpg
http://www.mxphotos.net/2ndcreek04/250.jpg
The closer you are to the subject, the easier it is to get sharp motion blurrless subjects while the backgound is very blurred.
http://www.mxphotos.net/2ndcreek04/204.jpg
If your shutter speed is too slow, and your hand not steady panning then parts of the subject will blur like this riders helmet and basicly ruins the shot. But in the below picture if you reduce it for web size it wouldn't look to bad. When you are practicing, look at your display and make sure that the subject is sharp, if not increase the shutter speed. If the wheels of the bike look frozen or static, lower shutter speed.
http://www.mxphotos.net/2ndcreek04/45.jpg
But somtimes even when the subject is blurred it can look cool anyway.
http://www.mxphotos.net/carlosvegassx08/windham2.jpg
So. I would use the 75-300 because I like tight shots. I find I use the 135mm -200 range a lot. If the 300 you are going to borrow is a 2.8 then use that sucker because it is really sharp.
If you can walk around the track, alway be looking to see where your light is hitting the subject and try to avoid having the sun in front of you unless you use a flash to help fill in the shadows.
People will often use the automatic mode or p mode and not look at the shutter speed. It is probably the most important thing. Too fast, still and lifeless, too slow and a big blur.
When panning turn your body so when you follow the bike when you click the shutter, the person is in front of you, click the shutter as if someone was holding a shot gun, foot in front foot behind and camera lined up with the front foot when you activate the shutter.
Take lots of shots because many will not turn out when you are panning or using slower shutter speeds. Make sure you have a lot of memory cards.
Try to get to your knees or lower if you can, lower perspectives are more unusual, many beginners stand up and take photographs, try something different.
Try to get out for practice so you can practice yourself as to which locations on the track are good. Try to avoid distractions in the background (the 338 motorcycle above has a big black and white easyup distraction, if I could have moved to a different location and got that out of there, I would have)
Good luck and more importantly, have fun.
