Superbikes at Mid-Ohio

A few from the weekend:

1.

Very nice Job. I love #7 and #8.

Yeah, same here, I love the last two.

#8's quite nice, #3 I wish was a bit more of a front shot of the rider leaning out but it's a nice shot nonetheless. How was shooting bikes in contrast to the usual 4-wheel racing?

That's kind of hard to answer. While they are surprisingly different, I think each requires a different approach.

Cars allow you to take in their surroundings to a greater degree. And, they also mask out some of the crappy background fodder. With bikes being smaller, fan pop-up tents and even tire barriers are much more distracting and visible.

Obviously, bikes are quicker and smaller. But, the shutter speeds are much more forgiving. You can shoot bikes (and need to) much highter.

With bikes, you have an additional subject to shoot. You can shoot the bike... and you can shoot the rider. So, you can "clip" the rear or nose (or both) of the bike and still have a stunning photo of the rider.

Color... bikes have a lot of intense color.

In the end, though... I think shooting bikes is a little bit redundant. Because of the being limited to include surroundings, a tight inside shot can look the same from one corner to the next. I think the demand for shooting on-track requires really seeking out "the moment"... a wheel lift, a spark.. really recording a slice of life.

I think if I were to shoot bikes every weekend, I'd be doing a lot of balancing my shooting with more pit and atmosphere work to go along with the on-track.

It's fun... and initially the impact of the colors, the speed, the tight crops is a refreshing change. I need to do it more often.

Thanks,

JT

John,
Were you using a monopod on #7 & 8 or handheld.
I've been using a tripod to frame a specific landscape in the
background with on coming bikes. I've been setting the SS to
1/2000 to freeze the action with an f8 and 640 ISO. (sunny day)
What SS are you using for oncoming shots?

Dave

These are great JT, but I am still fond of the wide shots I saw earlier.

wyofizz wrote in post #6047624
John,
Were you using a monopod on #7 & 8 or handheld.
I've been using a tripod to frame a specific landscape in the
background with on coming bikes. I've been setting the SS to
1/2000 to freeze the action with an f8 and 640 ISO. (sunny day)
What SS are you using for oncoming shots?

Dave

The only time I'll use a monopod is on my 500mm. I never use a tripod... and you actually shouldn't trackside for safety purposes. But, it's just to clumsy and not enough freedom.

The EXIF data is intact for all my images... though I think you'll find I was probably shooting at 1/800 - 1/1000 for head ons in quick sections of the track. ISO was 100 to 400 depending on the time of the day and cloud cover.

When I shoot cars, head on shutter would be 1/400 to 1/640 and typically I prefer ISO 100 or 200. Again, it depends on the section of track and how quick the cars are moving and the cloud cover.

You need to be very careful NOT TO FREEZE action.

JT

I'd never guess you could have caught the feel of motion at those shutter speeds. Nice to know.

Great variety of images John, #105 Ducati does it for me.

Cheers

NickR wrote in post #6048936
Great variety of images John, #105 Ducati does it for me.

Cheers

Thanks!

Like 4 & 8, shame about the power lines in 4 though.

Swiss Toni wrote in post #6052630
... shame about the power lines in 4 though.

The power lines are there.

Sure, if this shot ended up as a promotional piece or poster... whatever, you'd clone out the power lines in a heartbeat. But this idea that you shot has to be pristine conditions and devoid of all elements of clutter is rather silly.

Trust me, I'll reposition myself every which way to be sure I don't have a bush growing out of someone's head, or a row of campers in the background or any other distraction. But there comes a point that you've done all you can do.

At the end of the day, we're not shooting in a vacuum. Do I like them? No, of course not. Am I worried about them? No. I worry about what I can control. If you shoot Mid-Ohio, you get power lines.

A shot I didn't post here, but is one of my favorites, is actually shot THROUGH the crowd, through the fence and past the corner workers.

John,
Thanks for the info.
Great shots.

Dave

John Thawley wrote in post #6052898
The power lines are there.

Sure, if this shot ended up as a promotional piece or poster... whatever, you'd clone out the power lines in a heartbeat. But this idea that you shot has to be pristine conditions and devoid of all elements of clutter is rather silly.

Trust me, I'll reposition myself every which way to be sure I don't have a bush growing out of someone's head, or a row of campers in the background or any other distraction. But there comes a point that you've done all you can do.

At the end of the day, we're not shooting in a vacuum. Do I like them? No, of course not. Am I worried about them? No. I worry about what I can control. If you shoot Mid-Ohio, you get power lines.
JT

My, aren't we the touchy one?