Sharp...but not quite everywhere...

This pix have not been retouched or adjusted in any way. Looking for pointers, both in the field and with Light Room with processing.

These were shot with a Canon 40D and a Canon 70-200 EF L USM (no IS) . I can't remember the ISO (I think 200) or the focal length, aperture or shutter speed, sorry. I'm guessing this is close to 200 mm and probably about 1/125 at about f/11 or so for the first two. The third is probably 1/500 and closer to 5.6. That's a guess, though.

The subject is traveling at about 150 mph, and I am about 100 feet away, if that. Fast panning is a must. Note that the numbers are pretty sharp, but the further to the front I go on the motorcycle, the more I can see it's a bit out of focus. Why is this? Is it because the subject isn't planar and "flat" or?

I think this would probably be more at home in the "motorsports" section

As there is no EXIF information in the images it is hard to give pointers where other settings might improve the shot. In Lightroom you can find the information in the bar under the histogram in the top lefthand corner.
With this sort of shots - with usual long focal length - it is a matter of balancing between shutterspeed and aperture (and determining your margin with the ISO setting) to get sufficient depth of field and avoid motion blur.
For instance in #1 the DOF is already pretty shallow with the front wheel not in focus. #2 and #3 are pretty good.

christisdale wrote in post #10004493
I think this would probably be more at home in the "motorsports" section

Why? It's a critique section, and not topic-oriented...

The 1st 2 photos have the subject too dead center in the frame - but with dead space on each end. Either crop for space on the side of the bike in which the bike is traveling (showing where it is going) or crop in tight similar to #3.

You need to resize these pics...they're way beyond the 1024 pixel size limit...

They need some contrast boosting done to them...can you tweak the curves a little?

The reason the first one isnt sharp all over is that you are panning with a subject moving away from you. It just makes sense. panning works by keeping the subject roughly in the same spot in the frame while the background blurs. If the subject is not moving parallel with the line you are panning on its impossible to be totally sharp. That said, nice panning work on the second.

gonzogolf wrote in post #10007885
The reason the first one isnt sharp all over is that you are panning with a subject moving away from you. It just makes sense. panning works by keeping the subject roughly in the same spot in the frame while the background blurs. If the subject is not moving parallel with the line you are panning on its impossible to be totally sharp. That said, nice panning work on the second.

agreed ^

Turn on your image editing. I would love too do some processing on these.

Here they are. These should have all the EXIF data here, too. Feel free to do some post-processing. I've done some in LightRoom, and the reults were decent, but am curious what you guys could do if you want to play with them.

Here's the gallery, and the password is POTN.

http://racer997.smugmu​g.com …152_oFJxD#84183​1138_sDHdy

The non-sharp one on top was shot at 200mm, the sharp one at 140mm. I had that lens and complained about the fact that it's soft at 200mm and much sharper at 165mm and below. I think you're seeing the same here.

They look pretty good to me, missed them first time round.

resize please

Flo wrote in post #10325241
resize please

Sorry, but I posted these before I knew some of the rules around here, but I've learned some since then. Additionally, somone already pointed out that these pix are too big, but he did it two months ago when the thread was new.