What am I doing wrong?

I went to one of my favorite motorcycle roads today...looking to get some "Killboy-Like" shots.... I'm not having the best of luck...

I don't have any experience taking this kind of shot, so I was just really playing around, trying to figure stuff out...

I started with my 70/200 f/4 but given the pull-out where I was standing, 70mm was a bit too long, so since I was shooting at f/4 anyhow, I switched over to my 24-105 f/4 and then had the benefit of IS....

I started off in Av mode, but I think I wasn't getting a fast enough shutter, or I wasn't panning with the shot:
Model: Canon EOS 7D
ISO: 320
Exposure: 1/100 sec
Aperture: 4.0
Focal Length: 67mm

The first one shows a lot more motion from the lower shutter speed but your panning technique may need some work to yeild sharp shots at those speeds. Try raising the shutter speed to 1/250 and work your way down as you get better at tracking the subjects.

The others at 1/1250 are plenty sharp but lack motion due to the high shutter speed. These shots could also use a bit tighter framing with the subject twoards the rear of the frame.

Thanks! I appreciate the quick response and pointers... I definitely need to work on my panning, I've just gotta get out there and practice, practice, practice... I wanted to get some motion, but was really unsure of the shutter speed to go with...

Also, a very going point about the framing.. these are cropped a little bit, and I was really unsure on where to crop, and where to leave the subject.. I knew there was some rule about, leaving room in front... or behind.... but was unsure..

Thanks again!

just a quick suggestion - find a local racetrack and work on panning there. You will get used to the motion and find that before long panning at 1/125 or 1/160 is possible even without image stabilization. good luck, have fun!!

rudder34 wrote in post #10213150
just a quick suggestion - find a local racetrack and work on panning there. You will get used to the motion and find that before long panning at 1/125 or 1/160 is possible even without image stabilization. good luck, have fun!!

I turn IS off when panning it gives me much better results.

Isn't the IS on a 24-105 just an on/off switch, i.e. mode 1. This is only for static subjects and won't help with moving things. If you've a mode 1 / mode 2 switch then choose mode 2 as this is for panning. Secondly, as above if the shutter speed is fast enough then IS isn't much use.

There's no definite "its gotta be 1/160th sec" to get the ideal panning shot - it depends on a lot of things and experience plays a big part. Time to get out and practice... Start off with fast shutter speeds and as you get better, you can lower the shutter speed to get more background blur.

If you're gettting sharp bits of the bike in some areas and blurred bits in others (like the glove in the first pic), it's probably a lack of Depth of Field so shutting down the aperture will help but unless you up the ISO to compensate, the shutter speed will drop accordingly. The you need to be able to pan at lower speeds... It's all a compromise depending upon the effect you're after.

Andy

I agree about 1/160 shutter speed keep depth of field to a minimum, just keep what you want sharp sharp. Turn the horizontal part of the IS off leave the vertical on if you have that option. Rotate from the hips and knees. The wider hte lens the harder it is, it just takes practise.

If you want to capture speed (ie panning)...i suggest switch to Manual Mode instead of AV Mode, start with 1/160s shutter speed (set aperture and ISO to whatever needed to get correct exposure....on a bright sunny day on my XT it is normally f18 and ISO100). Then adjust accordingly after a few tries....its all about trial and error....and practice. Once you get the hang of it...you can try slower shutter speed (1/100s or lower which results in more background blur). Turn off whatever IS you got on the lens because its of no use unless it is Mode 2.
Panning is like swinging a golf club....practice and practice
And don't forget to switch focus mode to AI SERVO

I think I did better on my 2nd attempt...

http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=vo09TfMTILw&h​d=1

Forgive me ... what's "Killboy-like" ?

Biffbradford wrote in post #10297698
Forgive me ... what's "Killboy-like" ?

http://www.killboy.com​/

or

http://killboy.blogspo​t.com/

Went to the link you gave us, I'm not impressed. You can do better I'm sure, just think about the composition of the shot when shooting (how it will look when printed up) and keep practising.

I'm sure lots of things could be done differently... but this is "THE" motorcycle photographer in this area... he operates down at Deal's Gap, about 4 hours away from me in an area that has 318 curves in 11 miles... I'm looking to get into something similar in my area, where there's a road with 489 curves in 12 miles... there's a lot of traffic at both locations, and the main concern is to get at least a few pictures of EVERYTHING coming down the road... offering the shots for sale, if you miss just 1 person, you have lost a customer for good... also, in such a curvy area, we're talking about having a line of sight for 50-100 feet.... with sport bikes moving at 40-70mph, you don't have too much time to compose each shot

Thats true of shooting bikes on track as well, but it really is only practise. Once you figure it out, time seems to slow down and you have all the time you need. I always start off the season very rusty and its difficult, but by the end its easy again!

I still say you could set your own standards higher than the admittedly limited bits I saw on the link.

Composing the shot in camera can be tough when panning, so I compose with crop. Don't shoot too tight or too loose or cropping won't be effective.