Karting

My first post.

Just took up photography. Have been trying to learn Lightroom. Tried a few shots at Karting. Here is with first upgraded lens of a 135 F2 lens on a 550.

#3 is the best of the lot but crop closer. You have to improve your timing. Pre-focus would help a lot. Try panning shots as well. Good start. I love shooting karts as well!

I really like #1 because you've caught the light on the driver just right to make him pop out of the background, plus you've got a slow enough shutter speed to add just a hint of blur. Okay, perhaps you just got lucky, but I think that's a good angle. Too bad, of course, you didn't get all of him in the frame.

Welcome aboard!

thanks for comments. will try those ideas out plus some new ones I've read recently.

Most of the karts will follow the racing line every lap. Find the point where they turn in to a corner and frame a shot around that point. Use the kurbs, lines on the track, anything you can find to frame up the shot.

Nine times out of 10 the drivers will turn in at the same point on the track and if you are set up for that point you can remove some of the varriables.

Check the back ground - look for lamp posts, marshalls points, bins, signs etc etc. Make sure you are not going to get 100 great shots all with a, ice cream truck or burger van in the back ground.

With all all of this sorted out and of course the sun behind you - not exactly behind but coming from the rear - Get low and wait for the kart ot arrive at the turn in point.

AI Servo - Shutter Priority and 1/320 of a second - Iso to get F5.6 (ish) and remember to follow the kart through the turn in point as you close the shutter. Don't get in to the habbit of thinking fast shutter speeds remove the requirement to track a moving object.

Don't frame it up to tight. Nothing worse than clipping the nose or the raer off the kart.

Corners with a long run in work the best as there is less chance of getting half a kart in the back ground.

None of this is a magic formula to greatness, just a good place to start from. Once you are truning out good results from this, start to play around, with slower shutter speeds, different framing etc etc

Hope it helps.

Cheers Dave