More trucks in the dark.

MSIGuy wrote in post #11923861
Well you attitude certianly explains why you're so "good".

I agree with Snyderemark. PhotosGuy's remake came off as snide..

Easy there, though. Just piling on Frank doesn't really help either. He really was trying to help and contribute to the thread.

Frank, I think someone else mentioned it earlier in the thread, too; but do you have any truck stops near you? One of those would be a good place to wait for some good "big rigs" to come by. It is an interesting idea here.

Snydremark wrote in post #11924538
we don't have the luxury of hearing the individual 'beats' in a normal, verbal conversation.

No sweat. You aren't the first person to have a problem with the printed word.

Then I wouldn't have the sharp curve in #4 to give the variation in the movement between the grill & the side of the trailer to get the blur I'm looking for. And with the potential for a sunset to put highlights in the side.
The other shots were just taken while I waited for the right truck to come along.

I may have to try this. what would you all suggest as starting points in terms of Focal length, stop and shutter speed?

keeping in mind I am a complete noob with an XT and a kit lens

miccullen wrote in post #11926715
I may have to try this. what would you all suggest as starting points in terms of Focal length, stop and shutter speed?

Manual EVERYTHING...

miccullen wrote in post #11926715
what would you all suggest as starting points in terms of Focal length, stop and shutter speed?

Well, the f-stop is pretty easy. With the speed of the kit lens & the low light level, you're probably going to be wide open all the time. And with the changing light levels in the evening, you're going to have to experiment with manual exposure, too.

As for shutter speed, it's a crapshoot? Sharp grill while still keeping some trailer blur isn't easy & comes with practice & a healthy dose of luck when you get into the 1/10sec to 1/30 sec range.
It depends on the distance to the subject, the angle of movement to the camera of the subject, the focal length, the speed of the subject, the smoothness of your pan, & the effect that you're trying to get. You're going to throw a lot away!

Do you have an EXIF viewer so you can see the settings I used? Look at the images in these threads:
#4 & 8: MOPAR Pickups & a Freightliner.
#4 : Night/evening road shots - mostly trucks.
#1 & 2 (BIG failures!) : Early evening shots - trucks.
All of these: Late evening motion shots - mostly trucks.

You're going to need AI Servo for focusing unless you try a shot with the headlights hitting the lens, which confuses it. I've been thinking about using manual focus for some shots when that happens, but don't want to lose the shots just before & after that if/when the "right" Semi comes along, so it's still on my 'to do' list for that particular shot.

Good luck with it.

And be prepared for a lot of "It's underexposed & not all sharp!" comments.

I've been trying to stay out of this thread for some time, but I had to make just a few small comments.

Frank, I've seen your work and you are definitely able to produce some very good images. I don't doubt that you are a talented photographer and have been for many years. However, your lack of being able to take constructive criticism is frustrating. Stupid, cutting comments from some users aside, the fact that you are laughing off well thought out critiques comes off as quite arrogant.

I understand what effect you were going for ( 1 & 5 are strongest here, I think), and I think that in a few of the images you've posted in the couple of threads on this subject have been close to your goal. However, I feel that your ability to take constructive criticism is far outmatched by your ability to give it. You are posting in most threads with some form of constructive criticism, which is fine (this is a photo forum, after all), but I would expect that your threads should warrant the same treatment. This thread was a glaring contradiction for me, personally, where I felt that you were "nitpicking" just as you accuse people of doing in this thread.

I don't mean to jump on the bandwagon and attack you about this, but I felt the need to say something. As a photographer, no matter how many years you've been in the business, you should always be humble and open to the opinion of others. I have grown exponentially through the constructive criticism of others and will continue to do so. It has kept my work from becoming stagnant and mundane, and has continued my drive to be the best photographer that I can be.

I understand that there is a bit of pride involved in your work, as there is with all of us on this forum. But the moment you become unwilling to accept the critiques of others is the moment that your work stops progressing.

Thanks for taking the time to post that, Theo. It deserves a reply, so let's consider some of that advice that I've been given.

I said right at the top that, "the idea is to get the front sharp & the rest with some motion blur" & then I get the comment that they aren't sharp, so I'm not inclined to pay much attention to the "They're blurry." comments. Same when they're obviously dark for a reason, & I get, "They're underexposed."
Did it occur to those posters that I posted them exactly the way I wanted them to look? Obviously not, & it seems that some didn't even bother to read my first post. I don't think it's arrogant to ignore them just as they've ignored the clearly stated purpose of the thread. Yes, they're dark. No, they aren't underexposed. I don't expect everyone to like them, though.

Some I will ask if their monitors & browsers are configured so that they're seeing what I'm seeing. A few take that as demeaning, but even if they are configured properly, I'm sure that some member might learn something useful from that question & look into their own color management.

OTOH, some do know what I'm trying to do & they ignore that & pursue another agenda. They think it's fun to troll for a response & trash me in other forums. A few don't even have the balls to do it under their own ID & make another one to hide behind. You might note that one of them has been given a time-out & his other ID has been banned permanently. To me, their comments & actions say more about them than they do about my images.

A few take the images in the spirit in which they were offered & those I will listen to.

And then there's the occasional person who sees something interesting & maybe learns something from it, & that's the person that I'm doing this series for. I don't post here because I need to see a bunch of "GREAT SHOT!" comments. I post so that someone, somewhere might learn a bit more about photography.

Fair enough?