Car rally championships

[philip gleeson]

<p>I'm going to my first Car rally championships at the weekend, I've a Nikon D70s with a 70 - 300 lens and a 18 -70 lens.</p>

<p>Any advice?</p>

<p>Should i bring a tripod or mono pod or either. I don't have any big fancy lens covers like you see at football matches - is this a problem?</p>

<p>Any paticular camera settings i should experiment with?<br>

Thanks</p>

[niccoury]

<p>Is it the 70-300 VR version? If so, you can make some cool, slow motion shots with it.</p>

<p>I shoot for a newspaper and when I was shooting some of the races at Laguna Seca, I did those types of shots with a 70-200 slowed down a bit. You can still make cool shots with the gear you have.</p>

<div></div>

[philip gleeson]

<p>AF nikkor</p>

[wpahnelas]

<p>although it's not the VR version, and provided the weather cooperates, you should do fine, especially with the long lens. if your shutter speed is fast enough to freeze motion, camera shake is not as much of an issue -- hence less need for tripod/monopod. yet, if you have a monopod, it wouldn't hurt to bring it. especially if you find a nice spot and don't want to hold the camera for long spells.<br>

the lens hoods you see are for keeping glare from the sun off the glass. if you're careful not to shoot into the sun, that shouldn't be a problem. i'm surprised your lens wasn't sold with some sort of hood, however.</p>

[eric_arnold]

<p>hi philip, i have the 70-300 ED. it's ok for daytime sports since you can use a fast shutter and still stop down a bit, where this lens is at its best. i don't think it can hurt you to bring a monopod -- which i'd recommend over a tripod unless you have one with a pan/tilt head -- although the reason you see all the pro sports shooters using monopods is because it's impossible to handhold a 600mm lens.</p>

[Matthew Brennan]

<p>Phil,</p>

<p>If you are new to shooting motor sports, may I suggest that if possible :- 1) take a tripod for sure 2) you set up on some slower corners or slower sections that are bathed in good light and also in a safe position. <br>

In the past I have used a Nikon D70 and the kit 18-70mm and a slower 70-300mm D lens to shoot club level motorcycle racing at several road circuits and had heaps of fun with plenty of keepers. I found that by starting off at slower corners I could pre-set my focal distance, pick the point at which the bikes entered the frame, lock the focus on the desired points and take a test shot or two to ensure that exposure is acceptable. Then as the bikes / cars come into the frame you shoot and review your images to see if you have crisp shots and adjust shutter speeds accordingly. </p>

<p>Have fun - stay safe......!</p>

<p>A good </p>

[hughes]

<p>Phillip<br>

the equipment you have is perfect, a 300mm lens will be fine, a monopod would be useful but you don't need a tripod! The important thing is to try and make your pictures dramatic, there are thousands of pictures of racing cars shot at very fast shutter speeds that make them look static, as Nic say's experiment with slower shutter speeds. Try 1/250 or 1/500th and practice panning this is a great technique.<br>

In rallying it is probably hard to get more than one car in the picture so it is doubly important to try and add drama with your technique, head on shots are normally more dramatic also find a part of the circuit where they corner hard and are on three wheels, how about yumping, some great pics of rally cars are made of them doing this. Equipment is very important but attitude and preparation are equally so. <br>

good luck,<br>

Steve</p><div></div>

[johnw63]

<p>Philip,</p>

<p>What lens or focal length you use will depend on how close you can get to the cars. At paved tracks, like Laguna Seca, I found I used my 75-150 and a 300mm the most. I think I'll try the 80-200mm with the 300mm next time. If you shoot with too fast a shutter speed the shot will look like the car is just sitting there. Too slow a speed and it's really hard to get a sharp shot. In the cool shot, above, the shutter speed was great for the on coming cars because he could get a nice sharp image, but ... from the side, it would have frozen the wheels and it wouldn't have been as good. For panning, to get some nice blurred background, you may need to shoot at 1/125th of a sec. In a rally situation, where you may want ot freeze a car sliding sideways of catching air, a faster shutter would be better. Also, make sure you play with the aperture to get the whole car, or cars in focus. After that .... it's just practice , practice, practice, as you try to keep things steady and centered in the shot and not jab the shutter. Oh, and try to pick a spot where there is nothing distracting in the background ! You may have a cool shot messed up by an outhouse or bright sign in the background.</p>

<p> </p>

[johnw63]

<p>By the way, Steven, I need to see if I can get that angle , the next time I go. I have shots from the opposite angle.</p>

 

[niccoury]

<p>Steven, I know that turn!</p>

<p>You from the Monterey area? I shot the Historics in 2008 for the Weekly. I love shooting at Laguna.</p>

[hughes]

<p>Nic<br>

I'm from Santa Barbara but the Monterey Historics are a favorite of mine too<br>

Steve</p>

[howard_houston]

<p>I shoot a lot of racing throughout the year. My MVP: 70-300 VR.. although I don't often use VR (so used to no using it). I used to take my monopod a lot, didn't use it enough to justify carrying it along. As far as lens hoods ( I assume thats what you're talking about), with the coatings that are now on glass, you really don't need them. Avoid shooting into direct sunlight of course and you should be fine.</p>

<p><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v297/superbrd15/MidOhio0030.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v297/superbrd15/MidOhio0133.jpg" alt="" /></p>

[philip gleeson]

<p>Thanks all - I never made the rally after all (don't ask) but its coming along again in the next few months so i'll keep the good advice. Cheers</p>