How to shoot at a motorcycle race?

[eskil_hess]

<p>Hi there! <br />I am attending a motorcycle race this weekend and I want to take some graet shots. I will use my sigma 70-300 or my canon 50-80.<br>

I will be standing pretty close to the track, allmost on it.</p>

<p>I really like some tips on how to make this shots great.</p>

<p>High aperture?<br />Like 5.0?<br>

Fast shutter speed ?<br />Like 1/400</p>

<p>Low iso?Like 100?</p>

<p>Manual focus?</p>

<p> </p>

[bobatkins]

<p>In your situation I'd probably just turn the command dial to the "sports" icon.</p>

[eskil_hess]

<p>I could do that on some shots, but I did not buy a SLR to use auto functions..I want some manual shots. </p>

[eskil_hess]

<p>I could do that on some shots, but I did not buy a SLR to use auto functions..I want some manual shots. </p>

[Marcus Ian]

<p>95% of us use 'auto functions' on a daily basis... good luck getting anything usable w/o using some AF for example... Manual shots have their purpose, but motorcycle racing probably isn't a good example of where to learn what they are.</p>

<p>Crank the ISO, use a blistering shutter speed, and hope your glass is fast enough to keep up... Ironically, closer isn't always good. But if you are close enough, you can pre-focus with a good DOF. If you look at past Thursday threads, you'll likely see a couple of amazing shots which will give you a good place to start.</p>

 

[bobatkins]

<p>If you don't really know what you are doing, auto modes might get you more good shots then attempts to out-think the camera.</p>

<p>Otherwise set the ISO as high as you dare within the limits of the amount of noise you find acceptable. 400? 800? 1600?</p>

<p>Set the lens aperture to its maximum. That will atomatically give you the fastest shutter speed possible for the ISO setting you have chosen.</p>

<p>Set shooting mode to continuous</p>

<p>Set AF to Servo mode</p>

<p>Point the camera at the bike</p>

<p>Fire away (using AF)</p>

<p>Hope AF tracking can keep up.</p>

[John Crowe]

<p>I doubt you want to be too close so the 70-300 will be your main lens. So I think you are stuck with at best f5.6. I find head on shots interesting with the riders knee skimming the ground as they pass through a corner. For this you need 1/750 to 1/1000 minimum, ideally 1/1250 to 1/1500. Under full mid-day sun you should be able to achieve this at ISO 100 and f5.6. If you get cloud cover you will have to boost ISO by 2 to 3 stops, and if you want to close the lens to f8 to sharpen up the images a bit you will again have to boost ISO another stop. I highly recommend prefocusing in manual focus on a spot on the track that the bike's pass through and tripping the shutter just on their approach. You can use the image review to assist you in determining the best spot and the best time to press the shutter. If you have 5 fps capability or more, it can be useful to fire off 2 or 3 shots to help ensure you hit the focus.</p>

<p>For panning you want slower shutter speeds to let the background blur and the tires/wheels blur. I find 1/250 to be effective but you can experiment from 1/60 to 1/500. Here you want to close the aperture a bit if you can to about f8 to f11, to increase your depth of field. One, it will put your lens in a better range of resolution and second, it will help cover up focus errors made by you manually or by the camera/lens not keeping up. When riders are going by you on a straight their position on the track is not consistent so using manual pre-focusing is hit and miss. I have gotten very reasonable AF focus tracking with a D2X and 5D II and f2.8 and f4 telephoto primes. Your results may vary.</p>

<p>I always shoot in Manual mode to be absolutely sure the camera is using the shutter speed that I want it to use. I also don't want bright reflections from brighter coloured bikes/cars to cause the camera to choose a lower EV setting. I learned the hard way, with film, that the headlights of American Lemans racing cars cause underexposure if you depend on the camera to select exposure. I have been using manual exposure ever since! </p>

<p>Visit my portfolio here to see some motorcycle and car racing images.</p>

<p>I am jealous, as I must wait another month before there is any good racing going on in my area. Have fun. </p>

<p> </p>

[randallfarhy]

<p>Eskil, Bob and Marcus arn't being jerks-they're being very sincere. It takes a lot of practice to get really nice racing images on a consistent basis. Motorcycles are relatively small targets which move extremely fast. Which technique to use depends almost entirely on the type of shot you're looking for. Do you want clean, crisp action freezing shots? High ISO, High Shutter and a wider aperture are the basics, depending on your camera body you may find prefocusing or zone focusing (manual) are the way to go.</p>

<p> Are you looking for blurred backgrounds and wheels with a relatively clear rider and cycle? Slower shutter (1/60th-1/250th, lower ISO and a higher aperture are the starting points-but you might find you will need a good tripod and head to stay on plane, and accept that you may only get 1 or 2 good frames per 50-100 taken(providing your technique is good).</p>

<p>My suggestion, since this is your first time out there- use a low camera angle, moderate shutter speed (1/800-1/2500 and ISO 400-800 for daylight), try to catch the riders in a somewhat head on tangent and practice, practice, practice. Good luck, sounds like it will be fun! </p>

<p> </p>

[John Crowe]

<p>Here are a couple of samples. I have gotten similar results from a 5D II and 300/4 L on panning and the 5D II and Nikon 400/2.8 and 1.4x on the head-on shot.</p><div></div>

[John Crowe]

<p>Panning.</p><div></div>

[David_Cavan]

<p>I was going to respond, but I can't add much of value over what John and Radall have posted. Good work, and it covers the situation well. I don't get hung about doing things manually - bikes are hard to shoot, harder than cars so it makes sense to let the camera handle as much of the process as possible. The acceleration of a racing bike gives you very small windows in which to nail the in-focus moment. So, especially since this is your first time, I'd be working on composition and shooting lots of frames, and use some of the auto features of the camera and lens.</p>

<p>One thing to add, perhaps. I have found that setting autofocus to a single, centered point helps if you have good light and contrast to let the autofocus do its job. Otherwise, the idea of manual pre-focusing makes a lot of sense.</p>

<p>We shoot a fair amount of racing events, and one thing I like to do is shoot some "environmental" photos as well as the usual closeups. Wider angles of the track, pit areas and corner complexes. I like to be able to tell a bigger picture about the event, and not just end up with lots of close-up shots of machines on corners.</p>

[philip_wilson]

I have not shot motorcycles since the days of MF but I do shoot ski racing. Once you have some basic shots in the bag

try panning. For ski racing I find I get my best panning results with a fastidious shutter speed 1/200 to 1/400 for a speed

event ( racers at typically 120-130 km/h when I shoot them. I often find that pre-focusing and putting the lens in MF works

well for panning shots (depending on the background and the length of time I can see the skier for) For exposure I tend

to use either Tv and partial metering (I.e. meter off the athlete) or manual exposure settings. As bob and others have

said get some good shots in the bag before you start getting more creative. I have almost no experience of 70-300

lenses but I suspect that your AF may struggle with a fast subject. My advice is use AI Servo and center or center plus

expansion AF points depending on the camera body. Mthe longer you can track the subject and the more you keep the

AF point on the subject the better your chances will be.

 

John's advice is spot on

[eskil_hess]

<p>Thanks for _GREAT_ answers :-)<br /><br /><br />I'll be taking this tips with me !<br /> </p>

[eskil_hess]

<p>So here is a cool pic from the race! <br /><br /></p>

<p><img src="http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/465647_10151574430475015_769995014_23873332_1602156492_o.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1366" /></p>