Speed

Fast Practice

Unfortunately nothing is in focus. In addition it is too blown out. Kick shutter speed up, lower ISO (if your using DSLR) or get slower film. For the lighting you could use 200 at most with a similar shutter speed.

Keep practicing, panning at low shutter speeds takes a lot of work to get right.

this type shooting is not really suited for rangefinders. expecaly digital...if you do need or want to shoot it... try straight on (car coming twards you)... it will blur less naturaly ... pump up your ISO... and keep a shutter speed faster than 200 in my oppion...

this shot seems too in the middle... it's not fast enought, yet doesn't seem like good panning either.

First time at the track with digital autofocus.

In hind site not a good choice to post.

Actually it is a good choice to post a "bad" one when your learning, otherwise you won't learn what was wrong and, now that you know you can adjust for it and better shots as well as more quality shots.

I agree with John above that while youre learning this is not a bad post. Many of us come here to learn and my work shows the benefit of several members of photo.net whove given me many thoughtful comments, suggestions and advice. I disagree, however, with 337 photo regarding rangefinders and ISO and his advice on shooting head on. Most early auto racing photographers had what wed now consider limited equipment (Leica, Contax, Rolleiflex, etc.) yet still managed to get the job done. IMHO, its more a matter of technique than equipment and I think whats needed here is practice, practice, practice of your panning technique. Remember to keep your shutter speed slow enough to keep the car in focus while blurring the background and the wheels. And choose your backgrounds carefully. From this shot Id guess you did some heavy cropping. Perhaps another vantage point would allow more background without distractions. Id also suggest you take a look at the portfolios of a few other www.photo.net members who also shoot racing to see what you can learn:

 

Witolda Maruszewska - http://www.photo.net/shared/community-member?user_id=614618

 

Carter M - http://www.photo.net/shared/community-member?user_id=448302

 

Tim Adams - http://www.photo.net/shared/community-member?user_id=259090

Not a bad effort for a first try - we all have to start somewhere... :)

 

I think the main problem here is unsteady panning - there is evidence of camera shake on the wheels and sponsors logos. That's just down to technique really; you need to pick up the car early and follow it right through with the camera after you've activated the shutter and make sure your movement is smooth as you rotate your body.

 

If you can manual focus with your camera, pre-focus on the racing line and leave the setting there, then you don't have to worry about the autofocus delay at all. Also, with an integrated digicam you do get shutter lad, so activate the shutter a fraction before the car is square on.

 

You might find that switching to maual exposure also helps some; for single-seaters, 1/320s & f10 at 100 ISO is a good start, and just work from there.

 

Hope this helps and remember, practice makes perfect :)

Thanks, Fred and Witolda for your comments. This was the first time at the track with a digital/autofocus camera. I'm used to manual focus 35mm cameras. I will use your recommondations and check out the links.