justinweiss

<p><img src="http://manbou.smugmug.com/Family/2011/Ivy-around-town-July-2011/i-F4kpPCc/0/L/7001625-110718-034-L.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>Nikon D700 with 24-70 f/2.8 at 48mm, f/5, ISO 100</p>

<p>I got the survey and I'm not an NPS member. I liked how in the question about why you like FX cameras, two of the possible answers were basically "Because owning an FX camera makes me feel superior to other people" and "Because I feel good about owning a high-end camera."<br>

<br /> LOL, Nikon market researchers. LOL.</p>

<p><img src="http://manbou.smugmug.com/Other/Dogs/7007913-091123-104/721477717_rJunL-XL-1.jpg" alt="" width="614" height="768" /></p>

<p>D700, 50mm f/1.4 @ f/3.2, 1/125 sec, ISO 800</p>

<p><img src="http://manbou.smugmug.com/Other/Flowers/7007447-091114-243/713568212_h25QN-L.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>D700, 50mm f/1.4 AF-D @ f/11, 1/320 sec, ISO 400</p>

<p><img src="http://manbou.smugmug.com/Other/Walking-around-2009/7007132-091108-037-2/706625526_aLFZJ-M.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>D700, 50mm f/1.4 AF-D @ f/6.3, 1/200 sec, ISO 400</p>

<p>Daddy's girl:</p>

<p><img src="http://manbou.smugmug.com/Family/Ivys-fifth-month/7006699-091103-056/701927644_rK6Ze-X2.jpg" alt="" width="686" height="960" /></p>

<p>D700, 50mm f/1.4 AF-D @ f/9, 1/125 sec, ISO 125</p>

<p>The thing I don't like about the D3s is the 720p video. If they're not going to go for full 1080p video, I'd rather they just left it out. If you are going to build a top-of-the-line camera, you don't throw in less-than-top-of-the-line video resolution, especially when the 5D MkII has had it for a year already.</p>

<p>By the way, the motion blur shot above was at 1/125 sec.</p>

<p>Asa, I used the 51-points autofocus setting, but set the exposure in manual mode. I found it a huge help, because the action was moving way too fast to adjust focus manually. Theoretically, I could have focused on a particular area and waited for the riders to reach that point, but it was easier to just worry about getting the exposure right and letting the autofocus do its job. By firing off a few shots in a row of key moments, I almost always got at least one sharp shot of the action.</p>

<p>Also, here is a shot I did with a slower shutter speed, panning the camera from left to right:</p>

<p><img src="http://manbou.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/SLY-race-Oct-09/7006152-091025-150/695556383_rQniG-M.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>Last weekend, I photographed my friends in a motorcycle race:</p>

<p><img src="http://manbou.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/SLY-race-Oct-09/DSC1295-091025-860/694452585_kGYXw-M.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="400" /></p>

<p>D3, 300mm f/2.8 VR @ f/9. 1/125 sec, ISO 250</p>

<p>Scot, this was at Sports Land Yamanashi in Yamanashi, Japan.</p>

<p>I wanted to take some high-shutter-speed shots to get at least a few pics as tack-sharp as possible. Then I dropped down the shutter speed and tried some panning shots, some of which came out good, but others of which were too blurry. I'll post some of them later.</p>

<p>I got a lot of good advice in a previous thread on how to shoot a motorcycle race; here are some of the results I got with a rented D3 and 300m f/2.8 VR combo. I welcome any constructive criticism.</p>

<p><img src="http://manbou.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/SLY-race-Oct-09/DSC1169-091025-746/693341361_oupx7-L-1.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p><img src="http://manbou.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/SLY-race-Oct-09/DSC1003-091025-592/693271608_bpEmQ-L-1.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="533" /></p>

<p><img src="http://manbou.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/SLY-race-Oct-09/DSC0445-091025-103/693217899_mbyYC-L.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="533" /></p>

<p>Some things I learned:</p>

<p>(1) If you are shooting from inside the track, it can be hard to move around to different spots safely while the race is going on.</p>

<p>(2) Crashes are exciting and would make great photos, but I missed all of the 8 or so crashes that happened because they were over so fast. You really have to anticipate what's going to happen, set up at a likely tight corner, and have your shot lined up in advance if you want to get a crash on film as it happens.</p>

<p>(3) A 300mm lens was maybe a little bit too long for the small track this race was on. A 200mm probably would have been just right. Although the 300mm did let me get some great close-ups, it was hard to make sure the action was all in the frame at times, and I found my shooting positions limited.</p>

<p>(4) If you are going to be on muddy grass, wrap the bottom of your tripod or monopod legs in plastic bags to keep dirt out of them</p>

<p>(5) Panning is an art. I got some pretty good panning shots (not shown above b/c I haven't post-processed them yet), but I still need to practice at it.</p>

<p>Thanks again to everyone who gave me advice on shooting this event.</p>

<p>Thanks, guys.</p>

<p>Got it, thanks! I didn't know there were special drop-in holders for circular polarizers.</p>

<p>I was using a four-section carbon-fiber Gitzo on some muddy ground, and now it feels like some dried mud particles may have slipped into the locking-collar mechanism on the lower two leg sections. Everything still works, but the two lower leg sections don't collapse and extend as smoothly as they used to. I'd like to take it apart and clean out everything. Is there a way to safely disassemble a carbon-fiber Gitzo for cleaning and put it back together again?</p>

<p>Is there a good way to use circular polarizers with lenses that take filters in a drop-in slot? Unless I'm missing something, it looks like there would be no way to turn the filter to make adjustments while looking through the lens. So what are you supposed to do with lenses like this if you want the benefits of a polarizing filter?</p>

<p>I am using Vista, but NEF files just show up as NEF icons. I don't get a thumbnail of the image like I do with jpeg files. How can I get the Nikon codecs, so the thumbnails show up for me?</p>

<p>A friend's kids playing at a picnic last weekend:</p>

<p><img src="http://manbou.smugmug.com/photos/683354298_uNbqi-XL.jpg" alt="" width="614" height="768" /></p>

<p>D700, 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 40mm and f/7.1, 1/200 sec, ISO 250</p>

<p>It's a paved track, but on the small side, so speeds probably won't reach Moto GP levels. I'm going to go with the 300mm at first and if it's too long, I can switch to something else. But you know what they say... if your photos aren't good enough, you're not close enough!</p>

<p>Thanks, guys. Raymond, what do you mean by "panning from the inside"? Inside of what?</p>

<p>I've been invited to photograph the action at an amateur motorcycle track this weekend. I'll have photographer access to the track, so I won't have to sit in the stands with the spectators. I have never done this before; most of my photography is portraits and landscape work.</p>

<p>For gear, I am bringing my D700, but since my longest lens is the Nikon 105mm VR Micro, I am thinking about renting a 300m VR f/2.8 with a 1.4x teleconverter. I wasn't planing on bringing a tripod or monopod, reasoning that I won't need them for fast action shots at high shutter speeds.</p>

<p>Can any experienced motor sports shooters give me some advice on how to get the best pictures of this event? Thanks.</p>

<p>Ken, it's not HDR; it's just the "gritty portrait effect" described in Scott Kelby's Lightroom book. You max out fill light, contrast, clarity, and vibrance, and then dial down the saturation. I tweaked this one a little bit more by also bumping up the blacks a lot for better contrast.</p>

<p><img src="http://manbou.smugmug.com/photos/676858682_aLvXC-M.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>D700, 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 48mm, f/7.1, 1/125, ISO 250</p>

<p>Part of a <em>mikoshi</em> (portable shrine) from a festival in Tokyo:</p>

<p><img src="http://manbou.smugmug.com/photos/647965860_Sjqdq-L.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="600" /></p>

<p>D700 with 24-70mm f/2.8 @ f/5.6, 1/250 sec, ISO 100</p>

<p>Lex, I think your proposal would kill the spontaneity and fun of the thread. Instead of seeing a lot of photos, we would see a lot of links, each of which would have to be clicked to see each photo. The feeling of browsing through a series of photos would be destroyed.</p>

<p>I also like keeping my photos on Smugmug, since the ones I post on Photo.net end up in Google image results, whereas Smugmug lets you turn off Google indexing.</p>