Drag Racing - weekend project

[Stagecoach]

I had the opportunity this weekend to attend another drag race event at a local airstrip and used the knowledge gained at a previous event to practice my panning.

As was expected lighting conditions varied between good and appalling with sweltering heat and some rain all in a few hours.

Here's a few of my favourites.

All shot at 1/125, f5 to f8, ISO200, FL 65 to 105mm, Matrix metering, Single spot focus, AF-C. An ND was used to get the speed down for most.
No 1


No 2


No 3


No 4


No 5


No 6


All were shot in Jpeg fine only to get my max fps as I have not yet determined the difference in frame rate between 12 bit RAW and Jpeg or worked out card capacities for such high volume shooting.

PP work was limited to Elements 'Auto Smart Fix', highlights and shadows as needed along with levels check and downsize sharpen. I know, lazy but they will only be viewed on the web and I have offered to provide full PPd files if wanted for printing.

Lessons learnt this time .............................

a) Taking a chair and hat was a BIG bonus
b) Due to the harsh sunlight I decided to shoot with the sun in front of me for far longer than before which has significantly reduced glare on the car sides and the metering mode handled it extremely well.
c) Think of ways to make the 'moving' shots more interesting within the bounds of safe positioning.

I would be interested to hear opinions on my PP 'sharpness' disregarding the obvious motion blur and of course welcome any other comments.

Grahame

[John 2]

Nice set Grahame. I wouldn't worry about sharpness. It's not a subject that requires absolute sharpness IMHO. What can look odd is a blurred BG with the car absolutely frozen including the wheels. Here you have got enough radial blur on the wheels to give the feel of movement. My only suggestion isn't necessarily for improvement but just an alternative. Try the occasional three quarter view just for a change.

[gregj1763]

Hi Grahame,
I think you have done very well panning with these shots.
They are all nicely sharp with good blurring of background and wheels to show speed.
I like the images that have the slight forward inclination of the ground as I feel it adds to the sense of speed.
As you said you had problems with the lighting conditions and because of this most of them look perhaps a little flat.
But the one that stands out from the rest to me is the RX7.
I think everything has come together just right with this image. Great lighting on a dark coloured car so some nice contrast there. The reflections on the side panels looks good, the small highlight on the roof B pillar doesn't bother me, it looks fast, though an RX7 looks fast standing still.
Nice work Grahame

[Stagecoach]

Nice set Grahame. I wouldn't worry about sharpness. It's not a subject that requires absolute sharpness IMHO. What can look odd is a blurred BG with the car absolutely frozen including the wheels. Here you have got enough radial blur on the wheels to give the feel of movement. My only suggestion isn't necessarily for improvement but just an alternative. Try the occasional three quarter view just for a change.

Thank you for commenting John,

The idea of the 3/4 view is excellent I had totally overlooked that and have enough variations of each vehicle from this session to be able to crop one for just about every car.

I suppose as the photographer you become a bit bored producing so many similar views although different cars but as the owner/driver you would concentrate more on your own vehicle.

Grahame

[Stagecoach]

Hi Grahame,
I think you have done very well panning with these shots.
They are all nicely sharp with good blurring of background and wheels to show speed.
I like the images that have the slight forward inclination of the ground as I feel it adds to the sense of speed.
As you said you had problems with the lighting conditions and because of this most of them look perhaps a little flat.
But the one that stands out from the rest to me is the RX7.

I think everything has come together just right with this image. Great lighting on a dark coloured car so some nice contrast there. The reflections on the side panels looks good, the small highlight on the roof B pillar doesn't bother me, it looks fast, though an RX7 looks fast standing still.
Nice work Grahame

Hi Greg,

Thanks for your comments,

I also prefer the ones with the slight slope forward of which for many I have done in post, additionally those that are not perfectly parallel to the camera stand out for me where you can see all four wheels.

That RX7 is the one that I got the highest number of 'good' shots and with that lighting so I'll spend a bit of time PPing to see what I can achieve rather than the rushed job these got. Most of the others show a crack in his front spoiler but I'm sure that can be cloned.

Grahame

[Shadowman]

Very nice series.

[Kaye Leggett]

But the one that stands out from the rest to me is the RX7.

Being a complete female numpty here - which one is the RX7 ???

I like the first shot because it looks like there is no-one in it !!

But good shots all round and well done on persevering - I hope Christina sees these too although I realise these have 4 wheels rather than 4 legs.

[Brownbear]

Hi Grahame,

Thank you for sharing. All very well done. I love the spin in the wheel hub and I like the first and fifth shot best. First for the hubcap spin and likely for the colour of the car and third for the hubcap spin.

Kaye. Thanks. I will be following Grahame's project in preparation for later this year.

[Disles1]

What I like - and you have captured it - is leaving space in front of the cars for them to "move" forward.

What I find strange - and here my age is showing - is the type of cars drag racing. My recollections are related to big-block American cars of the 60s. How the world has changed.

[rpcrowe]

Nice set Grahame. You achieved a fine balance between blurred background, sharp vehicles and blurred wheels. This really portrays a sense of motion...

So often, I read comments that Image Stabilization has no place in sports photography. However, an image stabilized lens that has two modes of stabilization is really neat in shots like this. The IS mode 1 stabilizes motion in all planes while the Mode 2 only stabilizes the up and down jiggle, allowing you to effectively use IS when panning.

I know that all Canon IS lenses do not incorporate the dual modes of stabilization; however my 300mm f/4L IS and 70-200mm f/4L IS lenses have the dual modes. I will use these quite often in sports photography when I need to pan...

I have not researched lenses from other manufacturers to ascertain if they include dual stabilization modes.

[Wavelength]

I could see only few because of a slow connection; but so far i could see, they are great

[gregj1763]

Being a complete female numpty here - which one is the RX7 ???

I like the first shot because it looks like there is no-one in it !!

But good shots all round and well done on persevering - I hope Christina sees these too although I realise these have 4 wheels rather than 4 legs.

Sorry Kaye. No. 5 is the RX7 my dad had one. Great car to thrash, oops I mean drive sensibly with great care and due attention on the wonderful twisty roads here in Tasmania

[Stagecoach]

Very nice series.

Thank you John.

[Stagecoach]

Being a complete female numpty here - which one is the RX7 ???

I like the first shot because it looks like there is no-one in it !!

But good shots all round and well done on persevering - I hope Christina sees these too although I realise these have 4 wheels rather than 4 legs.

The RX7 is No 5

Hi Kaye,
The first shot I specifically included for the 'Ladies' and could have titled 'Little Red Sports Car'. I believe the driver is, or at least part of, inside the helmet

Grahame

[Stagecoach]

Hi Grahame,

Thank you for sharing. All very well done. I love the spin in the wheel hub and I like the first and fifth shot best. First for the hubcap spin and likely for the colour of the car and third for the hubcap spin.

Kaye. Thanks. I will be following Grahame's project in preparation for later this year.

Hello Christina,

Thanks for commenting. 'Hubcap Spin' has improved with this session as I moved further down the track where they were going faster. I also made more effort to choose the background to avoid a building and any parked cars.

Grahame

[AndrewMcD]

Grahame - Very nice work. You seem to have really got the sweet spot on the shutter speed. A nice blur in the background and the wheels yet sharp enough images of the cars. I'm taking notes on what you've done! We have a drag strip not far from where I live that provides some great close up opportunities at the start line. I am jealous of your nice green background. Invariably the places one can spectate from are cluttered with grandstands, fences, walls and other distractions in the background. Looking forward to seeing more of your work and I'll try to post something of my own when the race season gets going here again (meaning all the snow has melted off the track!).

Disles1 - The world of drag racing is still populated by big block American iron; though I suspect more so in the USA than Fiji.

[Stagecoach]

What I like - and you have captured it - is leaving space in front of the cars for them to "move" forward.

What I find strange - and here my age is showing - is the type of cars drag racing. My recollections are related to big-block American cars of the 60s. How the world has changed.

Ken,

Thanks for commenting,

The space in front is often a combination of shooting luck and cropping and I do have a selection of ones leaving the frame.

Here in Fiji we are way behind many parts of the world and technology based sport such as this is new but I view it as a very important area that will assist the development for the country. There's no big commercial backing and all the vehicles and parts have to be imported in and whilst some of the cars are minor league the enthusiasm and competitiveness is what makes it.

One of the great things for me with this project as an amateur photographer is that I'm seen and considered as a 'professional' and do not have the same restrictions an amateur would have in a modern world event. This greatly helps with my learning and in return for this privilege I can give the members pictures of their much loved cars that they would otherwise not get.

Grahame

[Stagecoach]

Richard,

Thanks for commenting. I was using the 18-200mm Nikon and from what I have read it is advised to use the VR (Nikon speak) when panning. There's a few shots within the mass I took where I turned the VR off to see if it was noticeable and you have just reminded me of this so I'll have look on screen and report on any findings.

Grahame

[Stagecoach]

I could see only few because of a slow connection; but so far i could see, they are great

Thanks Nandakumar, I suffer slow connections here as well that coincide with heavy rain.

Grahame

[Brownbear]

Hello Grahame,

These are wonderful. I will be learning from you and all the more prepared when my horses are racing once more. Thank you.

I might have to hire someone to clear the race track of distractions in the wee hours of the morning.

Hello Christina,

Thanks for commenting. 'Hubcap Spin' has improved with this session as I moved further down the track where they were going faster. I also made more effort to choose the background to avoid a building and any parked cars.

Grahame