Side by Slide Tries Too Hard

[John 2]

Another from a recent Slide event at our local track.

[rpcrowe]

Great shot! If it were mine, I think that I might crop a bit from the top to eliminate the top portion of the building with the vents. They seem to take my eye away from the main subject...

[Shadowman]

Nice shot.

[John 2]

Thanks Richard, thanks John.

[Manfred M]

John - from a technical standpoint, you have created an excellent image.

My problem with it is that it is quite static. It just does not seem to convey how fast the car must have been moving / sliding across the track.

[John 2]

Know what you mean Manfred but it's difficult to know what to do. On the bend, the car is basically sliding towards you. There is isn't that much sideways movement remaining. I just relied on the smoke but the real reason for posting was that I had been fortunate enough to catch the tyre tread departing.

[billtils]

Great shot John. The story is in the smoke and detached tread, but I would agree with Richard about the cropping.

[Manfred M]

Know what you mean Manfred but it's difficult to know what to do. On the bend, the car is basically sliding towards you. There is isn't that much sideways movement remaining. I just relied on the smoke but the real reason for posting was that I had been fortunate enough to catch the tyre tread departing.

This genre is tricky, especially shooting the car heading toward the photographer. A fast shutter speed gives a nice, crisp and sharp image and a slower shutter speed shows some motion blur, but the overall image is less sharp. I don't do a lot of this type of photography, but those were my observations when I did some shooting of ice racing last winter.

I suspect getting out and trying different approaches is something I will end up trying myself if I get out to shoot some racing again.

[billtils]

... especially shooting the car heading toward the photographer ...

And that is exactly the limitation that John encountered here. What he got worked very, very well in the circumstances.

[Manfred M]

And that is exactly the limitation that John encountered here. What he got worked very, very well in the circumstances.

Agreed! As I mentioned in #5, the image is technically very well done. It is quite challenging to take a fast moving vehicle that is moving toward the photographer and turn it into an image that looks like it is moving quickly.

I think he is heading in the right direction too. The smoke and debris that the car is kicking up gives the extra dimensionality that is needed in a shot that shows speed, but there is too little of it and the flying tire tread is just frozen in time.

I was trying some of the same ideas he was trying when I took this shot.

[billtils]

I like it Manfred

[Manfred M]

I like it Manfred

Thanks Bill. Most of the cars were all-wheel-drive (AWD) Subaru models, so snow was being kicked up by four wheels at the same time. In the right conditions it almost created a wall of snow behind and beside the car so it almost looks like the car is coming out through a wall of snow.

[FootLoose]

Good capture John, but I am in Manfred's camp. I think moving subjects, especially fast moving subjects are more impressive when they show some blur. It's a trade-off between detail and motion but I prefer a less sharp image with blur. When I look at the car above, it could be stationary and just spinning the rear wheels to burn rubber like teenage hoons.

[John 2]

I can't disagree with you Greg but you do need movement to do that. Sliding a car sideways round a bend which is what this event is about, eventually results in the cars lateral movement almost ceasing and it then begins to accelerate forward. That's when the tyre came off and that is what I had captured, if you like, as a moment in time. I may have earlier frames that show more movement (I was using continuous).