Motorsport Pics - Post Them Here

[Mick J S]

More from Cadwell, this time on two wheels, taken at the Derby Phoenix meeting two weeks ago.

[Ricko]

Hi all, great pictures!! Here's a couple of mine from Donington.


British Touring Car


Superbike World Championship



Legends, this one caught me on the hop!

Uploaded with ImageShack.us


Just out of interest, anyone going to Vintage Sports Car Club Festival this weekend at Donington?

[stevewe88]

More from Cadwell, this time on two wheels, taken at the Derby Phoenix meeting two weeks ago.

Lovely shot Mick, very sharp.

[stevewe88]

Hi all, great pictures!! Here's a couple of mine from Donington.


British Touring Car


Superbike World Championship



Legends, this one caught me on the hop!

Uploaded with ImageShack.us


Just out of interest, anyone going to Vintage Sports Car Club Festival this weekend at Donington?

Nice pictures Richard. Number 1 and 3 are great captures.

I think number 1 might have looked better with a bit of motion blur though. Have you tried any panning shots?

I am afraid I won't be at the vintage car club at Donington as I am on holiday in Florida

Thanks for Posting, and keep them coming
Steve

[Mick J S]

Lovely shot Mick, very sharp.

Thanks Steve, look forward to your Florida snaps.

[Mick J S]

Hi all, great pictures!! Here's a couple of mine from Donington.


British Touring Car


Superbike World Championship



Legends, this one caught me on the hop!

Uploaded with ImageShack.us


Just out of interest, anyone going to Vintage Sports Car Club Festival this weekend at Donington?

Great action shots Richard, was you inside the wire netting?

[Frankie]

These were taken at the Grand National Cross Country Race in Snowshoe, WV. Day 1 was ATV racing and day 2 was Dirt Bike racing. This is considered the most difficult race for cross country... 16 mile, treacherous track through mud, rocks, mountain hills, etc.

I plan on being at a lot of these taking photos, so I really would appreciate any and all C & C.

I have already recognized how difficult it is to capture a quad (or car for that matter) that gives the impression of forward movement. For whatever reason, 2 wheels is easier. So, I now know that I need to be at the inside of a curve for the Quads in order to get better spray (roost) that will help give forward movement.

Thank you for viewing and thank you for your comments.
frankie

1.


2.


3.


4.


5.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Frankie,

The problem with these kind of situations is predictably, in about half the shots; the background.
I was going to suggest a wider aperture, but looking at the EXIF, these were all shot between f/4 and f/5.6, so hardly stopped down.

The major problem I see is that I think you uploaded the full size images to TinyPic (e.g. 3855 x 2325 for #5), which downsized them to 1598 x 964, that then gets further reduced to 700 x 422px when it displays in the thread. As a consequence, they all look rather soft, even if you click the image and view in a Lytebox, they don't become as sharp as they could be

Do have a read of this post for a 'not too time consuming' workflow to address this 'problem'.

But I'm being picky, there is far more right than wrong with these, well done.

Cheers,

[Frankie]

Hi Frankie,

The problem with these kind of situations is predictably, in about half the shots; the background.
I was going to suggest a wider aperture, but looking at the EXIF, these were all shot between f/4 and f/5.6, so hardly stopped down.

The major problem I see is that I think you uploaded the full size images to TinyPic (e.g. 3855 x 2325 for #5), which downsized them to 1598 x 964, that then gets further reduced to 700 x 422px when it displays in the thread. As a consequence, they all look rather soft, even if you click the image and view in a Lytebox, they don't become as sharp as they could be

Do have a read of this post for a 'not too time consuming' workflow to address this 'problem'.

But I'm being picky, there is far more right than wrong with these, well done.

Cheers,

Dave,
Thank you for your suggestions! You were correct about how I posted them through TinyPic. I'll read your post and hopefully learn a better method.

This was my first time at one of these races, much less photographing one, so I know I have a lot to learn. The backgrounds do bother me on most of these as well. In the future I will find a point along the track where there are no people or distracting signs or snowblowers!

Thank you again.
frankie

[Dave Humphries]

The backgrounds do bother me on most of these as well. In the future I will find a point along the track where there are no people or distracting signs or snowblowers!

Hi Frankie,

You may not be able to choose the backgrounds as nice as we'd like at most venues, as you have found.

So blurring by choice of a slower shutter speed, and/or shallow DoF by as wide an aperture as possible, are my suggestions - plus toning down in PP if it is bright, in both cases.

If you do find one place that has a better background, you run the risk of getting a lot of very 'samey' looking pics (been there ), so if at all possible, have a few places lined up and switch between them for different races or laps.

Or get ahead of an "S" bend so you can shoot long at one corner, zoom out a bit, and have a second chance at a nearer corner.

Cheers,

[stevewe88]

These were taken at the Grand National Cross Country Race in Snowshoe, WV. Day 1 was ATV racing and day 2 was Dirt Bike racing. This is considered the most difficult race for cross country... 16 mile, treacherous track through mud, rocks, mountain hills, etc.

I plan on being at a lot of these taking photos, so I really would appreciate any and all C & C.

I have already recognized how difficult it is to capture a quad (or car for that matter) that gives the impression of forward movement. For whatever reason, 2 wheels is easier. So, I now know that I need to be at the inside of a curve for the Quads in order to get better spray (roost) that will help give forward movement.

Thank you for viewing and thank you for your comments.
frankie

1.


2.


3.


4.


5.

Hi Frankie
Thanks for keeping this thread alive I think you have some terrific shots here for a first attempt.

The difficulty with off road shots like these is you have to decide what you want to show out of very crisp, sharp pieces of dirt or the movement. I have always found it really tricky to get both right

With the ATV's you can get a good sense of movement into the shots if you can get the point when their front wheels are turned but the vehicle is pointing straight at you. If you put the vehicle on the side of the frame it gives the sense of sliding into the center of the image.

Of your images I really like number 3. It is probably the one with the biggest softness problem as it looks like your camera has picked up the yellow tape as the focus point rather than the rider However, it is a great capture and one you should definately try and repeat. With a bit of trickery in PP to darken the background it would look really good as it is anyway.

Numbers 1 and 5 would have been great shots taken more from the side and with a slower shutter speed whilst panning. Have a go at this if you can. It blurs out the background, gives you a real sense of movement in the frame and on the vehicle with blurred wheels/tyres. You have to take a lot of shots but the keepers will be well worth it.

Number 2 is great. A bit of darkening to the background as Dave suggested would really make it pop.

Thanks again for posting here and please keep them coming. It will be great to see some more

Steve

[Mick J S]

A few images I took last weekend at a Vintage Bike race meeting at Cadwell Park Lincs UK.

[stevewe88]

A few images I took last weekend at a Vintage Bike race meeting at Cadwell Park.

Nice shots Mick, Number 2 is a real winner

[stevewe88]

What do you think to these changes Mick?

[Mick J S]

Thanks Steve, yes, I like the mono conversion, maybe a little too much contrst?

[Mick J S]

A few more bike shots, this time from a Thundersport meeting again at Cadwell Park UK.

" Wheelies "
Best viewed on lightbox
Airborn

Nearly airborn


Wet wheelie

Power wheelie

[Mick J S]

ATVs, Dirt Bikes, and Mud
These were taken at the Grand National Cross Country Race in Snowshoe, WV. Day 1 was ATV racing and day 2 was Dirt Bike racing. This is considered the most difficult race for cross country... 16 mile, treacherous track through mud, rocks, mountain hills, etc.

A great set of shots frankie, #2 is my favourite, "wow" the rider is realy putting the power on.
Mick.

[JK6065]

Here's another one from a recent test day with our University Race Team.



It's our new car (compared to my previous post).

[stevewe88]

A few more bike shots, this time from a Thundersport meeting again at Cadwell Park UK.

" Wheelies "
Best viewed on lightbox
Airborn

Nearly airborn


Wet wheelie

Power wheelie

Nice series Mick.

I Love the first one, nice and sharp but retaining the feel of movement. As the bike is in the middle of the frame it would probably take a vignette to accentuate it more

I see the bloke with the L-series glass only featured in shot 2. It looks like a 70-200 f2.8 so I think I would have got rid of him too Nothing like a bit of lens envy

[stevewe88]

Here's another one from a recent test day with our University Race Team.



It's our new car (compared to my previous post).

Fantastic shot Jeroen. The car is looking good too

Did you clone something out in the background? I don't know why but it doesn't look right for some reason?