Photgraphing Drag Races

[JusLookN]

Hello Forrest! You've been given all good advice! As close as you were, sometimes it is good if you have enough time to pan and zoom. But it is hard to do when you are right up on the cars. Give yourself some room ahead of the cars and shoot back at them . That way, when they do wheelstands, you will have them right where you want them. You want to pan only using your waist when they pass you by so you can be in the right position to follow through. You want a fast lens to capture the action at night. And as mentioned you want to keep your shutter at 1/500 and up. Often times you may want to shoot from down track with a 70-200 F2/8 and it is important to have the shutter speed or you will get motion blur that will mess up the whole shot. If you stay close and want to capture most of the action you could use high speed sync with a good flash but it will not reach very far. It takes some getting used to shooting these cars, but it is a lot of fun when you get it right! You can always use flash at the normal setting,also! I try to shoot Drag Racing every chance I get here locally and sometimes abroad. You need to learn to shoot from the stands and how to pan! Really good shots from there!
Seems you were at HMP that night! Good luck!

[shaylou]

This is a cool shoot. I'm wondering if a polarizer would of been a nice addition to your setup to cut down on the glare and reflections caused by the sun on the car.

[kennyt]

I just did a quick WB adjustment and bumped up the contrast.

[Killin-Time]

Forrest, we need to hook up, from magnolia as well. Going to Baytown next weekend (27th&28).
Photo Sharing. Your Photos Look Better Here. | SmugMug

[Killin-Time]

Sorry Smugmug link doesn't work, still trying to figure it out, with out posting multiple (GB pics).

Later

[shaylou]

One of the best pieces of advise I have got so far is understand the limitation of your camera. This is an impossible shoot to get with automatic mode and extremely difficult otherwise. Well to get sharp at least.

[Killin-Time]

Originally Posted by shaylou

One of the best pieces of advise I have got so far is understand the limitation of your camera. This is an impossible shoot to get with automatic mode and extremely difficult otherwise. Well to get sharp at least.

X2
Drag Racing - KillntimeFotos' Photos

[lfmerrell]

Just remembered seeing this a while back.

Drag Racing Remote Camera Destroyed - YouTube

Drag Racing Remote Camera Destroyed - YouTube