Action Photos

[LowSpark]

A while back someone had posted a pic of his dog jumping into the lake and asked about capturing a moving object. Some said the picture was great the way it was, others offered tips to improve the shot. A very diverse crowd here :D

One of my nitches in photography is shooting off-road rc cars in action. I like to take photos during the racing action, not staged pictures. My first weekend race using my new camera I discovered a number of new things.

The 20d takes a lot of pictures real fast. I used to have 70-100 pictures from a weekend outing to scan through. This weekend I had close to 500 LOL

I am having to learn camera settings all over again with the new camera. Where I had my Olympus 4040 down to a auto mode of setting the shutter to 1/500 and letting the camera adjust the f-stop for available light (usually around f/5). And a slight adjustment on the exposure compensation if it was a bright day and I was set. Not so with the new toy....

I practiced during the week prior to the race by photographing cars as they passed on the street, and found that I could get relative sharp photos using a higher shutter speed and f-stop than I did with my old camera... so with this knowledge, off to the track I went. My goal is to capture a nice clean shot but not freeze the action. I want to show the wheel spin to depect the speed and motion of the car.

I've resized the following pictures to make them smaller for posting on here. They look really killer at 1000x650 :-)

[LowSpark]

1/500 f/10 iso/200 Centered Metering, AI Servo Focus, -1/3 exposure

this was an extremly dusty section of the track, I liked the effect it added to the photo

[LowSpark]

1/640 f/7.1 iso/100 AI Servo Focus, Open Metering, White Balance/Daylight

The buggies do not just run flat on a track, there are jumps and bumps to deal with. The track is minimum 12 ft wide and the cars do not always pass in front of the shutter at the same point.

[LowSpark]

1/500 f/9.0 iso/100 Centered Metering, AI Servo Focus


These pictures and a few more can be viewed here.
http://mbrc-racing.com/cliff_pics/20...r/custom/index

[LowSpark]

As you can see. I tried a lot of different settings and got some good results. Of course I am not posting the 450 blurry pictures I ended up with LOL

A lot of this type of shot not only relies on the camera settings but keeping a smooth pan of your target, a soft click of the shutter and to follow through with the panning.

I used the AI Servo and it really seemed to work well. I used the center focus point, locked onto to my target early and then used the 'continous shoot' to blast 3 or 4 frames as the car passed.


I do have a question for those with knowledge. I am using the 17-85 IS USM lens. I had the IS 'on' while taking these shots (and the 450 blurry ones). Would the camera be fighting me, trying to stablize the lens while I am trying to pan the shot following the target?

I plan on trying some shots with the IS 'off' next time, just to see if there is a difference.

comments please....

[pfritzd]

nice pics!! 8)

[Jim Victory]

I would definitely turn the IS off. Any movement of the lens will activate the IS and this will slow down focus lock.

Panning with IS is possible but you must keep on the vertical or horizontal axis, depending on settings 1&2, or it will slow down focus lock.

[saroy]

I never leave the IS feature on when I'm shooting sports or action -- it definitely slows down focusing, and at shutter speeds of 1/500, 1/640 like your photos, IS certainly isn't doing anything for you anyway!

[Justin]

Very interesting tip and it makes sense. I'm turning that darned IS off next time I shoot watersports w/a high shutter speed.

BTW - certain Nikon lenses (and maybe Canon?) have a "pan" mode that is still IS (or VR) stabilized I believe.

[LowSpark]

appreciate the replys

I will switch the bugger 'off' on my next race day and see if it makes a change.

[LowSpark]

I went to see some quarter scale oval racers today. Pretty cool stuff if your a left turn freak :D

I turned the 'IS' off and will say my percentage of decent photos was alot higher. On-road racing is on flat asphalt, so panning the cars during a race is alot easier.

1/250 f/11 iso/100

[LowSpark]

Here is a link to the pictures on my website
http://www.mbrc-racing.com/cliff_pics/quarter/index.htm

I tried shooting through the chain link fence and actually was pleased with the results.
1/400 f/5.6 iso/100

1/320 f/5.6 iso/100

[LowSpark]

here is a picture so you can see the size of the toys :-)