Tips Cheap day out practicing Motorsport Photography

Just in case the pixel-peepers don't read the General forum, former bit-tech Editor Tim Smalley and I are heading to Silverstone on SUN 02 JUN to check out the Blancpain Endurance Series GT3 race, supported by Lambos and a few others:

http://www.silverstone.co.uk/events/Blancpain-endurance-series/

I've never been to Silverstone so for the price of a cinema ticket, I'd argue this event is decent value.

Tim has been to Brands Hatch recently and took some cracking shots of the DTM cars with his 5D MKII and 70-200mm f/2.8

I'll be dusting off my 7D and contrasting my 70-200mm f/2.8 non-IS with my Sigma 150-500mm OS

Everyone is welcome (even Nikon owners /jk) so take a look, spend £15 on a ticket and we'll arrange a meet-up.

 

A few pics from DTM/BTCC/Porsche Carrera Cup

 

Copy/paste from other thread : Il be there with the camera.

Silverstone is a tricky place to shoot but im up for the challenge.

Check my sig for previous motorsport pics


P.s - you will be using the 50-500 most of the time as 200mm is a bit short for ss. Having said that il have my tcs with me which your welcome to use.

 

Boy's got some skills!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61884863@N06/sets/72157633389348872/

 

Lol glad you think so. Always learning though, and never shot GT stuff so im quite excited about this. I expect it to be fairly challenging.

My fav from the album you linked is this one:

Two way dice by Polarity Photo, on Flickr

 

It's a bit OT but there are other corkers too. And the MotoGP ones kick ass too:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/polarityphotos/sets/72157633252338152/

Especially the clear visor one. Are they crops?

 

Most the superbike ones are only slightly cropped. But just trimming nothing too drastic. They are BSB. MotoGP il be doing in August. So excited about that as ive never shot that class.

The ones you linked were all taken with a 120 - 300mm lens and a x2.0 tc attached. Allowing me to get to 600mm. My fav one of the album you linked is this one :


James Ellison #77 - Milwaukee Yamaha - Thruxton by Polarity Photo, on Flickr

Taken at 500mm through the fence at Thruxton (exiting the complex).

 

Interesting! A TC is a very tempting bit of kit, it's just how it would play with my 70-250mm that puts me off, it's not exactly high-end gear!

 

The 2x TC on a 70-200 f/2.8 makes a big difference for me since I don't have a crop factor. I'd like to get a 100-400 or 150-500 (so I've got up to 800/1000mm with the TC), but to be honest there are enough pixels in a 5D2 to crop generously and still have a 10mp+ image at the end.

120-300+2xTC on a 7D gives you up to 960mm without any cropping. I have been considering swapping my 5D2 for a 7D, but what stops me is the fact I sold my 17-40mm which would have been my workhorse lens on a 7D. 24-70 is not wide enough with a 1.6x crop factor and I think the extra reach would be a hindrance in other situations. I'd also miss the 5D2's shallow depth of field.

 

I think you need a f2.8 lens in order to keep AF when using a tc. Unless you have a 1d.

Pretty sure thats how it works. Even with the 2.8 lens AF will take a hit in speed but if your using a 7d, 5d3 or 1d3 and above they are all plenty fast enuff for it to be still be a good performing option.

Happy to exhange deets with anyone going. Would be great to say hi

 

I wish I could join gents but I'm preoccupied that day, however in the future I'd love to come along and see some motors and do some shooting! Castle Combe is more my neck of the woods so I'll be frequenting there quite often this year!

some of my work, no where near the caliber of bdigital!


DSC_3753 by dan-morris, on Flickr


DSC_3771 by dan-morris, on Flickr

Was an open track day so the racing wasn't exactly aggressive or tightly packed, would love to shoot some GT action at some point!

 

tickets ordered!

 

You have to multiply teleconverter number by focal length as well as aperture.

a 70-200mm f2.8 beast lens becomes 140-400mm f5.6.

If you use 2x TC on a f5.6 lens, it becomes f11 and won't auto focus, it'd be hard to manual focus because viewfinder becomes so dark.

 

Thats right. So my 120-300 f2.8 will do 420mm at f4 and 600mm at f5.6.

 

Bobby I might want to meet you one day at the track for tips.

 

No problem mate, would be happy to. Although im only learning myself, so it would be joint excercise!

 

I had my first attempt at motorsport photography this weekend with drag racing at the shakespeare county raceway...

 

Are you lads still going? Im hoping to get there by 10, il try for earlier but its a fair journey for me.

 

Yes. We're aiming at 10 or more likely 10:30am

My tickets never came through the post (!) so I'm going to lose a bit of time arguing with the Box Office in order to get in.

I'll PM you my mobile number.

 

Awesome day out... glorious weather and some great on-track entertainment! It was nice to you Rob.

Here are a few photos from the day:

















Most of the side-on shots were between 1/60th and 1/160th, handheld on a 70-200 f/2.8L (non-IS) + 2xTC at 400mm. The front-on shots were at more sensible shutter speeds between 1/500th and 1/800th.