Jeff, could you share a little technical info? I'm guessing there was some panning involved here, which I haven't been too successful with in the past. I'm going to a classic car rally next month, so it would be great to know your camera settings or to receive a few tips! Cheers, Rob
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Rob May I firstly link you to my Singapore Grand Prix shots in case you haven't seen them and the information I gave there:
http://www.shuttertalk.com/forums/Thread...Grand+Prix.
Then, and I am by no means a master of this art, there are a number of things which I think help with panning for motor sports and maybe more. A fast focusing lens is key. I set continuous focus, took aim at the helmet of the driver using single point (because the camera will focus more quickly using single point), let fire a series of 3 or 4 shots then released and immediately shot another series (allowing the camera a new start at focusing), perhaps letting the series run on this time (why not!), still following the car round, moving the body rather than the arms or hands. Before the racing I tried to find exposure settings which would work - I just focused on the empty track and fiddled until my shots were looking bright enough. I experimented with exposure compensation too though this doesn't work with manuals settings as you know. However, most of all I wanted control over shutter speed.
Shutter speed: at first I used a fast shutter speed until I got some nice sharp bright bankers. This has disadvantages though - you freeze the wheels and motion entirely, and with high speeds you might hit higher ISOs. So, wanting to capture if I could, a sharp helmet but spinning wheels to retain a sense of motion in the images, I gradually reduced shutter speed down from 1/1000 to 1/320 or even less, but for me I found 1/320 or thereabouts worked best. I tried using aperture priority and manual and think I got decent shots using all of them but my 'feel' was for shutter speed.
As to the process of panning, I can only say, stand firmly or sit square and roll the whole body around smoothly and perhaps the key thing - keep rolling round way after you have stopped firing (if the person next to you doesn't mind a dig in the ribs). Bear in mind with Grand Prix I had 61 laps to practice. And really, that's it. Take a thousand practice shots and roll around a few hundred times and you'll have it. And some of them will include the unexpected - dust, spin, rolling off track and so forth. I only wish I'd taken more of Bianchi....Try to be very precise exactly where you are aiming...for me, the helmet...
As I say, this worked for me but it was a surprise really when it did. So it can't be that hard if you have the kit for the task and your other shots. Rob, are great. But others will have different methods which I also would be highly interested to hear, please. What I will say is this: motor sport photography is the greatest fun and everyone should have a go. By the way, the Morgan shots were serendipity - I just used my landscape settings as the cars appeared on the scene and rolled around as they passed using what I had learned at Singapore.
Let us know how you get on, Rob, and by all means let us know if you have any questions. Regards, Jeff
