Taking Pictures Questions

[wagner]

I am going to be up at Norwalk on friday with my Digital SLR taking pictures. What would be a good shutter speed for the action shots? It is a Rebel XSI and I do have a pretty good zoom lens.

 

Any tips would be great and let me know if you need more info on the camera I can get it after work.

[John Bruh]

use the action one (should be a gun running) and it will continue to shoot (like automatic). thats what i used when i was at norwalk last month with my nikon d60. maybe like 2 or 3 bad pics out of 120

[wagner]

Anybody else? Alex? Tim?

[smokin5s]

I have a Nikon as well, I would assume that the Cannon would have the action option... that does a really good job of setting the right shutter speed.

[Igor]

Take a picture with that, review it, find the shutter speed used and use it Shutter priority mode (Tv). Bring a white piece of paper set white balance!

[Tractor]

Yes TV mode is a great mode for controlling the action in a picture.

 

I'd try a speed of 400-500/th sec and see how that goes at first then adjust from there. Shutter speed depends on a few things, but mainly what your trying to get out of the picture. Slower shutter speeds like 1/80th to 1/200th sec will give you more blur around things that are moving in the picture such as tires. The higher shutter speeds will stop the action if your going for a shot that will show the detail of the tires wrinkling during a launch.

 

When panning and trying to convey motion using shutter speed it will depend greatly on the lens focal length. A lens like the 28-135mm will need a slower speed at 28 than at 135 to show motion. This is because of the magnification. It not only makes objects bigger, but also amplifies any motion.

 

Also if your using a long focal length typically you should always keep the shutter speed equal to or faster than the length (ie 200mm lens should go no slower shutter than 1/200th sec.) This will help you get the sharpest shots possible. Of course you can disregard that info while your using a tripod.

 

Need any other info just ask.

[Tractor]

Oh course if all else fails just set it to the little guy running on the dial and enjoy:-)

[TTQ B4U]

I am going to be up at Norwalk on friday with my Digital SLR taking pictures. What would be a good shutter speed for the action shots? It is a Rebel XSI and I do have a pretty good zoom lens.

 

Any tips would be great and let me know if you need more info on the camera I can get it after work.

 

Hey man. Just got back from vaca but can chime in quickly....

 

Tractor covered some good points. It really does depend on focal length and what type of shot you're going for.

 

Mix it up a bit to not only get practice, but get a good set of images. Try and capture the emotion of the moment; especially around the crew or drivers. Stay low for some of the shots. Often times people forget to get down lower for the real POV action.

 

High Speed shutter rates will help capture the moment at launch, aka wrinkle in the tires, but a slower speed of 1.5x to 2x your focal length will also do you justice yet leave wheel spin.

 

Zoom in to help isolate the cars too. Remember, with a DSLR, Depth of Field aka DOF and that "pop" of the focal point vs background is what makes a DSLR so nice and enables a really nice photo vs just simple snapshot pictures of a car at a race track.

 

Here are some examples:

 

Zoom in - Capture Heat Trails

 

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg378/pdqgp/zoomforheat640.jpg

 

High Speeds like 1/1000 or faster for Top Fuel

 

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg378/pdqgp/TireWrinkle1280.jpg

 

Stay Low for Good POV Action

 

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg378/pdqgp/StayLow.jpg

[wagner]

thanks for the tips! I am soooooo pumped for this event! We are going to get there right when the gates open and I hope to get some good shots of the Super Stock and Stockers doing some wheels up action!

 

So in review:

 

High shutter speed to stop the action of the really fast cars and for detail

 

Lower shutter speed to get more action of the moment

[TTQ B4U]

thanks for the tips! I am soooooo pumped for this event! We are going to get there right when the gates open and I hope to get some good shots of the Super Stock and Stockers doing some wheels up action!

 

So in review:

 

High shutter speed to stop the action of the really fast cars and for detail

 

Lower shutter speed to get more action of the moment

 

Panning will take practice so stick with it. It helps if you have Image Stabilization on your lens and can activate it in panning mode (mode 2) or automatic on some of the newest lenses. Otherwise, using a monopod may help cut down on any up and down movement.

 

Really focus on the framing of your shots and the overall emotion and feel you want to capture in the image.