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12/25/2016
Location
Piedmont, SC, USA
Edited Date/Time
5/31/2021 12:44am
I'm looking for a few tips. I literally just started shooting pictures Tuesday and went to the track Wednesday and shot for 3 hours straight. My biggest problem is keeping the subject in focus. There where far too many pictures i took where I felt I had my setting dialed and I just completely screwed up with the focus. I went back and forth between changing the focus as I followed the subject and setting the focus where i wanted the picture and following the rider to that point and taking the picture.
As far as equipment goes I'm using a canon rebel t7 with a EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III lens. I'm shooting in manual, maybe I should try auto focus? I don't really know, maybe i just need more practice. Also any other tips regarding settings are welcome.
Here are a few photos, some I felt where decent and others where I felt like I kind of screwed up.
As far as equipment goes I'm using a canon rebel t7 with a EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III lens. I'm shooting in manual, maybe I should try auto focus? I don't really know, maybe i just need more practice. Also any other tips regarding settings are welcome.
Here are a few photos, some I felt where decent and others where I felt like I kind of screwed up.
Couple tips from me, try to get the rider into frame more and look up the rule of thirds. I always tried to find a focal point of where I want the viewer of my pictures to look when I’m actually snapping them and used that for a baseline of how I wanted to frame the picture. for instance, if I was trying to capture the riders head I would put it closer to the center of the frame, not dead center but closer than the rest of his body/bike. For me it was usually the front number plate that gets the most attention so that was a focal point most times.
If you’re snapping a corner, try and snap the picture right at the point of the rider going from braking to acceleration or even a split second after and you will get the rear shock more squatting down and the forks decompressed and it usually comes out nicer than the dive into the corner. That’s also usually when the bike is most leaned over and it makes dudes look fast haha.
Here's some more information on this topic:
https://www.vitalmx.com/forums/Motodrive/Moto-Related,20
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Also- get a lens cover (clear thing that covers end of lens)- otherwise you stand a good chance of a rock hitting it and chipping it, which will ruin your camera.
Take a look at my photo album from the 2016 Washougal race: https://goo.gl/photos/wsTDyEva3rMDQokM7
Two other things... Settings were almost always 1/1600 shutter speed, largest aperture opening possible, and ISO as low as possible. I upgraded to a 70-200 f2.8 from the f4.5-5.6 and that made a massive difference, but the variable aperture lens got the job done. And, shoot in raw and edit your photos in Lightroom if you can.
I didn't stray too much from any of that during my two years at TWMX and I couldn't believe the shots I was able to get once I started getting the hang of it. The more you do it the more you'll get the hang of the nuances of your camera and what certain conditions require you to adjust.
The second thing, as mentioned above, you need a pretty fast shutter speed. I've used 1/2000, 1/4000 to get a really clear image before.
Once you start using a faster shutter speed you'll notice the image looks a lot darker, because the camera can't capture as much light. Compensate this with a wide aperture setting, in your case as low as f/4.
The most important thing you need to do is just get out there and shoot as much as possible. Trial and error is always the best way to learn.
Regarding manual vs. autofocus, I have always used manual focus when shooting moto. I find autofocus annoying because it usually doesn’t do what I want it to do.
Instead of trying to manually focus while bikes are flying by, I choose a point on the track and focus there ahead of time. Then as riders get to that point, take the shot. You can get lots of good shots as the pack flies by because you can concentrate on framing your shots and not focusing the camera for every shot.
This technique works well when the bikes are coming toward (or going away) from you because the distance from the camera to the rider is essentially the same regardless of what line (right, left, center) they choose. Corners are a bit different and you have to anticipate if they will take an inside or outside line. Depending on the corner, sometimes you can focus on the middle line and still get good shots regardless of what line the rider takes. I hope this helps. Have fun!
This was my go to thread when learning.
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