On 5/28/2012 7:20 AM, Doug Franklin wrote:
Hi Walt,
On 2012-05-28 0:11, Walt Gilbert wrote:
But, from what I
understand, I'll be in a good place for taking photos ...
It would help to know what that position is.
I'm not absolutely certain on that, but from what I was told, I'll only
be about 50' from the starting line in the stands. I have no idea how
much leeway you have to walk around with a camera once you're in your
seats. though.
[...] pointers on how to get interesting shots. One of the
main drawbacks of the drag races I've shot before is the
sheer monotony of the photos given the limited number of
vantage points available from which to shoot.
This goes with your earlier comment ... you are only going to have one
shooting position? That's going to make it more difficult to get a
lot of interesting racing shots, though it may not interfere with
getting some interesting racing shots, depending on what that position
is.
But first off, there ought to be plenty of interesting stuff going on
in the paddock (I think NHRA has open paddock, but I've never been to
one of their events). Plenty of crowd action, partially
(dis)assembled cars and motors, teams working on the cars, drivers
confabbing with their teams, interesting juxtapositions of tools,
parts, people, etc.
In some ways, shooting in the paddock is akin to what I'd expect
shooting in some Moroccan open air market: very colorful and dynamic;
stuff changes quickly so you've got to be ready and watching; lighting
will likely range from hugely bright to dim and dark; contrast will
sometimes be huge, especially on a sunny day. Probably best to use
fill flash in a lot of cases, especially so you can actually see the
faces of people wearing hats or baseball caps.
My understanding is that I will have a pit pass and access to the
paddock area and I'm really looking forward to getting some great detail
shots of engines and such.
For the on-track action, that's going to be tough if you've only got
one position. Use different focal lengths to get some variety without
moving. Shots of single cars just going by quickly start looking the
same, unless the car is "doing something unusual".
Try to get both cars in the shot at the same time. Also don't worry
so much about getting the whole car(s) into the shot ... isolate on
the cockpits, for example, if you've got the angles and focal lengths
to do it. Look for the twisting effects of torque creating unusual
aspects laterally ("engine torque") and longitudinally ("wheel
torque"), places where the cars typically belch flames out of the pipes.
Pan with short shutter speeds (you generally want the car sharp and
the wheels and background blurred). Locking the mode in manual to fix
the shutter speed and aperture works best most times (reflections and
stuff can mess up the automated metering). The problem here is going
to be where your position is along the track. It's not so much the
speed that makes life difficult, it's acceleration (or deceleration).
That requires that you pan at other than a consistent speed, which is
more difficult. So the second half of the thousand feet will be
easier to pan than the first half, I'd guess.
Set the focus point one or two to the side of where you actually want
things sharp to compensate for lock time, depending on the speed with
which the cars are crossing your field of view. If you have a fully
manual lens, you can try trap focus, again compensating for lock time
by selection of focus point. If your not using autofocus, you still
have to compensate for lock time at those speeds (trip the shutter
just before the stuff you want sharp comes into focus).
I'm sure there's other stuff I'll think of later.
Thanks for all the tips, Doug! I got pretty decent at getting starting
line shots at the local drag strip, but those cars don't accelerate
anywhere near as quickly as the top fuel dragsters and funny cars at an
NHRA event, so I figure that ought to be a challenge. It's been a while
since I took any drag racing shots, so I figure I'll take a lot of bad
shots before I get the hang of it.
I took a look around the NHRA photo archives for some inspiration, and
have lots of time to bone up between now and then. Just being at the
event will be a lot of fun, so I won't be too disappointed if I don't
come back with a world-beater shot. But, it would be nice to have
something to show for it when I get back home.
Thanks again for the advice!
-- Walt
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