Panning action shots (post pictures, and suggestions etc.)
 

http://nthimage.energywise-group.com...gs/panning.htm

each one is different... and i think it will help improve the quality of photos during photoshoots, and street sightings etc.

http://nthimage.energywise-group.com...ac_CTS_V_1.jpg

this one the point of focus is behind the front wheel well, and really, looks terrible... one interesting thing about it, however, is its become a super-wide looking shot.

http://nthimage.energywise-group.com...da_S2000_1.jpg

this one might have faired better if the focus was at, or slightly above the front wheel... but, the front facia is quite sharp.... ultimately, its a loss IMO.

http://nthimage.energywise-group.com...san_350Z_2.jpg

this one is nearly as good as it can be (with no IS) the one problem is the rear end is cut off the frame. its interesting how the perspective distorts what is not in focus (the front wheel) as it's angle reletive to me is approaching perpindicular... an interesting effect; and doesnt lose the character of the car. id like to increase my abilities with this shot.

http://nthimage.energywise-group.com...san_350Z_1.jpg

this one the fucus isn't quite clear, but the shot isn't all bad in my opinion; the suv in the way ruins the shot to some degree. a sightly higer ISO, or more open aperature could've reduced post-processing grain.

http://nthimage.energywise-group.com...abriolet_1.jpg
this one, the point of focus is the front overhang, quite clearly... but the level of distortion over the rear makes this one quite terrible IMO. this time, the angle approaches 180 degrees reletive to me. it may have been helped if tried to hit it closer to perpindicular, or while approaching me and hitting the front overhang.

tried some last year @ the f1 race
kinda of hard for where is was sitting (really tight)
but my first try was bad. 2nd time kinda worked
http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/3204/pan4en.jpg

first try
http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/7341/pan28mf.jpg

this year i hope to do better... :(

The way I've always done it is take pictures with just about every setting you have on your camera. Write down what you did in each picture. Then go from there.

^^^^
well, with changing light; and styles of panning a moving subject... you'll have a different result each time. if you can hone a style... im just giving my recent examples, and i'd like to see others' examples, and descriptions on how they did it.

of course, i'd be more hten happy to elaborate on any picture i take etc.

Not wanting to be rude, but nth, all the ones you posted are basically too blurry to be considered as "good" pics :) Basically it was just too dark and shutter speed too low to get good results ;)
IMO even with an IS you can't go much lower than 1/80 or 1/60 for a panning shot. Usually I don't bother about F and I shoot in shutter speed priority when doing panning shots, and indeed I work between 1/60 and 1/100, depending on the speed of the car. Of course the car has to be driven at constant speed for better results ;9
For sure they are artistic, but there is no sharp point at all in them
Your RX8 picture is much better for instance ;)

Here is a couple of mine.. the only way to achieve good results with slow shutter speed is to have an IS (I am pretty shaky myself) and to be in control of the situation: beeing able to shoot many pics with the car passing by many times at a constant speed

These ones were 1/80 but to get them right I had to take a ton of pics, even with IS (car traveling at around 100 kmh)
http://www.swisscarsightings.com/aud...20V6%20008.jpg http://img127.imagevenue.com/loc190/...orte_V_319.jpg

1/100 but when you shoot a 3/4 panning shot of course only the point you are following is sharp.. usually the front, and the backend is usally blurry.. it's due to the angle, but I suppose the quicker the shutter speed, the better.. but you'll end up with less sense of speed.. so...
http://www.swisscarsightings.com/aud...0RS4%20125.jpg http://www.swisscarsightings.com/aud...0RS4%20134.jpg http://www.swisscarsightings.com/aud...0RS4%20130.jpg

Again 1/100 and cars traveling at a constant 80 kmh ... for my style and my preferences, 80 to 100 kmh and 1/80 1/100 is perfect.. 1/60 would be even better, but too hard to have a good shot :D
http://img129.imagevenue.com/loc24/th_78546_astra80.jpghttp://img37.imagevenue.com/loc24/th_78551_focus80.jpghttp://img15.imagevenue.com/loc24/th_78561_megane80.jpg

BTW, I find very difficult to take panning shots of cars from the rear, ence going away from me.. I never seem to pick a good focusing point and to keep it steady :roll:

no offence taken; i think they are crap too (what i posted about each one) the only thing i really liked about them was its quite clear where the distortion is; and where it happens/what to expect. thanks for your wright up with your shots; i think it'll help me, and others when hunting cars. 8) :D

Many thanx TT, I will remember your advices!!! they will be very helpful very soon on very nice place to use :wink:

appreciate your time for explanation :good: :D

edit: I'm registered on one site dedicated to photography and there is one guy, who attends rally races. I asked him about the shutter times some time ago and he told me about 1/125 - 1/250s, faster curves 1/250 - 1/320s
this shot is 1/60s
http://ladak.la-ky.net/albums/userpi...1/IMG_4348.jpg

and this one is 1/100s
http://ladak.la-ky.net/albums/userpi...vojtech_t2.jpg

Yeah, if the car is travelling quick then you ideally need 1/125 - 1/250. Going too slow on the shutter just means blurry pics.

I took this at 1/250 at 100mm (not cropped)

http://www.ph-digitalphotography-mot...3-csl-side.jpg

^^^ the rims in that shot are amazing :clap:

Here are some of my panning shots at Laguna Seca - Monterey Historics:

Aston DBR1
http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/5...00026jw.th.jpg

Ferrari Testarossa
http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/4...00017cz.th.jpg

Maserati Birdcage
http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/7...00130ls.th.jpg

In general, I find that I can get the panning shot best if I tilt the camera about 45 degrees to the left or right so thet the car is in the middle of the diamond and follow the car for quite a bit so that the camera can get a good read of the car's speed. The first two pictures are using this technique.

I use the automatic settings and pray for the best. :) NO manual settings - I am a neophyte :)

I find this technique really helps with filming F1 cars that are so friggin fast, half of my shots have only parts of the car and not the whole because I was too slow to keep up with it. :)

Tilting the camera can be a nice trick, but you should then try to put the pics straight or anyway less tilted afterward (PS or whatever). aren't they a bit too tilted like they are? I often use the same technique every now and then but usually I straighten then a little bit or completely while I edit them ;)

BTW, an IMPORTANT detail when we talk about fast cars. you need good lenses, period: i tried to shoot "quick" cars with my EF 70-300 mm F4.5/5.6 IS and although quite quick for a not-L lense, the difference there is with any of the L I tested is AMAZING and definitely on track you need a very quick lenses at that because "cheap" ones will always be a bit late, or most of the time anyway.

Thanks TT, one of these days I will be buying an SLR camera and I will be depending on you for some good advice for camera and lenses that are well suited for taking racing pictures... :)

Sorry to bring this topic up again, seems pointless to start a new thread. Anyways i always wanted to try panning shots but im confused what mode do i put it on?! The camera i have is a Canon EOS 350D SLR.

Appreciate the help guys.

There is a setting called "Shutter Priority", for my SLR, its an "S" on the round dial, I'm guessing the same for Canons. This allows you to set the Shutter speed...you have to experiment to find a good one, depends on the situation, etc...and the camera automatically picks the best aperture to get the exposure.

I guess if you are really hardcore you could do full manual, but "S" is the best I think.

TT, is the expert, he will probably pipe in too... ;) :P

Thank you for your help, appreciate but i just took a peak at the camera there is no 'S' on the dial, i think its a different one, 'AV'?! Anyways thanks again, hope TT can fill me in.

On the Nikon, you have another option apart from the shutter priority mode - Program mode, you can rotate the command dial to all the various shutter speed and aperture combinations that give the same exposure.

Example, if F8 and 1/250 make it correctly exposed, then rotating the dial one way will take you to F5.6 and 1/500 or rotate it in the other direction for F11 and 1/125.

Basically it seems to do away with the need for the aperture priority or shutter priority mode. Or am I missing something :)

TV mode = Shutter priority

Dumb naming convention :)

Havn't visited any car-events recently, but here are some of mine:

92mm, 1/80s:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~akoevoet/JW/Panning/IMG_4093.jpg

108mm, 1/100s:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~akoevoet/JW/Panning/IMG_4094.jpg

70mm, 1/200s:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~akoevoet/JW/Panning/IMG_4101.jpg

168mm, 1/200s:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~akoevoet/JW/Panning/IMG_4144.jpg

168mm, 1/160s:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~akoevoet/JW/Panning/IMG_4145.jpg

200mm, 1/125s:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~akoevoet/JW/Panning/IMG_1175.jpg

18mm, 1/13s:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~akoevoet/JW/Panning/IMG_3083.jpg

Here are a few of mine:

http://i4.tinypic.com/zx4p50.jpg

http://i4.tinypic.com/zx4rbo.jpg

http://i4.tinypic.com/zx4rpw.jpg

Fucking awesome Sentra ... the plane landing shots are simply amazing :) 8) 0X

Thanks man! 8)

ehahaha thanks buddy. Let me get back to Dubai and i ll try it then, hope it works with me.

sentra_dude : Those are some awesome motion shots, love the plane ones and the bikes, but love the police car in action haha excellent pictures, thanks for sharing them. Hope i can achieve your standards.

Programe Mode is the same as Auto Mode expect you can change a few settings like ISO, White Balance.

Av - Aperture Value
You choose the aperture and the camera auto selects the shutter speed to properly expose the photo.

Tv - Timing Value (S mode on Nikons)
You choose the shutter speed and the camera auto selects the aperture to properly expose the photo.

Well, i thought its time i provide some more recent, and improved panning shots i've done :) (from earlier today)
First, we have a Monte Carlo here taken @F9.0/ 1/100th of a second ISO 200
http://Serv1.imagehigh.com/files/ih0...te_carlo_1.jpg
This one is nearly the same, but being a white car, i changed it to F10 1/100th of a second with ISO 200.
http://207.210.234.147/imgs/ih000001...Corvette_1.jpg

If i can do this good w/out IS... i seriously wonder how awsome IS will improve my "abilities" :LoL: ;)

200mm; F5.6; 1/320 sec shot at 1:54pm
http://207.210.234.147/imgs//ih00000...7__DSC2395.JPG

70mm; F10; 1/400 sec shot at 12:38pm
http://Serv1.imagehigh.com/files//ih...0__DSC2259.JPG

200mm; F3.5; 1/800 sec shot at 2:00 pm --> I had to shoot faster to capture the sparks
http://Serv1.imagehigh.com/files//ih...0__DSC2424.JPG

85mm; F2.8; 1/250 sec shot at 8:23 pm - this was in a darker section of the circuit - good for picking up the glowing brakes
http://207.210.234.147/imgs//ih00000...2__DSC3491.JPG

200mm; F2.8; 1/250 sec shot at 8:27 pm
http://207.210.234.147/imgs//ih00000...0__DSC3520.JPG

200mm; F2.8; 1/250 sec shot at 8:24 pm
http://Serv1.imagehigh.com/files//ih...2__DSC3494.JPG

if only the last few had a bit more exposure... and well, the first few had more exposure (higher aperature too).

granted, its very hard to follow the sheer speeds of race cars! the first two shots are incredibly sharp!

thanks for sharing :)

Wow, thanks dude! I'll admit, I'm pretty proud of the airplane shot. :D :P

I used 1/30sec for that shot, and did pretty much zero editing in PS, except for re-sizing. Definitely tough to get a clear shot with a plane going 80mph, and free-hand, but looks cool when it works...




Sameerrao, the glowing brakes are awesome, a really great catch! The Audi scraping is cool too :shock: is that supposed to happen?!

Are those pics from another topic...? I'd like to see the rest of those, and btw, it looks like you had a good position to shoot from, where were you situated?

Good shots guys, but remember, much easier to have a sharp pic when resized to 600 or 800 :P bring on the high-res so we can proprely judge ;)

See here: http://www.motorworld.net/forum/showthread.php?t=39510 --> there is a link provided in post #1

I moved around the track to take pictures from different locations. As long as you had a grandstand ticket they let you cruise thru the stands. Besides it wasnt that crowded anyway.

The Audi was scraping on the many bumps on the circuit. I asked Allan McNish, who was driving the car, about it - he jokingly remarked that it was just a way to make the car loose weight. :lol: The Audi was like a battle tank - damn that car is good. Along with the Porsche 956/962 it is perhaps the greatest prototype ever from a wins standpoint.

For all the good glowing pics that I got (about 6) I threw away about 50 pictures - it was tough shooting because the cars were really fast into the corner and weren't braking for more than 2 seconds or so. Also, some drivers (read better) like Seb. Bourdais did not make the brakes glow as much but were still faster on a lap time. They must be metering their braking very precisely. 8)

Admit it TT you are just a wee bit jealous :P
http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/3948/dsc34944dg.th.jpghttp://img58.imageshack.us/img58/6296/dsc34910rv.th.jpghttp://img58.imageshack.us/img58/8430/dsc22598vk.th.jpghttp://img58.imageshack.us/img58/9761/dsc35204he.th.jpghttp://img58.imageshack.us/img58/9752/dsc17706jr.th.jpg
http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/3711/dsc18038zk.th.jpghttp://img58.imageshack.us/img58/5743/dsc23957wt.th.jpghttp://img58.imageshack.us/img58/7238/dsc17634io.th.jpg

If you notice on a couple of shots you can see the fence pretty clearly in the image - I tried to increase the aperture to F9 to make the fence disappear but wasn't successful. The fence was about 30 feet from me and the car about 10 feet beyond - basically the fence and car are pretty close to each other and both are relatively the same distance away from me. Anyone knows how I can make the fence less obvious or is it a poor location to shoot from.

the Porsche GT3 racecar is otherwise an Amazing shot!!!
bingo :?
the Porsche GT3 racecar is otherwise an Amazing shot!!!

The photo of the Aston and Porsche is sharp but it's not a panning shot.
The other images look too soft for me, good effort though.

http://Serv1.imagehigh.com/files/ih0...vette_1.th.jpg http://207.210.234.147/imgs/ih000001...carlo_1.th.jpg

:wink:

Thanks for the big ones. Indeed saamer's aren't really perfectly sharp, but it's pretty close anyway!
nth's especially the second, are spot on even at 1600, which is perfect :)

IMO resizing at 1024 (let alone smaller) and sharpening an image does the trick most of the time, but when it's ok at 1600 it means it was really a good one

A touch of USM to help things along. ;) I didnt do it originally because it was increasing the emphasis to the fence as well.

http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/3096/dsc17635rb.th.jpg

sameerrao : Sweet pictures dude. Sadly i need to get a better lense for my canon 350D, recommend anything good?! In the meantime im using the standard canon 350D lense, kind of sucks but i ll practise when i go back home end of this month.

70-300 F4.5-5.6 IS. very good quality for a relatively speaking low price! Of course not suited if you need wide angle :D

Cheers TT, i ll check that out :)

that is what i've been "stuck" with for almost a year now... that and a cheap telephoto from quantaray 100-300 m F4.5-5.6

while i've learned some secrets to extract the most out of that lens... its also a terribly limiting factor... the autofocus is crap for moving objects if you aren't "expecting it to work that way" and is way too soft at anything above 200mm.

my recomendation is to not buy anything less then the Canon 70-300 IS F4.5 for telephoto, and perhaps the canon 17-85 IS as you get more aclimated to what your camera can do :)

:)

So, I went to the Nürburgring Nordschleife last sunday, the first time I really got a chance to shoot some decent cars.

Here's a small sneek-peak:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~akoevoet/JW/Panning/IMG_1616.JPG

And for the partypoopers, a 100% crop:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~akoevoet/JW/Pa...G_1616crop.jpg

Nice shot!

:shock: WOW MartijnGizmo , what a magnificent shot!

another new panning shot of mine for earlier today

F8.0 1/50 sec. ISO 400 @ 100 mm
http://Serv3.imagehigh.com/imgs/01/2...obra_V2.th.jpg

Great shot Martijn. I think you can give SDK2003 some close competition in action photography.

SDK IMO is the best action shooter here, very closely followed by C0wb0y007 and Wuttputt who have provided awesome N-ring shots.

I can learn a lot just by seeing their shots and trying to emulate the same... :)

Thanks a lot! This was my first real try at it, so I think there's still a lot of room for improvement. :)

I love that picture - i was wondering if there was a chance of you posting a hi-res for my desktop?

Roughly 1600*XXXX should do the job.

Amazing colours - vivid contrast of the car and greenery 8)

As you already know I'm a big of panning shots as well.
The shutterspeed depends on how fast your object moves, the faster they move and the lower you go on the shutterspeed the blurrier your pics will be. Or you have a very very steady hand :) I have taken panningshots from 1/60 to up to 1/320 but I prefer 1/200. Here are a few examples.

M3GTR: Taken @ 1/200
http://users.pandora.be/jokke1/Photo...%201024%20.jpg


Lotus Elise 1: Taken @ 1/80
http://users.pandora.be/jokke1/Photo...0Elise%204.jpg

Lotus Elise 2: Taken @ 1/80
http://users.pandora.be/jokke1/Photo...0Elise%202.jpg

Viper Zakspeed Racing: Taken @ 1/200 High Res
http://users.pandora.be/jokke1/Photo...66%20Viper.jpg

VW Bora TDI: Taken @ 1/160 High Res
http://users.pandora.be/jokke1/Photo...20TDI%20lr.jpg

Enjoy the pics


Cheers

I prefer 1/125 on the 70-200, but just for kicks I tried 1/25th with my 10-22. :)

Here's the pic in 1600:
http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/8...16167si.th.jpg

Amazing :good:

Thanks a lot, dude 8)

:shock:

Thanks for the mention :)
I have put a huge effort over the last 2 years in developing my photography skills. I still have some way to go but it's good that people like my photos.

The BMW M3 photo posted by MartijnGizmo is very good and I would imagine the owner would buy that as a print.

^^ no problem your Superbike shots are out of the world.