First attempt at tracking.

[Graham.J]

I'm borrowing an Audi A6 Avant for the week and as the weather improved today I thought I'd pop out and take some photos.

The road wasn't very busy so I thought I'd give some tracking shots a go, I've been avoiding doing them because I don't have an image stabilised lens and thought they'd turn out badly.

All shot at 1/30th on shutter priority and saved for web use so quality isn't top.







And a static shot



>> Edited by Graham.J on Friday 17th February 20:21

>> Edited by Graham.J on Saturday 18th February 18:06

>> Edited by Graham.J on Saturday 18th February 18:07

[matt gravy]

Hi Graham,

not bad for a first crack...

Id say you needed to go for a faster shutter speed... its always a trade off between the woosh and the sharpness of the vehicle, and it can be a hard balance. Try mixing the speed of the shutter and car to try and get a peach.

The static shot has real promise i think, just brush out all the distractions on the tarmac and lift the exposure and contrast a little (I think, but this screen is a bit dark too) and you are there. Nice one.

Matt

>> Edited by matt gravy on Friday 17th February 20:01

[ehasler]

All I see are red crosses and a forbidden message when I click on the link

[Graham.J]

ehasler said:

All I see are red crosses and a forbidden message when I click on the link

Sorry about that, I tried nicking DeviantArt's bandwidth but I think they've caught onto that. I'm just updating my website with the shots so I'll re-do the links in a jiffy

[Graham.J]

matt gravy said:

Hi Graham, not bad for a first crack... Id say you needed to go for a faster shutter speed... its always a trade off between the woosh and the sharpness of the vehicle, and it can be a hard balance. Try mixing the speed of the shutter and car to try and get a peach. The static shot has real promise i think, just brush out all the distractions on the tarmac and lift the exposure and contrast a little (I think, but this screen is a bit dark too) and you are there. Nice one. Matt

Hi Matt, thanks very much, it was actually looking at your website earlier today that made me go out and try some panning shots.

The shutter speed was my only reservation. I was checking the preview LCD and they seemed ok. I wasn't sure how slow to go as the car was passing at about 30mph. For future reference, what sort of speed would you suggest?

There were two white lines coming out of the front of the car on the static shot which I brushed out, I was contemplating doing the rest but with the wet patches, thought it may look a little weird - I'll have a go . The contrast and brightness were upped a little. I wasn't sure whether to go any higher and make the bumper too overexposed.

Thanks once again

Graham

[Graham.J]

matt gravy said:

The static shot has real promise i think, just brush out all the distractions on the tarmac and lift the exposure and contrast a little (I think, but this screen is a bit dark too) and you are there. Nice one.

How's that?

>> Edited by Graham.J on Friday 17th February 20:50

[poah]

the wide angle shot is nice.

at 30mpg try 1/60s. good panning is just practice. a few more goes and you'll have improved alot. I practiced at a local dual carridge way. was up an embankment so out of harms way of the cars

[Graham.J]

Ah, a dual carriageway isn't a bad idea I may pop back there and practice on the learner drivers that tend to use the road

I did try getting a shot of a runner, but I don't think it turned out that well.



>> Edited by Graham.J on Saturday 18th February 18:07

[simpo two]

Graham.J said:

I've been avoiding doing them because I don't have an image stabilised lens and thought they'd turn out badly.

This is a problem I've picked up on recently. Suddenly, people think you need an IS/VR lens to be able to take good photographs. Rubbish. IMHO IS is for freezing camera-shake. That's nothing to do with panning shots, the success of which are the correct shutter speed and a smooth panning action. At least with digital you can assess your results immediately and adjust the shuter speed until you get the result you want.

So, your (tiny) hurdle is just to practice shutter speeeds, not spend £££ on new technology.

NB I like the runner best!

[matt gravy]

Hi Graham,

Static looks better now i think. As far as the panning goes, i forgot to mention that I think using a longer lens varies how wild the back of the car gets. I quite like it when the back is all messy (which happens when you are closer to the car I think).

Re. the IS, despite what simpo says, it can help a lot if you really want to get the shutter speed low. I do a lot at about 1/30th and the IS definately gets your hit rate up. In fact, ive leant pretty heavily on IS for a lot of shots, mainly because i dont have the time to go through everything to see if i got one right.

Matt

[_dobbo_]

Panning can be tough, a bit of practice does get the hit rate up though.

My favourite ever car shot is a panning one - like Matt says with the back really wild I think it looks great:



Only thing I would point out is that the forum has auto resized your pics down to 750px wide, which makes them look much worse than if you view them full size.

If you are posting here it's best to resize to 750px wide or less.

Oh, and the static one looks wicked!

[ROADRUNNER3]

I'd definitely recommend going up to 1/60th and just pannin g with the upper half of your body - keeping your feet fixed seems to help with a smoother panning action. Getting close to the vehicle definitely helps with the 'whoosh' effect, which I think gives a nice sensation of speed.

I shot this at Goodwood from the pit lane wall, about fifteen feet away :



www.fluidimages.co.uk

[monkeyhanger]

The main problem with panned shots is they tend to look the same, particularly if you're following cars in a straight line.

How about a 3/4 pan coming out of a corner...



Or if you really must have it in a straight line...




Or a pan shot with more than 1 car? I'll link this one as it's rather large...

Click!!

The backgrounds may not be as blurry as some shots, but i like to see the details on the cars.

First 2 images were with the 100-400 IS, the last with a Sigma 70-200 f2.8...and no IS obviously




>> Edited by monkeyhanger on Saturday 18th February 14:35

>> Edited by monkeyhanger on Saturday 18th February 14:43

[Graham.J]

simpo two said:

This is a problem I've picked up on recently. Suddenly, people think you need an IS/VR lens to be able to take good photographs. Rubbish. IMHO IS is for freezing camera-shake. That's nothing to do with panning shots, the success of which are the correct shutter speed and a smooth panning action. At least with digital you can assess your results immediately and adjust the shuter speed until you get the result you want. So, your (tiny) hurdle is just to practice shutter speeeds, not spend £££ on new technology. NB I like the runner best!

I was anticipating them all being completely blurred or out of focus, I think part of the saviour was the fact I shoot clays so have a relatively smooth pan - at least I'd like to think so.

As you say, I think I just need to practice with different shutter speeds etc.

I must admit, I do like the runner shot. I prefer it in black and white with a bit of photoshopping, I didn't think I'd like it as the original looked a bit...pants

[V6GTO]

I turn IS off when panning...it saves any confusion weather you should be in mode 1 or mode 2.

Martin.

[dcw@pr]

Graham.J said:

How's that?

careful with your cloning - i may be a bit anal - but the bits you have cloned are quite obviosu by their repeating patterns. they are always a dead give away, keep your eyes open and you will see quite a lot of hurried cloning in newspapers/magazines etc. try using the healing brush tool to blend things in better, or if you don't have that, turn down the opacity of the clone stamp or make its edges more fuzzy.

[Graham.J]

matt gravy said:

Hi Graham, Static looks better now i think. As far as the panning goes, i forgot to mention that I think using a longer lens varies how wild the back of the car gets. I quite like it when the back is all messy (which happens when you are closer to the car I think). Re. the IS, despite what simpo says, it can help a lot if you really want to get the shutter speed low. I do a lot at about 1/30th and the IS definately gets your hit rate up. In fact, ive leant pretty heavily on IS for a lot of shots, mainly because i dont have the time to go through everything to see if i got one right. Matt

I tried some shots at 70mm but didn't really like them. The ones I did like the most were at 18mm - I too like the messy back end

For fast panning work I doubt IS is particularly helpful, although if you're using low speeds I'd assume it keeps it just that little bit more stable. I found with shooting that the faster you pan the smoother the line, when you pan slowly there's more vertical movement.

[Graham.J]

_dobbo_ said:

Panning can be tough, a bit of practice does get the hit rate up though. My favourite ever car shot is a panning one - like Matt says with the back really wild I think it looks great: *lambo shot* Only thing I would point out is that the forum has auto resized your pics down to 750px wide, which makes them look much worse than if you view them full size. If you are posting here it's best to resize to 750px wide or less. Oh, and the static one looks wicked!

Yeah, I was really just being lazy with the resizing. I've re-done them all now so PH shouldn't auto resize them

That Lambo shot is gorgeous, nicely shot I do love that messy back end look.

Thanks very much regarding the static one. I did another one which I was pleased with, but I rushed the photoshop cloning a bit - as with the vertical one. I still need to practice that really.

[Graham.J]

ROADRUNNER3 said:

I'd definitely recommend going up to 1/60th and just pannin g with the upper half of your body - keeping your feet fixed seems to help with a smoother panning action. Getting close to the vehicle definitely helps with the 'whoosh' effect, which I think gives a nice sensation of speed. I shot this at Goodwood from the pit lane wall, about fifteen feet away : www.fluidimages.co.uk

That's a lovely shot, nicely done . Different effect with the 'messy' front end.

I think 1/60th is the way to go for those shots, I'll have to try again sometime Hopefully I'll get enough blur and more crisp shots

[Graham.J]

monkeyhanger said:

The main problem with panned shots is they tend to look the same, particularly if you're following cars in a straight line. How about a 3/4 pan coming out of a corner... Or if you really must have it in a straight line... Or a pan shot with more than 1 car? I'll link this one as it's rather large... Click!! The backgrounds may not be as blurry as some shots, but i like to see the details on the cars. First 2 images were with the 100-400 IS, the last with a Sigma 70-200 f2.8...and no IS obviously

I know what you mean about the pics looking the same. I really wanted to get the front of the car in the shot because I like the styling.

I'd really like to get some track day pics taken sometime. I love the one with two in the shot