Today at Knockhill

[iain_cam]

Evening all!

Just finished editing down my pictures (no, I've not been doing it all afternoon, I hasten to add - my afternoon was spent in front of the heater, warming up) and I thought I'd upload a small selection of my pics from today's trackday at KH. I put in some effort to diversify locations from my other shots (sly nod to Tim, this was his tip), which were mainly focussed around the hairpin. There are a few from there, though, as I think it is a good place to shoot from.

Again, I took well over 350 shots, so if you'd like to see any of your car, just contact me. Also, I can do prints if anybody would be interested. For this, contact me.

Hope you like the photos!

Iain

[Platinum]

Nice. What lens were you using?

What 'method' of focusing do you use? Lock focus on a car, follow it and shoot when ready; or 'lock and shoot' straight away? Also do you use continuous(?) focus.

Sorry for my simple questions.

[poah]

I use continous focus and rapid fire = 2007 shots in 3 hours lol

[iain_cam]

Platinum said:

Nice. What lens were you using?

What 'method' of focusing do you use? Lock focus on a car, follow it and shoot when ready; or 'lock and shoot' straight away? Also do you use continuous(?) focus.

Sorry for my simple questions.

No bother. And very sensible questions they are too. I tend to lock on the car, and follow it through the corner or straight and shoot when ready. Continuous AF (where you sort of half press the button to keep everything in order) is best, otherwise you end up with either a fuzzy photo or a pic where the car is a couple of metres away from where you want it to be or had finished doing what you wanted to capture.

The lens was the Nikkor 55-200mm lens, camera Nikon D50, many shot in either shutter priority mode or 'Sport' mode. The light was odd, so I was constantly switching between the two. I love going to trackdays and I can find the best spots for the big events as well as getting to know the camera inside out and back to front.

Cheers,
Iain

[poah]

on the canon we have a custom function that allows the use of the exposure lock button to control the focus and the shutter button to meter and trigger the shutter. this means you can track the car but the camera will only meter when the shutter button is depressed. very helpful at the hairpin due to the position of the sun. Does the nikon have this function as well?

Edited by poah on Saturday 11th November 21:41

[iain_cam]

poah said:

on the canon we have a custom function that allows the use of the exposure lock button to control the focus and the shutter button to meter and trigger the shutter. this means you can track the car but the camera will only meter when the shutter button is depressed. very helpful at the hairpin due to the position of the sun. Does the nikon have this function as well?

Edited by poah on Saturday 11th November 21:41

Not directly, as such, but you can half-depress the shutter to focus the image, and meter it. It will respond to things like zoom, etc, so for example, you could track a car sliding around the hairpin, constantly shooting, while zooming out and in, and you'll still end up with a series of in focus, sharp and metered photos. It's a lot more crude than the Canon, but works just as well.

[rumpelstiltskin]

It must have taken you ages to photoshop in the rain effects!

Edited by rumpelstiltskin on Sunday 12th November 15:17

[F308 MAN]

great pics iain, but if i may just add one comment:
the wheels on most of the cars appear motionless and solid ... i would imagine the shutter speed to be 1:250 or faster ... try experimenting with a slower shutter, even down to 1:60, thus blurring the wheels and incorporating a sense of speed ... you may download free software from "Opanda" which will allow you to view the exposure information (exif) of 'net published pics (if supplied)... this is a very good way of discovering how the pro's shoot.

i see it still always rains at Knockhill

d

[iain_cam]

F308 MAN said:

great pics iain, but if i may just add one comment:
the wheels on most of the cars appear motionless and solid ... i would imagine the shutter speed to be 1:250 or faster ... try experimenting with a slower shutter, even down to 1:60, thus blurring the wheels and incorporating a sense of speed ... you may download free software from "Opanda" which will allow you to view the exposure information (exif) of 'net published pics (if supplied)... this is a very good way of discovering how the pro's shoot.

i see it still always rains at Knockhill

d

I tried to do so, as it was recommended when I posted my Doune pics, but was left with really white pics. Should I put on a couple of stops of exposure?

Probably just me, but hey, whatever.

Edited by iain_cam on Sunday 12th November 17:08

[graham@reading]

poah said:

on the canon we have a custom function that allows the use of the exposure lock button to control the focus and the shutter button to meter and trigger the shutter. this means you can track the car but the camera will only meter when the shutter button is depressed. very helpful at the hairpin due to the position of the sun. Does the nikon have this function as well?

Edited by poah on Saturday 11th November 21:41

Do we? Cool

/gets out 1D manual...

[bernie_eccle]

iain_cam said:

I tried to do so, as it was recommended when I posted my Doune pics, but was left with really white pics. Should I put on a couple of stops of exposure?

Probably just me, but hey, whatever.

Iain
This was one of my results yesterday with a D70 at 1/250th


Stewart
(only just beginning to dry out)

[sstein]

iain_cam said:

F308 MAN said:

great pics iain, but if i may just add one comment:
the wheels on most of the cars appear motionless and solid ... i would imagine the shutter speed to be 1:250 or faster ... try experimenting with a slower shutter, even down to 1:60, thus blurring the wheels and incorporating a sense of speed ... you may download free software from "Opanda" which will allow you to view the exposure information (exif) of 'net published pics (if supplied)... this is a very good way of discovering how the pro's shoot.

i see it still always rains at Knockhill

d

I tried to do so, as it was recommended when I posted my Doune pics, but was left with really white pics. Should I put on a couple of stops of exposure?

Probably just me, but hey, whatever.

Edited by iain_cam on Sunday 12th November 17:08

Iain if you are getting the pictures whitening out / overexposing then you should be able to increase the F number. Using my 70-300 I was able to get 1/160th at F6.3 with +0.7 exposure compensation. If I wanted 1/60th under the same conditions to get the background blurry then the F number would have been F10 ( i think). I think the shutter speed needs to be at at the most 1/160th down to 1/60th. I think below 1/60th it gets difficult to handhold and get the car sharp.


-
Stuart