I'm going to a rally tomorrow

[Gad-Westy]

The car type rather than the angry shouting type.

I've been meaning to shoot a rally since I got a DSLR last year but the opportunity has never quite arisen. Tomorrow I'm off to the Cheviot Stages Rally. There's only one spectator area on a 90 degree bend. It does look like there is quite a bit of open land around it so should be able to get a variety of angles.

I've been to the odd rally before but never to take photos. I'm well versed in the safety aspect although I realise I'll need to be a little more aware than normal when my eye is pressed against the viewfinder.

Just after some pointers and tips on the photgraphy side.

Firstly, what kit should I be taking?

I'm assuming a flash will be pointless?

I'll be taking my Nikon D300 and was intending to use single point focusing in AF-C. Good plan?

What lenses should I be lugging there? The choice is: Tokina 11-16, Sigma 18-50, Nikon 35 1.8, Nikon 70-300 VR and Sigma 180mm Macro.

I'll be taking the 70-300 for sure but wondering if its worth taking anything else. Maybe the 35mm in case space is tight? I'd love the take the 180mm but it's quite heavy and maybe of limited use.

Anything else I need to think about? shutter speeds etc...

[markmullen]

Re kit, for rallying I use a 70-200 and a 24-105 so from your kit I'd take the 70-300 and the 18-50, and the flash.

I usually get some panning shots in, for that your shutter speed will be quite low, down as low as 1/20th. For action shots where you freeze the action you'll want to be around 1/500th which will freeze the mud and stones flying out.

The most important thing with rallying for me is to keep both eyes open whilst looking through the viewfinder, be very conscious of your own safety, particularly if you leave the spectator stage and head into the woods on your own.

Take your flash, rally stages can be very dark, second curtain flash can be quite creative and give you some nice blurring.

Most importantly with rallying it is one of the only times I would recommend protection filters for your lenses, there is an awful lot of mud, stones, twigs, dust etc that follows a car through the stage, it is much easier to wipe off a protection filter than the front element of your lens.

I leave my exifs on my shots on flickr, if you want to see what sort of settings I used;

Roger Albert Clark in the dark and snow! http://www.flickr.com/photos/markmullen/sets/72157...
Rally GB 2010 http://www.flickr.com/photos/markmullen/sets/72157...

[N88]

I'm also interested in the replies to this one. Just recently got myself a DSLR and will be spending plenty time at rallies with it.

I've read differing opinions on whether to shoot in Aperture priority mode, or shutter priority? With people saying that if you're in aperture priority, with the lowest (most open - not sure which way round it is!) aperture possible, the camera is going to automatically select the fastest shutter speed for the light conditions anyway? Obviously with shutter priority you could just do a few test shots and see what the fastest that you can get away with is?

I've also been thinking about shooting with manual focus, not sure whether this would be worthwhile? Would you also shoot in continuous mode?

Many questions, sorry!

[markmullen]

I usually take a couple of shots in shutter priority during daylight and see roughly what settings are going to work, then switch to manual as cars with their light pods illuminated can throw out the metering. Autofocus I leave on but you may find you need to prefocus on a spot depending on how fast your AF works.

[mike80]

I tend to shoot in manual actually - there's a lot of elements that can fool your camera! Dark shadows, bright lights, different coloured cars etc.

Depending on how good your lens is at focusing, then pre focusing may be an idea, but honestly it's better to follow the cars and take a bunch of shots, particularly if there's lots of dirt flying about, water or whatever.

N88 said:

I'm also interested in the replies to this one. Just recently got myself a DSLR and will be spending plenty time at rallies with it.

I've read differing opinions on whether to shoot in Aperture priority mode, or shutter priority? With people saying that if you're in aperture priority, with the lowest (most open - not sure which way round it is!) aperture possible, the camera is going to automatically select the fastest shutter speed for the light conditions anyway? Obviously with shutter priority you could just do a few test shots and see what the fastest that you can get away with is?

I've also been thinking about shooting with manual focus, not sure whether this would be worthwhile? Would you also shoot in continuous mode?

Many questions, sorry!

[cornet]

N88 said:

I've read differing opinions on whether to shoot in Aperture priority mode, or shutter priority? With people saying that if you're in aperture priority, with the lowest (most open - not sure which way round it is!) aperture possible, the camera is going to automatically select the fastest shutter speed for the light conditions anyway? Obviously with shutter priority you could just do a few test shots and see what the fastest that you can get away with is?

I would be shooting shutter priority then probably switch to manual once I know what works. As other people have said lights can throw off the metering.

If your camera is reporting "Lo" or "Low" then there isn't enough light for that shutter speed. Bump up your ISO to compensate.

N88 said:

I've also been thinking about shooting with manual focus, not sure whether this would be worthwhile? Would you also shoot in continuous mode?

Auto focus, single point and use AF-C mode. I would also put the shutter mode into continuous mode (so it continues taking photos for as long as you have the shutter release depressed).

Now ideally you want to be in a position where by you can see the car a few seconds before it reaches the position at which you want to take the photo. As the car comes into view 1/2 depress the shutter and track the car in your view finder making sure the active focus point is on the car.

When the car almost gets to the point you want the fully depress the shutter release and hold it there, still following the car. Keep it depressed until the car is past the point at which you wanted to capture it.

I would be aiming for the shutter to fire 3 times.

This, of course, is just how I would approach it. Your timing might be that good that you can get it in a single shot or you might end up with the shutter going 8 times.

Do remember that depending on what camera and what you are shooting in (RAW, JPEG) then your camera will run out of buffer space and stop taking photos for a second or 2 while it writes the images you've just taken to the card.


What ever you do, take lots of memory cards with you and if in doubt, take the photo! Practice makes perfect as they say

[Gad-Westy]

Cheers one and all. Have absorbed all this and will give it a whirl tomorrow. I'll post some pics if they aren't too bad.

[McMacro]

Depending on how close you can get, a wide angle could come in handy. These were shot with the 17-40.





Alternatively, more close up action shot with a zoom (shot with the 100-400).







Rain does make the shots more dramatic. Take some decent towels to dry your gear (just in case).

Good luck!

[dxbtiger]

^ are those from real life or a game??

[McMacro]

Real life (with some processing afterwards, of course )

[dxbtiger]

The first 2 (on my work screen) look like they have been pulled from Dirt or something like that!

[xrrr]

McMacro said:

I love the computer gamey processing on this one. Can you share what you did with the processing?

[mattdaniels]

Try and stand on the inside of corners rather than the outside if you can - it's a safety thing more than anything. If you can have a spotter stood with you, so much the better.

As others have said - practice your panning and get comfortable shooting in manual because depending on tree cover / car lights etc. the DSLR will get confused. Take the flash too - not sure why you would leave it at home. You often need flash in daylight to remove shadows.

It's also sometimes good to get spectator shots at rallys or get spectators in your picture - sometimes their reactions really help make a photo.


Steve Perez Air by Matt_Daniels, on Flickr

[N88]

Some great advice, thanks for the replies chaps! Will see how I get on at rally GB!

[McMacro]

xrrr said:

McMacro said:

I love the computer gamey processing on this one. Can you share what you did with the processing?

Thanks. There's a little hdr thrown into these shots. Created 5 exposures from lightroom -2 -1 0 1 2, tweaked a little in photomatix, then played around with levels (I think, it was a while ago) in photoshop.

[Gad-Westy]

Well, just finished going through 600 odd photos! Had a great day. Weather was awful this morning but dried up a bit as the day went on. Quite a mix of cars and speeds but plenty of entertainment. Thanks all again for all the advice. Some great example shots too. Here's a few highlights from today.


_GAD0004 by G.A.D, on Flickr


_GAD0244 by G.A.D, on Flickr


_GAD0197 by G.A.D, on Flickr


_GAD0116 by G.A.D, on Flickr


_GAD0106 by G.A.D, on Flickr


_GAD0060 by G.A.D, on Flickr


_GAD0033 by G.A.D, on Flickr


_GAD0024 by G.A.D, on Flickr


_GAD0012 by G.A.D, on Flickr


_GAD9999 by G.A.D, on Flickr


_GAD9991 by G.A.D, on Flickr


_GAD9931 by G.A.D, on Flickr


_GAD9992 by G.A.D, on Flickr


_GAD9901 by G.A.D, on Flickr


_GAD9899 by G.A.D, on Flickr


_GAD9895 by G.A.D, on Flickr


_GAD9854 by G.A.D, on Flickr

[YorkshirePudding]

My neighbour has a genuine unrallied HSR Chevette sat in his garage doing
nothing, he's had it from being 18mnths old.

[Gad-Westy]

YorkshirePudding said:

My neighbour has a genuine unrallied HSR Chevette sat in his garage doing
nothing, he's had it from being 18mnths old.

You know what to do!

[Gad-Westy]

Quick question regarding flash. I didn't use it at the weekend though maybe I could have benefited from it on a few occasions. What's the general etiquette for using them? I assume a hundred flashes going off in your face when approaching a tricky hairpin could be a little off putting?

[YorkshirePudding]

He won't sell it.

Gad-Westy said:

Quick question regarding flash. I didn't use it at the weekend though maybe I could have benefited from it on a few occasions. What's the general etiquette for using them? I assume a hundred flashes going off in your face when approaching a tricky hairpin could be a little off putting?

Just use a bit of common sense, I used to cover road rallies back in the 80's (all night work) and took 1000's of pics and never had any complaints from drivers.

Stuff like this, taken on last years RAC.


R5 Maxi by J.F.T, on Flickr