Hills Ford Stages @ Weston Park

[Smurfsarepeopletoo]

Few photos from yesterday, thought as this was a motoring forum, people might like to see some of the cars that were there.

Just a hobbyist so any critique to help me improve appreciated.




















All the rest of the images ive uploaded here https://postimg.cc/gallery/645TpX5

Edited by Smurfsarepeopletoo on Sunday 20th September 17:59

[DibblyDobbler]

Nice work - you could maybe try a lower shutter speed and do a tracking shot which can show the movement of the car? Just a thought

[Smurfsarepeopletoo]

DibblyDobbler said:

Nice work - you could maybe try a lower shutter speed and do a tracking shot which can show the movement of the car? Just a thought

So, Lower the shutter speed, and then follow the vehicle so it blurs the background?

[StevieBee]

Smurfsarepeopletoo said:

So, Lower the shutter speed, and then follow the vehicle so it blurs the background?

Yes - shows that the car is moving and accentuates speed.

More tricky with Rallying compared to Track as a Rally Car has much more dynamic movement. With a track car all you need worry about is tracking the car so you can get a nice speed blur to the background but keep the car sharp, even with a relatively slow shutter speed. With Rally the cars are bumping up and down so go too slow and you'll blur the car.

All comes down to trial and errors - review the meta data of the images you like so you know what works for the future.

[Russet Grange]

My two cents:

Good stuff, great cars, love the Talbot Sunbeam which brings back many memories.

You've got loads of resolution there, I would crop them much tighter.

Shame you couldn't get a bit closer too, or somewhere where cars were leaving the ground.

The blurring suggestion is absolutely right, but it is very difficult to pull off, which is why a car leaving the ground, or tons of gravel being scattered, or a big water splash, can be an easier way of conveying speed.

[tangerine_sedge]

Smurfsarepeopletoo said:

DibblyDobbler said:

Nice work - you could maybe try a lower shutter speed and do a tracking shot which can show the movement of the car? Just a thought

So, Lower the shutter speed, and then follow the vehicle so it blurs the background?

This. Try starting at 1/250th and go down from there (I ended up going as slow as 1/50th but with little success!). Expect lots of blurry out of focus shots and the occasional good one. I took ~4000 pics at Brands Hatch recently, and got maybe 250 acceptable pictures and maybe 80 keepers. Learning to pan/predict the cars is a technique which needs practice and gets more difficult as my back/muscles get older

Alternatively, do as one of my ex-colleagues used to do, set at 1/1000th and add fake blur in post processing

[GravelBen]

tangerine_sedge said:

Smurfsarepeopletoo said:

DibblyDobbler said:

Nice work - you could maybe try a lower shutter speed and do a tracking shot which can show the movement of the car? Just a thought

So, Lower the shutter speed, and then follow the vehicle so it blurs the background?

This. Try starting at 1/250th and go down from there (I ended up going as slow as 1/50th but with little success!). Expect lots of blurry out of focus shots and the occasional good one. I took ~4000 pics at Brands Hatch recently, and got maybe 250 acceptable pictures and maybe 80 keepers. Learning to pan/predict the cars is a technique which needs practice and gets more difficult as my back/muscles get older

For rally panning I generally start around 1/160 and adjust up or down with a bit of trial and error depending on the range, speed and attitude of the cars.

One hint, align your standing position so that you will be square on / in your most stable position when the car is where you want to shoot it. Twist from there to where you start tracking it - that way you are unwinding towards a comfortable body position and will be steadier/smoother panning at the right point.

If they are mostly moving towards/away from you at the moment of shooting rather than past you, try around 1/400-1/640 to be sharp enough while still getting some sense of movement from the wheels and spraying gravel etc.

Of course shooting bursts dramatically improves your chance of getting a 'keeper' in either case.

With (lots of) practice and a bit of strategic positioning you can get a variety of shots of each car from the same spot - fast shutter/longer zoom as they approach, roll the control wheel to a slower shutter as you zoom out and pan them passing by, then sometimes zoom back into a departing shot as well. However especially as a relative beginner probably better to focus on quality over quantity.

tangerine_sedge said:

Alternatively, do as one of my ex-colleagues used to do, set at 1/1000th and add fake blur in post processing