Few shots from Blyton Raceway.Critique wanted please :)

[LowlifeDubber]

Ayup lads I when along to the Lincoln Volkswagen Specialist track day on friday and took the camera gear as ive not had any motorsport/moving object photography experience yet.

Here are a few shots,i know they are not fantastic so id like some advice and tips to improve if possible please.

Gear was Canon 1100D,18-55mm Kit lens,50mm f1.2 and a 75-300mm canon usm III.
Ive put a few of the ones i think are reasonable and a few which arnt in the hope you can give me a few tips if possible.I played with various shutter speeds and tried to pan the best i could(i found this much easier free hand than on the tripod so ditched the tri pod.)

Thanks lads.

Gary



















Others are here. http://www.flickr.com/photos/lowlifedubber

[dTEA]

Longer shutter speed when panning to get a sense of speed. And handheld as you did is the way forward.

[LowlifeDubber]

Great stuff thanks.I will have a bit more of a play with the shutter speeds.
I have a monopod too would you suggest using that at all?

[T_J_G]

I try to get down to approx 1/80th when panning. It'll help blur the background so the focus is on the car.

[Diamond Hell]

I wouldn't bother with the monopod.

Shutter speed depends very much on weather conditions, brightness-wise.

You're already nailing it here for instance:

[T_J_G]

That may benefit from a crop to remove the cluttered background top left.

[DubFan]

That may benefit from a crop to remove the cluttered background top left.

A small crop though. Crop it too much and the car won't have enough space around it.
I always think it's better to shoot slightly wider than you need to give you space around the subject to allow a crop.
This is especially true when a lot of DSLRs viewfinders only show 95-97% of the image that you capture.

[LowlifeDubber]

Nice one lads thanks for the advice.
I will be going back sometime this month so i will have another play and see how i get on.I will slow the shutter speed down a tad and see if i  can get in any different positions on track.

It's really got me back into it after a winter of nothing really other than the odd meet
Im thinking of getting another lens in the next month too.Im also going to replace the kit 18-55 for an IS version if it makes much difference?

Thanks again

[DubFan]

Nice one lads thanks for the advice.
I will be going back sometime this month so i will have another play and see how i get on.I will slow the shutter speed down a tad and see if i  can get in any different positions on track.

It's really got me back into it after a winter of nothing really other than the odd meet
Im thinking of getting another lens in the next month too.Im also going to replace the kit 18-55 for an IS version if it makes much difference?

Thanks again

If you're going to replace the kit lens, it really isn't going to make much difference going from a non-IS to an IS version. Better off saving a bit of money and buying something like the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 or the Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 . Either of these will give you a massive improvement in image quality over the kit lens and will give you better low-light capabilities.

[LowlifeDubber]

Thanks for the heads up on that Money isnt particularly an issue but id like to keep it below £300 if possible.
Id prefer a fairly good all rounder that i can just plonk on and be able to shoot most things.Pretty much a kit lens replacement.