Where you then, where are you now?

Deleted member 11679 · 5 Apr 2006 at 10:38

Just wondering, went to an event on Sunday at Donington which was for Historic Sports Cars and its one of my first Motorsport events I have been to this side of 2006. The photo's I took were not some of my best yet I will freely admit but it did provide a really interesting post event look for me. This was the first Motorsport I went to ever with the purpose of taking photo's...pretty much 1 year ago last Sunday with my Fuji S5500.

This was probably my best from the day back then:

And these were probably the best of a bad bunch from Sunday:

What has been really interesting is to see just the difference in the photo's. In no way do I want to blow my own trumpet, but I think the difference in the photo is quite clear to see.

The improvement over the year is really encouraging for me as it helps to make you feel like you are actually doing something right

I just wondered if anyone else had some comparitive shots they could show to add to this, really just wondered if anyone else had 'where they were and where they are now' kind of shots.

Tom

P.S - Still got to much to learn about Photography though!!

Darryn · 5 Apr 2006 at 11:19

Huge improvement there, nice one.

Jenson Button Silverstone 2003 Canon IXUS V3digital not enough optical zoom

Jenson again, 2004 Canon 300D w/ Canon 70-300 and too quick shutter.

Jenson again, 2005 Canon 20D w/ Canon 100-400L

Hopefully Ill improve again this year using a hired Canon 400L f2.8 IS.

SDK^ · 5 Apr 2006 at 18:12

Interesting improvements guys.

DreederOcUK - Remember that technique matters more than the next best lens

dod · 5 Apr 2006 at 19:27

hmmm

Vix · 5 Apr 2006 at 19:37

Great pics there!

I'm new to photography but motorsport is a big hobby of mine so I want to get really good at motorsport photography - I was wondering if someone could put in basic terms how you get the car nice and clear, and the background blurred.

Thanks

Sleepyd · 5 Apr 2006 at 19:50

dod said:
hmmm

Dod, it just looks like you got a longer telephoto or more crazy!

Joe T · 5 Apr 2006 at 20:10

to

NB: the equipment improved quite a bit in that time too - Panasonic FZ20 to Nikon D70 with Sigma 120-300 2.8.

dod · 5 Apr 2006 at 20:14

Sleepyd said:
Dod, it just looks like you got a longer telephoto or more crazy!

Bit of both, it's the 28mm closeups which get scary

Darryn · 5 Apr 2006 at 23:16

SDK^ said:
Interesting improvements guys.

DreederOcUK - Remember that technique matters more than the next best lens

Very true, but, I feel having a better lens gives you more confidence in your equipment, and therefore your more likely to take better shots.... Or at least thats my theory.
The other train of thought could be, i`ve paid £xxxx to use this lens for a weekend, I best take a million pictures to get my moneys worth out of it, and hopefully get some decent shots amongst them.

rG-tom · 6 Apr 2006 at 02:06

when i first got my 20D:

To:

Fairly decent improvement imo

Tom.

DRZ · 6 Apr 2006 at 02:11

From this:

DRZ · 6 Apr 2006 at 02:12

To this:

rG-tom · 6 Apr 2006 at 02:15

all you've done is shown you've bought a macro lens martin

you "from" shorts are still pretty decent (like the squirrel one)

Tom.

DRZ · 6 Apr 2006 at 02:23

rG-tom said:
all you've done is shown you've bought a macro lens martin you "from" shorts are still pretty decent (like the squirrel one)

Tom.

Yeah, so I like the 105mm - sue me

I would post some fireworks ones too, but I cant find them

I might swap some of the weaker new ones to one of those when I find one

EDIT: Got one...

TerraS · 6 Apr 2006 at 04:54

Vix said:
Great pics there!

I'm new to photography but motorsport is a big hobby of mine so I want to get really good at motorsport photography - I was wondering if someone could put in basic terms how you get the car nice and clear, and the background blurred.

Thanks

Focus on the car and make sure your apeture (F number) is low.
Example: Shutter speed: 1/400, Aperture: F/2.8.
The background will be more blurred the nearer the car is to the camera.

Vix · 6 Apr 2006 at 08:36

Cool

I'll bear that in mind, thanks!

All my pics are currently at the 'before' stage

dod · 6 Apr 2006 at 12:07

Vix said:
Great pics there!

I'm new to photography but motorsport is a big hobby of mine so I want to get really good at motorsport photography - I was wondering if someone could put in basic terms how you get the car nice and clear, and the background blurred.

Thanks

Is this the sort of effect you're meaning? If it is it's called panning, where you track the subject for the period the shutter is open, and is more to do with selecting shutter speed than it is aperture. Slower the shutter speed the more blurred the background will be but the harder it is to get the subject sharp.

Terras's method is perfect for controlling Depth of field in stationary shots but the higher shutter speeds reduce the movement blur.

TerraS · 6 Apr 2006 at 12:25

dod said:
Terras's method is perfect for controlling Depth of field in stationary shots but the higher shutter speeds reduce the movement blur.

Ah yer, quite right. I didn't read the "motorsport" part of your question.

Vix · 6 Apr 2006 at 19:01

no probs, it was valuable information anyway. Gonna try it out on the Minis at Snetterton this weekend :eek:

Matt Harper · 6 Apr 2006 at 19:13

From this when I first got my D70:

To:

Where you then, where are you now?

Deleted member 11679

Deleted member 11679