F1 Photos !

For the 7D and motorsports, personally I use single point AF with assist points. You'll want to use AI Servo focusing and shoot in Tv mode, starting at around 1/160 panning and work your way down. That way you'll capture some good motion.
 
Ahhh you lucky boy, very jealous!!

Anyway, I'm not a motorsport photography expert but I have captured quite a few motorsport shots including F1 so here's what i have learnt:

Shoot shutter priority, this will allow the camera to obv set the apeture so you can concentrate on adjusting the shutter speed to allow more or less blur when panning and stuff.

For nice panning shots go to the slower corners of the track, its much much much easier to get sharp panning shots of the cars at 30mph than 200mph. for example this shot was got on one of the slower corners at Spa with them going about 30-40mph with a shutter speed of about 1/30 seconds. I fired a burst of shots and about 2 of them were pin sharp, panning requires a lot of practice but nothing you can't get at over the weekend:

Lewis Hamilton, Spa Francorchamps 2011 by paulwynn-mackenzie.com, on Flickr

I would probably recommend turning the IS of as sometimes the IS will try to compensate for your panning.

Focusing is up to you, manual if you want at a certain part of the track or use al servo focusing (i think thats what its called on Canon), i stuck to AF personally rather than MF. If you want to have less blur then shoot at something like 1/500 to get motion in the wheel but easy to get everything sharp. A car with frozen wheels looks a bit boring.

Ummm not to much else I hope that all helps :)
 
It depends which circuit you're going to, but F1 tends to have very large runoff area's, so the crowd is usually not that close to the action, so a 300mm lens might not give you what you want, even on a 1.6x crop sensor and depends where you are, safety fences have a great tendency to get in the way of your shots.

Personally It depends what subject you are photographing, what speed the subject is travelling at, what lens your are using and getting the right shutter speed / aperture to match to create the right motion blur rather than VR OS IS etc. Correct camera settings and a smooth pan get you the shots.

Shutter speeds of 1/30 1/60 or even 1/125 aren't easy to get right. So apply the 1 over focal length rule explained below to get an idea of somewhere better to start.

A common rule of thumb for estimating how fast the exposure needs to be for a given focal length is the one over focal length rule. This states that for a 35 mm camera, the exposure time needs to be at least as fast as one over the focal length in seconds. In other words, when using a 200 mm focal length on a 35 mm camera, the exposure time needs to be at least 1/200 seconds-- otherwise blurring may be hard to avoid. Keep in mind that this rule is just for rough guidance; some may be able to hand hold a shot for much longer or shorter times than this rule estimates. So for users of digital cameras with cropped sensors, one needs to convert into a 35 mm equivalent focal length, eg 200*1.6 (crop) = 1/320 sec

That will help with setting up the right shutter settings to start with, you can get more adventurous later.

Now, Panning is a technique which requires mastering over time, its not something that you can instantly do and repeat. It require training you body to become familiar with the motion, thus it become almost automatic. What this will achieve is a smooth pan, something that is not easy to master.

Pick up the subject early, focus and pan with the subject, take them image when subject fills 2/3 of the frame, continue the pan after the shot, try and avoid stopping the pan or jerking at the edge will also aid in good results.

You are able to capture pans at slower shutter speeds, but to get everything right in the shot takes practice and a very smooth pan movement, taken at 1/100sec, but generally, I'm taking shots at 1/200 or 1/320 sec because of the speed of the bikes and slightly slower for cars....for F1 cars, the shutter speeds are going to be higher, but it depends on what the cars doing.


1/100 sec
IMG_9314copy1.jpg


1/320 sec
IMG_9025copy1.jpg


or even 1/640 sec, but still generate motion blur
IMG_0603copy1.jpg


300mm f2.8 + 2x TC @ 1/800 sec
IMG_5729copy1.jpg


Feet position is important to give you a base from which to pan you body, as describe above, you then need to pick the action up early, panning with the on coming bike/car, then when it fills 2/3 screen start to take your 2 -3 images, recompose and take the next shots, remembering to continue the motion after taking the shots, that's also very important.......

Fire single shots not a burst, bursts are a waste of time for a plain old panning shot. Yes you might miss the moment when Elvis and ET climb out the sun roof and roof surf around the track to the sound of the Beach Boys, but... Concentrate on getting your timing right.

Don't shoot into the sun. That amazing corner you (and everyone else with a camera) has discovered where the cars/bikes come inches away from your face is worthless if you are shooting into the sun. Try to work out if/when the sun will have moved off and come back then.

If it is a bright sunny day, consider using a 1 or 2 stop ND filter to get the shutter speed down. Not a problem normally at 1/250th, but as you slow it down you will have problems.

Slow(ish) pans don't work if the vehicle is not on smooth ground. Its generally rubbish for non-tarmac racing as the bumps blur the subject.

Practice. Lots. Post your results up in the motorsport section on here and let everyone else give you some help - the motorsport section is pretty friendly!

Peter
 
Peter has written a great guide there for sure, and his pics he posted are nothing short of sublime so I feel a bit bad about disagreeing with some points of his. But I don't think I agree about not shooting in bursts, there is simply no disadvantage, perhaps if your pro at panning then go for single shots but I would do bursts. Also the 1/focal length thing is one I have personally ignored, I have shot at 1/12 seconds at 210mm on a 1.5 aps crop camera and got sharp results (took quite a few attempts though),I'm not trying to boast I'm just saying it can be done without needing to have years of panning practise. having said that 1/focal length will massively raise your chances of sharp shots.

One note on composition is try to give room for the car to drive into if that makes sense?

But most importantly try not to get bogged down with everything said here and try to play around and explore especially when the support races are on and save the bits you have practised for the f1.
 
Sticking to the reciprocal focal length shutter speed will give a beginner more confidence though.

You will deffo come home with something worth looking at, that you can impress your friends with.

Leave the silly slow shutters for when you have some play time, not at an expensive f1 round...

Just my two roubles from someone who knows what it feels like to have a memory card full of disappointment....
 
The circuit is Monaco, and I am in seating area N

http://www.gpticketshop.com/en/f1/monaco-f1-grand-prix/tickets.html

The Marina is to my back and the race track in front.
This stand was the best bang for buck I could afford as there are better stands which just come down to money !

So I am also going to buy a mono pod, manfrotto 680B
http://www.manfrotto.com/compact-4-section-monopod

This is to help more with shooting some video on my 7D as well as photos.
The 680B is again the best bang for buck as I need a mono pod to fit into my cabin suit case as we are only have hand luggage.
As we are flying Easy Jet there is really not a weight allowance to worry about !


PS. Another problem with Monaco is the ticket is for one day only, not like other circuits were the grand stand ticket is a weekender as it is all about the £’s, or $’s,…no it is €’s ! ! ha, ha
Any way it is expensive, so I will see if there are any support races I can attend which may be free,…I am not holding my breath though on that ! !


PS. The problem with Monaco is the ticket is only for race day ! !
Unlike other circuits the grand stand ticket is a weekender, Monaco is all about £'s or $'s well actually

As I have mentioned I am getting a Canon L grade lens for those sharp IQ.
My current 70-300 IS USM is OK, but it has a sweet spot which is not at the fast end of the lens ! !
http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Pro...es/Telephoto_Zoom/EF_70-300mm_f4-5.6L_IS_USM/

On Setting, I take it I do need some fast speeds, so do I set the ISO to Auto or some thing like 400 – 800 even though it may be a bright day ! ?
 
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pwynn-mackenzie said:
Peter has written a great guide there for sure, and his pics he posted are nothing short of sublime so I feel a bit bad about disagreeing with some points of his. But I don't think I agree about not shooting in bursts, there is simply no disadvantage, perhaps if your pro at panning then go for single shots but I would do bursts. Also the 1/focal length thing is one I have personally ignored, I have shot at 1/12 seconds at 210mm on a 1.5 aps crop camera and got sharp results (took quite a few attempts though),I'm not trying to boast I'm just saying it can be done without needing to have years of panning practise. having said that 1/focal length will massively raise your chances of sharp shots.

One note on composition is try to give room for the car to drive into if that makes sense?

But most importantly try not to get bogged down with everything said here and try to play around and explore especially when the support races are on and save the bits you have practised for the f1.

Any chance of seeing the shots taken at 1/12@210mm ?,mighty impressive!!
 
Tysonator said:
The circuit is Monaco, and I am in seating area N

http://www.gpticketshop.com/en/f1/monaco-f1-grand-prix/tickets.html

The Marina is to my back and the race track in front.
This stand was the best bang for buck I could afford as there are better stands which just come down to money !

So I am also going to buy a mono pod, manfrotto 680B
http://www.manfrotto.com/compact-4-section-monopod

This is to help more with shooting some video on my 7D as well as photos.
The 680B is again the best bang for buck as I need a mono pod to fit into my cabin suit case as we are only have hand luggage.
As we are flying Easy Jet there is really not a weight allowance to worry about !

PS. Another problem with Monaco is the ticket is for one day only, not like other circuits were the grand stand ticket is a weekender as it is all about the £’s, or $’s,…no it is €’s ! ! ha, ha
Any way it is expensive, so I will see if there are any support races I can attend which may be free,…I am not holding my breath though on that ! !

PS. The problem with Monaco is the ticket is only for race day ! !
Unlike other circuits the grand stand ticket is a weekender, Monaco is all about £'s or $'s well actually

As I have mentioned I am getting a Canon L grade lens for those sharp IQ.
My current 70-300 IS USM is OK, but it has a sweet spot which is not at the fast end of the lens ! !
http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Product_Finder/Cameras/EF_Lenses/Telephoto_Zoom/EF_70-300mm_f4-5.6L_IS_USM/

On Setting, I take it I do need some fast speeds, so do I set the ISO to Auto or some thing like 400 – 800 even though it may be a bright day ! ?

As per the detailed post above, you don't want your shutter speed to be too fast, otherwise the cars will look static, as if they are parked. Even on a sunny day in the UK, you are more likely to wish that your ISO went lower, than be struggling to get the shutter speed you need.

If I was lucky enough to be going to Monaco, I'd be more interested in soaking up the atmosphere and maybe trying to capture that, as photography from the grandstand won't be ideal.

If you haven't shot much motorsport and get a chance before you go, get down to some club level motorsport at a circuit to practice there, it will be better to learn the techniques with more freedom to stand in better places.
 
My other tip is that DSLR video... not really very useful from this type of thing. Its "proper video" which means its highly unsuited to trying to shoot fast moving cars from a grandstand.

And thats before I point out that if you ever post any F1 video on the internet, Bernie's heavies will be round to rip your arms and legs off...
 
Any chance of seeing the shots taken at 1/12@210mm ?,mighty impressive!!

Actually forgotten it was 1/13 @180mm (so 270mm for 35mm format) sorry but anyway here it is, plently of blurry ones were on my memory card haha:

Button Up by paulwynn-mackenzie.com, on Flickr

Also had to use F32 for that shot so that shows how using a high iso should not be needed.
 
Make sure you get yourself down on friday as access to all stands is free and unrestricted. You wont get to see the F1, but the GP2, Porsches and Formula Renault (or whichever support series) will all be on track. It gives you a chance to get closer to the action, and also shoot from a variety of viewpoints. I spent the morning at Casino Sq, and then got into the pitlane (free if you take your Sunday ticket) and spent the afternoon shooting round about Piscine and Tabac. If last year is anything to go by, it is also very quiet in the stands which is in stark contrast to Sunday.
Another good option is to walk down the side of the Marina, where the motorhomes will be, and you'll have a good chance of shooting some drivers as they head to the pits.
Also, don't forget some binoculars for a better glimpse into the yachts which is quite interesting.
Most of all ENJOY
 
Make sure you get yourself down on friday as access to all stands is free and unrestricted. You wont get to see the F1, but the GP2, Porsches and Formula Renault (or whichever support series) will all be on track. It gives you a chance to get closer to the action, and also shoot from a variety of viewpoints. I spent the morning at Casino Sq, and then got into the pitlane (free if you take your Sunday ticket) and spent the afternoon shooting round about Piscine and Tabac. If last year is anything to go by, it is also very quiet in the stands which is in stark contrast to Sunday.
Another good option is to walk down the side of the Marina, where the motorhomes will be, and you'll have a good chance of shooting some drivers as they head to the pits.
Also, don't forget some binoculars for a better glimpse into the yachts which is quite interesting.
Most of all ENJOY

The Friday is the Bank Holiday in Monaco so we were going to go that day to check the venue for Sunday.
I will take my Sunday ticket for pit lane access as that will be a great oppertunity to go where most people just dream about !
So is there GP2 & Porche racing even on the Friday ! ?

I am off to Truck racing at Brans Hatch later this month, so I know the trucks are not 200mph beasts. I can at least gets some practice in panning !

As for Video I was hoping to shoot some 30fps footage to then slow it down and get the BBC F1 slow motion shot I often see when watching the F1 on the beeb at home.
I am even going to buy a decent mounted Rode Micpohone !
 
The 680B is again the best bang for buck as I need a mono pod to fit into my cabin suit case as we are only have hand luggage.
As we are flying Easy Jet there is really not a weight allowance to worry about !

I would be careful trying to get a monopod in the cabin. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a know, as it is a club type implement.

That aside, very jealous, sounds like you're going to have a cracking time!
 
I would be careful trying to get a monopod in the cabin. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a know, as it is a club type implement.

That aside, very jealous, sounds like you're going to have a cracking time!

Strange you should mention that actually.:thinking:
As on a trip back from Prague an older chap passenger at Prague international airport did get stopped and was ordered to put his monopod in the hold language. He had to go back to check in, queue up and put it in the hold.
I am not sure if he paid for it or not. :(

In that case I will just take my gorilla pod with me (y)
gorilla-rig_2-1.jpg


Oh yes,..I will also bw buying the RODE Microphone Pro on top of the DSLR in the picture !

Also so ordering this

http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Pro...es/Telephoto_Zoom/EF_70-300mm_f4-5.6L_IS_USM/
 
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